What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Yes, very affordable compared to OEM

 

Frame and bed rust repair day 1

 

Well I finally got off my lazy ass and installed my rear Bilstein B6 4600 shocks. I must have set a new record for the longest time installing 2 shocks. Really glad that's done, now I need to do the front coil overs. Found a really good deal for toyota coil springs for $152 bucks a piece. Not bad for factory coil springs for 03 DC 4x4 TRD. Would you spend the cash and go ahead and replace them or just reuse the old ones. Currently have 139k miles on truck.

 

Niiiiice! I'm dying to know how the ride changed after doing the rear shocks only. What do you note different? How would you describe the changes in the ride??? it's not often we get to ask that about only one component being changed, usually it's in conjunction with other items. So I'm a lil excited to hear what you can say about it

 

@cruiserguy I don't know. that job whipped my old ass so bad, I haven't taken it for a spin. Tell you what. I'll go drive down a shitty road right now and report back.

 

Oh, nooo man take it easy kick back, you're fine. And I'm more curious actually how it affected your regular day to day drive, the change in that, not necessarily off road or dirt road.
Nice job on getting the job done though hombre. It doesn't take much of that kinda work to get you whooped when you're not used to it! Even when we're getting older, it feels hella accomplishing to do that type of stuff fo ourselves. Like my pops still does his own work on everything pretty much. And he's 65...one cool old man

 

I am pleased and thankful to say that my Raptor Liner paint job is completed. I feel that I did a proper job with preparation, good attention to small details, and am well pleased with the outcome. It is exactly what I expected.





I do still need to paint the front bumper, and will also do the rear as I have plenty of black Raptor left. I had to reconfigure the hoops on the front bumper, as I had not left enough room to easily take the grill in and out, so cut them all apart and rewelded.

 

Freaking awesome man. While I understand it's not everyone's cuppa, I personally think it looks great

 

Did reg cabs not come with fender flares? No holes in the fenders looks clean.

 

what front bumper is that?

 

Nice! What springs did you go with upfront and what setting did you put them on? I have stock springs on the top setting, the ride is not terrible, but I could be better...thinking of swapping the springs out soon for something I can put on the lower setting, yet still get the same stance.

 

Ready for paint and wheels

 

CBI Moab DIY So having to reweld the hoops is all on me!!

 

nice!!! Wanting to put a bumper on my 04 DC eventually. Trying to venture away from ARB and Trail-Gear, which is what I had on my 2000 Tacoma

 

It was my "learning to weld" project. Followed it up with a NWTI rear.

 

well I took the truck for a test drive, rides good. Nose seems to be lower now that new shocks are on the back. I think it just accents the need for installing the new front shocks.Rear seems stiffer in cornering, and the nose still dives going through a dip in the road. Still not decided on wether to buy new coil springs, but I'm leaning that way. If I replace them, I don't have to worry about them for another 140k miles or so.

 

Looks good, I have always liked that look.

 

How many cans did it take?

 

@Seagull233 , looks nice, what color is that. I might have to do this as an option one day when my paint is all faded out. how many gallons did you use grey and black.

 

I used the 8 bottle kit. Each bottle winds up being about 32 oz. of material to spray, after adding color and optionally a bit of reducer. The reducer gives a smoother finish. That is just the exterior. I did not do inside the bed.