Tanya the Toyota Tacoma - Cattywampus '04 Ext Cab

UPDATE - AUG 2021

I'm preparing the truck to be sold. I have bought a '03 Green Double Cab, as more seats is starting to become a priority for me. I'm reverting many of the mods that I installed on the truck and transferring them from this truck to the "new" one. This truck will be reverted back to stock as much as possible before being sold.


Purpose of Thread: Document my truck's (Tanya) progression, projects, adventures, plans, and other musings for anyone who cares... which is probably about 2 people, including my Mom.

Build Philosophy: This truck serves many roles for me. It's a daily driver. An errand/mall runner. A tool mobile. A help your friend move to a new apartment truck. An occasional trailer hauler. A weekend adventure/backroads/camping truck. And dare I say overlander? In reality though, The truck spends most of it's time on-road (>98%). Considering this use case, the truck needs the following:

1. Dependability
2. On Road Manners
3. Decent Off Road Performance, in all sorts of terrain
4. Be able to do "truck stuff"

Tanya MkII:

Pine Barrens, NJ - Summer 2020

FRONT SUSPENSION (approx. 2" of lift vs. stock)

• 2.5" Fox Coilovers w/ 650lbs/in springs
• Camburg Uniball UCA
• Swapped Icon Delta Joint for Upper Ball Joint - My previous uniballs had so much play from mud/sand/dirt ingress into the joint, wearing them out prematurely. Delta joints are sealed and greaseable.
• 1" front diff drop
• Whiteline LCA Poly Bushing - Swapped for OEM Rubber

REAR SUSPENSION (approx 2" of lift vs. stock)

• Deaver Leafs Old Man Emu Dakars (EL122RA,
  $244 EL122RB ARB EL122RB
  EL122RB)
• Bilstien 5100

TIRE/WHEELS

• 255/85/16 Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx (All-Terrains)
• American Racing Mojave (AR172) Wheels

DRIVETRAIN

• Manual Hub Swap - ABS retained
• Stock Rear Diff E-locker
• Front CV needle bearing swapped with ECCG Bushing Swap
• Regeared - 4.56
• Grey Wire Mod

POWERTRAIN

• MagnaFlow 5" X 11" Muffler (selected for rust resistant stainless steel, not for performance. Oversized to make it as quiet as possible.)
• Custom 304 Stainless 2.5" Tubing from just after factory Cat and back (mostly for rust resistance, not performance).
• Trans Cooler Add

ARMOR

• ARB Deluxe Bumper
• OEM Skids
• Custom Rear Bumper Build

RECOVERY

• Warn M8000 Winch
• Winch Controller Contactor Swap
• Rear Recovery Points on rear bumper

FRAMEWORK

• CBI Frame Reinforcement
• Rust Prevention
  • Chassis Saver Coated on Rear half of truck (rest in progress)
  • Eastwood Internal Frame Coating inside boxed section of frame

LIGHTING

• Front: KC Pro-Sport with Gravity LED, Wide-40 Pattern
• Rear Backup Light: RIGID Ignite Diffuse Black Flush Mount
• LED Swap for most lights, including cluster.

ELECTRICAL

• Mean Green High Output Alternator
• In Cab Winch Control Switch
• Front Aux. Light Wiring with two modes- ON/OFF or AUTO ON when High Beams ON
• Fuel Pump Kill Switch

INTERIOR

• 4Runner Seat Swap
• Alpine Single DIN Head Unit
  
• Aux Switch Mount (Ashtray deleted)
• USB Port (cigarette lighter deleted)
• Voltmeter (cigarette lighter deleted)
• Custom Cluster Indicator Lights

STORAGE

• UWS Low Profile Tool Crossover Toolbox
• L-Tracks installed on bed floor near stock Bed Tie downs

RANDOM

• De-chroming complete
• Matte black decal in place of door and tailgate emblems... for weight savings and aerodynamics of course

***Work In Progress..... Will be updated as the truck updates***

 

***Work In Progress..... Will be updated.***

BRIEF HISTORY: I'm pretty late to the game here with this thread. The truck was bought used in 2007 while I was I was stationed in Southern California. At the time, it had approximately 32,000 miles on it. The Tacoma was always a dream vehicle to me. I had seen movies like Back to the Future (I know, that was the pickup), watched the crazy Tacoma/Hilux commercials, and seen them driving around. The 4WD 1st gens always looked rugged, high stance, no BS kind of compact pickup. Not to mention it is one of the last truly compact pickups that were available in the states in 2007, minus the ford ranger. The truck remained stock for about the three years. At the time, I didn't know jack about working on vehicles besides the very basic maintenance (fluids, tire changes, etc...). That didn't stop me from trying to wheel it at every opportunity. Cue montage of pictures from simpler times with my stock truck:

Stock Tanya (2007-2010):

Froading near Ocotillo Wells, CA (2008)

All Stock except the following:

• 265/70/16 BFG A/T KO2
• Grey Wire Mod
• Volant Cold Air Intake (too loud, did nothing, later returned to stock intake)
• Rubber Pirate Ducky on the dash

Cue montage of pictures from simpler times with my stock truck:


Random Spot in Illinois (2009)

Random Spot in Illinois (2009)

Over the years, I researched and compiled this list of mods I wanted for the truck. Although I had gained some good off road experience, I still was in the military at the time with no tools or garage for doing the work myself. After getting back from my last deployment in late 2010, I smartly spent half of my saved money on a depreciating asset and had a shop do all the work for me. After the military, I went to college in Illinois and didn't have a whole lot of money, tools, or infrastructure for working on it. The truck stayed mostly in this configuration until around 2016. I will call this configuration Tanya MkI. Why MkI? Because my name is Mark and it sounds cool


Tanya MkI (2010-2017):

Stock vs. MkI

FRONT SUSPENSION

• 2.5" Donahoe/Icon Coilovers w/ 650lbs/in springs
• Camburg Uniball UCA
• 1" front diff drop

REAR SUSPENSION

• Deaver Leafs
• Bilstien 5100

TIRE/WHEELS

• 285/75/16 BFG A/T KO
• American Racing Mojave (AR172) Wheels

POWERTRAIN

• Volant Cold Air Intake

ARMOR

• ARB Deluxe Bumper

RECOVERY

• Warn M8000 Winch

LIGHTING

• Hella 500 with HID retrofit (bad idea)

RANDOM

• Grey Wire Mod
• Trans Cooler Add

Froading Trips with MkI setup:

Got her stuck in a mud hole in Badlands Off Road in Indiana, first time using the winch. Side note, the Hella 500 with HID swap was added in early 2011. Horrible idea, had nothing but a terrible pattern and ballasts would always shit the bed. Before I knew anything about properly designed lights


Random Field in Illinois

***Work In Progress..... Will be updated.***

 

Reserving 3rd Post for future documentation....

 

Add me to you and mom and make it three.. Great looking build!