Erma the Taco - 2001 TRD Off Road Build

This is Erma, the 2001 Tacoma I purchased in November of 2017. At the time she had 180,000 miles.



My first Tacoma was a 1996 2WD that would never die, I sold it to a friend who still driving it into the ground with landscaping. I had a small Subaru phase before seeing the errors of my ways and deciding to go back to a Tacoma.

I live in Santa Cruz CA, and Erma was 500 miles away in Pahrump, Nevada...Found her on the AutoTrader app, but it was cross-posted from Craiglist. This truck was previously owned by a retired Sheriff. The type of guy that kept meticulous records, fixes the stuff that doesn't "need" to be fixed and takes extra care. He was only selling it because he needed a Tundra to pull his larger, more comfortable trailer. "The Tacoma would pull it just fine, but felt safer to have the V8 when the power was needed" -

As for the engine, the truck is stock. Super clean with an immaculate frame! That's saying something for trucks this old. Outside the engine, the previous owner has added some nice bells and whistles!

• SnugTop Camper Shell - Carpeted Inside.
• Matched BedRug -
• Yokahama AM M+S Tires - 265/70 r16
• "Happy Jacks" - For Tiedowns.
• AVS Bugflector and Window Deflectors
• Timbern Suspension Stops
• "Newer" KYB Shocks
• Engine Guard - Live Digital read of Trans and H2o Temps
• Custom snap on Topper window mesh
• Kenwood Touch Screen with hitch back-up camera.
• Aftermarket Alarm System

Immediately getting Erma back to California I had the ball joints, steering rack and bushings replaced, followed by an alignment. I had both sides fail on me with my 1996, about four years apart. It's not a fun experience and since I know the first gens have this issue, it was the first thing to get refreshed.

New Years of 2017/2018 I wanted to take Erma on her first road trip with her new family. The only mod for that trip was a rack basket to carry additional gear.

- The Mojave Desert, 2018 New Years -


- Desert Taco Dog -
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The next "Mod" was to try and reclaim the dark fender flares. They are the originals and sun bleached. I've used 'Flitz' plastic and metal cleaner on a ton of things, including foggy headlights. I tried it on a small spot on the flares, near the gas tank and it seemed to clean them right up...



About an hour later and a bottle of Flitz gone I was cleaned and restored the flares back to being black.


After all four have been done


The next thing I wanted to do was Plastidip the stock wheels. I researched this project over a few weeks. I ended up buying the 4 can kit on Amazon, with the wheel cleaner and the dip release and spray handle.

It took me two days as I wanted to take the wheels off the truck, clean them real good and make sure I sprayed evenly sprayed the whole wheel. It turned out really good, and it's holding up real good.





Next was the rock slickers. I was inspired by @standard. I contacted Richard over at Stubbs Welding in Susanville CA and had a set made for Erma. Beautifully built and strong AF! - I Primed them good, painted with bed liner rattle can and then had a local welder stick weld them to the frame. I think they turned out great!





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What's Next?

• Front Bumper - I'm leaning towards the ARB, but there are a few others I really like too, but the ARB seems to be the industry standard for winches and quality. There are not as many options for the first gens. Thank god for this thread!
• Lightbar and ditch lights.
• Rear Bumper, with swing out spare tire and Jerry, can mounts. Leaning towards the 4X Innovations.
• Dual Battery - Conversion