new changes and a few questions.

i picked up this 99 a few weeks ago, so far ive blacked out the tool box, grill, the wheels and the fender wells. next will be new black door handles and the emblems removed and removed the bug guard. it any better or worse? i know its filty but i work at a paper mill and have to park in a dust dirty parking lot. the next plan is a cut and buff the paint.

Before, the pics i got from the seller.



After a few weeks, low light and the truck is filty



anyway, on to tech questions i havent found out, where can i get outside door handles? the drivers side is busted and im wanting to replaced both with black. also does anyone make an alum radiator without plastic endcaps? this one leaks and ive looked for one from fluidyne but i didnt see one. is stock for the v6 2 row and one row for the 4cyl? i thought with as many people wheele these someone would make a good oversize aftermarket one. i also plan on adding a trans cooler.
right now the truck has a 3 inch lift, looks like just blocks and aal with the front spacers. im wanting to upgrade a fwe things, i havent found the best places but im wanting to upgrade u joints and bushings, ive tried to search but just dont get the right results. also im looking at the khumo kl75? or the KO's, which tire would be the best choice?
TIA

 

i like the wheels wat did you use on them and for the radiator call the radiator hot line or look it up on the enet its cheap

 

do you got a close up of the wheels and a diy write up for that btw do they peel when u have them mounted and balanced?

 

nice job man.....looks tons better now!!!

 

Thanks for the comliments, i havent had enough time to really dig into it. its been a busy and strange last 3 years, you actually wouldnt believe me. i plan on a few more upgrades, and cleaning, i dont hink the guy ever cleaned it, a stereo and dynamat with full steam cleaned interior is next.

as for the wheels, no real write up, the clear coat wad in pretty bad damage so i tried to just blend it but it showed under the paint. so for 2 i took the clean off with a flapper wheel till it got to dark, if you look close they dont look too well but they will either be replaced or blasted and powdercoated. this was just a quick fix while i cleaned and painted the fenderwells, for the rear hubs i did wire wheel them and use a run converting paint to help.

ive hit the headlights for a little bit but not too long. thats one of the other plans, i hit it with 1800 grit paste with a buffer, while i tried to see how the body cleaned up. the front bumper will be touched up, dont know if im going to black out the chrome bumpers or not yet.

The radiator hotline any good? i was looking for a good full alum one like fluidyne.

 

ive seen autopartswarehouse but i checked and it didnt have that many good reviews, also saw it listed at partstrain.com but they had the same reviews.

any one have any experience with this radiator? full alum body but it has the plastic endtanks.

i have looked and the ujoints they are old but dont seem to have too much wear, i dont remember if they are greasable.

as i replace things i wouldnt mind to upgrade to trailtough even though i dout ill push the truck to those limits any time soon.

edit: BTW the water from the front of the truck is where i was spraying the trash can out, it dosent leak that much,

 

the radiator hotline is great i paid 110 sh included for my 95 saturn it has a life time warranty on it and it kept cracking and leaking it was my civic eater amongst other cars that would look and laugh but didnt kno it was a sleeper couldnt take anything over a 4l v6 and nothing too terribly modded i had some stuff but those are secrets i miss it anywho back on topic the onlyreason mine kept cracking is because i think it was in a wreck before i bought it and one of the radiator supports were busted so with all the jerking and hard stops and sharp corners it was only a matter of time other than that they are great and fitment is awesome ive installed them on 3 diff vehicles never any probs and still havent had to replace one they had all there radiator supports tho

 

i will def check them out, i had, well i still have my crx si, were i use to live there was a shop that would convert them to the metal tops. for the tacoma i was also wondering if they made new bushing kits like they offered for the crx. i know energy suspension offered a full kit for the crx and if i to plan on trailing this truck i wouldnt mind knowing the joints are solid and not letting anything jump.

 

try ebay they have black handles for like 18 bucks each.



http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=tacoma+door+handles&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

Love the truck now, looks very good. My stock 2000 wheels are beyond cleaning to look new again. I can't find used 95 to 2000 15" wheels, or used 01 to 04 16" (prefered) wheels for a good price yet, so I'm just thinking about painting mine black, since I have a red truck with black grill, black front & rear bumpers. No more chrome.

What paint did you use on your wheels, and how did you "prep" them? How is it holding up?

 

truck looks great man!

 

truck looks good! It needs bigger wheels thou! is that first pic at an odd angle, almost looks like the front door forward has been repainted, or the extra cab window to the bed..hard to tell

edit: and also,hows the frame look? Espically around the rear spring perches.

 

hey 161 before you put a more red cent into your new toy get under that thing and CHECK YOUR FRAME RAILS!!!!!as of about 2mos ago they did a total recall on my 2000.3inch lift,33's, new 16 inch alloy rims,new westin step bars,i had a westin brush guard coming in via fedex for it,63k miles on it,had it completely buffed out and waxed,it was immaculant. on the outside and in.i got in a small fender bender and my ins. agent told me the first thing you do when you get home is crawl under your truck and check your frame rails for exstensive rust rott.he used to work for toyota.i had holes in my frame you could put your fist into.scary scary scary.i took it to my local dealership and they wouldnt let me drive it off the lot.said it was unsafe to operate.gave me a 4 runner free of charge for two weeks while they had the inspector come out and look at it.set up a meeting with us and promtly made me an offer for $14,500 it.i could have done anything with that check i wanted to but they told me if you stay in the "toyota family" we'll take care of you.they had a 2007 v6 4x4 sitting on their lot,it has complete front to back warentee left on it till 2014 and was toyota certified.sticker price was 24k.told them i had 5k sittin in the bank and that was all i could go,PERIOD. i got them down to $19,500,( took alot of haggleing and my wife and i getting up to walk out the door)and they caved.wrote a check for 5k and drove an 07 w/20,000 miles on it home the next day.they also let me take everything i could off it my 2000 before they crushed it.i'd of took that lift kit but it wouldnt have been worth the effort. just a little food for thought 161.best regards bob tackett

 

bob, ive checked the frame rails pretty close but i havnent really picked it over with a fine tooth comb. One truck i looked at was from up north and had very bad frame rot, the cross memeber that goes behind the gas tank was pealing in layers and inside the channel it was just pulling out in chunks. This one however was from the south and im in alabama. frame rot isnt as common since they dont use salt on the road. if there is any special places i need to double check please let me konw and ill climb under and be sure to double check everything. with my crx i konw the rear fender wells were bad to get rust going but the car is 19 yrs old and from it being from the south and me keeping the dirt from building up it still dosent have any rust issues.

as for the wheels, they are maybe a week old, and ok so far, washed the truck friday so ill have new pics tomorrow, were out of town with the wife, but i use rustoleum, gloss enamal and a flapper wheel on 2, the other 2 i just cleaned well and sprayed. I have a set of older Z71's on my bodydropped Nissan that i thought of powdercoating and putting on here.

 

the truck is mainly dirty, and stained, likei said earlier i buffed/cut it with 1800 grit paste and it cleand up but it just need more time to do the whole truck, and then wax it. here is a pic from where i gave it its first wash in who knows how long.