2Runner

Got some more goodies coming Trudy's way!

Last Friday I told Deaver Spring to get the order going for my custom built front drop coils. They are going to give me a 2.65" drop and increasing the spring rate 25% over stock from 295 to 368 lbs. Should take roughly 4-5 weeks and are costing $398.60. Rear leafs will be re-arched to give drop and maintain the stock spring rate.

Then I was hanging around in bed Saturday night thinking about the truck of course, and decided to get up and do some late night shopping instead of just pondering the future..

Ordered up some Bilstein 4600 shocks for the front (

$84 24-184991 36mm Monotube Shock Absorber

24-184991) and rear (

$84 24-026758 46mm Monotube Shock Absorber

24-026758), to smooth out the bumps, reduce the floating feel, and get some better handling going to compliment the upcoming springs and lower center of gravity.


OEM seat tracks for the tweaked SRunner passenger seat were also stuffed into the cart, figured I would rather have new OEM stuff vs bent and re-tweaked from the wreckage.


Also saw the no longer made rear cab trim panel in charcoal without the speakers on a site, and decided to give it a shot and see if they actually have one left for me!


I had spoke to a dealer and found those SRunner seat tracks were actually specific parts for ONLY one year, the 2001 extra cab with Sport seats, and there was only one left of each in the nation.

This got me thinking I should jump out of bed and scooped those up while I could!

 

Unfortunately, the website selling the rear cab trim carpet and seat tracks cancelled my order letting me know the parts were no longer available. Well, one passenger inner track was left but since I needed both I let them cancel the whole order since I dont want half a seat working. The hunt continues for the ultimate Tacoma Sport seats I desire to sit upon...

The Bilstein shocks did make their way to my house though!

 

I also took Trudy out for some seat time the other night, hitting up all my favorite freeway ramps and taking her out to some local curvy canyon roads for hours of truck bonding fun.

She is a total blast to drive and a whole new truck the way it handles after the wheel and tire upgrades. I am really stunned at how well she handles and how much speed I can carry into the turns, and really need more time behind the wheel to fully extract all the performance she has to offer now. Love the small footprint and great visibility of the little truck especially on tight curves, and my expectations of how much fun I would have have already been exceeded!

There is a bunch more grip off the line too, the old stock size tires would spin way too easily which was fun but not very efficient to say the least. Now there is quite a bit more traction and launch is definitely improved. Hard braking also feels more powerful and stable due to the extra grab from these tires.

It does feel a bit floaty and bouncy in the front end over some bumpy roads, and I am hopeful the new shocks will help to dampen and smooth out this effect to keep her extra planted and maintaining more speed in the process! I am going to try to get those in prior to the lowering to gauge the difference made by the shocks themselves.

Then of course, the new springs and lowering the center of gravity should be taking her to the next level... I am definitely not done with Trudy by any means here!

 

your really making me want to build a mini truck.

 

Spent the weekend working on getting the Sport/SRunner bucket seats into a fully functioning set!

I had found the SRunner seats I had picked up previously out of a wreck had bent tracks on the passenger side and wouldnt slide forward and back,


and the driver side had a broken height adjustment rod so I could not adjust the lap height.


After scouring dealership sites for weeks only to find they do not sell these tracks anymore and they cost well over $400 just for two tracks IF you can even find them somewhere, and having 2 orders cancelled on me, I decided it would be better to drive for 10 hours (round trip) Saturday and bring home yet another set of the rarest and most sought after of all Tacoma parts - MORE Tacoma Sport bucket seats!!

Then I spent yesterday swapping the better cushions that I had from my first set onto the fully functioning tracks from my second set. This second set was from a rollover vs the high impact frontal collision as a note to find seats without bent tracks for others that may be on the hunt for seats of their own.

Here is the work in progress shot.. I suppose it was meant to be getting both sets of seats since my first set had the nicer cushions and covers, while the second set had the best tracks for both driver and passenger. Also I had some broken inner shields and luckily all the plastic shields were in great shape on the new set!


Here are the fully functional Sport bucket seats from taking the best of all the parts available, next up will be waiting for the sun to come out and giving them the full steam cleaning and detailing all parts prior to installing them into my truck.


I am super excited, as you can likely tell I think seats are one of the most important parts of the vehicle since this is what connects your body to the truck. Also I love using oem parts wherever feasible and these are the nicest oem seats that ever came in the first gen Tacoma imo, so I must say thank you to the Tacoma gods for rewarding my efforts and making my Tacoma dreams come true!!

Already checked the weather, and if all goes well I will be cleaning these up and getting them installed by next weekend.

 

In all the fun, I almost forgot I got to get Trudy smogged and registered by the end of the month!

Took her for the check and she passed easily..


Not exactly sure, but I think he was making sure I had my catalytic converter here..


Got 2 years before the next smog check, and I'll admit I am tempted to order up the LCE supercharger to have some extra fun in the meantime!

 

You could build a movie theater in your house with all these seats!!!

 

I just swapped out my KYB Excel G for the Bilstein 4600's yesterday and took her out for a 2 hour fun drive on the freeways, streets, and my favorite canyon test & tune roads.

The Bilsteins definitely are a tad bit firmer when needed and are doing what I had hoped! - Less float over bumps at speed (which lets you relax more with one hand one the wheel on the highway at 80+), more stable handling and less body roll in the curves to allow more speed, and even give a bit quicker turn in to keep me on the lines.

My KYB's were old, but not totally shot with just about 20k+ miles. I would say they are actually quite comparable overall but if you want to push your truck to the limits this is where the Bilsteins make the difference in both highway speeds and quick turns. Overall I am glad I spent the dough and time for this upgrade!

I found using the factory bottle jack let me compress the front to get the bolts threaded, and didnt need to remove my wheels with my "smaller" 245/45/17's.


The obligatory "old vs new" shot.


IN!

I didnt measure but it seemed to even raise the truck a tad, here is Trudy on one of my favorite local mountain rides yesterday.


Life is great, when you live in Tacoma World!

edit: Measured after a test ride and found the ride height did not change after settling.. must just be looking too high while I am waiting for them custom drop springs to show up!

 

Today the sun was shining, so I spent hours in the back yard with my SRunner/Sport bucket seats, my dog, a couple beers, and a slew of cleaning products.

After vacuuming and steam cleaning the cushions, hitting the tracks with an all purpose cleaner, and using plastic restore on all the shields, handles, and seat belt buckles I ended up with a like new set of 19 year old OEM ultra rare seats that I have longed for since I brought Trudy home...



Not one tear or hole in these, the cushions are still thick and cushy, my cleaning has removed the decades of grime and brought back the colors of 2002, and even all the plastic and rubber tidbits are still intact.


These feel sooooo comfy compared to the stock bench and standard buckets, which I have had the (not too much) pleasure to have experienced both in my truck over the past few months. These Sport buckets have some nice bolstering on the sides and a lap height adjustment too. There is a power lumbar for the driver seat, but I think I will just install these tomorrow and perhaps worry about wiring that in another day. I have these similar seats on my 3rd gen 4Runner so I know my back prefers to not run any lumbar already anyhow!


All the effort has finally paid off and these will be going into my little truck first thing tomorrow!

 

The broccoli did not dance in vain, as soon as I finished my morning cup of coffee I went straight to the driveway and got my Sport buckets sets installed!

They are similar in size but a lot more cushion and way more bolstering on these Sport seats. The head rests are a bit thicker and touch the rear glass a bit with my seating position, luckily they have adjustable headrests to help give some clearance. Here is the obligatory, old vs new...


My dog Daisy knows luxury when she see's it, and decided to test them out while I was cleaning up the truck after the installations were done.. I think she approved!


Took Trudy out for a test spin afterwards, really am enjoying the extra comfort and notable added stability in the turns at speed. My wife jumped in too and said they were super nice!


Love the look and feel of the pure OEM Tacoma Sport seaty goodness in my truck.


Here she is.. her gorgeous body glistening in the sunshine today on my maiden run with my new old seats!!


Trudy just keeps on getting better, and funner too!


Never can tell what may be going on this little 5 lug next...

 

Soooooo clean !!!
Are you going to put in a center console?

 

Thanks pardner!

I do have a center console I am planning to install cleaned up and ready to go, and I already drilled the holes in the tranny tunnel when I had the carpet out for the bucket seat install. I did get a hold of some new oem rubber flaps to go into the cup holders too.



I was waiting to install this with the OEM stereo with an added an auxiliary input port so I can run the wire underneath and into the center console. I plan to store my cell phone in there to stream music from without any cluttery wires in view.




I was just waiting for these oem looking input jacks to get a clean look and spot to plug my cell phone into the lower console drawer, and they just came in from China this weekend actually!

Got this to splice into my cigarette lighter leads for power to supply the dual usb ports.

$13 DROK 12V to 5V DC USB Buck Converter, Dual USB Port Fast Charger Board Auto Power Supply Adapter DC-DC 10-32V 12V 24V to 5V 9V Voltage Step Down Regulator Car Volt Transformer

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SS6XTZY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This sums up my plan here, think I just need some t-taps to make the splices then make some time to get all these goodies installed!

 

Nice!!

 

OEM yet custom, the theme of my build basically!

 

Speaking of OEM custom, I was able to get my original Lunar Mist Metallic grill and bumpers I got from the salvage yard a while back installed today!

Of course I took her out and snapped some pics of Trudy's new look:




These were all from a 2002 that got rear ended hard a couple months ago, so they got some clearcoat peeling and a couple dings, but so does Trudy! This is my fun truck not a show truck, and I kinda dig the "patina" on these OEM goodies.


Checked off another milestone off the project list..

 

Today I installed an oem stereo to replace my dated and worn aftermarket unit that came with the truck.


I had added an auxiliary input so I can stream music from my cell phone, and ran the wire through a hole above the glove box where the factory would install a light in more "loaded" models. No cutting or drilling any "vintage" parts needed!


Just not a fan of clutter, and dont like seeing my phone and wires hanging out while driving most of the time! I was going to add usb as well tapped from a 12v outlet, but the crappy unit I got from ebay didnt work out of the box so that will have to come another day.


Called my wife and simply put the phone in the cup holder for hands free conversation while driving home from the test run. It was nice to hear her over the speakers and she said she could hear me fine even while on the freeway.

Basically I wanted the oem look with streaming music from my phone and hands free calling - mission accomplished!

 

i have a GROM audio unit im my avalon. its been great with the stock headunit

 

I was able to get out on the driveway and install that center console, the installation was straightforward and fairly quick since I had drilled holes in the tunnel and carpet when I was doing the bucket seat swap.

Think it looks pretty darn sexy and the console I found is in great shape. The arm rest is quite a comfortable welcome addition to the once sparse and not very ergonomic cab.


Although I have not driven with it installed yet, and I am wondering if this may get in the way while I am shifting the gears. I was a bit hesitant to install it even honestly, I bought it a while back when I first got the truck and thought I "needed" this.


But the more I used the truck the more I found myself using the gap between the seats to put grocery bags, fast food runs, my dog, coats, my wife's purse, etc! None of that stuff will fit in the console compartments either so I am not sure if this is going to be a keeper or not...

There's only one way to find out I suppose, I think I will go out for that test run now and let Trudy speak to me!!

 

The test run for the center console was pretty fun and quite enlightening indeed..

I found my arm resting all over this thing right away with easy access to grab the shifter while doing so, which was nice. However, I did notice a couple times I was resting my hand on the shifter in second and was working to keep my elbow inside the console and felt a bit cramped holding my arm closer to my torso than normal.

I went for the spirited canyon run where there is a lot of turns and quick shifting and didnt really think the console was in the way too much during seat of the pants maneuvers, but felt it was "there" and my arm worked to dodge it slightly. Then I also realized I could raise the armrest and it stays in position when I do find myself needing the full range of elbow motions, this was very nice even though I am not sure this was the intent when it was designed!


Overall I think I will keep it installed for now so I have the ability to go back and forth between arm resting and hard shifting without obstruction. Guess I will see if the lack of space I was using as temporary storage will pop up on me in the near future and get me thinking back towards removing the console once again.

It was nice I poked the holes in the carpet small enough that they are not noticeable without the console installed, so it will look clean either way!

 

Ohhhhh, this is good!

Sub'd!