Is this considered the best Tacoma? I got it yesterday

An 01 4D 4WD black LIMITED, (it was literally the only Limited listed on Autotrader), 140K miles, with a Snugtop camper, fully carpeted rear bed, with new frame, for $10K and change?

Only bad side is everything BUT the frame rust covered and oxidation on the engine. Body is rust free. And are these springs fucking normal, son? This is my first Toyota or truck purchase ever and all, but damn. I crawled under it and thought "uh, that can't be right" It's common for springs to lose their arch aaand go inverse yes?

Oh, and what is the best all around suspension? 883's on a double cab with nitrochargers/5100's?

 

Welcome! Springs appear normal to me.

 

Welcome...

 

1st gen best gen.

 

Welcome to TW, and say Bye-Bye to your wallet!

 

That rear axle housing scares me

 

Yup, totally normal. As with ANY spring, it loses its composure after time. Same things happen to coils. My leafs were slightly inverted, and my front TRD coils were hitting together on bumps. 100k miles will do that to any truck....

Nice truck, btw

 

Thats a lot of rust . 10k for a '01 anything is a lot . Cant go back now.


Enjoy it.

 

Yikes, she is rusty

 

Cause of the coating? Could just be the vendor trying to cover up rust and increase buyer appeal. They did that to my dad's current truck (04 tundra) but he knew what he was buying. He bought a solid truck

 

That pic is from my phone off the ground, it might not show it well. But basically at all points along the leafs there should be a concave arch, however slight?

 

I'm sorry, I didn't explain that right. They will be flat if not inverted after 100k+ Miles. This is normal.

However, these are the signs of worn springs, and they should be replaced. Good condition springs will have arch to them.

 

Welcome Boone. I'd get after the rust if your concerned about it. There is a ton of info on here about it and just about anything else. Simply google "Tacomaworld ______" and you'll find what you need.

Thank you for serving.

 

Solid truck! If I were you I'd wire brush that rear axle and rust reform then paint with some quality undercoating. Also if you want absolute "best" suspension then you will want to go with king or fox coilovers for the front then smooth body shocks for the rear with some sort of brand new leaf pack. All pro, Dakar, wheelers to name a few. Those options will give you a nice ride plus a lift of about 2" if you want to keep stock height get some billstine 5100s with original Toyota springs/leafs

 

I'm looking for a good bang for the buck setup with on-road manners a priority. Will be carrying children around more than trailers, and not real interested in bigger tires yet either. Are stock leafs cheaper than OME?

And thanks everyone!

 

well the 04 is considered the best because it was the latest and the most updated stuff on it.

that said, the 01-04 are the better choice in first gens vs the 96-00 years so your good.

lastly, any Tacoma YOU own is always the best one there is

 

Man, I didn't think anyone was gonna answer that one. And that's a good point, with the 04. What do you think of the price? Did I get a square deal?

 

More than i would have spent, especially if it looks like it was stored on the bottom of the ocean. Trim packages are almost meaningless imo. A base model can be full optioned, an sr5 trim package consists of the sr5 badge, no options but you get chrome mirrors and a slightly different shade of blue. At least mine was that way. The trd package otoh gets the locking differential and other actual changes to the truck. I believe the limited was the most expensive trim package offered, but since you didnt get much for the money id expect there to be fewer buyers that opted to spend the money.

Rear springs are pretty weak when new. Needing new ones is fairly common. If yours are flat or negative arch you'revat the worn out stage.

You're probably in line with nada pricing but if the rust etc is as bad as you say you might have trouble selling to anyone that can actually crawl under it and have to go to autotrader.

 

Well kinda... anything "Toyota" is way over priced. I have stock leafs from an 04 Tacoma with only 2k miles on them I live in Massachusetts but would also ship if needed I'll give you a great deal

 

Nice truck. It's got a new frame, I wouldn't worry too much about that rust, hopefully just some surface flaking. Wire wheel the axle and POR15 it, then fluid film twice/yr everything.