Hey y'all! I've wanted a taco since high school... finally got one!

High school dreams do come true!

My 1999 Honda CRV gave me 100k+ miles with minimal maintenance, protected me from a small accident, held together through thick & thin (for the most part), & gave me a lot of great roadtrip memories. I took her all over Texas! BUT it started to feel unsafe & needed a lot of work. I really needed a truck bed for work SO I finally decided to upgrade!

Bought my own vehicle for the first time ever: a 2013 4x4 TRD Sport Access Cab Tacoma!! 6 months in & I absolutely love it. Love the community around these trucks too!

I went with the access cab & long bed because I wanted the shorter wheel base but the longer bed for work & gardening (bulk soil is 10x cheaper than bagged soil lol). And I think the last time I drove with 4 people in my car was college... The jump seats are the perfect size for some gear & a dog! PLUS I can fit perfectly laying down inside the truck bed with the tailgate closed for those open-air-under-the-stars camping adventures (check the last photo)!

I got way too lucky with this Taco. It came with a lot of great mods/upgrades. Took it to Colorado from Texas as soon as I could! Never had 4x4 before and now I GET IT. I understand why people love offroading so much, I'm a city slicker after all but now I have seen the light!

I'm already planning to upgrade the front suspension to some Bilstein 6112's because I'm only a weekend warrior at the moment, and then upgrade the rear to some Bilstein 5160's whenever they get back in stock lol.

I'm excited to be a part of this community! Check 'er out:

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome! Nice looking truck!

 

Remind me of how I felt. I finally got one at age 53. I wanted one since HS too!

 

Welcome to The Forum!

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Cool camping picture, sleeping under the stars.

 

Welcome to TW and great way to break it in.

 

Thanks y'all!

 

Nice truck what mods are you planning?

 

Welcome!

 

I honestly wasn't sure until my mechanic helped me decide. Took it in for the first general checkup and oil change since I bought it and he told me my front suspension is pretty worn and they recommend replacing the whole assembly.

So that threw me down the rabbit hole and I starting combing through these forums and asking some friends about upgraded suspension, both front and rear ($$$). Landed on the Bilstein 6112s for the front & 5160s for the back with medium duty OME Dakar leaf springs. Just waiting for the 5160s to be back in stock!

I recently hauled 1.5 cubic yards of mulch (~1500lbs) and I'm pretty sure I bottomed out my rear suspension. Since I plan on doing that multiple times a year I figured I should upgrade the back as well to haul soil & construction materials & tools safely.

Also want to get a slimline bumper & winch eventually. Headache/full bed rack. Maybe CAI if I'm rolling in cash lol.

Do you have any other recommendations?

 

It's beautiful, congrats! So great to see someone so happy with their truck, way to go man.

Suspension upgrades are all sorts of fun, you've got a ton of options there.
The stock intake is a CAI and your truck doesn't need more flow unless you get a supercharger, so don't worry about that.

 

Thank you! It's a great feeling. I finally get why people love their trucks so much lol.

Thanks for the advice and nice truck btw! Just checked out your build thread, looks like a lot of fun. I'm excited I finally have a vehicle I actually care about so I can learn to mod & upgrade it myself.