Lagertha

Lagertha

While I drove around in a rental, looking for a new pony to replace the late 'Galena' (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/r-i-p-galena.430979/), it drove me crazy to look in a lane next to me and see a 1st gen. 4x4 TRD Tacoma being used as a landscaping or construction truck. There are enough 4-banger 2WD Tacomas out there for that purpose. It's like someone buying a really powerful Macbook just to check their e-mail and keep up with Facebook.

I rescued Lagertha from some fool in Washington who had no idea what he had. A 2003, V6 4x4 TRD AC in Impulse Red with a matched camper shell, bed liner, power everything, and a mere 92K. He had been using it to haul construction debris, dirt, and rocks, while doing little by way of maintenance. I guess he was 'using it as a truck,' whatever that means. He had never used the 4x4 and didn't know what a locker was. He actually asked me what a "lift" was too. He was the second owner. The first had babied it for 60k and then this fool had neglected it for the next 30k. The engine bay was dirty, but dry with no leaks anywhere. He'd been having the fluids topped off at Jiffy Lube-type places. The frame and undercarriage was one of the cleanest I have ever seen. But he had beat up the interior some, banged up the camper shell, and neglected some maintenance. He'd also somehow made the driver's side door a little crooked, left it, and let it rub the paint in the door jamb, as well as leaving a shrunken windshield molding to create an incredibly annoying and constant wind noise. Th PS steering fluid was burnt and the water pump and 1 coolant hose were leaking. Still the body was straight, the mileage low, the frame good, and it had never been taken off-road. I worked out a price, drove home and have spent the last month and a half reconditioning it. I'll be building it for overland over the next few months. While waiting for delivery of my suspension and bumpers, I've been mostly working on the inside and engine.

Here she is in WA, playing shy:






Here's what I've done so far:

• Drove it down from Washington and over the drive ran some fuel cleaner (Redline S1) through it.
• Pulled seats from a yard and swapped parts to make the best ones possible.
  
• Changed diff. and t-case fluids to Redline 75-90.
• Redline oil and toyota (tundra) filter.
• Cleaned the MAF, throttle body, air intake, new plugs and wires, new PCV.
• New timing belt, drive belts, t-stat, water pump, tensioner, pulleys, and Toyota red coolant.
• Added a trans. cooler.
• Removed PS reservoir and cleaned screen. Flushed and replaced with synthetic ATF
• New steering rack bushings.
• Had door adjusted so it doesn't rub.
• Changed dash bulbs. (So fun)
  
• New stereo head unit, amp, low profile sub.
• Dash cover, Husky liners, and key pouch.
• Grey wire mod.
• Blue wire mod.
• Series of drain/fills of trans. oil.
• Thoroughly cleaned engine bay.
• Changed fuel filter.
• Removed and re-sealed marker light housings.
• Re-programmed fobs and extended receiver antenna.
• New windshield.
• Added new TRD decals (one of the prior owners removed them).
• Scrubbed, de-greased, and repaired chips in bed liner (from hauling and shoveling rocks I imagine).

Coming up:

• New hi-rise camper shell.
  
• Front diff. needle bearing replacement.
• King coilovers for front.
• All-Pro expos for rear.
• Bumpers and skids.
• Sound treatment of doors and rear wall.
• Replace door checkstop.
• New wheels and tires.

 

First things first. The engine bay needs a cleaning and a tune up:







That's better:


It was mostly dry, so a lot of it just took some rubbing, but some things needed ATF to help dissolve.



Also cleaned MAF sensor, new plugs, new wires, new PCV valve, cleaned throttle body, and thoroughly cleaned entire air intake.

New timing belt, drive belts, water pump, t-stat, coolant, oil change, and new battery. Removed PS reservoir and cleaned screen then flushed and replaced with Synth ATF.

 

I live in Sacramento, CA where the summer temps can hover at 110 degrees. In this climate, any truck with an Auto Trans should have an auxiliary cooler. I installed a Long Tru-Cool LPD Transmission Oil Cooler 4454 18,000 GVW.

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Tru-Cool-Transmission-Cooler-4454/dp/B005XZXB1M



It went a tad crooked when everything was torqued, but it's snug:




I had to lengthen the driver's side horn wire and relocate it further over:




I ran the lines through the hole for the AC lines, but first lined the rim with a split hose:




Installed behind grill:

 

If you enjoy music the way I do, you know the stock stereo has to go. I'd been wanting to try the Pioneer DEH-80PRS for some time and found a great deal on it. It exceeded my expectations. I paired it with an Alpine MRV-F300 amp and a Pioneer-TS-SWX251 shallow mount sub. I used the Metra 70-1762 wiring kit and a Scosche amp wiring kit.


That feels better already:





Stereo Installed. I used a piece of tailgate seal in the pocket to keep my iphone from slipping out. I'll figure something else out later:





The Alpine amp fits nicely under the seat:





I removed the rear seat behind the driver and put the low profile sub there. It takes up little room and you can stack stuff on top of it. It doesn't sound bad for what it is:





I read a lot of posts about people hooking up the orange (illumination) wire and inadvertently frying their dimmer switch or just blowing out the fuse to the dash cluster. I had a lengthy discussion at CT and was able to sort things out and hook up the wire without a problem:

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/15...etra-harness-illumination-wire-confusion.html

 

If you've tried to pack a Tacoma with any serious gear, you know it's size limitations. When I bought this truck it came with a Leer XQ. It was like a Tonneau cover compared to the Leer 122 I had on my late truck Galena. There was no way I would be able to fit all of my accoutrements in the XQ, and besides that, the prior owner had beat it up pretty good. So, I sold it and ordered a replacement Leer 122.



Original XQ:




Here's the Leer:




A word about Leer: Their craftsmanship sucks. Their shells always seem like they were put together by a drunk baboon and this new one is no exception. However, I've only found 3 makers of hi-rise shells: ARE, Pro Tops (Vision), and Leer. My friends ARE shell began falling apart within a year and Pro Tops is hard to acquire in NORCAL.

So regretfully, I went with Leer again. As you can see their 'color match' is a joke. Also, you can't see it in this picture, but the cab window is crooked. There are a bunch of other things as well. BUT, summer is here, and I need to go camping, so I may just live with it. It would take at least 3 more weeks for a replacement one and who knows if the baboons in the factory could even get it right given a second chance. Lame to spend top dollar on something and have the color be so bad.

If you want a quality shell, stay away from Leer. I've seen 4 different ones come out of the factory with problems. If you need a hi-rise though, you may have to go with them. There just aren't other manufacturers of tall shells.

 

One of the prior owners removed the original TRD stickers. If I didn't replace them, how would people know how cool my truck is?

 

The prior owner was rough on the interior. I imagine one Halloween he dressed like a gorilla, fell in an oily puddle, then hopped in the old Tacoma and had himself a good seizure. When I got it home, I checked the local yards and found some seats that had some nicer parts. I put together the best seats possible from the two pairs. I added my old dash cover, steering wheel cover, and some Husky Liners.


Gorilla's interior:





Donor seats (notice the filthy truck bed):





Final seats installed:




Interior: