Improving an appliance. A budget '05 2.7 auto 5-lug build.

At the beginning of this month I totaled my 2006 Silverado. It was a WT (work truck) model, I called it Whiskey Tango since it was really the white trash model. It was a manual transmission 4.3 Vortec V6. It was slow, but it looked and sounded cool and was very useful to have as any truck can be. It was lowered 2", GMC 20's, flowmaster side exit exhaust, roll pan and tonneau cover not shown in these older pics.

Camping in the middle of downtown Savannah GA.


I bought my first house on Friday May 31st, then Tuesday April 4th I totaled my truck. I stilled owed some money on it, so the remainder of the insurance settlement wasn't going to go far. The house also needs a roof soon and some other work, so I didn't really feel like going further into debt.


My Dad owns a small security alarm company and has a couple of trucks for his installers. He just bought his installer a new work truck and this old Tacoma was coming available. He offered to sell it to me for cheap since he believed it might need a motor soon and some other work. I guess he really took pity on my situation, because he sold me the truck for $10.



At first I thought it was going to be a fleet model with NO options, but was pleased to find out it's an SR5 with power options and cruise control. The truck has 248k on the clock but seems to run well despite burning oil. The brakes feel kind spongy, and the truck sometimes misfires a bit when accelerating slowly from a stop. I work in the medical field now, but used to be a mechanic and have alway enjoyed turning wrenches. I am confident that I will be able to address any issues that arise due to the high mileage. I acquired the truck April 13th.

The camper top was originally for a S-10, so it leaked and generally just made the truck look like a work vehicle.


The truck got put to work right away hauling materials from Lowe's for my privacy fence. Even though the truck is not at all optioned how would have picked given the choice, it is certainly a useful appliance. Unfortunately in this state that's about the only good thing I can say about it. I decided to make a few improvements to make it look less appliancey.



I found a set of 5 Charger wheels and tires on CL for cheap and jumped on it. They are much lighter than the 15" steelies that came on the truck. They are 17x7, +22mm offset (4.78" backspacing). I'm happy with the fitment, the wheels are nearly flush with the body and the tires don't rub. I think there are some Corolla center caps that will fit. I need to make a trip to the junkyard and try to snag some.


Next up is 245/75/17 BFG's, and a 3" lift. I already have the lift kit and tires, just need shocks and some time.

 

Thanks, I started drinking the kool-aid real quick.

 

Made a little road trip to pick this camper shell up.

 

The trip back was not without incident.

 

I found this ARE camper listed on Craigslist for $250, the only problem was that the passenger side window was busted out. The only other problem was that it was 3.5 hours away in Reidsville NC. (From Columbia SC)

When I was about an hour into my trip the seller called me and asked if I had any clamps to attach it to my truck... Of course I didn't, so I ended up stopping at Lowe's and getting 4 3.5" C-clamps to hold it on.

When I got there I asked if we could test fit it with the clamps. We set it on the truck and it fit perfectly. After we already had it clamped down I offered him $200 and he accepted with no protest.

On the way back my front passenger tire sustained a rather large puncture and went immediately flat. I limped it to a gas station and put on what I assume is the original spare.

 

I knew when I got this truck that I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on it, but did want to mod it. So far all of the mods have been budget friendly. I'll tally up the total soon.

I wanted to put a roof rack on my camper shell. So I picked up 2 Pathfinder racks from the junkyard for $50. I'll take more pics when I get it attached. The Pathfinder racks has some nice features, I think it will be a good fit. Here is a pic of it laying up there with the crossbars from both racks. This is after trimming 8" off of the rails.

 

Suspension parts! Bilstein 4600's, KYB strut mount and hardware, eBay spacer/AAL.

 

This is a similar situation for me, bought my '06 access cab 2.7 2wd off my company for cheap. (Not $10) but $1900. Nevertheless small budget to update and make it more aesthetically pleasing.
I have actually replaced the brake pads and rotors with the cheap slotted rotors on rockauto.com. even though nobody was willing to buy them I did and I'm nearly 2000 miles in and they are still good through snow, rain and heavy braking so I will keep you guys updated.

 

Nice. I have been looking into options for larger OEM calipers and rotors. ( Not a big brake kit $$). What other plans do you have for it?

 

Well I will probably tint the windows...
http://www.thetinteffect.com/precut...cut-window-tint-kit-made-from-3m-window-film/
Then maybe a newer stereo even $150 is a bit much but it looks similar to my OEM in my 14' work truck and it comes with the shroud to look oem.
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_104BV760B/Boss-BV760B.html
I want to level it out too, living in the snow of Eastern Idaho a front level would be great but then I'd have to get new tires to fill in the fenders but maybe lower the back an 1" or so (don't tell my wife though she thinks that lowering a truck is the stupidest idea)

I don't want to spend a lot of money on this thing just want the basics of a good looking sporty truck

 

I finally got around to getting the lift installed and found out that I needed longer u-bolts for the rear AAL. So I ordered u-bolts from Fat Bob's, they'll ship out today. Hopefully in a week I will have the BFG's on it and aligned.

Also I got new headlights. (Depot brand)

 

Finally got the rear AAL done and got it aligned. I'm very happy with the tire offset and fitment. Since the 5-lug has a car-like wheel offset from the factory I decided to with a car wheel (17x7 +22) I also wanted a narrower tire. This way it doesn't look like it needs fender flares.

 

That's looking good! I

 

Thanks!

 

Forgot to mention I like those headlights and Did you take the roof rack off of the shell?

 

Thanks man. I actually have not attached the roof rack yet. Maybe I will get to that next weekend.

 

Yea, I read that you just set it up there in those previous pictures, not attached. Insert Foot in Mouth

 

Got this cover today, ordered a OEM headhlight housing (passenger was faded to all hell)