1st post, 4 cyl wheels? tires? especially exhaust??

Here is is, my 2006 tacoma 5 lugger sr5. Only has 12000 miles on it and I could not pass up the deal. My 2 cents worth of observations:
1. There is nothing styling about styled steel wheels. I ebay searched tacoma wheel covers and bought these chrome looking (actually just plastic) wheel covers for $50. They will have to do until the budget allows for alluminum wheels which I believe Toyota should have included with the sr5 package.
2. Toyota should no put car tires on any truck, even a 4 cylinder. I acquired these Goodyear 235/75 R15's. They look much better, ride better, and I am getting the sticker claimed 19 city and 25 hwy mpg. Awesome. Also does not mess up your tpms since they fit on the stock rim just fine. A toyota dealer put them on for me and assured me they would cause no problems.
3. oem style fog lights purchased on ebay for around $130. Should also come with sr5 package IMO but we cant have everything. I very much dislike fog light holes with plastic inserts in place of the lights.
These are the little things I could fix and overall it is a great truck. Has adequate power and gets great mileage for a truck. The only major thing left is the exhaust. This is the worst sounding 4 cylinder I have driven. My old 2.3 Ranger sounded much better. I recently rented a Mazda 4 cylinder sedan on vacation that sounded much better. This tacoma sounds like squirells in a tin can. I tried a large magnaflow but the cab drone was intolerable, even after an additional resonator was put on, so I went back to stock muffler for now. I am considering a flowmaster 50 series suv or even a 70 series. Anybody try one of those? I do not want it to be louder at all, just deeper, or at least not like a fart can. Any comments or advise will be appreciated. I think it may be a challenge to avoid cab drone since the muffler is right under the back part of the cab on my extended cab model. Thanks

 

Are you smoking the Crack Cocaine, son?

 

thanks for the replies. I agree the sr5 package is asthetic. To me alluminum wheels are asthetic since they will function just like steel wheels. As far as the tires go, I just meant that I did not have to switch rims to increase my tire size, therefore no need to mess with the tpms. I heard some clips with flowmaster 40 series and it seemed a little loud for my liking. I am just trying to make it deeper, not at all louder. I was hoping someone with a 4 banger tried the 50 series suv as this is what the muffler shop thinks I should try. Thanks again.

 

No crack here. I said the ranger sounded better, but believe me that is it. That Ranger, although reliable and economical, had no guts at all and rode like a brick.

 

I dropped in a K&N air filter and it changed the sound quite a bit and added some power. It got "deeper" like you're taking about.

 

I too have had the "pleasure" of driving Ford Rangers for a few years. They have no soul.

 

drew, I have the afe drop in and have noticed no sound difference but thanks for the tip. 98tacoma, I thought the deck plate mod was not for the newer generation (2005 and up) tacomas. Maybe I am mistaken. I will have to read the mod again. Thanks

 

The deckplate would be pretty hard to do on the 2nd gen 4 bangers. The flat surface big enough for the deckplate is on the bottom of the airbox up against the wheel well. You can remove the air intake resonator if you want it to be a little louder. However, there are mixed reviews of the mod and if it boosts performance or harms it. I have mine removed and like it that way, but that's just me. Also the air intake pulls from inside the passenger fender. I'm no expert, but I'd say that's a colder air intake than an aftermarket that pulls from the engine compartment.

 

lol my friend has a ranger...i never ride with him

 

I have said Ranger and Taco, the Ranger has a Gibson cat back and yes it does sound better than the Taco. I'm willing to live with the Taco sound, it's not my DD. I'd look up Gibson exhausts, they make a cat back for the standard cabs but you'd only need the muffler. From what I recall there's no fiber glass in the Gibson mufflers, they get the sound with baffling only.