Finally found the Taco I've been looking for

Hello Tacoma world! Nice to finally join. Yesterday I just drove home my new to me Tacoma. A Red 2004 double cab short bed 4x4. I've been wanting this body style Taco for years. Never could find the right truck till now. Its got 119,563 miles on it. Its a very clean truck. I'l get pics up when I can. Sooo insanly busy. I am a very rare lung cancer survivor. The LC caused major brain tumor issues. I'm a near 5 year cancer survivor. I should have died from this a long time ago. I just keep surviving everything. I have 23 hours of brain tumor surgery, and 31 total hours of cancer surgery, but I still am walking and talking just fine. At or near 100% as anybody possibly could even just surviving all this. Anyway my plan for this truck is a rock toy. Going to straight axle swap it. Throw some money at it and build a nice wheeler. More to come. My brain hurts, tired. Will post up with pictures asap. Later.


Rob

 

Welcome, and congratulations for EVERYTHING!!

 

Than you, appreciated. I could not be more happy with the purchase. My buddy drove it home while I drove my Chevy crew cab home from buying it. He said it drove very well. few minor things noticed. got a clunk in drive train that needs to be addressed. needs new tires but will be lifting it ad buying offroad wheels and tires so that will wait for now.

 

For the clunk, start with the obvious, bad U-Joints, and go from there.

 

Wow, your cancer survival is amazing! Congrats on the new ride and welcome to TW.

 

Congrats

1st gen Double Cabs command a premium and are nice trucks. I have one.

Clunk is likely axle wrap

 

Could be that the clunk is just from dry u-joints that need grease, when I greased mine on my '04 it helped with the rough clunking I was feeling in the drivetrain after shifting gears. I think there are 6 zerks on the driveshafts (front and rear) if I remember correctly, get some moly/lithium grease and a grease gun and put a few pumps in each zerk.

 

Sorry for the late update. So I've had a good automotive repair shop I've been dealing with since I was 16. Now 49. I've always done most my mechanical work but for some things of course its good to have a good shop you can rely on. Always taken care of me and many many others I and they have recommended. Taco is at the shop now. Should get a call anytime this week to come pick it up. But they said it is a solid truck. I did good he said. With this and my 06' Chevy crew cab Duelly LBZ diesel 4x4 I found and bought about 6 months ago. So I have my tow vehicle. Bought it with little over 48,000 on it, with a CST 6" lift installed already. Big dang truck drives sooo good for what it is. Truck looked and was and is immaculate. I paid for it but not too bad considering how clean it is. Again, my mechanic said I scored on another super clean truck for a good deal. 2 for 2 but I am done buying cars or trucks unless I decide to get a new Honda Civic Turbo Touring sedan to save fuel. I test drove the 17' Hatchback. Has same 175HP motor. It was nice. plenty of power too. Think I may like the Touring model a little better.

Practicality between the two will probably be my deciding factor. going to figure out how much the new Taco costs to drive vs a payment and a new Civic. I don't honestly like the idea of daily driving a my new to me Tacoma with 120k on it, and continuing to rack up the mileage on it too. Buy a Honda and baby my Super clean low mileage Chevy tow rig, and play Toy Tacoma too. Daily drive an affordable new Honda. Then I still have my back up 2nd daily driver Tacoma pickup truck for home depot runs, and the Honda as my DD. Then I can get to work on the Taco too. Already working on my Chevy Crew cab getting it ready to go drive to Oregon to pick up the New Northern Lite truck camper I ordered. Supposed to be in soon so I'm Truck Camper and Ranch Work Horse Truck prepping my Chevy crew cab for work life on a ranch. Winch bumper, off road lights, programmable tuner for a tow power upgrade, Diff covers for cooler running diff temps, whatever I can do for reliability and longevity. Probably going to do exhaust as well. Its already got the bed line X'ed. I want to get new black Duelly wheels since the truck is white. Sell off these Crome XD Duelly wheels that are on it.

 

Another thing I'll share with you all is while surviving through this cancer and all these brain tumors and surgeries is I've been working for several years between the 4 brain surgeries at starting my very own CNC Machine shop and full Custom fab shop. Ive been a machinist for 23/24 some odd years. Actually been away from it as a earning career for over a decade. But its my all time love. I will Always be a proud machinist first and for most. Skills is where its at. Started in my first house I bought and lost due to the cancer and financial hardship it caused. I currently have a 1900 sq ft shop in a very nice industrial complex I rent. Rented here since Jan. 2015, just re-upped my lease for 2 more years. I currently have a bought new in 13 and highly optioned TM2P Haas full 3 axis CNC toolroom mill, and a Bridgeport EZ Track full 3 axis CNC/manual mill. Can be manually used as well with hand dials. I have 2 manual engine lathes, with up to a 22"D X 33"L turning capacity. With a 29" diameter capacity with the bed way saddle removed. Length capacity is the safe clearance from the bed casting close to the length of the saddle itself. Haven't ever removed it and never plan to unless I absolutely have to. So I have no idea how long the saddle is. Its still a new to me lathe with no power to it just yet. Working on electrical so to speak now.

Also have a new National 16Ga. x 52" Hydraulic HD shear and a 52" capacity Mittler Bros Ultimate Box & Pan Brake. I've got some precision Blanchard ground jig & fixture tables for welding. Working on a nice TIG set up. Have a Miller 180 Autoset MIG and Miller Thunderbolt 220v Stick setup. Looking at getting a Bendpac full size truck crew cab, say 15K capacity Truck Lift in my shop asap. I've got a 73' K5 Blazer project with about 300 feet of 2" DOM cage tube in it, all 1 ton stuff under it. 454 big block for it. Crazy man hours into it. Also An 89 Fleetside crewcab with a 454 in it thats a clean crew cab project in a million pieces lol. Ive got sooo much money in parts and fab time in all my projects. Now I bring home a yota too lol. And another crew cab. Technically my 3rd. But I've had 4x4 Chevy suburbans that are 4 door of course too. I like my trucks with more doors, but no, not a fan of the More door Nova, other then what it actually was used for lol. If you watch that show you'll know what I'm talking about lol.

I have a custom built 8 foot solvent tank parts washer I built years ago and had powder coated bright Orange. Sooo much easier to clean a full axler assembly in no time being able to let it near full submerge soak for 2 or 3 days in solvent before a good cleaning. Also have a 150/240 Ton capacity Scotchman Iron Worker. I can shear 1/2 thick mild steel 6x6 angle and any size smaller. Flat bar and plate. I can punch up to 1 7/8 hole thru 1" mild steel plate and anything smaller. I can shear up to a 24" wide X 3/4 thick mild steel plate. Amd anything smaller. Ive got a 20" capacity vertical band saw and a crappy small 6" horizontal band saw. Hay it built my entire cage and parts washer too.

Not currently taking on any outside work. Working on developing my own product line of parts, tools, widgets. ALLLL kinds of custom CNC machined goodness and fabricated cool off road truck stuff. Among just a small bit of things I want to build and create. Had gotten myself back in Machinist trade school after being laid off. Had to temporarily drop the course due to having to have the 4th surgery about 6 weeks ago or so. ASAP, I need to get back into the course.. Started that class 3 weeks after surgery #3 just months before the 4th surgery. It was an advanced CNC training teaching up to 5 axis machine programming. Bound and determined to complete that course!

 

That is awesome Rob! Thank you for sharing your story. You earned the truck and I hope it brings you some great joy.