The Casper Chronicles

I thought about putting him in the console... but I have one of those divider thingys in there. I can't remember where I saw someone had put magnets there.. probably on here.. lol. I like the positioning and how well it holds Mr. Kimber. He doesn't move and is easy to pull free. He sits right next to my knee without actually touching it. One movement of my arm and I've got a full grip and he's ready to go.

 

A few weeks ago my Optima Yellow Top bit the dust... After reading and researching I realized I really wanted a Dakota Lithium.. twice the life and half the weight... what's not to like? the price! no way I can justify $1300...
After more reading I decided on a Northstar.. who knew they were discontinued? Then I found that Batteries+ carries it.. rebadged as an X2.
I already have the HKB voltage diode thingy so no worries on the charging voltage. I did get a bluetooth battery voltage monitor so I can easily verify charging performance... so far so good.

 

For my next upgrade... Tundra booster and MC... I have all the parts collected, just need to save the $$$ to get it installed. I thought about doing it myself, but with 100+ degrees in the garage and no A/C I ain't fuckin with it. That and my aged, abused body just isn't into it... we're at the onset of a major remodel of our master bath so need to figure out how to add this into that budget.. lol

 

Just wondering where did you get your bed rug from? Link please?

 

$453 Bedrug Classic Bed Liner | 2005 - 2023 Toyota Tacoma 5' Bed (BRZSPRAYON is required if installing over Spray-In Liner), Charcoal Grey | BRY19DCK

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A3U29F6?ie=UTF8

 

All the Toyota trucks I've ever loved...

My first one was a 1984 4X4 Xtra Cab..

My ex had a job selling textbooks to school districts in AZ and put 80K miles on it in the first year... no hiccups... ever... I got the truck in the divorce. by then it had 125K miles on it. Loved that truck! Had a badass stereo, at least for 1986...lol. Did the regular maintenance and never had any troubles... never stranded me, never got stuck. wish I still had it. It was stolen in 1988. Never saw it again.

 

Life happens...

Drove a variety of dd's after that, GMC 4X4, Mazda something, Mercury Sable, Aerostar, Durango, you get the picture.. always wanted another Toyota 4X4... but it was another 10 years before that would happen. found a good deal locally on a 90 DLX 4X4. Great truck, not a lot of room in the cab but a great dependable truck... sold it in 05 to buy my daughter a car. she didn't want the truck and I couldn't afford a car without selling it. I saw one just like it sell on BringATrailer a few weeks ago for $41K. no shit... $41K

 

I decided I needed a project so.. in early 2000 I started looking for a 4Runner... 1st gen... really wanted a 84 or 85 but even back then they were pretty rare. I ended up finding one on ebay... a 1986, 80Kish miles... bid, won and had it shipped to TX from MD. quite the experience. Being from MD I was quite anxious to inspect the frame and undercarriage and I was totally surprised that it was super clean with only minor rust... win!

I spent the next few years modding and improving it...

How it looked when I bought it


How it looked right before I sold it

 

I had a lot of fun working on and improving the 4runner...
Alarm
2" lift w/Alcan leaves, TC idler arm, and the ball joint spacer mod
Overhauled the 22re.. .030 over, balanced, RV head and cam, tuned exhaust
1989 EFI intake manifold
ARB bull bar, custom swing out rear bumper.

It was my daily for a number of years, especially after I sold the 90 to finance my daughter's car... my son ended up driving it after he totaled his dakota. he drove it for the next 3-4 years while he was in college

 

in 2010 I decided to retire the 4rnr from dd duty and bought a 2004 DCSB TRD Pro Prerunner. found it on autotrader in Tampa so I got a plane ticket and went to look at it and bought it on the spot. drove it back to TX. It had the elocker so I felt it was as capable as a normal 4X4 w/o lockers... 2 wheel drive vs 2 wheel drive. The locker was awesome and got me in and out of some places that I shouldn't have been ;-) All I ever did to it other than normal maintenance was put an alarm and a decent stereo in it. Great truck! lots of fun! thought I'd have it forever... life happens.

Here it is w/the runner...

 

yet another upgrade that should have come from the factory...

 

Just acquired a Cadillac 4 note horn set (A, C, D, F) off ebay... can't wait to get them installed.. it's gonna sound awesome!

 

Found some 1" square tubing to mount the horns on... will suspend it between the bumper horns. Started wiring them up...

 

Finally installed the Caddy horns... stupid loud.. lol

they sit pretty low and don't restrict the radiator air flow.. stupid loud

 

I've acquired a few parts for the suspension upgrade... low mileage takeoffs front and rear (less than 4Kmi), Hammer hangers and shackles, Sumo springs w/Ubolt flip. Waiting on an appointment @ Tandem Auto for the install. Gonna have them do the dual diaphragm booster and master cylinder upgrade at the same time.

 

Finally got around to getting a 17" steelie and new tire to replace the stock 16" one... the 16 wouldn't fit on the front since I did the 4Rnr disk upgrade... bueno.

 

After months of waiting Casper now has a hip replacement, new knees and shoulders, and a tummy tuck...lol
New to me dual diaphragm Tundra booster and Sequoia master cylinder.
Firm pedal, stops quick... like it doesn't need ABS quick. Initially I was a bit disappointed... I guess I thought it would launch me through the windshield. But after repeated slamming on the brakes from 45 it's a controlled quick stop. Much better than just the 470 front brakes. And that was an improvement. The true test will be pulling a trailer. With these upgrades and properly set up trailer brakes I should be good to go.

 

New to me OR springs and shocks. Rear springs have < 1500mi on them, the front springs and f/r shocks have < 4500 on them.
Sumo u-bolt flip w/blue coils. An added benefit was to almost color match the Bilstein shock boots..
Hammer Hangers and shackles - completely tightened up the ass end of the truck. it corners sooooo much better. There must've been a lot of flex in the stamped steel hangers...
With a trailer hanging off the back it should be well supported.

 

This is how it looks now... Gained an inch on the passenger side, 7/8ths an inch on the drivers side.. taco lean... lol

If you compare w/the first pic in the thread you can definitely tell that it sits higher. Base models are squatty... now it's an OR!