SLOWLY STARTING TO BUILD

I have an 02 Tacoma that has 320,00 miles on it. It is the 4 door, limited, prerunner. I love this truck, I just wish I had 4 wheel drive. I am looking for some cheap mods to do on it, as well as slowly prepare for other mods. i currently have plasti dipped the grill, rims, and badges, as well as wired up reverse light, led front lights, and a subwoofer. What I am looking to do is put a better front and rear bumper on it (one day). Seeing as to how it is 2WD I really need a winch. Any suggestions or tips?

 

Does your truck have 320,000 miles on it or 32,000?

 

323,000

 

holy shit. I hope my '02 makes it to 323,000. If you just bought this truck, the first thing I'd do is pay a good mechanic to take a couple hours and go over the whole truck and scrutinize the shit out of everything.

If you know you're all set on general maintenance, I'd start trying to figure out what you've gotta do to fit some bigger tires on it. You said you're thinking about a winch, so I assume you want to take the thing offroad. The best mod I ever did to my truck was wheels/tires. To do it I had to lift it a bit. I'd go over to the Toyteclifts site and pick a suspension setup that fits your budget or is reasonable to save for.

My $0.02, stay away from spacers/blocks/adding a leaf to OEM springs. Wait a little longer so you can save for replacing everything, or you'll end up doing stuff twice.

Then, after you lift it a little, you can start saving for tires and maybe some wheels to go with them. IMO suspension and wheels with enough backspacing to fit larger tires are the most bang for your buck mods you can do to these trucks. It's not cheap, but the return (fun) you get on the investment is so huge that you won't miss the money. Unless it's your rent money. But then you'll be living in the truck. Which wouldnt be so bad because now you've got an awesome truck, but with your short bed you've got nowhere to sleep.

Good luck!

 

I have had this truck since mile 1.

 

My problem is that this truck has offroad tires on it because I hunt and fish a lot. But I get stuck more than I am proud of. I dont know why, but if the ground has any mush to it at all, I sink in.

 

What is 'better' to you, in terms of bumpers?

While a winch is useful, some other choices that might prevent getting stuck might be a better starting place.

This thread (although it is 4wd) is a great model to follow.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-builds/357494-bjmoose-daily-driver-build.html

 

Yeah I will check it out. It is hard to do anything following a 4X4 because they are at a huge advantage. i have locking differential but the turning sucks when using it. I am not sure what to do. In terms of better bumper I am looking for something steel. Brush guarded.

 

What kind of tires are they? How long have you had them?

 

The tires are the same size that come stock on the pre runner. I have had them since last October. They either are or they are very similar to the Nitto Terra Grapplers

 

Do a 4x4 swap. Direct bolt ons

 

I would guess that's why you don't have much traction. Get a solid A/T tire like BFG KO2's, Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs, or Toyo Open Country AT2's. They'll perform a lot better when you're in mud, sand, snow, ice, etc.

Edit: if you live somewhere that doesn't get snow/ice, I would personally invest in a tire designed for just mud/dirt/sand. If I didn't have to worry about snow and ice, I'd look into goodyear wrangler MTR's with kevlar. But you won't get great gas mileage on those puppies

 

this

 

Alright I need to try to get pretty good gas mileage. This old thing doesn't like to savor gas. I live in Alabama, so I would say no snow or ice, but last year we all got hit. I feel like part of the problem is that the truck is rear wheel drive, and there is just no weight back there.

 

That build is awesome, but is there a point? What I am saying is by doing the things he did am I going to be gaining anything? I like the idea of a 4X4 converstion, but man I dont know where to begin

 

Just saw your pm, everything is meant to just switch out with the existing 2wd components. here's a quick rundown of everything you'll need.


Also note that some of these parts are interchangeable from the same gen of 4runners. Although I'd look for a Tacoma A340F tranny and not the 4Runner A340H tranny, hear some people have issues with those.

 

Would it be smart to try to pull them off a totaled Tacoma? What does this do to gas mileage? How hard is it to do? Are there any difficulties?

 

If I am running an automatic how will that work with the 4X4?

 

Ok so automatic you'll need a 4wd transmission which is a A340F, the prerunner tranny is labeled as A340E so you know the difference. The difficulty can't be too hard, as long as you're mechanically inclined to whatever extent. Cause really these parts were meant to fit in their rightful places.

Also there's a difference between manual hubs and ADD hubs, plus theres two different transfer cases. It'd be easier to get whatever hubs with their perspective parts, although some can interchange with each other. For example: manual hubs cannot pair with ADD spindles, etc.

Yeah check your local scrapyards, eBay has parts too, also check this link out for individual parts
http://car-part.com/mobile/index.htm

Here's a write up you can study on that I've saved

 

Also note that the guy switches out torque converters in his transmission, disregard this part if you intend on just buying a 4wd tranny.
You have a choice of either switching out the whole tranny or replacing the existing 2wd TC with a longer 4wd torque converter.