The Junker, built for hunting and fun. Crawl box and sas

At the end of 2019 I bought a 2007 Tacoma Double Cab TRD from an insurance auction. It had been rolled to the drivers side and needed some work. It must have hit something pretty solid on the passenger side and rolled because it tore the passenger side crumple zone off of the frame. It said on the auction site it ran and drives but after getting it home I learned it had a bent or broken rod and needed a new engine. The auction site refunded me some money for the engine. This is what it looked like when I got it.

 

I wanted a double cab Tacoma for a long time. I had a 1993 extra cab Toyota pickup that I had been working on and sold it to fund this build.
Once I got the engine swapped (really more like me watching my friends Mike and Ricky) I started on the body work. Luck for me I worked at a body shop in high school. Here's that progress:

 

I knew my body work wasn't going to be show quality so I had it sprayed with bed liner and then I started on the flat bed.
I wanted a drawer under the flatbed for storage

Next I started on the roof rack at my friend Dave's because he's got the tube bender.

 

Once I got the flatbed painted and the lights wired it was time for the fun to start. I found a set of 35s on the TRD wheels on craigslist for $500. After driving it awhile I did gears, 4.88s, JD Fab pivot kit and inner fenders. When NWF came out with the eco crawler it did that with a FJ Cruiser case. Then drove it that way for a few years. It works great for hunting and driving in the mountains.


This hunting season it started making noises from the rear axle. I messed up the preload on the crush sleeve eliminator and took out the pinion. The good news is I was prepared. I already had a set of Superduty axles waiting to be built. Gears, lockers and new brakes for the new axles are installed. The rear axle is now under the back and the front is waiting for a Martec 3 link kit with ORI struts.

That's pretty much where it sits now.

 

Small update, my Martec kit showed up and I have a set of roller wheel and tires. Here's the progress I made yesterday.

 

Finished the passenger side frame plate and got the transmission cross member tacked in today. It's nice to be putting it together rather than taking it apart.

 

I got my front axle under the Junker this weekend. The Martec kit is really straight forward and easy to install. Very minimal measuring and easy to setup. When I ordered my ORI struts I ordered the wrong misalignment spacers but hopefully they'll be here this week and I can get the struts mounted. First picture is fully drooped out.

 

More progress on the Junker today. The axle and frame are fully welded.
Full droop

Full bump

 

Nice build! I'll watch!