Longtime Tacoma Owner - New to the Forum

Hello TW…. I’m new here. Here is a little bit about me and what brought me here.

I’ve been driving a 2001 SR5 4 Door TRD 4x4 for over 18 years. It was one of the first double cabs in the area when I bought it. Before that, I drove a ’95 4Runner and before that, I drove an ’86 Toyota pickup Xtra Cab. You could probably tell I’m a bit of a Toyota guy. I have always loved the dependability of these vehicles.



Over the years, I upgraded this and that. I finally decided to do another upgrade that I kept seeing on the road.



It was an expensive upgrade……

I mean a really, really expensive upgrade.

It came attached to this……




A little back story on this upgrade is in order.

I loved that ’01 Tacoma. That’s one of the reasons that I drove it for so long. I even considered hanging on to it so that I could give it to my son. He’s 13 now.

I had been eyeing the 3rd Gen Tacomas since they came out. I just wasn’t ready to let go of my ’01.The final decision to do the upgrade came last summer. I had taken my truck in to the dealer for regular service, oil, fluids, etc. I also asked them to look at the brakes because they had started sticking when starting up from a complete stop. I took it in about a week and a half before my family and I were planning on our annual beach vacation.

That should have been plenty of time.

The service department calls me and says that they reproduced the problem and they are going to replace the calipers and disks in the front and the drums and pads in the back. “Don’t worry, we’ll have it done before your vacation.” they said.

I get another call about three days later. The master cylinder has given out. Of course, the truck is old enough that they don’t have parts on hand and they have to order them. That puts the repair well into vacation time. Not good but I’m not going to drive a vehicle where the brakes aren’t working properly.

So…. I asked if they had any Tacomas or Tundras that I could rent for the trip down to the coast. I’m in luck. They have an ’18 Tacoma TRD Off Road. That’s pretty much what I had been eying.

On the trip to the beach, my wife commented that the ’18 Tacoma was really comfortable and had a great ride.

The wife then said, “It’s time.”

I wasn’t quite ready yet, but I started to prepare the old lady for sale. Not the wife you goofs. She’s still going.

I sold the ’01 because my son didn't seem interested in it and the upkeep was going to keep me out of my truck too long while I waited for parts. I went to the dealer, fully expecting that I would be ordering an Off Road with manual transmission and a moon roof.

The thing was, I was kind of on the fence about the manual trans. In one case I really missed the manual. I learned how to drive on manual. I learned how to off-road on manual. I drove those for years. In the other case, I drive in heavy traffic all the time and want the crawl control in the automatic.

I did tell the salesman that I did want to look at the Pro and then test drive an Off Road too. After driving both, I really couldn’t stop looking at the Pro. I had a great ride as well. I thought it was even better than the Off Road.

This last February, I drove off the lot with the TRD Pro. It is an automatic. I know… they supposedly come standard with a manual. I really like this truck.

The snorkel…..

Ha! Do I really need it? No, not unless I’m driving through downtown Houston in the rainy season. It’s cool though. It even turns some heads. I hadn’t experience that since I was driving one of the first double cabs around.

Do I plan on taking it off road? Absolutely! That’s what this truck is for, isn’t it?

Here is my first mod….



Here’s the list of accessories that I have already put on/in the truck.

· A trifold cover

· Cargo net

· Center Console organizer

· Weathertech floor mats (wish I had these BEFORE my son’s paintball birthday party)

· Locking hitch pins. The ones I had for the old truck didn’t fit the new truck. Go figure.

Here’s what I’m considering.

· Wheel/Tire upgrade. I’m really thinking about getting a whole new set of wheels and tires that I can put on for off roading and keep the GY Wranglers on for daily driving. The Wranglers have been great on the road so far. I haven’t decided on how I’m going I’m going to do that yet and I want to see what the stock tires will do in some mild off roading first.

· Kylin's center console cover

· Roof Rack.

· Rocket Launchers.

What brought me to TacomaWorld?

Well… I was searching for some information on the crawl control and a few other things. TW kept coming up and the info I found for the crawl control really helped. Coming from an older truck with none of these bells and whistles, I was having a little trouble with it and the user manual wasn’t helping.

I signed up solely to order the center console upholstery from Kylin. I’m heading over to his thread now to get one.

I figured that since I have been a long time Taco owner, I might stick around for a while.

I look forward to meeting y’all.

 

Welcome to TW Keith

 

Welcome & Hello

 

Welcome Keith. Love the story.
Congrats on the new rig.

 

Great story! Welcome to the family, Keith! Check out the Regions forum under Texas and link up with some north Texas guys! They can help, advise and save you some money on upgrades and repairs! Again, welcome!

 

Welcome to TW

 

Funny how some of us follow a very similar path thru life.

From one Yota lover to another..Enjoy that new truck brutha, and welcome!

Now let’s roll out!

 

Thanks Josh. I'll look up the north Texas guys.

 

I used to watch the "Ironman" Stewart do that....

That was a long time ago.

 

Great! They'll be happy to meet you! If you can't find anything specific to your area, link up with the DFW guys or the general TTC thread to find someone close.

 

Welcome to TW!!

 

Great story and truck! welcome aboard. You will love it here!

 

Welcome!

 

Look at that... I already found some in my city. I am in the DFW area.
Thanks again.

 

You're Welcome!

 

What part of DFW?

 

Allen... Specifically.

 

Not bad, you going to attend the jamboree?

 

Welcome to TW sharp looking truck enjoy!

 

I was going to try. I've got too many things going on at the beginning of May so I probably won't make it this year. I think this is their 14th year now so I'm pretty sure I can plan for it next year.