Grigore's 2006 DCSB 4x4 DIY TRD-OffRoader

What it looks like now




It all started with my 2006 DCSB TRD-Sport with 250k miles. I bough it after it had been in an accident that damaged the bed and de left side rear door and column. frame was straight, just body damage. I fixed it up as much as I could at home with basic tools and limited knowledge. I put some money into that truck. I installed 5100s in the front with 3" lift pro comp coils, tough country uniball UCA, and in the back I replaced my stock shocks for some 5160s with remote reservoirs. Two weeks later I left to California to visit my family and I rolled the truck 3-4 times on I-70.












I only had couple scratches and cuts. I did not have to go to the hospital. That evening i rented a Dodge truck and headed down to socal. I was going to be there for about 3 weeks before I had to head back to Lincoln NE. In that time I looked for another truck and happened to come by a 2006 Tacoma TRD offroad 4x4, 100k miles, from Hawaii. The truck had been in an accident and the frame was rusted and bent. I bought it and had a week to fix it up enough to drive back to Lincoln.






God worked it out, and I was able to find a frame for a good price, and a shop that would do the swap in 24 hours. The guy from the frame shop was nice enough to even give me a ride back home. Once they finished the truck I took it home to pack it up to head back to Lincoln. Since both the bumpers were damaged and the Right bed side, I had them off for the 1500 mile, so my truck was pretty bare (wish i had taken some pictures). On our way to Lincoln we had arranged with the insurance company to swap out my stock suspension, for the lift kit from my crashed car. So we stopped in Colorado and did the swap, and picked up the last couple things that were in the truck, including my LCA skids.




After few days the front bumper and winch that I had ordered came and I was able to install it. Also I ordered an OEM replacement R fender painted to factory specs from eBay. (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Taco...s-Winch-Ready-LED-Offroad-Steel-/222154548925)
I also changed the headlights from the 2006 style to the 2012 ones. So i had to cut and modify the grill to fit it. I still need to finish the inserts for underneath the headlight (one day).




After much fight with SD wheels because they sent me some wheels that didn't fit around the front calipers I ended up going with a Set of 5 Level 8 MK 6 Bronze 17x9 6x5.5 Offset -12 wheels and Achilles Desert Hawk X-MT All-Terrain Radial Tire - 305/70R17.






Once the wheels were on and the suspension was where I wanted it to be, I started working on cutting some stuff off. First, I am planning on building a custom wrap around high clearance rear bumper soon with a swing out tire and gas can carrier, so i measured and made the cuts. Following I had to make a little more space for the 305s, so I cut the body mount and took about an inch of the rear portion of the front fenders. There will be more cutting and molding in the future. All my original flares are off because I don't like them and they do not do much. Still trying to figure out a better way to get some flares on that look better and still give me the clearance I want.







I had the original rear bumper from my previous tacoma so I Installed it until I make the custom one.



I bought a TMS Snorkel Air Ram Intake Kit for 90-97 Toyota 80 Series Land Cruiser / Lexus Lx450 from Amazon and made it fit to my tacoma. Worked out pretty well. Also I started working a bit more on the grill, so right now there isn't an insert, and I have it painted black because I don't really like chrome. I will color match it one day, I think.
Also I had bought a pair of sliders off eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rock-Slider...ash=item2332e5efae:g:OskAAOxy3NBSmNWu&vxp=mtr) and I had someone weld them on, and I painted it with the Wagner 0529031 MotoCoat Complete Car & Truck Paint Sprayer with black undercoating rubberized paint.




I attached my axed and my small shovel to the bed of the tacoma with Original Quick Fist® Clamp for mounting tools & equipment 1" - 2-1/4" diameter from amazon. I still need to attach my high lift jack but the mounting points bent in the accident.




Somewhere here in the middle I installed a front ARB locker, with an ARB air pump for the locker and also to pump up tires. I changed gears both front and rear form 3.73s to 4.88s to get a bit more gearing off-road. I have been driving the truck on the freeway quite a bit with these gears and I am happy with its performance both on and off road. Both of the front axels were replaced because the boots were torn. I kept the old ones to change the boots and recondition them so I can have them as spares. I also installed a rear diff breather. Of course at 108500 miles, I did full engine oil flush, transmission flush, added a transmission cooler and an extra transmission oil filter with a magnet inside. I also flushed and changed the coolant. Changed the sway bar end links and some extra small details. There are still some things to do on the car, but I am happy with how it is now.