What do you not like about your 1st gen?

Nothing wrong with the Tacoma, just the aftermarket.

Having come from the Jeep world and the fact that the Jeep was an oversized Lego, its a little frusterating that there aren't more aftermarket vendors.

 

the clock. It's worse than waldo

 

the seats are awful….

 

my main complaint is my truck is a 2.7L
that the main thing I would do different... get a 3.4

 

Are they square?

 

ah yes... i'll second that one
after about an hour or so; i'm squirming all over in my seat, cause my back starts aching

and, in address to the people who say to quit complaining
i haven't read through every single post... but, i haven't really seen anyone "complaining"... just pointing out a few things they don't like / aren't perfect / could be improved
no one has come in here and said that the truck sucks and they'd rather have something else

 

I agree 100%

The dash rattle is the airbag assembly IIRC on pass side...

my 2000

no cupholders/stupid center console config, ABS brakes , IFS front 4x

about it

 

Let's see, oil filter orientation, gas mileage, frame rust, weak rear springs(even with an extra leaf), aside from that its a good little truck.

 

Oh, another thing.

Suddenly I became a moving company when I got it.

 

Other than it is IFS and not solid axle. I have no complaints. 99% of the things I didn't like I modified to my liking. So stop bitching and start wrenching. ...

 

- I wish my Xtracab had back doors, (or at least one)
- The 3.4l manual really should be a 6-speed. I'd like to have an extra gear on the highway
- I hate that my truck came with that useless split-bench seat
- Like OP said, 1st gen DC's should come in manual so I could buy one
- Wish mine had a sunroof, I know some did come with them though
- And yeah, dash rattle sucks

The 3.4L is in excellent bulletproof motor. The timing belt is no big deal, tons of vehicles have one. I don't understand the problem?

The 4.0 is more powerful, but that's cause it's made for a bigger truck. Sorry, Toyota is never gonna put a huge V12 engine in a small pickup truck

 

Sit in the back seat, drivers side. Place right leg over console and right foot on 4x4 shift. Push like a man forward and to the right. I moved mine several inches up and over and it is no longer in the way. I am a tall guy and that shifter drove me nuts!

 

wut?

 

Moves the shifter over and up out of the way so it doesn't hit you in the calf/behind the knee when you are driving. Short folks may not have a problem with this!

 

So you basically bent your 4wd shifter? For some reason I feel like this is not good for the truck lol

Luckily I'm manual so my shifter is no where near in my way.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't use that method to bend something that's attached to the transfer case... Haha

 

no one said "changing" the filter was hard, just the placement/orientation sux.

I get at it through the driver side wheel well, don't even need to turn the wheel. However it is in the correct position to dump a little oil when unscrewing it from the engine. If it would have been vertical then no problem but all of the oil doesn't drain back into the pan (I've looked at a few relocation kits, might have to actually do it)

 

Plastic bag around the filter people! But I hear you all.

 

good luck with that

 

Thanks! I had excellent luck as it is already done!

I took the whole thing apart first with plans on taking the shifter out and putting it in a vise to bend. Once I had the console and boot off I saw that the the shifter gets very skinny towards the base. Putting some logics into it I realized that the shifter rod would bend before the plate that was bolted down with 4 bolts would. Been that way for a couple of months. No issues in 2wd or 4wd. By all means though, if you are scared then don't do it!