DJB1's 2003 Regular Cab

Indeed. And for good reason.

 

Nice taco! I have a 99 reg cab. I’m wondering how the 5100’s with 880 ride? I don’t have any extra weight, other than a heavy bed platform. It’s my daily, I’m looking for a drive quality/ occasional off-road use since I live in northern Cali.

 

The truck

 

They’re a little on the firm side. Perfect for preventing unwanted body roll on the freeway, but a little rough on really bad roads if I don’t air down.

 

Is there a suspension setup you can recommend for daily use and a slight lift? I’m interested in Dakars though because I have a bed platform In the back. I’ve been searching through forumns for info on the reg cab, but can’t get a clear answer.

 

I think the 5100’s with 880 coils are great for every day use. I also have Dakars in the back. When I say it’s a little firm, I mean I can throw my lifted Tacoma on skinny tires around corners like a Miata, but it’s still comfortable on the freeway with no frightening body roll if I have to make a sudden lane change.

I got almost 3” of lift with the Dakars and 880s on my regular cab. If you want less than that, you could just remove the 2 overload springs from the Dakars and put 5100’s on your stock coils.

 

Hey Dave, is this the valve you used when you did your ABS delete?
https://www.wilwood.com/mastercylinders/mastercylinderprod?itemno=260-8419

 

That’s the one I used. Mine did include fittings and a short amount of brake line.

 

It is. I think I got the best price on it from Summit Racing. And you need a double flaring tool for brake lines, not a single flaring tool. I repeat, DOUBLE FLARING tool. I'm happy to send you mine if you want.

 

Awesome, thanks for the offer on the tool but I have one already. Any other advice before I start this project?

 

Practice double flaring a few junk pieces of brake line first and save all your metric brake line fittings.

 

Bummer of an update here, Whitey is in Toyota valhalla. I was in a multi-vehicle accident last November. Got rear-ended on the freeway, pushed into other vehicles, deflected off them and hit a barrier, rolled, skidded a couple hundred feet driver's side down, cut up my arm. Had to wait for a legal matter to be resolved (in my favor) before I dared flap my lips about it in a public forum.

The worst part was not sitting behind curtains in a crowded ER most of a day listening to medical staff attending to all the covid patients before they could stitch up my arm, nor was it going to the salvage yard to sign paperwork seeing Whitey shaped like a big letter C and someone had already been cannibalizing parts, it was watching the tow truck driver sweeping up all the broken glass and road debris dumping it right in the cab I had just cleaned a few days prior.

Months later I still feel super fucking lucky. I could have been killed, gotten a head injury or had my arm severed when the driver's side collapsed. I only missed 2 days of work and I was back to my normal life. I've never even felt that sad about the truck, a "fun" vehicle seems like such a trivial pastime now. The only thing I regret that was in my control is I spent too much time building Whitey to be the best camping vehicle and not enough time camping. I hope the 4th gen Tacoma will have a turbo 4 cylinder with a manual gearbox.

 

:c one of the coolest guys and coolest trucks on here. So sorry to hear, glad you're okay

 

This is super shitty my friend, I know how well you took care of her. Glad you're OK and my heart goes out for you.

 

Thanks, Micah! The truck is no big deal, I'm just extremely fortunate I only had to have a few stitches (took them out myself) and my biggest gripe in life is it's a shitty time to buy a vehicle.

 

DUDE! So sad to hear You put so much work into that truck.
I am happy to hear you're doing well with no lasting injuries.

 

I’m super bummed to hear about the truck, but really glad that you were able to walk away. There’s always another truck.

And your point about spending all the time on the camping rig and then not nearly enough on camping is well taken.

 

The next one will be a lot more hands-off. Something new or new-ish with a warranty so I don't have to wrench on it myself. I realistically don't need a front locker, suspension lift, off-road bumpers and skid plates. A factory locking rear diff and an aluminum camper shell would do it for me. Something like this but with a cab-height shell. I kinda hate that the new poverty-spec Ranger with its plain styling, steel wheels, vinyl flooring, locking rear diff available without a silly "off road" package, and real steel bumpers clicks more boxes for me than the new Tacoma. Though the 3rd gen's powertrain is better than I expected it to be.

 

Nothing wrong with that at all, especially if it gets you out in it!

 

Bro! Damn sry to hear about the truck. It was a beautiful machine and you took such good care of it. Like you said, we put so much time and money into our rigs and rarely get the use out of them. It’s hard to etch out the time to get out.

Glad you survived with little damage to the body, and the worst of it was the ER wait. For the most part ER’s suck!