Barlowrs 06 Taco Expo Build Thread

Not a problem, thats why I posted everything. if you have questions on anything, let me know.

The CBI bumper is a great bumper. you won't regret it.

 

yeah thats cool thanks ,you want help me hack into my truck.... just order today so it should be a little while before i recieve it.not sure on how long its going to take. This will be the first time ,i cut in to the truck. i recently bump my rear stock bumper and bent it up there pretty weak .it will be nice to have a solid bumper on the truck.

 

barlowrs;

Just bought my 07 taco v6 4x4 access cab about a month or so ago andrecently became a member here, i was almost instantly drawn to your build and I’mextremely impressed. I'm excited to start building my truck up while paying alot of attention to your ride. I'm hoping to do most of the work myself butalthough I believe I'd have just enough mechanical experience to keep up i dolack the necessary tools and environment for some of the work. Therefore I washoping to get your advice; I'm wondering whether or not it might be smarter togo about getting the parts i want (largely based off your truck) and get thework done professionally oooor try and find the area and tools i need by whatmeans i can. I'm hoping you can give me an informed opinion as to which trailto blaze. Based on how you feel about trust with a mech. at a shop or theirability to read between the lines and do the small nitpicky things an ownerwould be willing to do, and money etc. vs. limited essentials and inability toutilize help in many forms etc. would you 1) Take the challenge head onyourself or 2) Trust in a Professional. Thanks for your time and consideration.Love your tuck - and mine.
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Hey, congrats on the truck, you will love it! As far as do it yourself vs a shop. I am ALWAYS a fan of doing it yourself. This way it doesn’t cost you anything, you do it exactly how you want, and a lot of times, as you are working on something, you may change your mind and want to do it differently…doing it yourself allows you to do it. As far as not having the tools, most of the stuff can be done with simple hand tools, which, even if you don’t have them, you can probably borrow, or even buy for cheaper than it costs to pay a shop to install. Besides that, it just feels better knowing you did the install. You will learn every inch of you truck, know if any corners were cut, know the weak spots, etc. Very nice knowledge to have. Some of the more complicated thing in my build such as the sliders, custom switches, etc do require some tools you may not be able to get your hands on (benders, laser etchers, etc) but you can still do most of the work. For sliders, find a guy with a bender and welder, and spend some weekends at his place helping him design build and fit them. Even though you didn’t weld it or bend it, you still know the ins and outs of them. To be honest my entire tool kit at home consists of a 3 drawer craftsman toolbox that is mainly for motorcycle track days. I personally have a VERY limited amount of tools myself, but I can find shops that let me use them, rent them, borrow them, or I am lucky enough to have access to a LOT at work.
I say it’s your truck, your plans, dive into it yourself, you will be glad…at least as much as you possibly can. If you run into a problem on a single project, hit me up and I can try to help figure out what you will probably need and where to get the recourses.

 

Hey man thank you very much, I was leaning towards doing the work on my truckmyself for the very reasons that you were stating above. I appreciate yourresponse, and i definitely feel like it was the last gear falling into place togive me the confidence and positive reinforcement to make the decision to dothe work myself. If i run into any snags I won’t hesitate to hit you up, againI appreciate your reply and advice I'm excited to get started.

 

Well played... that is a great looking truck.

 

this is a great build. I dig it. is a dual battery set really neccesary? just wondering.

 

thanks. As far as the dual batt, it all depends on what you are doing with your truck. My truck is designed to be self sufficient when I am out in places alone. This means a dead battery is something I cannot have....Also, my truck runs a lot of aftermarket electronics (lights, comms, winch, compessors, etc). All this is a lot of load for a single battery which increases the chances of having a batt die..not a good thing when I am out in the middle of nowhere alone.

 

NICE BUILD!! that is like the best off-roading rig i have seen so far. im still impressed with the aircompressor. mad props!

 

Thanks! she gets me where I need to go, and more importantly, she gets me home.

 

Sick build! Simple, understated, yet very capable, just perfect. You're attention to detail is borderline looney bin, but the results speak for themselves.

 

I love your build. It is very inspirational. I'm curious where you mounted your radio handsets. Also, where did you get the 09 center console panel?

 

Thanks, I just plug he handsets in when needed (just throw them in the cup holders for now). I want it to look like I do not have any radios (less things for ppl to want to steal).

The 09 center console i got from a stealership..it was only like $100 or so if I remember right.

 

Love the truck!

 

insane build! can i borrow your truck for the zombie Apocalypse??? thing looks like it could go to hell and back twice! great truck!

 

How do you like the 255's? Do you get pretty good MPGs with them?

 

haha thanks.

I wouln't want anything else. my milage has been a constant 15mpg from the day i rolled her off the dealers lot (that was horrible for a new truck, but after all my mods, I feel its good milage). She is a heavy pig too, so 15mpg is good, considering how much weight she has to push around.

 

This is one of my favorite builds now, great looking truck! I want to copy your front emblem badly... that looks amazing.

 

WOW. Thats pretty much all I can say as I am speechless. Nice truck and great thread. So much information.

 

Thanks guys, she does what she made to, gets me where I want to go, and gets me home everytime.