6uam671_tacoma Build

So I purchased my 2008 Tacoma TRD Off-Road 4X2 about one year ago from the original owner with approx 57K miles. The truck was in great shape and even came with all the original owner's manual and window sticker. The plan was to get the truck since I bought a house and would eventually need it to haul stuff. Well being a car nut all my life I just had to update some things to my liking and to cure the excruciating pain I have from selling my 2004 Cobra I sold to finance the purchase of my house - LOL!

First off was to replace the stock radio with a 2013 OEM HU so I can install a backup camera for convenience. I picked up the HU the same day I bought the truck.


I liked the look of the 2012-2015 front end more and after seeing numerous conversions done. I had to take advantage of all the research the great members of this forum made. I found all the SW parts locally fairly quick but searched for a few months for the hood. I bought and sold several different colored hoods. But I continued to search because I didn't want to worry about paint-matching. I eventually drove 11 hours one-way to Las Cruces, New Mexico to pick up my SW hood. After several months of collecting parts, my front-end conversion was complete. I even found a TRD Pro grill to boot!





Like a typical car nut, while working on the front-end conversion I already was thinking about a small lift. I did some research and with several changes, I decided on Bilstein 5100s F&R, OME 885s, and Head Strong Off-Road 3-leaf AALs with the help of Marie from @HeadStrong Off-Road. I took advantage of the great deal from HS and ended up picking up the parts to save a little cost. Big thanks to HS for great service and products! I was set on UCAs because I wanted to see how much lift I would get up front first BUT I came across a great deal on ICON Tubular UCA's so I just had to. Turns out, I really needed them right away.




I did the install myself with the help of my brother but got a little sidetracked and forgot to take pics of the AAL install.

Here's post install pics:

 

The next step was to get some wheels to fill the void from the lift. I originally bought some 4Runner matte grey TRD Pro wheels with 275/70/17 KO2s. After much debate, I sold the 4Runner Pro wheels and bought some matte gunmetal SCS Ray10s. Big thanks to VIN for great wheels and customer service! I also sold the 275/17/17 KO2s because I really didn't see the benefit of the E-load tires for how I use the truck. I sold those and bought some C-load 255/75/17 KO2s which are also 32s.




I've been following the whole "black interior conversion" thread and really liked how it transformed the look. I went back and forth of whether I wanted to do it or not. I bought and sold some parts. I modified my 2008 a/c vent bezel to fit the 2013 OEM HU. The fitment and look kinda bothered me so I recently found a black a/c vent bezel from a 2012-2015 so I picked it up. And I replaced the orange colored clock with a white colored unit which had a black hazard button cover.

 

I have the black HVAC control unit but have to work on the plug conversion next. I picked up a brand new black shifter bezel from Titus Toyota but just haven't taken pics.

 

Subbed for sexyness!

 

The truck turned out really nice @6uam671_tacoma ! Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and for your business!

 

Oddly enough i was wondering if i could replace my radio with the newer model version. Because i found an OEM 2012 radio on Offerup that i was interested in, and curious if i could put it in my 05. Guess i can, right?

 

Installed the black shifter bezel, HVAC, and matte Radio bezel. Next up is the center console.

 

Cluster, steering wheel controls, and fog light & rear diff LEDs swapped out.

 

Color-Matched SW Bumper Shellz