New TW Member Intro

Hello, I'm Tim.

I am not new to forums in general but I am new here and new to being a Tacoma (or even Toyota for that matter) owner. I am an older man in the last half of my life so I hope the forum is able to communicate in a respectable manner.

I have long needed a pickup truck but being of limited funds it seems like it would never be in my budget. Last month I found what I think was/is a good deal on a 2002 regular cab, 4x4, 2.7L with automatic transmission that wasn't rusted. I was told by the owner that he was the second owner and purchased it with 90K miles (it now has 224K) and he was told the frame had been replaced. I gave it a thorough going over and the frame does indeed look good, as does the body- as far as rust is concerned. This is a rarity here in Pennsylvania. But the truck has seen better days and appears that it has spent it's recent life running around in the woods and not on the roads so much.

I was told it had a cracked head and was devouring coolant and throwing a code for a misfire, but it was still drive-able. Because it was some distance from my home I had it towed to minimize the risk of doing more damage. Once home I got to work taking the head off to have it inspected. In the process I noticed a very questionable area of the head gasket and the machine shop agreed. Without doing a pressure check we just did a quick cleaning, decked the head for flatness, and touched the exhaust valves since they were showing signs of wear.

This whole process took a little longer than I had hoped, mostly due to my own ignorance and also wanting to make sure the truck last a while for me. My first hurdle was when I rounded of a head bolt (#9) after breaking two short extensions. I spent days trying every tool I could get my hands on to get a grip on this bolt to get it out. I ended up drilling it taking extra care to not spread metal filings everywhere. That was not fun. The next hurdle was setting valve lifter spacing since I had the exhaust valves re-seated. I should have done this while the head was on the bench rather than waiting until I had installed it in the truck. Waited days for the tool to arrive from Amazon and then another week for the dealership to get the correct size shims in. They were much more expensive than I thought they would be. So, it was a week dealing with the head bolt, a week waiting for the machine shop, and another week waiting for Toyota.

Today, more than a month after I purchased it, I was finally able to drive it. I like the sense of accomplishment I get from fixing my vehicles and the money I save by not having someone else do it for me. I am not a stranger to turning a wrench but I'm not a certified mechanic or anything. I expect the truck will not be modded much if any during my ownership. There are a few creature comforts I would like to add, but that will come after I make more observations about it's overall condition.

If you have an suggestions for me or reading material I might find interesting feel free to pass it along. I hope to enjoy my time here. Take care, thanks for reading.

 

Welcome to TW!!

 

Welcome to TW!!

 

Welcome Tim.

 

Welcoe to Tw!

 

Welcome

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome

 

Welcome to the TW family!

 

Hey I'm new here. My name is Tony, I drive a 2nd gen Tacoma and work for Slick Products. Looking forward to participating here more!

 

HI!

 

Congrats on the new ride. Welcome. I'm new too.

 

Welcome to you as well Bill.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome from SCS!

 

Welcome Tim! You've found a good place to find quality information on adding creature comforts to your truck.

 

Interesting addition to a new member thread. Welcome to Tacoma World to the both of you!