SNOW ANGEL! Build Thread

2004 Toyota Tacoma SR5, 3.4 V6, 4X4 Xtended Cab Build

I bought this truck in 2011 in showroom condition with 50k miles for $12.5k. The first owner installed a custom slotted grille. Now she has about 127k miles, and more than a few dents. After rolling her into a snow angel on Valentine's Day, I finally decided to turn her into the truck of my dreams. She earned it.

This thread is a whiteboard space for that build. I haven't done much truck work, outside of changing my oil, replacing fenders, and other small projects, so this will be a huge learning process. Any suggestions, tips, etc. are welcomed.

As she sits now:



Plus roof and fender damage:



TIER ONE – First Priorities

Front Suspension Kit, options:

· Camburg Mid-Travel Kit

· Icon Stage 4 System (includes rear)

Rear Suspension, options:

· OME Dakar Leaf Spring Set w/ ALL

· All-Pro Expedition Leaf Spring Kit

Differential:

· ARB Air Locker

Winch:

· Warn M800s

Front Bumper options:

· Armor Tech

· CBI Moab 1.0

· Relentless Fab.

· Shrockworks

Tires:

· General Grabber AT2 33x12.5X15

Wheels, 6X5.5 bolt pattern, options:

· XD Enduro 15x8, black

· American Racing Baja, black

· Fuel DT525 Revolver

Brakes:

· EBC Stage 4 Signature Brake Kit

Skid Plates, options:

· Armor Tech

· All-Pro Off Road


TIER TWO – Under the Hood

· Toyota TRD Supercharger

· URD 7th Injector Kit

· URD AFE Stage 2 Cold Air Intake or K&N Cold Air Intake

· URD THY-507-SC Thorley Header

· MagnaFlow 14-inch Performance Exhaust


TIER THREE – Lighting, Exterior, Interior

· The Retrofit Source Projector Headlights (possible Ambiguous Group Buy)

· Spyder Tail Lights

· Spyder Directionals

· Ridged Industries D-Series driving lights

· Fiberglass Bedsides, Glassworks 4-inch


Here's the stuff I have in hand or on order. Because of work and space, it won't get done until early-mid April:

PURCHASED

· Fiberglass Fenders, McNeil Racing 4-inch

· Rock Sliders, Armor tech

· Rear Bumper w/ Tire Swing Out, Armor Tech

· Waterproof LED Bed Kit, mattgecko

· Miscellaneous LEDs, sealers, gasket for the leaky LEER 100 cap

· Wet Okole Neoprene Seat Covers, TacomaWorld Group Buy

· Carbon Fiber Universal Seat Covers, eBay (a thread on here sold me on these)

· Matte Black Complete Grille and Shell Assembly

· Street Scene Black Speed Grille (I'm not super impressed with this, or the grille and shell assembly. they don't look like they'll attach as secure as OEM, but it's worth a try.)

· Front and Rear O2 sensors, to finally fix that stupid check engine light

INSTALLEDWeather Tech bug and window deflector, mats

AntennaX Off-Road (13") Antenna for Toyota Tacoma

AntennaX Off-Road 13-incher (save your money)

LED dome light

Sony Built-in Bluetooth Receiver

Spray-on bed liner, done by some local jack-wagon


INSPIRATION

whitetoblack's double cab build

45acp's DIVORCED build! - sold me on 33x12.5x15s

 

If you want Allpro skids pretty sure you need to modify it so look into 4x innovations or budbuilt for that. Should be an interesting build. I'll sub.

 

Thanks man. Good to know.

 

You got any other pictures?

 

Before work this morning, I swapped out the dome LED for white, from a 9-piece pack from eBay.



I only needed one bulb, but the bulk pack seemed a better deal. If anyone wants one, send me a PM.



Then I switched out the stock antenna with an

AntennaX Off-Road (13") Antenna for Toyota Tacoma

AntennaX Off-Road 13-incher from Amazon. Not gonna lie, it feels like a piece of junk. The plastic is soft and the end cap isn't glued on straight. I like the short height and squat stature, but had I know about the fit and finish I wouldn't have spent the $16



If I get time later today, I'm going to put hyperlinks in my first post, too. I like it when other guys link direct to the stuff they're using for more information.

 

Here she is in Grand Mesa, Colorado last September. We went to the very end of the motor roads. We were the last pickup for several miles. One day two or three an old timer came by on a quad and said, "I can't remember the last time I've seen a truck up here!" That made the trip for me.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZyBgURf8T0

Here are a few side shots after my wife played bumper cars in New Jersey.





Here she is loaded for a productive fall. That bed liner is a no-name brand some guy in my parent's town did for $500. He's already redone the edge on the tail gate once, and it's starting to peal again already. Next time, I'm going with Line-X or Rhino or another established brand.

 

I have rhino lining and it is a little slippery, line-x is much more for holding things down. And I wanted that antenna X but that short review has me second guessing it.

 

It's only $16 shipped, with Amazon prime, so its not a huge loss if it sucks, but I was certainly disappointed with the feel when I just installed it. One of those things that looks cool at a distance, and like cheap Chinese shit in your hand.

I'm going on a road trip the next two days. I'm going to keep it or scrap it based on reception. I'll keep you posted.

 

Okay thank you, please do.

 

It worked well enough. Didn't notice any poorer reception than the stock antenna. And I do like the short, squat look.

I also picked up cool white LEDs for the dash mod from superbrightleds. Also grabbed a 6 switch plate from paranoid. When the Wet Okoles show up and I install the seat heater, that'll go in.

 

Not sure how much longer it's on sale but here is a carbon fiber shorty antenna that says TRD on it for $8

 

My truck isn't a TRD so I'd feel like a poser!

 

This build was put on hold for snow goose season:



Now that that's done, I'm gearing up for my first overhaul. I pulled the Leer cap, as I have a new bed sealer, third brake light, LED dome light, and LED bed lights to install. Here's how she looked yesterday before a run thru the car wash:



Today I dumped a can of Seafoam in the fuel tank. I felt no difference on the pedal, as I just drove about 200 miles and burned down most of that fuel. I'm going to drive another 200+ back to my cabin on Thursday or Friday then spend the weekend:

• Seafoam'ing the engine thru the oil reservoir and vac line
• New plugs and wires, already ordered at the dealer up there
• Fuel filter
• Differential and transfer case oil change
• AT fluid drain and fill, drain and fill, plus new filter and pan gasket (maybe—still on the fence on this one. It's never been done, but she shifts fine and I hear you can FUBAR it with a change ...)

What else do I need to do, tune-up wise, before I launch into the bed lights, fenders and interior tear down? (My Wet Okole's from the group buy came today.)

 

You need corner lights with Amber in them. Looks funny without it I think. Would be 30$ well spent IMO. And would you be willing to send me a bulb from that bulk pack?

 

I have a set of one-piece projector headlights/corner lights being made now. Hope to have them in a week or two.

 

Who's making them?

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/342693-1st-gen-retrofitting-services.html

Mini h1s, color change directional halos, in these housings:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/361191499135?_mwBanner=1

 

I've made a lot of progress in the last week or so.

I started it off with a can of Seafoam in the gas tank. I drove down a tank and a half of gas, then put half a can in the oil. Ran her for about 50 miles or so, then did the last half can thru the break booster vac line. She didn't smoke nearly as much as I thought, maybe 10 minutes or so.

Next I changed the oil, which was as black and dirty as I've ever seen it. I put new synthetic in at after the Valentine's Day rollover, so it only had about 2,000 miles on it. And I mean this shit was black. I don't know if the Seafoam did it or what.

Next I put in a fuel filter, did the No. 1 o2 sensor, and changed out the front diff, rear diff and transfer case oil.



Getting the bolts off the o2 sensor took vise grips and a shit load of PB blaster, but I got it. The check engine light went off after about 8 miles, then came back on. I cleared it with an OBDII scanner, and the mother threw the code again. I cleared it, and then I got a different code that said the No. 2 sensor was bad. So ...

I replaced that one, and it was a rusted wicked bad. So I took the Dremel out and cut the fucker off.



About half way thru I figured I ruined the bolts, but tried it and couldn't believe I could thread new nuts down it. One side was a little ganked, but with an extra lock washer it held.



The code cleared right away, and now—no more check engine light.

Today I did plugs and new wires. I followed this guide and it couldn't have been easier: http://4runners.org/writeups/sparkplugs/

The crazy part, all the plugs came out covered in oil. Some were dripping. When the Snow Angel rolled, and earned her name, the plugs were covered in oil. The mechanic cleaned them, and she fired up, blowing smoke for about 20 minutes. What I don't understand is how 2,000 miles later there's still oil in there. I figure when after a couple weeks of driving I'll check these new plugs and see if more oil is down there ... But still, it doesn't make sense to me how any oil in there hasn't burned up ...



Lastly, I pulled the seats and took out some of the interior plastic. I'm bed spraying that black and so far it's coming out pretty good.



Tomorrow and Thursday I plan on ripping out the rest of the interior, installing dash LEDs, continuing the paint job, then cleaning the seats and installing my Wet Okole's and seat heaters. My peal & seal insulation hasn't shown up (but I got the vinyl floor liner and Mass Loaded Vinyl for sound proofing) so I probably won't finish the interior until next week. While I'm waiting for that, I'll do the fiberglass front fenders.

Hoorah!

 

Last thing for tonight: I have a K&N filter and deck plate in the mail. When that comes, I'm gonna do the mod, and clean the throttle bottle and MAF sensor while everything is apart.

 

Made good progress last week:









This week: Peal & Seal then MLV line the interior, LED dashlight mod, tail lights.