NEW MEMBER - FIRST TACOMA

Hello!

Just purchased my first tacoma yesterday ('09 SR5 4.0 V6, 184K miles) and I couldn't be more excited. This is my first Toyota and based on what I know about Toyotas, my expectations are pretty high! The previous owner took great care of it so I'm hoping this can be my daily for a long time. Helps that he/she made it look pretty too.

I was part of a forum like this with my previous vehicle (08 Jeep Commander), and it was a great resource for me. With life being expensive these days I opted to figure out all of the mechanical repairs myself, and although I'm hoping to not replace a radiator, hoses, water pump, brakes, AC motor, sway bar bushings, etc. (JEEP: Just Empty Every Pocket) anytime soon I figured I should find a similar resource for the Tacoma. Excited to be here!

With that intro, I'll get to my first question/project. The dealer I bought from had mentioned that the shell was knocking against the cabin, so he scooted it back away from the cabin slightly as you can see in the photos. I also still notice some small knocking/bouncing where the side of the bed and the shell meet (maybe this is due to the shell being shifted back?). Obviously I would prefer for the shell to be flush with the truck bed, but does anyone have any tricks for reducing the knocking around between the cabin/bed and the shell? Stick some foam in there?
Also was wondering if there was anything to cover the top gap between the cabin and the shell to keep water from dripping down and keeping the windows clean.

Any tips on this would be appreciated. Also, any identification on parts you see let me know, I'm new to this but eager LOL. Happy to join the club!

- Tucker

 

Cool congrats man!
Welcome to TW!
Looks pretty clean.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

That’s a beautiful looking truck!

 

Welcome aboard.

You post questions about shells here - https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/tonneau-covers-caps-and-shells.198/

 

I’d like to see some pics of frame and engine bay!
Looks pretty nice being 15 yrs old!
Bet my 2018 has more rust!

 

Thanks so much!

 

here you go! Looks like nothing serious on the frame rust wise to me but it's painted so what do I know. only glaring thing is the exhaust, looks like they tried repairing it near the tip but gave up LOL. Don't assume that's super serious...?

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome great looking truck - lots of nice extras

 

Nice damm that’s clean!

 

Welcome!