jasogonz build

Hello TW... i am Jason from New Mexico. college student. auto enthusiast. i personally like to build stuff, break stuff, then fix it again. I've been creeping around TW for a while now and learned alot
I was driving around in a WRX (loved it) and im not really sure why but, i traded it in for 2011 Tacoma DC Sport (Barcelona RED).

soo.... lets get it started:

- got the truck in January and the first thing that i did was black out the emblems
-P.S. (some of the pics might be shitty, all pics are from my Iphone)


I decided to just put one emblem right in the middle (crappy pic i know)

and once that mod bug bites it never stops!! so i added a AFE Intake!





I really like the intake, made the truck more responsive, more horsepower , and better gas mileage, made it sound a little deeper too (IMO). it took about an hour to install.

I had seen that green concept V8 (which they should put into production) and i liked the Satoshi, so i decided i want one too!
-since the '11's have a different grill

i decided to just order an 08' grill online (~60$ shipped) and use that one for my satoshi

I started out using a dremel but, it was taking to damn long, so i pulled out the jigsaw 10x faster



i used to Fiberglass/bondo method. i've seen that some other guys have figured out other ways to do a satoshi but i didnt find out about them till after i was done with mine.

if there was any other way of making a Satoshi WITH OUT Bondo that would be great!!! this was first time i ever did fiberglass and bondo work. Fiberglass wasnt bad but the bond sucked! i sanded SOO much i hated it. and it got my garage all pink too.
so after i got it all bondo up time for some paint!!

first i primered it (2 coats). then flat black (3 coats), then some sort of sealer i found at Lowes? (2 coats). sorry no pics of the frame finished before the grill was added.
i looked all over the internet to try and figure out which grill am i gonna go with? low and behold it was right here on TW! (thanx timsxr!) i got in on the Elusive Elements group buy.

this is the grill primered


Radiator had to get painted and the horns had to be moved


and here it is!



i still have to put the emblem on (got it at the junk yard 4$!!) but i still gotta figure out which color to paint it? any ideas?


i wanted to mod something that i will see while driving, painted the deck.


had to keep on painting



NOW HERE COMES THE REALLY FUN PART!
-6" Fabtech Dirt Logic Lift
i ordered my lift from my friendly neighborhood 4Wheel Parts.
total it cost ~2,700$. now after all that money spent i barely have enough money to buy rims and tires! (we'll get to them later) so i couldn't afford for them to install it so i did it myself!

In total the lift took 28 hrs! with me and my neighbor working on it all weekend long!
i had done some mechanic work before but, this install was a great hands on learning experience! I've come to appreciate my new lift and i now understand why they charge so much for labor!!!

so lets get this started!
looky what we got here. all nice and packaged up


i wonder what is in these boxes? Fabtech Dirt Logic coil overs!


here is everything all nice and organized and laid out on the floor (crossmembers are missing from the pic)


and so begins the tear down.
tires off, skid plate off, flaps gone, and calipers are neatly tucked outta the way


Rotor off


Sway bar unbolted waiting to get removed


Knuckles off. hung the drive line cuz it was getting in the way


Shocks off


LCA off


waiting for the sun to come up

the tire is one of my neighbors old spares, my spare is on the other side. the stock wheels are getting the tires off cuz Discount Tire gave me a 250$ discount if traded in the stocks, (they only had 2,000 miles) and they also had to switch the TPS System to the new rims.

Down comes the front differential


The POINT OF NO RETURN!!!!! frame cutting time



Cross member cut out



there's no stoppin now! keep goin!!

Caps waiting to be welded. i don't have a welder (know how to use one, but just done have one) so my buddy come over and welded the caps on for me



Buddy was pretty sad that i didnt want to play with him cuz i was too busy working on the truck


caps welded into place


Front cross member in


i didn't take any pics of the rear cross-member during the install. sorry

here is the front diff. being put back into place (rear cross-member on the right side of the pic)


new coil-overs installed (iPhone pic, sorry)


Finally at 10:30PM everything was ready for the tires


and at 11 we finally got front tires on

it sits funny cuz we havent touched anything on the back (the rear is till stock)

i didnt remember to take any pics while we were doing the rear but i snapped a pic when we finished.
-add-a-leaf, dirt logic rear suspension, and a 3" block



...
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ta-dah!!!





so here is how she looks after all is said and done with. ..........well.........until the next mod comes along at least.

here are a couple of random pics:
275/70/R18 BFG T/A wrapped around 18"x9" KMC XD Monsters


stock knuckles vs. Fabtech knuckles


stock springs vs. Fabtech springs


hope you guys enjoyed it
comments, concerns, ideas?

 

Nice man! Welcome to TW.

 

Looks great!!

 

damn dude your build thread is pretty much one big write-up! looks good!

your next mods will be tinting your front doors and leather seats!

there is a group buy going on right now for satoshi inserts for guys that don't want to mess with the fiberglass and bondo shit.

 

that looks sick man.. hows it riding with the lift and all done??

 

Well played sir, well played

 

thanx man. window tint is a for sure!, but i'm not a fan of leather seats
bondo sux!

rides nice and high! but it is more stiff, i don't mind, after all it is a truck. and i still have to take it in for an alignment. it pulls ever so slightly to the right. but other than that i love it!!!

thanx. it was so much fun!

 

Nice truck man, good for you doing it your self.

 

thanx man

 

Sick taco man!! I actually went the opposite of you i traded my taco for a sti hahaha.

 

i've alwawys wanted an STI!...one of these days...
i loved my WRX, so much fun dirt or pavement!

 

Damn dude, 2011 and you're tearing straight into it. Well done. I love the combination of the monsters with the BFG A/T

 

DAMN!!!!! that trucks badass! did the afe intake help power or mpg?? and how hard was the deck to get off and paint? looks sick....

 

i actually got a little inspiration from your truck

thanx bro.!!

the intake helped with power and i gained maybe like 1 or 2 mpg but then it all went away when i put my lift on. i couldn't for the life of me get the face plate off of the radio deck so i just taped all the important stuff and painted it.

 

Awesome truck.

I agree with tinting the front windows. Maybe taking off the "trd sport" decal too.

 

looks really good dude

 

great building... i can't imagine myself building that up..

 

Damn dude... ambitious start but looks sick. Nice work