1999 Tacoma Single Cab Rehab - Help!

Below is my in-progress rehab of my 1999 Tacoma. All of the body work is complete, looking practically new. The shocks, struts and leafsprings have also been replaced.

I need advice on general maintenance, replacement parts and other improvements.

Truck is 4x4 manual transmission, 4-cylinder engine and has approximately 170,000 miles.

My goals are to improve longevity of the vehicle and to gain a slightly more aggressive less-stock or customized look.

1.Exhaust pipe cracked off at the end of the muffler, only complaint is that after a few minutes when parked with the vehicle on, exhaust gets trapped under the bed and seems to come into the cab, not very pleasant but I also don't sit with the car on very often. Looking for replacement, possibly including the header. Any recommendations? I want an exhaust that sounds good, possibly improves performance, but is not super loud.

2. Interior, seats are worn out, badly, looking for replacement, what are my options other than seeking out similar less worn out seats from the junk yard?

3. I've owned the truck for around 6 years and only put 4,000 miles per year, it's never required any repairs other than oil changes. What preventative repairs does my truck need?

4. Aftermarket parts, what are options to improve the exterior aesthetic? Obviously a long list but including bull bars, side rails, etc.. If you were me, what would YOU do?

5. Other recommendations? Things I'm not thinking of.

 

That is an awesome looking truck.

On your list should be all the "normal" wear and tear items:

Suspension/steering:
ball joints
tie rod ends
rack bushings
control arm bushings could probably use some love, too
how's your steering rack look?

Engine:
plugs/wires
you've got a timing chain, so you should be fine there
O2 censors
MAF
Basically everything that should be done at the 100/200k mark (there are threads here on the specifics). If you don't know the service history before you bought it, assume none of it has been done and start from day 1.

I'd look into some weather proof seat covers. Don't cheap out, get ones made specifically for THESE seats.

For the exterior, it depends more on what your plans with it are. If this is a daily driver and you're going to baby it: nothing. It looks great, IMO. But if you plan to take it off-roading, then yeah, bumpers and rock sliders would be a good idea (again, more threads specific for bumpers and trail armor are plentiful, and a mild lift wouldn't hurt at some point...

There's a sticky for "DIY mods", I'd check that out for anything that suits your fancy.

 

I'll definitely run through this list with my mechanic and check those threads on the 100k/200k maintenance. Not sure what condition the ball joints, tie rod ends, bushing, etc are in. Will also check on that, honestly I'm not terribly familiar with all of those parts, but will look them up and try to assess the condition myself.

I had the truck in the shop to have all the shocks and struts replaced, I would think they would have identified these other potentially issues, but perhaps not. I've noticed since the replacement the truck is jarring when I hit bumps, will this soften up over time as the new suspension settles in?

Truck will no longer be a daily driver, so I'm free to do basically anything I want to it. No plans to go into serious off-roading but so of those mods could be nice.

Appreciate your input, this gives me a place to start.