Operation Taco- I finally have one!

Hey TW, this isn't technically my first post, but it kind of is. This will serve as a build thread for me, even though I don't really plan on building it huge or anything right now, just mild tweaks/restoration. I've been looking for Tacomas for about a year; scouring craigslist, cargurus, autotrader, autotempest, and the classifieds here. The used Tacoma prices are really high, so it was tough to find something I felt comfortable getting into price-wise.

I found this one for what I felt was a great deal. It's a 2006 TRD Sport DCSB, ~160k miles, and has a new frame from Toyota approx 2 years ago. Tires were toast, wheels were toast, interior was a mess, head unit was dead, but it has a new frame! So I figure it's essentially a new truck underneath, and it's worth investing in. Without further ado here are some pictures/progress I've made.

The first day I saw it:


After I picked it up:


After cleaning headlights:


The reason the check engine light would come on randomly, and why it kept stalling out:


One coil pack bolt was rounded:


Replacing dead unit with head unit:


Replacing wheels and tires (new tires: Toyo Open Country ATII's) and TPMS Sensors (I programmed the sensors myself with TIS):


Unsticking trailer hitch ball:


Flushing transmission fluid:


I also put in weather tech floor mats, next on the list will be installing a backup camera, as well as outfitting the bed to haul motorcycles. Looking forward to meeting more TW people.

 

looks like you're fixing it up nicely.....welcome!

 

looks great! care to share what you paid for it and/or what state you are in? I have a 2005 that was in rough shape, transmission fluid was black and it had a bad vibration when going into overdrive at partial throttle. Even after a fluid and filter change, it remained. i read a bunch and found this and it made the transmission shift perfectly and has continued to do so:

$8 Lubegard 19610 Instant Shudder Fix

https://www.amazon.com/Lubegard-19610-Tranny-Instant-Shudder/dp/B0002JMLQU

 

Thanks!

As far as price, I paid less than 10K. I had to drive to the middle of PA to get it, but I'm currently in Northern Virginia. Thanks for the tip on the transmission shudder. I don't have that issue, the only thing I noticed was a slightly hard downshift from 2-1. I think the fluid change has remedied this. The fluid that came out of mine was definitely dark, but not totally black. I think it's been changed at some point, but I have no service records from the PO so I figured I would just do it.

 

nice! ive had great luck with mine so far with the new frame. have fun!

 

Welcome to TW . Nice truck.

 

Congrats and welcome!

 

Looks like you need to change your profile from “searching for first Tacoma”

Nice looking truck. Congratulations!

 

Welcome aboard. Great start to get it up to par

 

Welcome to the TW, nice save.

 

Congrats on the truck...Looks like you’re doing all the right things to get to where you want it.

 

Nice rig... Congratulations dude!

 

Looks good!

 

Op. Check this out for your motorcycle needs. Possibly. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/front-rail-tie-down-wheel-chock-system.483012/

 

Nice truck!!

 

Thanks everyone! A lot of what I've done so far was made possible by searching through posts/topics on this forum . And I'm sure I'll need more help.

Thanks for this link! This one is a lot cheaper than the one my friend told me about: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-motorcycle-tie-down-bar-the-best-one-you-can-buy.334216/

I like the welded hoops on the more expensive one, but maybe it's not worth it.

 

So it's been awhile since I posted, I have had to do several things to the truck over the last few months, which has now resulted in one big mega post. I have included pictures after each item mentioned below:

When I bought it, the engine was a little noisy, which I figured was due to the idler pulleys. This was confirmed when I finally got around to changing them (I used OEM pulleys, replaced all of them including the tensioner pulley).



Next, while I was parked with the A/C on, I heard what sounded like a burnout. I also smelled burning rubber. My first thought was that the compressor had seized. The belt showed no signs of being fatigued, and when the noise occurred the belt was still spinning fine. So I left it alone for a couple of months until I had time to properly diagnose. After searching on here, I realized the rubber in the clutch had ripped apart, so the motion of the pulley was no longer spinning the compressor. If you can spin the middle of the pulley face without the outside of the pulley face, your clutch rubber is toast. So I ordered an ebay clutch kit (https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-Complet...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649). It was a royal PITA to change with the compressor still installed, but I was able to get it done. Afterwards I had to have the system recharged because it was low, it's possible it had never been charged before. Since the recharge I have not seen any signs of leaks (UV dye was added during the charge). One footnote is that the A/C compressor cycles on and off every ~20 seconds or so, this I think maybe due to the thermistor in the evaporator since it is cold outside. Apparently this cycling is normal (again, based on reading threads on TW).

New clutch kit on the left, broken one on the right. Note how the center is separated from the pulley face.


In order to bring this truck into the 21st century, I installed the Pop-N-Lock tailgate handle with camera. I'm not sure if it was worth the price yet, but the kit was pretty easy to install. The hardest part was routing the wire through the drain holes in the tailgate. It works great paired with my Kenwood ddx-6704s. One note for others who do this, the Camera + output on the headunit is only suitable for CMOS cameras, it's less than 12V and is not sufficient to power the standard camera that came with the kit.



The rest are just maintenance items, I cleaned the MAF and throttle body. The throttle body looked nasty, just check out the pictures. I have noticed and improved idle and transition from idle to throttle after the cleaning. Also changed the cabin air filter, that was way overdue. Finally I got the compass working again by re-soldering the resistor that always pops and causes the failure.

Throttle body before:

Throttle body after:


Cabin air filter before and after:


Compass repair:



Any questions about the procedures for any of these just let me know. I looked up videos on youtube for a lot of it, and of course referenced several threads on TW.

 

Great thread and you gave me some reminders on things I need to look at!

 

Happy new year TW! As a birthday gift to myself I bought a TRD Catback (PT910-89061) for the truck, It's not quite as loud at high revs as I was hoping, but it sounds pretty nice at low revs and doesn't drone. Basically, my 06 Taco is now a TX pro (wheels and exhaust). I made a video comparing the 2, hopefully it helps other people considering this mod. Install was pretty straightforward.

 

Thank you for that. I’m doing the TRD Exhaust next year and was wondering how it would change things.

Sounds great!