McNeil Racing 05-15 To 16 Tacoma Conversion Kit.

Hey TW,

I know I'm probably going to catch some shit for this, but I'm converting my 2nd Gen into a 3rd Gen. The two main reasons I'm doing this conversion is because I want long travel my Tacoma and I like the look of 3rd Gen LT setups better than 2nd Gens. Also I want to change up the look of the truck. My goal of writing this, is so anyone who wants to install this kit can follow along and have a guide on how to do so.

I ordered the front and rear conversion kits sold by McNeil Racing. The front end kit comes with a hood, fenders, headlight fillers and a bracket. You will need to source a grille, headlights, and a bumper.
For the Rear end, it only comes with the bedsides. They currently only offer this in a short bed version at the time of writing this. You will need to source a tailgate, tail lights and a bumper. It will not accept any factory bumper.

Where it started.


Here's truck currently.




Links to both kits:
https://www.mcneilracinginc.com/pro...-road-fiberglass-bedsides?variant=32366809866
https://www.mcneilracinginc.com/products/05-15-toyota-tacoma-conversion-2016-short-bed-bedsides

Tools Needed:
10mm socket
12mm socket
14mm socket
19mm socket
T30 socket
T40 socket
T55 socket
Impact
Drill
Breaker bar (If the bed bolts are rusted)
Ratchet
Flat head screwdriver
Side cutters
Wire strippers
Soldering iron
Heat gun or lighter

Parts Used:
Here is a list of parts I used to complete this build.
Front End:
2016+ Grille assembly
2016+ Headlights non factory LED DRL version (with bulb sockets)
Side Marker Connector Toyota part# 90980-10598
Dorman H8/H11 Connector Dorman part# 84401 (this is for the low beam)
Dorman H9 Connector Dorman part# 84402 (this is for the high beam)
C4 Tacoma Hybrid Front Bumper 3rd Gen 2016+
Rear End:
2016-2019 Tailgate (in 2020, Toyota changed the Backup Camera connector)
2016+ Tail lights (with bulb sockets)
4runner Fuel Hose Toyota part# 77213-35370
2016+ Fuel door for the 5ft bed.
2016+ Fuel panel for the 5ft bed.
Tail light wiring harness connectors. (I sourced these from a junkyard and cut the connectors off the wiring harness)
T3 High Clearance Rear Bumper

Shortcuts:
Front End conversion: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...6-tacoma-conversion-kit.714522/#post-25419927
Rear End conversion:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...6-tacoma-conversion-kit.714522/#post-25419928
Wiring:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...6-tacoma-conversion-kit.714522/#post-25419929

 

Front End Removal:
First start by disassembling everything.
The Grille is held on by two 10mm screws and two plastic clips.

The Headlight Filler is held on by two plastic clips. To remove, slow pull towards you on the portion closest to the grill. Once the first clip releases, you can then rock the piece up and down and pull towards the grill opening.

The Headlights are secured in place by three 10mm screws. Two screws are on top and one is by the fender. Once all the screws are removed, the headlight can be pulled off. The headlight clips into a channel by the grill opening.

The Hood is held on by two bolts on each hinge. I recommend having someone help you remove the Hood.

For the front bumper, I had an aftermarket one and only had to remove the six 14mm bolts holding the factory crash bar on. Here’s a thread on how to remove the factory bumper cover. It should be a similar process on a 12-15 Tacoma.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/05-11-front-bumper-removal.211867/

Removing the fenders

Install Front End:

 

Rear End Removal:
Most of the bolts in the rear are 10mm unless stated otherwise. If your bed bolts are rusted, I recommended hitting them with some penetrating oil and letting them soak while you start the process to remove the fenders. I used PB Blaster but any quality penetrating oil should do.

To remove the Bed Caps, remove the two plastic pins connecting them to the inside of the bed. Use a flathead to slowly pry them out. After removing the pins, grab the Bed caps by the tail light and slowly lift upward. Its held on by approximately 16 clips.


Here's what it looks like once removed.


The Bed Rails are held on by 4, T30 bolts, simply unbolt them.

To remove the tail lights, open the tailgate to expose the two bolts holding them in.


Once the bolts are removed, pull the tail lights out of their channel. They’re two tabs on the back of the tail light that hold them into place. Once the tail light is removed, remove the two bolts behind the light and the two plastic clips that hold the tail light taps.


Also unclip and remove the wiring harness for tail lights.


Remove the tailgate and the latches holding the tailgate on. The two bolts holding the latch on is 12mm and the bolt that would be holding the cable on is a T40.


I have an Aftermarket rear bumper. Here is a link on how to remove the factory one.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/removal-installation-of-rear-bumper.41023/

Once the bumper is removed, remove the plastic trim and the bolt behind it.


At this point remove any bolts still in the channel and the two bolts at the top of the channel.


For the rear fender support, remove the two bolts attaching it to the bed.


For the front fender support, remove the two bolts at the bottom of the fender near the cab. Remove the lower screw holding the fender flare on and pull the flare out of the way to reveal another bolt. Remove the newly revealed bolt and the bottom of the fender should be free from the support.


The wheel well is attached to the fender except for two plastic pins at the top of the fender.


Now is where the fun begins, remove the six, T55 bolts holding the bed on. Three out of the six were rusted and were a pain to remove. Open the fuel door and undo the gas cap. You don't have to remove the bed, but it makes it easier to install the fenders. I just slide the bed back.


Finally remove the five bolts holding the front of the fender to the bed.


The fenders should now be able to be removed.

Install Rear End:
I wanted to write a detailed step by step guide on how to install these fenders, but I now understand why there aren't real descriptive guides on how to do so.
Getting the rear fenders to line up and sit right was a bitch. The fenders have divets to mark were to drill. One fender was pretty close I just had to make some of the holes a bit bigger to line up. The other fender was about an inch off on some of the drill marks. I started with getting the tailgate and tail lights lined up and worked from there.
The tailgate will not not simply swap over due to the hinge on the right side being different. The hinge from the old tailgate will not fit on the new tailgate because it's about an inch too short. So I cut both mounts and welded part of the old hinge to the new one. I added a quarter inch steel plate under the mount to give it more height.

I may buy a new hinge for the 3rd gen tailgate and the tailgate dampener to install into the truck but for now the tailgate works.

I suggest making sure everything lines up before drilling. Then drill one hole at a time and rechecking. It's time consuming but it'll will be worth it in the end. I started by doing the 4 holes for the bed rail.

I decided to go with a high clearance rear bumper. The bottom of the fenders had to be cut. We removed the fenders then installed bumper. We marked the fenders and cut them on the conservative side. Then trimmed them to fit. There's a bracket holds the fenders to the bed. It had to be bent straight to reach the wider fenders. Due to the fenders having an inch bigger wheel opening, the bumper had to be cut to match the arch of the fenders.



Here's some pictures of the fenders cut without the bumper.




And here's some photos of after the bumper cut and reinstalled. Overall im very pleased with how it turned out.




Plan on making wheel well liners so it's easier to clean.

 

Wiring:

Headlight wiring:
Big thanks to @caribe makaira for making the diagrams! Link to his post.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/help-w-headlight-pigtails.709142/#post-25202161

For Turn Signal/DRL, the 3rd gen uses the same connector. Just need to de-pin and repin the wires.
The Side Marker has to be de-pinned and installed into the new connector Side Marker Connector. (Toyota part# 90980-10598)

Tail Light wiring:
After removing the tail lights wiring harness, cut off the three connectors for the tail light. Solder the 3rd gen connectors on.
The three White wires w/ black stripes are the ground wires. Solder one to each white wire on the connectors.
The Red wire is the positive for the backup light, solder it to the red wire on the backup light connector.
Green wire w/ red stripe is for the brake light. It needs to be soldered to the blue wire on the brake light connector.
Green wire w/ yellow stripe is for the turn signal. Depending on the turn signal connector, this will either go to a yellow or light blue wire.
Solid green wire is for the parking light, this needs to go to the green wire on both the turn signal and brake light connectors.
Before installing the tail lights, plug the wiring harness into the truck and test the lights.


Backup Camera Wiring:
On the 2020 Tacoma, the backup camera connector changed. The tailgate I ordered was suppose to be from a 2019 but was the newer version. No big deal, I ordered a new connector for the tailgate and soldered it on. The only issue I had was the new camera has built in guidelines, where the other camera didn't and the lines were built into the mirror. Now I'm getting double guidelines.


I bought a harness to move the backup camera from the rearview mirror to the head unit to fix this issue.
Link to harness
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-13-Tacoma-Mirror-to-Radio-Camera-Conversion-/321922633329


I've noticed an improvement in the picture quality from the new 2020 camera compared to my stock 2013. Overall the image seems sharper while trying to backup during both day and night.
Link to connector
https://www.ebay.com/itm/153905175658

The Black wire from the connector is the ground and needs to be connected to the green and blue wire from the camera.
The Gray wire is a 1.4v video signal. Solder it to the red wire from the camera.
The Yellow wire is a 1.4v video signal. Solder it to the white wire from the camera.
The Red wire from the connector is the 6v hot, solder it to the black wire from the camera.

It's not the best image but I removed the wiring harness for the backup camera so I could have an easier time trying to get it working.

I tried removing, combining, and swapping the gray or yellow to see if it would remove the lines. Nothing I tried worked, anything other the above combination would result in the camera not working.

 

This is quite the project you've undertaken.

Good luck in getting everything lined up. No sarcasm there. I'm genuinely curious to see how this all comes together.

Good luck

 

Sweet. Good luck.

 

This is absolutely bad ass..

I love 3rd Gen styling.. but the 2nd gen is rock solid.. and now you get the best of both worlds..

 

What are you 12-15 tacos doing with your front end? If you plan on selling and happens to be MGM, hit me up!

 

Sorry man, I already sold everything.

 

Why not just buy a 3rd gen? Wouldn't it cost the same?

I've heard a couple cases of their motors having issues. But regardless of that, they still might offer:
-bigger bed
-nicer interior
-the manual trans is probably better
and who knows what else

 

I could have gone that route and bought a 3rd gen. The only thing I think the 3rd gen has over the 2nd is the nicer interior. But I already had the truck and it's paid off, so In the long run this is cheaper. Also eventually I plan on LS swapping it, so the motor and trans don't matter .

 

very neat keep the updates going

 

Can you use a standard Gen 3 hood? Or does
It have to be the hood in the kit.

 

Well, I’m loving this! Send it!

 

The kit comes with a hood. You probably can use a 3rd gen hood but you may also need 3rd gen hood hinges.

 

Would love to be able to build a 3" widebody true long travel Tacoma. Can't wait to see it done.

 

Once everything is done, I'll have to build a mini version of it.

 

I can't afford the real thing so that's why I built a widebody mini.
It definitely has more wheel clearance than my Minime.

 

Did you use the factory hood latch?

 

No I used hood pins, so I removed the hood latch assembly. I went with a low profile kit for a more discrete look. Here's the ones I used.
Quik-Latch QL-38L-LP/BP Lockable Push Button Hood Pins