Chat 2001 Toyota Tacoma

Chat
2001 Toyota Tacoma
V6 5 speed 4x4
181,500k miles


Long rant. This may seem like a silly thing and way over thinking but I wanted to write out my thoughts and get some feedback from fellow Tacoma lovers and owners.


I am very attached to my truck and this is the 9th year Iv had it as my daily driver and it’s my only vehicle. I have been throwing the thought around maybe selling it and getting something new (the ultimate dream would be to keep it as a secondary vehicle for around town and trails/camping). It is a great truck and runs excellent and the body is in good shape. I keep up with the maintenance and oil changes. As a female I do sometimes tend to over worry about and creaks or groans or smells as it is an older vehicle and my dad taught me to be aware and pay attention to whatever I drive. I guess my question is what checklist do yall have for older trucks that need extra TLC to where you don’t worry about them failing you and frequency of checking things that I maybe don’t know to check. I had a ball joint failure a few years ago and learned for the first time that was a thing. Since that happened i have been wary of every creak and sound I hear while driving (definitely shook me)


Ultimately id like to get peace of mind and know I’m not missing anything when it comes to proper maintenance on a 24 year old truck.

This will likely be my truck for years to come so I want to be confident and feel secure driving it when I travel far or just in town.


Thank you in advance if you made it this far in my ramblings

 

If you do proper maintenance on these trucks,failures are really not an issue. Sounds like you have been doing good on yours. Vacuum hoses could be an issue with EVAP system later on. Keep doing what your doing and enjoy it, Dad taught you right!!!

 

If you're keeping up with fluid changes, oil, transfer case and rear end. Keeping the plugs changed. Timing belt and Water pump if 5VZE every 100k miles. Get a good kit with all the idler pulleys. Stay on top of those lower ball joints, and I would suggest only buying Toyota lower ball joints which should be changed ever 100k miles or less depending how much wheeling you do. Keep the MAF cleaned, with new air filters, and you should be fine. These Trucks are known to get 300k Plus miles if taken care of properly. Out of curiosity what part of Texas are you in. I lived all over the State in my youth and early "Adult hood". Have my 50th class reunion this year in Edna, but I won't make that trip.

 

Thank you for your feedback!

I’m in the hill country of Texas outside of Austin.

 

Lucky you, very nice part of the Great State of Texas. I had to endure Cedar fever there one year, and it was brutal. But I truly miss the Blue Bonnets and Wild Flowers every spring. In my humble opinion Texas has the Best Dam BBQ in the country, Period!

 

It’s a beautiful area, I’m blessed to call it my home. It’s been so dry this last season the flowers are having a hard time but hopefully we get some rain soon. Definitely some of the best BBQ!