Newbie from Oklahoma

Hi, my name is Sam and I'm an alco..... Sorry, wrong forum. Seriously, I'm from Tulsa and I've had a few toyotas over the years. This is only my second p/u though. The first was, WOW, 25 years ago. An 85 with a two inch rancho add a leaf front and rear. She was red and had 33-12.50 15's. Pretty little truck. Never got stuck in her. Fast forward to now. I wanted to replace my 92 k1500 with something smaller and not a stick shift so I found a 2000 Xtra cab 4x4 SR5 with a bad trans for $2000. She's got a solid body and is straight other than the left front fender, decent but dirty interior, etc. so I am once again building a truck.

If you are wondering about my screen name it has two meanings 1) my last name is Newton. 2) I'm the fleet manager for Roto-Rooter in Tulsa and they call me the "Fix It Guy". I've spent my most of my adult life in automotive. I'm an ASE master with over 25 years experience wrenching, managing, owning shops and teaching automotive before going into fleet management. I thrive on making things work. It could be just about anything. I might trace down a bad wire on a trailer and an hour later have one of the office ladies ask me to fix her desk or chair. So Fig just kinda stuck.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW Fig!

 

Welcome from Broken Arrow! Glad to have another 1st gen'er in the area on TW - I feel out numbered by all the 2nd gen-er's in the area. I had a '03 that looked just like your truck before a kid pushed the move to our DC. Here are a couple local area threads to check out:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/any-okies-in-here.41777/page-244

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/oklahoma-official-event-thread.365232/page-12#post-10383831

Also, if you are on FB we have a local group: Its a closed group so some one will have to add you.

Glad to have you!

 

That's pretty cool. I'll check out the different sites.

 

Well I've put a trans in her and got her running. I was taking the guys word that the engine was good since he had already pulled the tranny. But she fired right up and runs nice and smooth. Now I have to replace the struts and shocks, both inner tie rods and the left front drive axle. The LF tire is crap completely bald and round on the inside so I am going to a 31x1.50- 15 (can't believe it has 15's) I think I want to put a stock air box back on it and get rid of the cold air intake. I've replaced the left fender and the clear coat is coming in flakes when I hit it with the pressure washer. Nothing like a work in progress.

 

Welcome from Stillwater! I hope you stick around because it sounds like you'll have a wealth of information to share. Lord knows I'll need it.

 

Sounds like that 1st gen is going to be a beast when you get done with it. Welcome from Broken Arrow.

 

Welcome from Tulsa!

 

So I replaced the front struts (Bilstein 5100's) inner tie rods, left cv axle and replaced the missing left from turn signal socket yesterday. The Bilsteins were set at the top and it is a bit much for my little toy. Since I don't have a strut spring compressor I'm gonna have the guys at the tire shop move them to the middle slot while they are doing the alignment. I figured I'd do a little clean up while I was spending the day in the wheel wells
So after I get everything done and I set her back down I pull on the drivers door handle and it goes "POP" So today after work I installed a new door handle. Don't worry, I'll be replacing the pads and rotors when I put the new tires on. I'm thinking of stripping and plasti dipping the rims black when I do the tires.

 

Welcome bud

 

I had it aligned today and had the struts lowered to the middle setting. It looks like an AAL and 31x10.50's will have it sitting just right. I do want to go wheeling but this is much more of a truck than a toy. I'm thinking of plasti-dipping the rims black. They might look pretty cool that way.

 

Looking good!

 

Awesome, welcome from Tulsa! Sub'd

 

Thanks guys.