Egan's 06 Build

Starting up a thread to document what I'm doing to my new-to-me 2006 Access Cab SR5 4x4 4.9L 6MT Tacoma in Super White.

I had my previous truck up for sale and was spending my evenings researching what I wanted for a fun to drive, inexpensive truck. It really only goes around town, to the mountain bike trails, and back and forth to the airport, plus some camping trips. Reliability was key but so was functionality, and the availability of parts. I usually buy really unique vehicles or modify them to make them unique so going the Tacoma route is a bit of the opposite, although there is a lot of customizability. I was originally looking at Gen 1's but they were all well over 200,000 miles but priced like they were still brand new. I just missed out on a 2004 that was built up nicely when the buyer for my truck backed out (I didn't want to be stuck with two trucks right before a cross-state move). I found a new buyer for my old truck last Tuesday and the same day found the '06 that I bought. 118,000 miles and I paid less than the 250K trucks were going for - so for me, this was a huge win.

The truck came with a 3" lift the dealer put in back in 2006. I need to figure out which one it is. It's got blue Bilsteins and a block under the leafs in back. No idea on the wheel brand, but the tires are Yokohama Geolander MT 285/75/16.

I've already started with a couple of simple mods and it's been fun to work on a truck again and just tinker.

For the near future:
* Bestop Supertop Truck 2 - bought a used one and just need to add new weatherstripping to the rails
* Front bumper (the stock one is beat up and I like the look of the tube&plate bumpers anyway)
* Stereo - I'll start with the head unit as the PO said the speakers had already been upgraded. Looking for a below the seat sub, but there's not much room under either seat
* Bed stiffener - installed
* Shift knob - installed
* Short shifter (damn these throws are long!)

Longer term:
* Rear bumper to match front
* Suspension tweaks
* Different wheels
* Windshield/roof light bar

 

Shift knob:

 

Bed stiffener:

 

For those times when I have to go to the post office:

 

I bought a used Bestop Supertop Truck 2 that was only an hour away form me. This past weekend I installed it using the latest directions on the Bestop website. It was a bit of a pain and it almost seems like you should pull the bed rail caps off because the front and rear of the bed are lower and create a gap. I can probably make it up with a trip to Home Depot though. I could not get the side windows zipped all the way around for I rolled them into safari mode. I'm going to keep it this way 80% of the time anyway. Not sure why the size zippers were so hard - it was on the colder side for October.

 

The PO had removed the chrome emblem from the grill. It looked weird with all of the mounting holes in there so I added this:

 

Went with a classic for a front bumper. There are lots of good choices out there, but this one appealed most to me. Took an entire day to install by myself.

 

We moved a couple of months ago and I haven't had time to mess with the truck. The cold and snow didn't help matters.

I did find some used AlphaRex Luxx projectors to replace the stock lights. I probably could have just swapped out the crappy HIDs the PO put in, but I got a good deal.

 

And I put in some Wet Okole's

 

Awesome truck. How do you like your Supertop and ARB bumper? Boingo rules!!!