❓Just bought 2001 Tacoma- Help a girl out with questions?

2001 Tacoma 4x4 automatic Double Cab (177k miles): (it's got some things need fixing & have some questions)...

• Would this be a some kind of security alarm?

If so, how can I get it working?

• Headlights (previous owner had HIDs conversion installed. I recently upgraded them to LED's): Why doesn't it have a "headlights still on" warning chime? And Highbeams dash light indicator doesn't come on, when Highbeams are on. How could I fix that?

• Tires are rubbing inside wheel well... Have Falken Rocky Mountain 285/75/16 tires and MB Motorsports wheels, with a 2.5" Lift (??) (Not exactly sure of any of the details of lift/suspension, etc.) Also has Leveling kit installed. (Again unsure about the details)... How would I go about cutting/trimming to remedy this? And how much?

Input and advice Greatly appreciated! Cheers.
-Lisa

 

It looks like an alarm to me, but no idea how to get it running, my truck had something like that and it never worked, except randomly going panic mode on me once, so I removed the speaker for it and now just have the little red light.
I have aftermarket HID's in mine and I have the warning chime if I leave them on. I don't have high beams at all though.

As far as the rubbing, it looks like some of the plastic liner has been cut to try and help, hard to tell in your pic but under that is something called the pinch weld (look up pinch weld mod) basically a small piece of the body that sticks out, it will need to be beaten flat or cut off. That should help a lot but won't for sure take care of all the rubbing. It could also just be not aligned perfectly and that is causing part of it.
I would do the pinch weld and cut out the plastic liner, and if it still rubs check the alignment, but depending on your wheels backspacing it might just be a fact of life.

 

Passenger seat eject module??

Def needs some cutting/trimming if your going keep those 285's

 

Welcome to Tacoma World! The most expensive free membership you'll ever have.

The red button thing appears to be part of an alarm but I'm not familiar with that one.
The Head light issue from what I know is just part of having LED's. LED's are a diode so no power can get past the bulb to turn on the high beam indicator or chime.
The rubbing you need a BIG F'n Hammer and do the pinch weld mod.

 

I had to do the pinch weld on my truck just going from one set of 31's to another because of wheels with different back spacing, imo it needs to be done on basically any truck not staying on stock wheels and tires. Used a benchmade and a framing hammer

 

Welcome.
Not sure about the other questions but I can almost 100% gaurentee the rims are MB Vdrive. Same as what I rock, blacked out like yours.

 

Hot damn that's a sweet truck

 

And yes OP as Jonny 9 and Nick mentioned...Pinch weld mod.

 

Ghetto fix for the LED lights: Purchase these two connections from Amazon,

9003 H4 Male and Female Wire Harness

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NYH9YE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. You will then splice and solder the two female ends (that connect to the bulbs), with the one male end, creating a Y cable. One female goes onto the LED bulb, and put an incandescent bulb on the other. Then slide the incandescent into something like a little tomato juice can to protect it from getting knocked around and broken. I put this Y on the driver side, and there is a nice hole in the front inner fender where you can locate the extra bulb to hide any light escaping and protect it. The incandescent bulb provides the needed resistance to keep the chime, high beam indicator, and auto off (if you have that) all working as intended.

 

^ no, don't bother.

get this instead: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...ad-resistor-h4-led-headlight-bulbs/2932/6284/
one simple plug in, no splicing.

also, with the 01-04 we got "courtesy lights" which automatically fade the interior lights out and when you shut off the truck and open the door, all lights go off. this is a safety feature to prevent having the lights drain the battery. no more door chimes unless you have the key in and door open.

 

Funny thing was, I tried one of those resistors (not from same source, but same sort of product), and it didn't work for me. Hence, my ghetto version!! LOL So OP, try the "store bought" first!

 

yeah, some Amazon and eBay junk doesn't work. I trust SBL products. I've been using this module for a couple of years now myself.

 

a radio install shop "should" be able to tell you either how to get the existing alarm functioning or take it out and put another one in.

 

Gonna have to trim that plastic and most likely trim and/or beat in the metal pinch weld behind the tire. An angle grinder works well to notch it first so you can fold it with a hammer, or just cut a piece out entirely. Or, could go down on tire size to 265/75s....1" smaller. Even those sometimes require trimming depending on your wheels.

 

Yes! That's what they are! However, the previous owner seems to have only wrapped the wheels in black, as you can see here in this pic... Is it possible to just paint them black instead? So to avoid this horrid peeling off look.

 

Hmm... You know, I never checked(or at least noticed), if it had had the chime with the previous hid's... Oh but the dash light never came on, because the hid's only had the low beams. The new LED's now have both low/hi beams. (Which are awesome by the way! Especially given that I live on a ranch, off dirt roads).


Low beams

Hi beams

 

Rip all that alarm stuff out as neatly as you can.....if you don't know what it is, kill it....
It could cause ignition issues if you don't...

 

How does the truck ride?bump handling....
If it has a 2.5 lift then why would it need leveling kit?
Not sure about all that...

 

i definitely had the same issue running 285/75 nrg at first with slight rubbing, even with a proper alignment. luckily all it took was a slight trim off the fender, trimmed some of the plastic in the tire well, and (if you have a grinder/cutoff wheel) trim off a bit from the cab mount. you can pretty much see where the tire rubs up against those pieces.