My Mission Paid off.

New 1st gen Tacoma owner here. After years of pining for a 1st gen face lift Tacoma I finally pulled the trigger. A little back story...when these trucks were rolling off the assembly line I was working as a electrical construction apprenticeship. My alternate vehicle was a 1995 Ford Ranger Manual 4x4 with a camper shell and 105k on the clock. It had a 4L engine and it actually was pretty darn good but not a Toyota. I ending up putting 260k on it before I sold it.

I was looking for a 2001 to 2004 extra cab, 4x4, Manual transmission with the TRD package with rear (E-Locker). Couple of weeks ago I was bidding on a 2004 1st gen on bring a trailer located in Boise, ID I lost that auction thankfully because the winning bid was $23,750 + a 5% fee to BaT $1,187.50 Total $24, 937.50 Not including transport and Licensing, Registration and taxes depending on State. My wife gave a go ahead to bid and my limit was 22.5k. Actually, on the way to Barstow to do some wheeling and camping in the Mojave with 6 minutes left on the auction the competing bidder sent a bid to $22,250. So in a hurry I punched in 22.5K but accidently punched a "3" instead of a "2" so my bid was 23.5k! My heart was beating hoping someone would out bid me?! And he did with the 23.750K winning bid. I knew if I was patient I would find my dream truck for less.

Now to what I ending up with...

2003 extra cab, 4x4, 5 speed manual TRD in silver, I compromised on the color since white was my 1st choice but silver was my alternate color choice. On Tuesday of this past week my wife and I drove from LA to Reno and purchased this rig. It has 129K on the clock and a bit of surface rust on the frame since it lived most of it's life around Tahoe. It came with a Smitty Built RTT and some traction boards. I promptly took it for a camp outside Virginia City, then took it on a 4wheel trail outside Daley, NV and got it stuck in a snow/mud bank/ditch. Drove it down the 95 to the Eureka Dunes, through Dedeckra Canyon up and down Steel Pass into the Saline Valley and out the North Pass. The picture is up on Steel Pass. The Tacoma has a 2" lift with Fox coil overs and the rear has a 1.5" Icon add a leaf and Icon Struts and rolling on BFG KO2's.

My immediate plans are to cover the pristine seats and dash, new floor mats, probably SPC UCA and maybe a Taco box for lower crawl gearing. Oh and rock sliders are a must!

Cheers!

 

Score!

 

Lower ball joints if the previous owner hasn't done them yet.

 

Interesting, you're not the 1st to suggest this. I did a cursory search and seems there aren't many companies producing after market LCA's. Probably gonna buy the total chaos spindle gussets too.

What ball joint manufacture do you recommend?

 

Go OEM for the lower ball joints.

 

I feel like I definitely scored, considering the utter crap people were asking for rigs with more than dbl the miles and shit compression usually on the #6 cylinder. With 4wheel drive actuators that needed replacing and lockers that didn't engage.

 

X2

 

X3

 

X4

 

Oem ball joints it is.

 

Sounds like a nicely set up truck already. I’ve had a blast with mine. Glad everyone already got you on the LBJ replacement, it is the Achilles heel of these trucks. Otherwise you got yourself a real gem. Congrats!

 

Thanks man!
Gonna get the LBJ done asap.

First I need to go through the gauntlet that is CA DMV. When you bring a vehicle into the state it has to meet the CA emissions. Fortunately it was originally a CA truck. The other possibility is paying a use tax that they impose 7.5% for bringing a out of state vehicle into California. That's on top of the CA tax?!

I'll know more after my appointment Tuesday morning. It's Byzantine system.

But super stoked on this little truck.

 

Yeah and if you put a camper shell on it you can register it as a passenger vehicle, not a commercial vehicle, which is of course more $$$$$