Finally Getting Around To It Build

I've been a member on here for some time but finally bought the Tacoma I've been searching for, for years! I got my hands on a 03 TRD Off Road Ext. Cab 4x4, 5 speed with only 103K miles! The goal was to buy a Tacoma, build it up, and take it on the road trip of a life time! I DID JUST THAT.



Aug 21-Sept. 15

Lake Powell


Great Sand Dunes National Park


Rocky Mountain National Park


Engineer Pass on the Alpine Loop


California Pass on the Alpine Loop


Black Bear Pass on the Alpine Loop


Black Bear Pass going into Telluride


Utah


Monument Valley


Lake Powell


Aug. 1 2017


May 13 2017


Mar. 11 2017


Jan. 13 2017


Jan. 10 2017




Nov. 10 2016



Oct. 24 2016 DOP



2003 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road

Mods-

Engine-
3.4 V6 5V-FE
Stock gearing
TRD E-Locker
Manual 5 Speed Trans
Fumoto Oil Drain Valve F-103N-Installed
Airaid air intake w/ K&N filter-Installed
Magnaflow muffler-Installed
UltraGauge-Installed

Suspension-
King Coil-overs-Installed
Bilstein 5125 Rear Shocks-Installed
Fox 2.0 Smoothie Rear Shocks-Removed
Old Man Emu 881 front coils-Removed
Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Sport front shocks-Removed
Old Man Emu Dakar rear leaf springs-Installed
Old Man Emu D43XL add a leaf-Installed
Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Sport rear shocks-Removed
BAMF BPV Relocation Bracket-Installed
Wheelers Diff Drop Kit-Installed
Old Man Emu Exhaust Hanger Extension-Installed
Carrier Bearing Drop Kit-Installed
Extended Rear Brake Line-Installed
Old Man Emu Greasable Shackles GS12-Installed
All Pro Axle Relocation Plates-Installed
Wheelers Leaf Spring U-Bolts 9.5-Installed
Generic Aftermarket Front Bump Stops-Installed
Wheelers Rear Super Bumps-Installed
Sway Bar-Removed
CVJ Axles-Installed
Tundra Brakes-Installed

Wheels/Tires-
Black TRD FJ Trail Edition Wheels 16x7- Installed
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac 285/75/16- Installed
1.25 Spidertrax Wheel Spacers-Installed

Old Wheel/Tires-
Stock TRD OR wheels
Cooper Discoverer A/T 3 265/75/16

Armor-
All Pro Baja Series front tube bumper-Installed
Relentless Fab rock sliders-Installed
Low Range Off Road Fuel Tank Skid Plate-Installed
Custom Rear Bumper w/ tire swing out, jerry can holder, & a hi lift mount-Installed
CBI Frame Reinforcement Plates-Installed
All Pro IFS Skid Plate-Installed
All Pro Transmission Skid Plate-Installed

Interior-
JVC Headunit-Installed
Cobra 19 Ultra III CB with Firestick-Installed
Weathertech floormats-Installed
4000 Watt Power Inverter-Installed
Garmin 2589LMT GPS-Installed

Lighting-
42 inch Relentless Rampage LED light bar-Removed
20 inch LED bumper light bar-Removed
2 LED Spotlight pods-Installed
JDM ASTAR LED reverse bulbs-Installed
LED dash lights-Installed
Auxbeam LED F-16 Headlight bulbs- Installed (Spare OPT 7 LED HL Bulbs)
Trail Gear LED turn signals-Installed
CBI Ditch light mounts-Installed
Clear rear turn signal tail lights-Installed

Others-
9.5K Smittybilt XRC Gen II Synthetic Line Winch-Installed
ARB Awning 6.5ft x 8ft-Installed
9.5K Rough Country Winch-Removed
ARE Camper shell
Window Tint
Custom bike holder in bed
Custom made bed platform
Blue Sea Fuse block-Installed
Color matched grille
Rola Vortex roof basket w/ extension-Installed
48' Hi Lift-Installed
Etrailer trailer wiring harness w/ bracket-Installed

$189 SKB 3i-4909-SR SKB iSeries Single Rifle Case Black, 49 x 9 x 5"es

SKB 3i-4909-SR Storage Case for Recovery gear-Installed
Herculiner Roll In Bed Liner-Installed
Extended Rear Diff Breather-Installed
Viair 400P Air Compressor-Installed
5LB Fire Extinguisher-Installed
Shovel-Installed
Fiskars X27 Axe- Installed
Trasharoo-Removed
Maxsa Escaper Buddy Traction Boards-Installed
Smittybilt Hitch Recovery D-Ring-Installed

Maintenance-
2016-
103k-DOP Oct. 30, 2016
105k-Oil change
105k-Rotated tires
106k-Rear O2 sensor
106k-Carrier bearing
107k-All belts replaced
107k-Suspension install
2017-
107k-Wheels/tires install
107k-Air filter
108k-Muffler
109k-Oil change
110k-Lower ball joints
110k-Alignment
111k-Clutch fan
112k-Oil change
112k-Rotated tires
113k-Radiator
114k-Cleaned air filter
114k-AC Condenser
114k-AC Recharged
115k-RTV'd trans. shift lever mating surface
115k-Front differential fluid change
115k-Rear differential fluid change
115k-Transmission fluid change
115k-Transfer case fluid change
115k-Oil change
115k-Rotated tires
115k-Add a leaf
115k-Lower control arms w/ bushings
115k-Alignment cam bolts
115k-Front bump stops
115k-Alignment
115k-Fuel filter
116k-Brakes bled
116k-Upstream O2 Sensor
116k-Tensioner Pulley
117k-Clutch fluid change
119k-Oil change
119k-Rotated tires
120k-Driver inner tie rod
120k-Driver outer tie rod
120k-Passenger inner tie rod
120k-Passenger outer tie rod
120k-Driver sway bar end link
120k-Alignment
120k-Air filter
121k-Passenger sway bar end link
124k-Oil change
124k-Transmission mount
124k-Steering rack bushings
125k-Radiator
125k-Upper radiator hose
125k-Thermostat
125k-Driver side axle shaft seal
125k-Rotated tires
126k-Passenger sway bar bracket
126k-Repainted armor
127k-Air Filter
128k-Oil change
128k-Battery
128k-Battery terminal connectors
133k-Oil change
133k-Rotated tires
135k-Air Filter
137k-Windshield wipers
2018-
138k-Oil change
138k-Rotated tires
139k-Wheelers super bumps
140k-Rear Fox Shocks
140k-King Coil-overs
140k-Total Chaos UCAs
140k-Driver inner tie rod
140k-Driver outer tie rod
140k-Alignment
140k-Driveshaft greased
142k-Air Filter
143k-Oil change
145k-Alignment
145k-Rotated tires
147k-Oil change
147k-Air Filter
148k-AC Compressor
148k-AC Recharged
150k-Oil change
152k-Air Filter
152k-Rotated Tires
152k-Driver Side Door Handle
153k-Greased UCAs
2019-
156k-Oil change
157k-Air Filter
157k-Rotated Tires
158k-Driver inner tie rod
158k-Driver outer tie rod
158k-Passenger inner tie rod
158k-Passenger outer tie rod
158k-Driver CV axle
158k-Passenger CV axle
158k-Alignment
158k-Front Differential Fluid Change
158k-Rear Differential Fluid Change
158k-Transmission Fluid Change
158k-Transfer Case Fluid Change
159k-Valve Cover Gaskets
159k-Spark Plugs
159k-Spark Plug Wires
159k-Camshaft Rear Plugs
159k-Resealed half moons
159k-Intake Manifold gaskets
159k-Cleaned Throttle Body
159k-Cleaned MAF sensor
159k-Tundra Brake Upgrade (Calipers, rotors,& pads)
159k-Carrier Bearing
159k-Rear Diff U Joint
159k-Greased UCAs
159k-Fuel filter
161k-Oil Change
161k-Air Filter
161k-Rotated Tires
161k-Windshield Wipers
164k-Windshield Wiper Pump
166k-Air Filter
166k-Oil Change
166k-Greased UCAs
166k-Rotated Tires
170k-Air Filter
172k-Oil Change
172k-Rotated Tires
172k-Greased UCAs
173k-Smittybilt Winch
173k-Bilstein shocks
173k-Steering rack
173k-Steering rack bushings
173k-Steering fluid flush
173k-Inner tie rods
173k-Lower Ball joints
173k-Alignment
173k-Timing belt kit
173k-Water pump
173k-Coolant change
173k-Thermostat
173k-Air Filter
175k-Driver side CV axle
178k-Clutch
178k-Throw out bearing
178k-Flywheel
178k-Speed output sensor
180k-Oil Change
180k-Air Filter
180k-Rotated tires
180k-Both lower control arms
180k-Alignment
180k-Positive battery terminal
181k-Passenger side CV Axle
181k-Throw out bearing
181k-Back up light switch
184k-Air Filter
2020-
185k-Oil Change
185k-Oil Cap
186k-Rear axle U-Joint
186k-Carrier Bearing
186k-Front Differential Fluid Change
186k-Rear Differential Fluid Change
186k-Transmission Fluid Change
186k-Transfer Fluid Change
188k-Clutch Fluid Change
188K-Parking Brake Adjusted
189k-Air Filter
189k-Rotated Tires
189k-Greased Trans. Pivot Ball
190k-Oil Change
190k-Greased UCAs
192k-Lower Ball Joints
196k-Sold

Notable Trips-
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-4-years-of-slowly-planning-road-trip.510142/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/roaming-around-cali.611576/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-southwest-u-s-trip.615313/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/pnw-and-canada.628860/#post-21530628

To do list-
Extended front brake lines-Awaiting install

 

This isn't my first 4x4 or Toyota, here are some of my older rides...

1996 Jeep Cherokee I bought for $1000 and beat the heck out of.

Originally, I wanted a 4Runner, but I found the jeep first. Then right before I deployed, I found the 4Runner I was looking for all along! My 1985 4Runner 5 speed 4x4 with the solid axles and 22RE. Unfortunately, it needed more work than I wanted to deal with and I wanted something a little newer.

When I bought it


When I sold it


During all this car hopping I always had my old Ford that I had since high school. 1998 F150 4.6 V8, 4x4, and a manual tranny. I loved that truck, but I knew I always wanted a Tacoma. The Ford was always a northern truck and was slowly rotting out due to rust. Here's a few pics of the ford.

When I bought it



The latest pic when I drove her to the outer banks!


And now for the daily driver, so I can use the taco as an adventure/truck/camping rig

2008 Honda Civic SI

 

Anyways, it took me forever to find a truck that had exactly what I was looking for. About a month ago(Oct 30 2016) I found it in Charlotte! It had the TRD Off Road package with the factory skids, rear diff locker, 4x4, 5 speed manual tranny, and only 103K miles! They only wanted $8,800 for it! I jumped on it immediately! Only thing was, that I was in Charleston, SC and it was in Charlotte. Luckily I had most of the day off and gave the lady a call and she said she had someone looking at it at that time, another at noon, and then me at 2:00. So, I had to gamble driving 3 hours for a truck that might be gone by the time I got there. I took the gamble and made the trek up to Charlotte. When I got there, the person that previously test drove it dropped it off at a Goodyear to get looked over. So, I had to wait until they got the truck back. The dealership was getting ready to close and they decided to get the truck back from Goodyear for me to check out. The lady called me back saying I could come back and check it out. While I was about 15 minutes away another person came to buy it but luckily the lady wouldn't sell it since I had been waiting all day! Got back to the dealership, fell in love, paid in cash and drove back to charleston! While I was there the lady said that she had it posted for 1 day and had 15+ people calling about it and wanting to pay more than her asking price! Lucky me!

Here she is in all her stock glory!

 

Nice looking truck, look forward to reading about your build as it progresses

 

So far, I've had the truck about a month and put almost 4,000 miles on it! I knew right away I would get rid of the truck bed tool box and get a camper shell. I posted the tool box on Craigslist and instantly had a guy interested! We agreed on a time and place to meet and that was that. Called the guy the next day saying that I was still at work and might be a few minutes late and he was all confused saying I had the wrong number and all. So, I went to the place we were suppose to meet and no one showed up. About an hour later I get a call from the old guy and his call started like this... "You must think I'm some sort of @$$hole, I am so sorry! I completely forgot"! We decided to meet at the original place in 15 mins for real this time. We got there and the guy calls me over to his car, cautiously I go over there(Craigslist people), and he opens the door and hands me a cake! The guy felt bad for being late so he bought me a cake and paid full asking price! What a guy!
Next I knew I wanted a camper shell so I hopped on Craigslist again and found a color matched, carpeted, sliding tinted windows, locking, ARE camper shell just 15 minutes away! Went to pick it up later that day and once again this guy had a bunch of people wanting to buy his camper shell!
After all that, I went back home to Ohio on leave. On my way home I stopped by NC to pick up some rock sliders and light bar from LCS15! His truck looks great BTW! While I was on leave, I had some time to focus on the truck a little. Gave her an oil change, rotated the tires, installed power inverter, and fixed my dash lights. My dash lights hadn't worked since I bought the truck. Ripped apart the whole dash, replaced all the bulbs, changed dimmer switch and rewired a wire I found dangling from rear bumper( P/O must have had a trailer brake). Still, nothing worked, so, I traced the wire all the way back to the front and took the driver side kick panel off and found a little green and red wire stripped. Looked up to my dimmer switch and saw a little green and red wire, connected the two and BAM, I have dash lights! Unfortunately, I still didn't have HVAC lights. I remembered someone said that if you replace the bulbs win LEDs they might not work so I changed them back to the old bulbs and everything worked!


Here's the working dash lights.


I previously installed a Pop Lock on the tailgate but someone tried breaking in and broke it while I was home.
Getting the old truck ready to sell I took the old stereo I had in the Ford and installed it in the taco!


Around the same time I jumped on the group buy going on and got some new weather techs, always loved them!



Having dealt with rust issues with my Ford I knew that I wanted all the rust removed from the taco. The taco had a little rust spots on the frame that I wanted to get taken care of. Had the welder take care of that when I got my rock sliders put on!

Here's the rust spot after(sorry, forgot to take a before pic)


And here's the rock sliders mounted! Thanks @LSC15!





Finally, after doing a ton of research, I placed my order for a full OME lift! Now we wait!

 

Looks good man. Sliders look way better after I shortened them. Let me know if you need help putting that lift on. I also got a set of 4 genuine trail team wheels back at home in the mountains new in TRD boxes

 

I would definitely be interested, I texted you.

 

I'm back home right now. No cell service

 

How long are you there for and what part of NC?

 

Finally had some time today and replaced the windshield wipers, installed light bar and looked at O2 sensor. Went underneath the truck and found that the aft O2 sensor wasn't even attached! Just hanging on by the bolts with no nuts!


Luckily I already have one on order, after that I installed the light bar with a buddy, pretty easy to install. Turned out great! I'll get some pics later when it's dark out to see the light output.
Here's some pics of it installed

 

Got some pics of some night shots of the light bar!

Regular headlights, can barely see it on the dumpster

Here's one with the light bar, can't even tell the headlights are on

And here's some on a street, head lights only

Light bar + headlights

 

Good looking truck! good progress too

 

Here you go...

 

My LED reverse lights came in today from JDM ASTAR and they are wayyyy better than stock bulbs. If your thinking of getting back up lights but don't want to pay for them I would highly suggest these as a starter!

Here's the packaging



Here's a comparison

This ones with stock bulb on passenger and LED on driver side

This is the best pic I could get of the stock bulb on the passenger side


Here's the final product

Just to give you guys an idea, that shed is in the very back of the yard, with the trash can in the way


In other news, I got an email saying that my OME lift is enroute but delayed due to weather. Can't wait for it to get here!

 

Nice looking truck and project I will keep an eye out for you when I am in the low country

 

Thanks man! You have a good looking truck yourself! Probably won't see the truck out and about for a little while since the list of things to get done to it keep piling up. But none the less slowly but surely it's getting somewhere.

 

Nice truck! What is the list of truck needs? We want to hear.

 

Put the lift on when it gets here, replace rear drive shaft carrier bearing(worn,getting vibrations), replace all the drive belts(they are starting to squeal), caulk an area in engine bay where water is entering the passenger side floor(noticed the water in carpet when replacing O2 sensor). That's a majority of the stuff I would like to get done by the end of the year. Nothing to crazy but just need to find time to get it done.

 

Got some work done on the truck today! Changed all the drive belts, replaced the rear window latches, and replaced the rear drive shaft carrier bearing!

For the window latches, the pins that hold the latches in were too big so I ended up drilling the holes bigger and it worked out. They sit a little loose in there but they do the job.

I was having some driveline vibrations at around 60-70 mph and I read that the driveshaft bearing might be worn. So I went underneath the truck and what do you know, there was some definite play in the bearing. Got it replaced and ended up keeping the front part of the driveshaft on and the bearing just slides off. Put the new one back on and good as new. When I was underneath the truck I noticed when the truck was running that some air was coming out of the mounting surface for the O2 sensor I just changed. Tomorrow I'll put some RTV on there to seal it. Another project for tomorrow is finding out where some water seems to be coming from getting my passenger carpet wet. I thought it was from rain getting in but I dried it out the other day, it didn't rain after that and now there's water. So I'll dig into that tomorrow. Still waiting on lift to arrive...

Anyways here's a pic of the new bearing, kinda a bad pic but it was getting dark by the time we got done.

 

Looked into the water leak today and ended up taking the front fender off trying to locate where it could be leaking. Unfortunately, taking off the fender in order to gain access to where I thought was the leaking point wasn't needed. Poured a pitcher of water onto the lower part of the windshield and water started coming into the cab so I put some silicone in those areas. Hopefully this works, and hoping for the best.