2001 Regular Cab Rebuild

Updates as of 1/22/18:

New Grille
Under headlight fillers (not installed yet)
New thermostat and gasket
Upstream A/F sensor (ordered, shipped)
Cleaned MAF



I had a few issues that had to be resolved and I've been doing some troubleshooting with the truck. I started throwing some CEL codes so I bought a code reader and started trying to diagnose my problem. I started by cleaning my MAF which improved how the truck ran, but it didn't clear my codes. I have ordered a new Denso upstream A/F sensor that I hope will fix the issue.

I also lost heat a couple weeks ago and my temperature gauge quit working. I originally thought it was my coolant temp sending unit, but with no heat, I decided to replace the thermostat first. The new thermostat from Conicelli took care of all of the issues related to it. My gauge works fine now and so does the heat.

These pics also show the TRD sport wheels with the new 1.25" spacers mounted. I'm really enjoying how it looks.

A crappy last pic shows the truck at a WMA in NW Georgia where I was fishing for trout. This will be a major purpose for the truck. I love to camp and fish, and I hope this truck will take me to many new beautiful places to do both of those.

 

Got my A/F sensor! I'm going to install it tomorrow. I also found a set of brand new bushwhacker 3" flares that I'm going to go pick up in the morning. If I don't like them, I'll post them up here in the for sale
section.

Also, while I'm wrenching on the truck tomorrow, I'm going to swap my spark plugs and do an oil change. There's no telling when the plugs were done last, and I'm doing short interval oil changes for the first 10k just to keep an eye on the oil since my aunt neglected maintenance.

I picked up the plugs from my local Toyota dealership, and I bought the A/F sensor from Rock Auto. Great service and fast shipping as always. I also went by the local tire shop and had a used BFG rugged terrain I had mounted to my spare because I realized I didn't have one.

Pic:

My 2nd gen and my fiance's DD Camry in the background. We are a Toyota family.

 

Well I knocked several things off my to-do list today!

I fixed my broken ground from my negative battery cable to the engine bay. I used a larger, more flexible piece of wire this time.


I also replaced the post connector on the end of the battery cable. The old one was corroded and had cracked almost all the way across.

Old one:


I cut the old one off and stripped some of the insulation off so I could add this new one:


I also switched out my Air/Fuel Sensor with the new Denso one I got. It was a very easy job. It took about 10 mins because the nuts holding the sensor in weren't rusty at all, which slightly surprised me.


Here's a pic of where mine was located:

And last but not least, I hit my faded old hood with some plastidip. I left the center of the hood black. I might change it later, but for now I like how it looks.


I'll post some pictures tomorrow with the hood mounted. I ran out of daylight today.

 

Here's a couple of pics with the hood mounted. I really like how it looks. It should help with glare too. I think my hood hinges are a little tweaked and it's sitting slightly high on the right side. Not enough to bother me for now, but I'll replace the hinges soon. I think it's come a long way since I got it!

 

I'm caught up with most of what I want to do for the time being! Which was mostly maintenance related .

As I said, I switched out the old A/F sensor and that cleared the three codes I was throwing! I can't explain how happy I am to look at my gauges and not see a check engine light! My fuel mileage also improved considerably.


We took the truck out this weekend to explore a couple new areas of a WMA near my house. No vehicles allowed, but I took a couple of pics as we hiked around. A small start to the many places I hope to take this truck.




These pics are from Otting WMA in Cloudland, GA if anyone was wondering .

 

What exactly is going on in this pic?

 

The trail through this WMA goes across large exposed rocks. I believe this is the result of water on the exposed rocks in this area. I'm honestly not sure, I just thought the design work was really interesting. I've done work on archaeological sites, so I'm constantly looking for things left behind by people in the past. I wondered at first if this was some kind of man made designs, but my geologist friend told me otherwise.

 

Very cool!!! I really don't know too much about archeology other than I was always interested in it.

Back when I was doing field work we would always find arrowheads and that was just an unreal experience for me.

Have a couple buddies that got delay into it.

 

The next project for the truck is addressing the terrible rear suspension. We know Tacoma's are infamous for their leaf springs and the issues related to them. My Pawpaw compounded this problem by towing heavy, farm-related items with this little truck. The rear springs are sagging, and the stock Bilsteins have seen better days. Riding on a forest service road with any weight in the back is essentially riding on the bumpstops.

I got a price and shipping quote to order my front and rear shocks from @Wheeler's Off-Road Inc, and I'll be doing that in the next week or two. Along with u-bolts, bushings, and a couple other necessities. However, before ordering the shocks, I'd like to have my rear leaf pack finished. I have plans to diy a custom leaf pack. I'm sure a lot of people on here are familiar with the idea of "spring refurbishing" or building a custom leaf pack using other manufacturers disassembled leaf packs.

My plan is to reuse one of my factory leaves, but build a custom pack using several Chevy leafs I have taken from several other leaf packs. I may or may not use my overload again, and I have an AAL that I can add as well. It'll be a little trial and error, but I think I'll have a great, functional leaf pack for practically nothing except elbow grease.

My fiance's father loves Chevrolet's. If it's not a Chevy, he's generally not interested. I've gotten most of my leafs and leaf packs from his collection. He does occasionally help me with the Tacoma, but he constantly reminds me it isn't a Chevy. Which I remind him I'm proud of

Couple of pics from what I'm working with:


A set of Chevy 63's and a leaf pack/shackles from a long wheel base 70s model C10. This should be fun!

 

Awesome! What kind of field work? That's kind of how it started for me. My family farmed a lot and we found arrowheads after the fields were plowed.

Occasionally we found tomahawks or grindstones. The coolest thing I ever found I think was an old water jug. It was buried in mud along a creek I was fishing in. I got my quad stuck in the mud and spinning the tires brought this to the surface! It stayed in a local University for a while but they gave it back to me several years ago and it's on display in a cabinet in my house. They said it was from early settlers in the area. The design work had supposedly not been seen below North Carolina up until I found this in Northeast Alabama .

 

Whoa!!! Now that's really special!!! (What a way to find it too)

Doing land surveying. That's still what I do, just not in the field anymore.

I need to pull my collection out, it's been a good while since any new ones went in. So they have but hiding.

 

Post some pics when you do! I love this kinda stuff. I worked for a surveyor for a year doing some CAD work. The field work wasn't as interesting though. Mostly cutting sight lines in the thick woods of Alabama. Haha

 

Oh yeah! Some are more skilled with the machete than others lol

 

Nice job on the truck,looks real good. Great “Fishing Car”, it should take you on many adventures.

 

Thanks! I really appreciate it. I'm looking forward to it. We are already planning a few trips to really break it in.

 

Just looked for my points and they are still packed up. That's what happens when you get married and woman moves in

 

I haven't updated this in forever. I haven't done much due to a busy work schedule but I did build a bed rack. I picked up some fabtech fox coilovers and am on the lookout for some leaf springs and rear shocks.

I'm hoping to build a set of sliders in the next few weeks, as well as a rear bumper. Hopefully I will have some off time with the holidays coming.