A College Student's Slowly But Surely Build

Well I will begin saying I'm a college student, and with that being said, I am sure we all know that I can't spend a bunch of money on these unnecessary mods and upgrades. So I'm going to walk you through how I got everything I wanted done to my truck using Amazon and the Toyota Dealer.

First things first..

The BEFORE



I had so much to do to my truck and such little time, I just started trying to get the small things out of the way. K&N Drop-In filter, Floor Mats, Etc. Etc. because those are the only things I could afford.
After buying these and doing hours of shopping on craigslist and amazon and even on TW itself, I never found anything cheap on the lift/wheels/tires searches.
I began feeling frantic and hated the feeling of just waiting around and signed up for the Amazon credit card!
FREE 12 month financing!
I can make payments on my wheels and tires and decided I would hold off on the lift. Ordered my Pro Comp 16"s off Amazon and my tires.
ALL TOGETHER $1066.59
THAT IS AMAZING FOR WHEELS AND TIRES!
(NEW AT LEAST)


Then I went through the process of waiting and waiting for tires and wheels to ship. Everyday was worst than the last and when they came in, I rushed to the nearest local tire shop and paid $40 to get the tires and wheels mounted and balanced. HERE is where Toyota comes into the story! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY GOING TO TIRE SHOPS TO GET BALANCED. I wasted more money trying to get my new tires on my wheels without the wobbles than I wanted to. Take it to the Toyota dealer and get them ROAD FORCE BALANCED! It drives very smooth and you cannot even tell the difference. It was simply amazing.

After I got all this taken care of my truck was finally ready and now I am so happy I didn't lift my truck because it is just enough to not look like another stock Tacoma running around!





MY ADVICE
If you lift, use the Bilstein 5100's at 1.75"
If you buy tires, only do 265s, it's a good look and I promise no rubbing on stock suspension.
And take advantage of Amazon! I got my tires for $139 a piece!


After all this the AFTER.. more to come but I can assure you, a little goes a long way on these trucks!

LOVE MY TACO

 

I remember being a college kid and financing things like that. All I can say is be careful. Using your cards is a great way to build credit, but try not to finance anything you can't afford to buy outright. Took me years to get out of credit card debt after college and I will never carry a balance again if I can help it.

Tires & wheels look good.

 

Well I had $900 saved up but seeing I am working over summer full time! I'm golden, I have had a credit card for a year now and my credit is amazing because I only use it for gas and groceries. Thanks for the heads up and thanks again about the wheels!

 

Nice looking Taco, not too shabby for a college kid. Make sure you pay that credit card off by the end of 12 months. The deferred interest is a real ball buster if you go past the end date.

 

So is the first "after" photo (the profile of the tire) WITH billies at 1.75"? Those 265s look pretty close to the fender. I really like the filled out look and those seem to fill the wells better than some other 265s on a 1.75" lift. I don't think my wells looked that stuffed with 265s at stock height.

 

Nice truck! I like the way this is coming together

Just a heads up NEVER tell your credit card provider when you are going to graduate university, it's amazing how long you can carry the university interest rate for.

 

Like I said.. I have the money saved up to buy them straight up but didn't want to use all my savings on one purchase.. So I'm paying $125 a month and have it auto drafted from my account to make sure I don't turn into a uhhh ohh on the credit score side of things! Should be paged off in 10 months!
EASY

 

I have stock suspension.
I was just saying that if I do lift, I'd encourage everyone to use 5100s

NO LIFT

(YET) seeing this is a "To Be Continued Thread"

My 265's on stock look a lot better than a lot of tires I see on TW.. Idk if it's a brand difference or what but the dimensions are the same.

 

Also college on a budget. Got it on December 31, 2011 as a high school graduation gift. 5100s at 1.75, 1 in. toytech block in back, trailer came off the ball and killed my bumper, so I went for a full colormatch when I replaced it. (Ditching the chrome makes a world of difference). Tires an inch more than stock, Nfabs (their powdercoat is awful IMO), and an emblem. And the best investment you could ever make on a college campus, a $100 P.A. system behind the grille. Plus other small stuff.

 

I see. I was confused because you recommended billies, so I assumed you had tried them.

 

Wish we could just start a College Thread..
Keep a list of cheap mods that do the job of the look we want!

Man I like the trooper look.. I'm trying to figure out if I should go that route!
SWEET RIDE. I like the step side more than mine...

Do you like your 5100s and is it honestly worth it to level the truck?

 

We have a 30 and under thread which is mostly college kids

 

I'm in college but I'm going mid travel soon! But the best mod I have ever done is the weathertech floorliners..

 

Where did you get the SR5 decal? Truck looks sweet.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/264763-30-younger-thread.html

Stop on by

 

I've seen it but they really don't talk about anything of importance.. haha
They kinda just talk about dumb random topics. The reason for a thread on TW I feel should be about our trucks and maybe some jokes here and there but we get on here to get advice/info on Tacomas and I don't wanna scroll through 1-1001 pages of people talking about random stuff. If I wanted that I'd browse Facebook lol

 

THEY ARE AWESOME RIGHT?! MGM

 

ruggedT

A member on TW.. was like $40 bucks with shipping I think. I can't remember. I didn't place mine exactly where I wanted.. needed to be lower. But I'm cool with it. PM him and get exactly what you need man he has tons of designs!

 

Thats what this site is about

 

Will do thank you sir.