Project510's 2012 TRD Sport 12 years in the making

So 12 years ago, I sold my 2003 Supercharged Nissan Frontier to help pay off our wedding. Plan was to buy a new Tacoma after the wedding. That never happened, wife got a new car. We got a new baby. A new job and new house. Almost moved out of state. Pandemic.. etc It seemed like I would never be able to get back into a 4x4. But thankfully my brother in-law saved the day when he said he was buying a Cybertruck and wanted to sell me his Tacoma. It was an immediate yes. Nd I think I got a great deal.

It had been so long I forgot that I even registered for this forum back in 2012. Until I came across an old thread with my login name and avatar. It took a while to realize what email it went to but I was able to get back into this account. Some of you may recognize the post below as I posted it this week under a different login. Anyways, now that all that is corrected. Now, onto the truck!

2012 TRD Sport 102,980 miles
Purchase Price: $16,000
Single owner truck (purchased from brother in-law)

All Stock - it did have a lift and TE37's but I get it as it came when he bought it.

All services done at Toyota minus the later oil changes. Just took it for 100k service and inspection. Nothing bad to report. SAIS filter is in tact, I guess Toyota ordered some parts for him when he took it in so Ill get those when they arrive.

Runs great, shifts incredibly smooth. Interior is an 8.5/10 Exterior Id say is like 7. You'll see below but the roof paint is fading. Typical Toyota.





Its got its positives and negatives like any used vehicle.

Straight truck no damage.



All the chrome was swapped out. However, he painted over the chrome emblem which you can see is chipping. I've got it sitting in paint stripper already and Ill repaint it.



Not a fan of these tail lights at all. So hopefully something less "hey look at me" can be found.



Brother in-law also painted the headlights so well see how that goes. First thing I do might be headlight mod. As long as these have no condensation I figure they look ok.



Also if you couldn't tell, I am not a fan of chrome so these Chrome-Clad wheels are not exactly my favorite. Also 18's isn't ideal. Ill eventually save up some cash for something used. Sell these to get some money back.



No rust besides these truck bed bolts. I thought these were galvanized so they wouldn't rust. I guess not.



Looks good underneath. At least I think it does. Minus the lack of any protection.





Clean under the hood.



Paint is pretty good everywhere except the roof. Slightly annoying. I'm debating repainting it, or wrapping it to cover it up and prevent it from bubbling like my Highlander.



Well, thats it for now. Wont see a whole lot of changes for a while. Just fixing what isn't right. But at least I am finally back in a decent 4x4.

Future Plans? Just a good old fashioned trustworthy camping and family vehicle. Initially camping trips will hopefully be a few times a year, but hopefully that increases as we get everything sorted. My boy just turned 8, so he is primed and ready to learn how to enjoy the outdoors. He is also super excited to drive the truck haha. All those stories of me driving my uncles trucks at 9 has him expecting to be sitting in the drivers seat real soon.

Driving Impressions:

11/2/2024 First 100 miles - Put my first hundred miles on the truck in the first week. I wont have to much to report here as it has been a very long time since I have driven a larger truck for an extended period of time. My commute to work is only 6 miles and we took a family trip to my nephews birthday which was a total of 65 miles mostly freeway. Truck felt underpowered. But its a V6 and heavier than my highlander so I guess that shouldn't be a surprise. With an empty bed and the family inside its good under regular breaking and few surprise quick stops. There was a slight squeal from under the hood this morning, so its possible a tensioner pulley is getting bad. I don't think the serpentine belt has been changed yet.

11/21/24 First 500 Miles - So far I am enjoying the truck. Feels great to be back in a truck daily. No more squeak. Must have jsut been my imagination. I do notice there is a pretty bad vibration. 60 mph is most noticeable. I removed the front driver wheel and reseated it as I did remove it once when I first purchased the truck. Some of the noise and shaking did go away but not all. I think I will go get a wheel balance. If that doesnt fix it I guess Ill go down the rabbit hoel of ball joints and bushings. Also, not sure why but I was expecting better mileage. My commute to work is most city driving. SO I guess I am like 70/30 city/hwy but I am avg 16.4 mpg bummer.

 

Current condition:

11/15/2024



Current Upgrades:

Suspension

Drivetrain

• ECGS Bushing install 12/4/24 103K miles $340 (Parts/Labor)

Interior

• WeatherTech molded floor mats front/rear $242
• Center Console & Glove Box Organizer $34

Electrical

• Headlight Services Harness $160
• Osram Super Bright 100/90w 2900 Lumen H4 Bulbs $20
• Interior & License Plate LED bulbs $22

Engine

• UNI Filter Mod $20

Body/Chassis

• All-Pro Bed Supports $142
• Meso Customs Gasshole $17
• Beyond wraps Tacoma TRD Sport Hood Stamp (Stop glare on hood) $98
• Spiker Engineering Hood Strut Kit $99

Parts waiting to be installed

• PelfreyBilt Hybrid bumper $900
• Fox Front coil overs 2.0 EXT Mid Travel with DSC Used $500
• FOX 2.0 Performance Series Reservoir smooth body rear shocks as a kit with AP Exp Leaf pack, U-bolt flip kit and ext. brake lines $1,060
• 17x8.5 Method NV (Set of 5) Used from forum member $750

Wishlist

Morimoto XB LED tail lights
Respray of roof to correct damaged clear coat and top coat

Total Cost (Including purchase price)
$20,404

 

Like I mentioned above. The first things to get finished on the truck will be all the little small things I can do quickly, and with as little cash involved as possible haha.

First was to repaint the front emblem. Rock chips have the chrome showing through the flat black paint used to cover it. I soaked in some LA's for a few hours and it removed everything. I sued this stuff for my plastic models when I need to trip the chrome off the parts included in kits. It works great. Its also cheap. I buy it the Dollar Tree.



Two coats of primer, then 3 coats of flat black is how it sits now. Ran out of time last night. Ill toss on a few coats of matt clear for extra protection hopefully prevent the chrome from showing through for another decade.

 

All of these interior lights (and some exterior) must be original because they were all super dim. Started replacing the bulbs with LEDs. They look brighter in the photos, but its much better now. Truck has actual usable interior lights now.





Even with the leds the license plate lights look dim. I think the lens is fogged up due to age. But at least we lost the amber.

 

Browsing forums looking for all the info I can find on my new truck and I came across a thread about the bed bolts. Some owners had some pretty bad ones. Being in Ca I was surprised to see mine rusted on the top. However, the truck did make its way to Honolulu for a year or two. So I pulled one to see what I was in store for. Based off the tops, I was prepared to have to replace them. But inside they look brand new. Go figure.

 

Was poking around in the rear compartments today, looking for space to store the first aid kit, tools and fire extinguisher. Found a few interesting things.

First, I found this. Had to Google the part number. Was not sure where it went. It looks like my BIL never even took it out of the original bag and installed it.


Google provided the location for install. I can probably stick the jump box in there. Or maybe a tool roll with the puncture repair tools in there.


The other curious thing I found was this space. Its clearly a storage space of some kind. I cant find any psots or Google images of what goes here. It has this random piece that says "UP" Looks like its meant to hold something specific. If anyone can chime in and let me know that would be awesome. I have the full size emergency kit placed here. Im thinking I can fit the portable compressor and first aid kit in there. Well see.

 

I removed the TRDsport stickers from the bedsides. I never did like that look. To me this is better.

 

Added the UNI filter and removed the old foam insert on the air pump. My Foam pieces was old and discolored, but in one piece. Before I bought the truck my brother in-law took it to the dealer and they ordered him a new filter and the cover. Once I get over to his place I will have that.



Also installed the Headlight Services harness as part of @crashnburn80 Ultimate headlight mod

 

Updated the 2nd post with a current photo as I bought the truck. Stock. Added a list of parts I currently have that are waiting for install.

Today I installed the All-Pro bed supports. I was not going to install these as I saw them at first as a gimmick. But when I actually looked at the truck I noticed I had a decent gap on the passenger side tailgate. So I figured what the heck. I had no idea it was actually a thing. Added the supports, gap is now reduced and equal on both sides of the tailgate.

 

1 Month into ownership and the truck is already out of commission. Apparently I have a bad clamshell bushing. It took hours of searching to come across a thread about the bushing. I had not previously heard of the issue before this. I ordered the ECGS bushing. Of course this is during a Holiday, when shipping will be slower and people are on vacation. Also its wonderful timing that my spare vehicle is up on quick jacks because im replacing ball joints and control arm bushings..

 

Had the bushing changed at Beep's Off-road in Hayward. Called Schaeffer's but they wanted $640 including parts. Contacted Milogen Fab but did not get a response. I ordered the tools and parts from ECGS to do this myself but that was on 12/2. The parts have still not yet been delivered.

Beep's charged $340 With parts. Mike was great over there. And, its practically walking distance from my office.

 

1500 miles in and I am settling in to the truck. Getting used to its noises and random issues.

• The brakes suck. They bite nice when the truck is cold, but once they get some heat in them. Garbage. I already ordered replacement pads and rotors. This is probably an age thing more so than Toyota issue.
• The rearview camera is almost useless. I mean, its my first vehicle with one, so I don't need it. But it was a cool bonus. Its either wet or foggy in the winter, or during sunny days the glare makes it almost totally useless. I was thinking about one of those rear view mirror camera upgrades since I want to add front/rear facing cameras anyways. WE will see
• There's a new, or well now that I have added the ECGS bushing I have felt a new vibration. I'm hoping its the tires. I will be changing tires soon as I got new wheels. It could also be the carrier bushing, I have a new one to install. It has play but I need to research how much play is too much.

I have been lazy and have not chosen what tires to run. I looking at KO3's, Baja Boss, Grabber A/TX, & Wrangler Duratrac

 

So this past week has been fun. Loads of fun...

I was installing hood shocks on the Tacoma last week, and remembered I had a stain on the rear carpet to remove. It was there when I bought the truck I just never got around to removing it. Figured the best time to let the carpet shampoo soak was while I was working on something else.



Only, it turns out I dont know what mold looks like because that right there is a bunch of mold. I figured this out because when I placed my hand on the rear carpet it was SOAKED with water. It had rained the day before.
I remember seeing many threads on the rear vents, so I assumed this was my issue. Removed the rear interior only to find... My vents were not like the ones I have seen in so many photos.



I started to trace the water but it was all over the place. under plastic, on top of plastic. Both sides of the truck. Here is a hint as to the problem I eventually found. I bought this truck from my brother in-law. He has never touched anything in the back of this truck. Has factory tint, never upgraded a stereo system nothing has been changed back here. I didnt catch the issue because I assumed what was missing (which can be seen in the photo below) was from me removing the interior and just not paying close enough attention.



I went out to the back of the truck and sprasyed it with the hose while my wife climbed inside and she said it was pouring water from all sides. Had to be the window seal. Turns out, and I can only assume.. that during the trucks build process Toyota failed to install the four bolts that hold the window in place. Nothing was holding it on but the seal. I could push on the window from the inside and the window was popping out. It had clearly been leaking for a while. There was rust on any area that did not have paint. there was mold on the rear floor carpet.



Also, the seal that was in place there was not done very well. Its like they were in a rush putting the window in or something. Maybe the window was broken while it was at the dealership? And they were forgotten when the window was installed and then sold to my brother? There is sort of a ring on one side where it sort of looks like a nut was installed.. but then it sort of doesn't.. I don't know.

I found a shop near me who were able to remove the window and the old material and replace with new, and install the 4 missing nuts. I waited a few days before water testing again and reinstalling rear interior.

I did notice another stain on the interior that I removed while I was back there so thats good I guess.

Before


After

 

Love the mostly stock look. I'm jealous of how clean that frame is. Hope you are enjoying it!

 

California truck I assume is the reason for the "clean" frame.

I have only driven it to work and my sons tennis practices, and it keeps breaking so I have not enjoyed it yet. But will soon once I fix all the little issues. Hopefully get some camping done soon and take the boy on some easy trails and let him take the wheel like I did at his age in my first 4x4.

 

Nothing fancy, but no longer have to use the hood prop. Easy install assuming you have the right tools.

 

Changed the oil. Would have been a breeze, but I discovered the oil filter drain is clogged. Yup, that made a mess. Awesome.

Also added a giant vinyl sticker to the hood to reduce the STUPID amount of glare I get off this hood. WTF...

 

Kind of funny how when I had my 03 Frontier, all I did was wish I could have afforded a Tacoma. Now that I have a Tacoma, all I do is fix something that breaks, or is already broken or in the case above, corrects an issue with the design of the truck. Its crazy how much better life is in the truck with that giant sticker on the hood.

Also, finally did something with the truck besides drive it to work. I dont drive it far, because there a knew knocking sound and bad vibration at 60 mph and 70 mph. Wonderful.