2Runner

I am privileged to have recently acquired this mighty fine 2002 lunar mist 5 speed standard cab short bed just a few weeks ago and now I have been fully engulfed by the world of Tacoma's!

Needed something economical to drive just around town for quick errands and light pickup truck duties, and at the same time have always wanted one just like this (2WD silver 5 speed) that I can personalize to my own liking! Luckily the Tacoma gods smiled upon me and I found what I was looking for in decent original shape shortly after I started hunting, and at such a good deal I had to bring it on home.

Take a gander at how she looked when I got her home and gave her a bath, she was quite nasty when I got it but was in great shape. The previous owner told me his lady said it was time for the truck to go and he wasnt fighting for it to stay, so it was time for this truck to become loved once again!!



Thought it would be cool to start a thread to capture my experience with the truck, good and bad, talk about hopes and dreams with like minded enthusiasts, and the crucial things in life.. like Tacoma upgrades!

 

Upon realizing I was now in possession of the little truck I had longed for, it was time to start working towards getting the truck I have envisioned. After doing the tune up, next things were to personalize the truck a bit more to my taste.

Since I also need an open bed pickup every now and then I decided to remove the Snugtop camper shell. While I was out there removing stuff I did away with the front plate and oem mudflaps too.



Weight Reduction Upgrade if you will!?

 

When I got the truck the passenger side door actually would not unlock with the key from the outside. It also came with just one super old non oem key so I went to the dealer for an oem key to be made from my vin# and factory key code.

I was pleasantly surprised to find not only did this restore some factory showroom luster, it also worked to unlock my passenger door - smooth as butter!! my lady was dazzled when I opened the door for her, chivalry has been revived by the Tacoma!! Also I dig when I get an owners manual with my used cars..

 

These trucks were so basic they came with almost no options from the factory. One option my truck "had" was floor mats that were long gone. No matter though as I as able to score some oem floor mats to continue with my showroom "floor" restoration!!



Looks like she just rolled off the assembly line dont it?!

 

I tried installing some 4Runner bucket seats today that I scored of cl, and got them all in except the right rear passenger side. Oddly mine is actually higher on the driver side left, and not sitting perfectly level.

The issue here I think is these are not bolt in parts, they are bend, hammer, then bolt in! I noticed the more I bent the front foot forward to get the mount closer to in place the lower the seat would go. Bent parts do not have exact tolerances needless to say!

As a note my passenger seat is sitting perfectly level so if I stuck a 1/4" under one foot I would indeed be uneven there as well. Note to any that line up for this mod, results may vary so do not consider this mod a bolt in affair! Not terribly difficult, but if you strive for perfection as I do you may find yourself not liking beating parts into submission to see them not sitting level. So I am not done, yet.. I am going to add my experience to this thread in hopes to give folks a better idea what to expect.

After quite a bit of fiddling around I found it best to start a bolt with the front inside foot, then line up the rear outside, with forceful persuasion to get the bolt threaded however - not set her down and bolt it in.

Driver inside bolted in, contour of foot as if it was made for it, the wind was whistling through my hair at this point!


Then pushing on the seat rail inward I was able to start the rear outside bolt. To my dismay I also found the frame cover was going to hit the seat belt cover if I scooted too far back with the seat back adjusted forward. The forums didnt mentioned this part.. but maybe an issue only for my regular cab base. I sat in it and it didnt impede my seating position so I decided to continue as I still felt lucky. Color comparison as well: 02 Tacoma "charcoal" vs 02 4runner "gray". GREAT job naming these colors here Mr Toyoda...


And here is the shot of the front foot where it stands prior to beating, bending, prying, grinding, or whatever you may do to get it where it needs to be. The bend in the part creates the height I mentioned earlier.


As I pried it forward (pry bar through the hole and pulling forward and upward little by little) the seat lowered close to proper height. Here it is resting closer to how I thought it should, before beating and bending in the tab with the mounting hole.


The hole came real close after pounding it with a dead blow hammer a bit. A dash of grinding the hole took care of the rest. Here was between pounding and grinding, didnt need to remove too much.


I stepped back to gander at the beautiful charcoal tan seat, and this is where I noticed it sat a tad higher on the driver side. I sat in it and to be honest I could not tell.. and my rear end said heck yes buddy as the bolsters tenderly caressed my torso, but I know it aint perfect in my mind! I am more centered behind the steering wheel too now, oddly for a seat that wasnt made for the truck vs stock! Here is my measuring technique, how the seat lined up to the cab trim.


Oddly the passenger front didnt seem as far off as the driver side.

Until I got to the rear!!


Sorry I did not take a pic, but the rear seat lined up perfectly level with the foot on the bare metal as seen above. So in my case, I dont think the 1/4" adapter are going to work as my seats are not going to sit level with an adapter under the mount. I was a second away from grabbing the drill and being done with it, but I always like to take a break right before I get hasty taking drills to vintage rare machines like this one!!

As a side note, I also had to drill holes in the side of the tranny tunnel since I had a stock full bench. Here is the upper hole I drilled, the lower hole is where the stock bench was sitting. The factory left a nice circle for me to point the drill at least. 1/2" bit worked perfect, but it was a cringeful moment none the less. Looking at those dimples also calling out for the center console.. if there are any left out there of course! I think TW is dwindling the supply and increasing the value on some of these parts for sure..


I am glad I put this together, seeing it all I realize a variation is I drilled those darn holes in the tunnel. If I grind the hole a bit higher this will allow me to raise the driver inside a tad more to get her level! You cant do this if you have a cage nut back there though, sorry extra/double cabs and 60/40 benches..

Thanks for listening TW and wish me luck on my path to improved ergonomics of the oem variety!!

 

Oh yeah almost forgot, here is a pic of the 2002 4runner seats in "gray" I am working with. So close!

 

I went to Toyota heaven today, the place where Toyota's go when they die and also heaven for Tacoma lovers as myself!!

The first phase of my build is to use old original oem parts to upgrade my base into more of a deluxe model by adding some factory creature comforts and dress her up with the SR5 color keyed package (minus the rear bumper which I could not find yet).

Here are the parts I acquired and my plan!

Tacoma bucket seats: I will use these for the moment while I get around to painting the 4Runner trim to match my interior and I am thinking of getting some fabric to cover the soft portion of the door panels to match up better. Maybe 4Runner floor mats too for more color matching effects. They look a bit off color wise in my cab and I was not perfectly happy yet.. and I also plan to swap over the Tacoma bucket seat mounts for a more secure fitment at that time.


Center console: You need one of these to rest your arm on and to gain some much needed storage in the regular cab. Oh, and an extra cup holder too..


Tilt steering column: More comfort and intermittent wipers!


Rear view with dual map light: Two lights are better than one and my mirror was fogging pretty bad around the outside edges.


Sun visors with cloth and the nifty slider. These need a good steam cleaning or something along those lines first. Well, all these parts do of course!


Also a passenger side mirror on the under side is good for my lady!


Ash tray and cigarette lighter: My cigarette lighter was missing and the ash tray was very used with a loose spring that wouldnt hold it in, and just plain nasty! Even grabbed a spare lighter, just in case.


Color keyed grill, front bumper assembly, corner lamps, and door handles: I always liked the sporty look of the color matched parts since the "sport" trucks appeared around the 90's with these mono-chromatic schemes. Searching for a rear bumper to match up still too.





As a nifty bonus I was not really looking for, I came across the factory warranty manual and owner guides for my 2002! You know I like this kind of stuff!


I know I could paint my black stuff to match up, but I like the old original parts to match my old truck. They got a ding and a bruise here and there but I like it, personality as they say!!

 

Spent some time today in the sun detailing the bucket seats and center console. Found out I did not get the mounting bracket with the center console so I am going to have to give the yard a call tomorrow, crossing my fingers they have it there still!

Got some great results - first beating them and vacuuming until no more dust clouds arose from the cushions.. then used an all purpose car cleaner applied with a drill brush, followed up with a steam cleaning.

Here is the before, passenger side.


And here is the after, note the passenger side looks almost good as new!


The driver side needs another pass to get as perfect, but I ran out of time and steam cleaner stain removal liquid. This shot does show the drastic difference from clean to the grimy spots, it was very fun seeing the colors change before my eyes!

 

Yesterday I finished up cleaning up the driver seat and it came out quite nice. I then finished "restoring" my new interior tidbits and am very happy with the results.

Take a look at this center console, yes it is almost 20 years old!! See above photo for the before I cleaned her up, big difference.



Not a single part broke on this gem I found.. (Well, I did order the rubber inserts to fill those gaps and help hold cups in place)



Other tidbits came out nice too.


And the sun visors as well.. Look at those crisp warnings and lack of gruesome stains!



Plenty of goodies getting ready for the install. I think I want to steam clean my carpets too though before re-installing the seats.

 

Today I decided to remove my kick panels, front shift console, and the carpet to continue the interior detailing while my seats were out. Here was the carpet before I started the steam cleaning..


And check out the progress half way through, pretty easy to see the difference where the steamers been huh?!


The snow ball effect is grabbing hold of me as usual, I decided to order up some acoustic mat/thermal barrier to install on the cab floor as well while I got it all apart. Figure that may be a good way to help silence the custom muffler and air intake while keeping the extra 5 horsepower and (sometimes) fun sounds!

 

your doing the same stuff i keep doing to my tundra.




i went from bench to buckets with a console, Crank to power windows, manual locks to power locks and factory keyless entry.. added tilt steering, ETC


its a deep rabbit hole you've delved into

 

Hahha glad I am not alone! ..guess I am adding all the OEM options I would have liked for it to have come with from the factory!

Got buckets, center console, tilt steering column, SR5 color keyed bumper, grill, corner lamps, and door handles, nifty cloth visors with a mirror, dual map light, fixed rear window and some other tidbits for my base 2wd regular cab waiting to be installed.. but I keep buying more stuff before I get to the things I already got.. Tacoma's are FUN like that!!

May as well gander at a pic of the truck itself while we're here..

 

Dang, I almost forgot about my gauge cluster with the tachometer! Perhaps I am a bit out of control as my wife likes to say...

 

I had gotten hold of some gently used Lexus IS250 wheels last week..



And today I was able to take them to a professional wheel specific machine shop that bored out the centers to factory spec 67.1mm. They had the specs on hand also to remove just enough metal to allow the hub to insert into the wheel perfectly, and a test fit confirmed the center caps were still able to pop right IN!!


Next up will be shopping for tires and Toyota center caps, of course!!

 

Got my ultra deluxe oem cloth dual sun visor upgrade in today!! My base cab had some worn vinyl that didnt even want to stay up any longer.


Aahh the feel of genuine oem cloth on my fingertips, the nifty slide out flaps to protect me from the suns harsh rays..

and a passenger side mirror for my lady all installed with just four good old fashioned phillips head screws.


It sure is fun when things go together so easy!

 

Adding to my inventory of fine OEM parts to install today, seems like I can find stuff quicker than I can clean them up and install them!!

The rarest of all Tacoma parts, and almost unobtainable, S-Runner seats have actually been located and acquired!


One track is stuck, so I would like to get that working even though there is not much room to slide in the base cab and it is stuck in a position that actually matches where I drive, which I like. I am picky though, and want it working anyhow..

Also got the front and rear sway bars from the same S-Runner. Mainly wanted the front to see if it would help with the truck's over steer but thought the rear was too rare to pass on. Unfortunately I found these mount to tabs that were welded to the rear axle and didnt want to drop to the 3.15 ratio for my little 2.4. Maybe I will figure this out one day, but I will mount the front first anyhow and test drive.


I drove to the salvage yard with no carpet or floor trim, just mounted one Tacoma bucket and drove off since I was mid bucket seat swap, carpet cleaning, interior detail project when I found the S-Runner seats!! It was a bit loud in there today, and felt like a race truck with half the interior stripped down and just a single seat.. in my imagination anyhow!

 

You found a set?? ive been hunting for 6 years with no luck! lucky

 

6 years?! Whoa, guess I am luckier than I realized.. I just got my Tacoma a month ago and already have 4Runner, Tacoma buckets, and the S-Runner buckets taking up space at my house as you saw. I may have to use the 4runner seats for some parts for these S-Runners, so everything happens for a reason!

Another member said car-parts.com to find these, but honestly I dont know how you buy stuff from that site. I had found a set and the yard told me they were sold in 2018, and that yards use "Pinnacle", and car-parts is just kind of there.. Every yard I have called dont even know what I am talking about when I say sports or limited bucket seats for the Tacoma. The dealer parts inventory calls them "Sport bucket seats" but I have heard many calling them Limited on the forums.

Here is what I did: Search offerup and cl everyday, multiple times, and soon as you see them call and buy over the phone and dont haggle till you see them and find imperfections!!

Hope you find a set one day, if I come across another set I will get them just to pass to a forum member..YOU my friend!! I know you need "charcoal" too, I've been around "the world" here once or twice!! 4runner seats are great if you have tan interior, but the grays just dont match up at all really.

 

i keep any eye on car-part. the few ive seen pop up and call about they either want WAY too much money to ship or theyre already gone

 

Yup, you can search for "sport package" seats on that site but then the search results are chock full of standard buckets and the ones listed are gone by a year..

Super annoying trying to shop on that site!