New XtraCab Tacoma Owner - In need of some advice - St Pete/Tampa/Sarasota FAM

Hello Everyone,

I recently just bought a 2001 XtraCab SR5 4WD Tacoma in Impulse Red(Orange now due to sun Fade). This was a one owner Florida truck with 201k miles on it. With zero Frame rust. Paid $6800 which I think is a tad too much, but couldn't let it slip away. I do wish the truck had the e-locker option, but living in Florida. I wont be doing much rock crawling. Just some fun in the sand and mud.

I've already fixed the minor issues... Rear window latch, Front window motor, and radio deck.

Tho a few issues still linger, and I'm in need of some advice.

The truck currently has the tweeting/squeaking sound from the passenger airbag, does anyone have any good suggestions to make this go away cheaply and quickly?

The truck also seems to struggle when braking from 10mph to 0mph. It feels rough in comparison to when braking 50mph-10mph. Could this be due to the drums being 200k miles old? first car with drums so not very familar with them. Any advice regarding this will be greatly appreciated. or what might be causing this rough portion of coming to a stop.

Due to this I am now looking to upgrading the suspension and brakes, since rotors and pads are already on their way out as well.

I'm mainly using the truck as a cummuter in St Pete, So I'm looking for a cushy ride, that I can then dial in off road. It seems the only reasonable option for this is the Rancho Rs9000XLs. I'v researched some of the forum, and have found some mixed reviews. Quite a few of these reviews are from 4-5 years ago. So I was wondering if anybody has bought them recently and would like to provide some feedback. Is there another option that people like, cruising around city streets on? I've read the Bilstein has a OEM feeling option, and then a firm option, but no adjustment ability.



I am also looking to upgrading the brakes too the 231mm big brake kit. I've Read that LCE Perfromance is a good bolt on formula. Is it better to just buy the tacoma to tundra brake line kit? and then piece together the rotors/calipers/pads. Anybody save $200 by doing it this way. Or is there a different option that I should look into? I also understand that I'll need to upgrade from my Stock Steel wheels is this true?

I apologize for the lengthy read, but thought it would be better to put everything in one place.

Thanks for reading! John

 

Check to see if the airbag recall is for your year taco. Im not sure if it is but Im sure you can find it searching through the search options.

For the brakes, it could be they just need to be bled, and get some fresh brake fluid in there. Might as well do that when you upgrade your brakes with the tundra caliper/rotor. Dont get the kit, unless you already have hard lines connecting your brake calipers. I just got the wheelers offroad steel braided front brakelines for my truck and the powerstop calipers. The brake lines are also a nice upgrade and will cancel out your need for the hardlines to the calipers. Sometimes these calipers are a but off speck and need dual crush washers when connecting the lines to them, mine did not, but a friend of mine did. Cant say if they will fit a that wheel or not...@mechanicjohn has a mock up you can use to see if it fits your wheels.

As far as suspension goes. Icon has a good onroad offroad shock, but probably better just getting some old man emu shocks. People seem to like them and they arent too pricey. Icon Fox's, king, and ADS all offer great performance shocks that require maintenance, but are fully adjustable. I have icons but I have changed them quite a bit

 

If you want cushy, don't get bilstein 5100s.