Anyone else have this?

Right TRD was introduced in 1998

 

And mine has the badge and isn’t TRD

 

I have these badges also but they are not original to my truck. There was a Motorsports edition to the Tacoma but it was short lived. Do you have the VIN to the vehicle and I can run it through my system at work and it will tell me if there is anything special about the truck. It may just be an appearance package.

 

I’ll send you mine, mine has the Motorsports badges original to the truck.

 

Pm'd you.

 

@homegrown_xt I'll PM you mine later for you to run. Badges are original as far as I know

 

Yeah gold badging was always done by request for a specific market population (guess and you'll probably be right). But I have a hunch these carbon fiber badges are legit and have a part number. The OEM supercharged badges use the same carbon fiber style.

 

Basically It's a base model Prerunner with bucket seats instead of a bench seat, alloy wheels with 31's, cruise control, metallic paint, special emblems and some other convenient additions not found on the base model prerunner.

 

Okay, it will probably end up being the same stuff as BartMasters trucks. I'll give it a run and pm you the sheet.

 

I talked to @gunny1005 a while ago regarding the carbon fiber tailgate badges. The badges are a Toyota part with an associated part number. He told me he had to dig up an old paper parts catalog to confirm. Toyota calls the Carbon Fiber 'Black Pearl' in their catalog. They appear to have only been available on 1998 model year trucks.

Here are the part numbers, all of them has been discontinued besides the TOYOTA badge.

Part Number: pt21121023 List Price Core Price Your Price
Pick up box - Exterior trim - Nameplate - Toyota Black pearl - W/o step side 1995 - 2000 $73.03 $0.00 $51.80
Part Number: pt21121024 List Price Core Price Your Price
Pick up box - Exterior trim - Nameplate - tacoma Black pearl - W/o step side 1995 - 2000 $66.75 $0.00 $47.35
Part Number: pt21121025 List Price Core Price Your Price
Pick up box - Exterior trim - Nameplate - prerunner Black pearl - W/o step side 1995 - 2000 $24.19 $0.00 $17.16
Part Number: pt21121026 List Price Core Price Your Price
Pick up box - Exterior trim - Nameplate - prerunner v6 Black pearl - W/o step side 1995 - 2000 $42.37 $0.00 $30.05

 

hmm.. i'd love to get my hands on some of these carbon badges. i can get the two door badges.. but the others are impossible to find.

 

Find a 1998 tailgate with the Motorsports trim and you’ll have em.

 

I already bought a new one lol

 

My '97 extracab had TRD badging, and a locker. Someone could have put the stickers on there I suppose. It was a base model, not even an SR5. The stickers looked different from other older ones I have seem, and they had someone's signature on them. I don't recall who's name it was. Wish I had a picture. At the time, I had no idea what TRDs were, or what the locker was for. Anyone have any idea if it was for real?

 

PM'd you.

 

I have heard the rear lockers were available pre-1998, but were rare. It’s entirely possible if you’re not the original owner someone added it on afterwards.

 

This was over 10 years ago, and I was the third owner. The guy I bought it form was not into trucks, and bought it from a local contractor for use while he was renovating his house. This was my first Tacoma, and I'd still have it if it wasn't bought back by Toyota (with only 65K miles) under the frame rust program for '95.5-'00 model years.

I'm going to look around for some pictures and the VIN number, and maybe start a thread on the mysterious '97 TRD.

 

I can run the VIN for you and PM you the data sheet if you feel comfortable giving me your VIN. I will let you decide if you want to post the sheet on the public forum.
You got my curiosity going with your 97 Taco with a locker.
Let me know.

 

I was looking in my parts catalog and the e lockers were an option starting in Sept. 1996 which would have been sold as a 1997 model.

 

Alright, now I'm obsessed with this. I can't find the folder with the vehicle info and the buy back paperwork from Toyota. I dug out the old digital cameras and found the wrong memory cards. But at least I know which camera I had at the time, and just have find the compact flash card with pictures from the day. I did find pictures of my '01 from the day I drove it home from PA, and my '00 from the day I turned it in to Toyota (it was also a buy back). I bought the '00 with the buy back money from the '97.

The TRD badge was the older style, and it said Toyota Racing Development, and had the signature of somebody named Tony Armond? or something like that. This was on a green extra cab 2.7l auto 4x4, bone stock, 60/40 seat, manual windows.

I'm still looking...