FishTaco Build Thread

New to Tacomaworld, thought I'd start my build thread!



Current setup 8/12/22

Story starts the day before I turned 17, I bought a dbag shittaru impreza with my hard earned money from the past year. I had fun with the car, a loud 2.5 liter 5 speed that I tastefully modified till I got bored of subaru problems. August 2021 rolled around and I sold my car, and began to look for a truck for my adventures and some fishing here and there. Nissan frontiers were in my budget but I REALLY wanted a Tacoma, I have always wanted one I just couldn't afford one. But what do you know, one of my newer neighbors was selling his '06! He was telling me the dealership offered him $10k trade in value, so the next day I knocked on his door cash in hand and walked out with the title in my hand as happy as a teen could be!

So there it is, my 2006 Tacoma DCSB Trd OR 4x4 with 157k miles.
Few months went by, I was happy with the truck how it was until my front brake calipers blew out not a fun shop bill, and the brake fluid stripped the paint off of the stock snowflakes. So after that hefty shop bill I decided it was time for some new wheels, and I scored a nice set of Raceline 891 Renegades in matte black of FB marketplace for $200. Got custom hub centric spacers made up, 107.95mm to 106.1 adapters(thanks for that Raceline).

After getting the wheels installed the whole stance of the truck was changed and I LOVED the look of it! But as we all know, once you start modifying these things are a MONEYPIT. Few weeks later I made the rookie mistake of ordering strut spacers(Do Not Buy) :/ BUT I also installed some new UCA's from Freedom Offroad(Love these, super smooth).


This setup lasted all but a month, constantly hearing clanks from the front suspension drove me insane, then I scored on a set of Bilstein 5100 coilovers & TRD Sport coils(went with the sport coils for a constant spring rate instead of progressive) here on TW, and I also decided to refresh a lot of these parts, damn the east coast! I knew I would eventually have to bust rust knowing it was in NY, but the rust stayed off the frame(thank goodness). Installed the 5100's 4/3/22 along with inner and outer tie rods, end links, and sway bar bushings(this got rid of that damn steering shimmy that I was introduced to after the tire shop told me my tires were "out of round"). To anyone considering strut spacers DO NOT BUY! Upon taking them out bolts on BOTH SIDES unknowingly stripped out the threads of the spacer presumably when put under the vehicles weight. Also scored on a Yakima Skyrise RTT and Yakima Racks used once for $750 on FB Marketplace!




The story of my new susupension: My girlfriend and I went on a Montana Road Trip(maiden voyage of the FishTaco) for 10 days. Most roads were smooth going EXCEPT the way up to Polebridge at the north entrance of Glacier, it’s 45 miles of shit roads from Columbi Falls, including what is in the park. It’s all washed out road with huge potholes, and a speed limit to ruin your truck. Long story short, it absolutely murdered what life was left in my factory lower control arms, and the 5100’s took enough damage to want to replace. So a few days after getting back I was greeted my new parts


Ground to fender clearance is 39” all the way around.

Current Setup:
-Freedom Offroad Adjustable Coilovers (set for 3”)
-Freedom Offroad UCA's
-Freedom Offroad LCA’s
-‘22 taco leafs with Torch 2” AAL
-Raceline 891 Renegade wheels 16x8 0 offset with BFGoodrich KO2 A/T 265/75R16
-Yakima Skyrise RTT
-Yakima Outpost Racks

If y'all have any suggestions for things to do please feel free to input!

List of future mods:
-Bilstein 5100 rear shocks
-Replace E locker with cable locker
-TRD Pro style grille
-AlphaRex headlights
-CaliRaised LED pod fog light
-CaliRaised LED ditch lights

 

Welcome to TW! Looks like you’re off to a good start and it only gets more expensive from here! Did you get a good rundown of the maintenance your neighbor had performed on it? There’s some great technical sections pinned with tons of info here!

 

Yissir! I got all the maintenance logs and where the services had been done, I also went through and did all new fluids after I bought it. I love TW its helped me out a ton (except for the steering wheel shake lmfao)

 

Have you tried kicking 4WD on to see if it goes away? From what I’ve read here the needle bearing on the drivers side of the front differential can cause a pretty good vibration if it’s not doing well.

 

The problem fixed for the most part when I installed new sway bar bushings, end links, coilovers, and inner/outer tie rods. Still feel a slight shimmy only at 66mph, no more or less, but the shop I took the wheels to for rebalance told me they tires were slightly out of round, which are in the works of being replaced sometime soon. No noises coming from the front at all that would point towards it being the needle bearing, so I am pretty sure its the tires out of round

 

Thanks for posting up your resolution. I'm in a very similar situation. my 11 OR has some feathering or cupping on the front tires, and sounds like it making a droning noise on the highway (besides the all terrain tire noise). I tried the 4wd test mentioned. No difference. I think it's either new tire noise because of the suspension, or maybe a wheel bearing. I'm at 175K right now. I've got some 6112s on order to see what that does to help. I've already replaced the LCAs with factory Toyota parts. I also have outer tie rods waiting to go on as well. If that doesn't get rid of the noise, and bad wear, at least I've narrowed down the list of suspects.

Nice build you have going. I like the Cooper Discoverer AT3 S4. Great all terrain tire that's surprisingly quiet, and is a beast in the snow. Look forward to your updates.

As far as suggestions: I'd swap the door pulls for painted handles. Cheap and easy mod, and IMO looks TONS better.

 

Hells yeah man, I’ll give those painted handles a go. Thanks for the tire suggestion too! I definitely think it was the sway bar bushings and end links that fixed the steering shake, and I’m jealous of your 6112’s despite just upgrading coilovers lmao. Little tip for the outer tie rods- if the jam nut don’t come loose(which mine didn’t) a torch will do the job just fine haha. It expands the metal so it’s easier to back off, just be aware of the surrounding metal, you’d be surprised at how hot everything gets

 

Love to see a nice budget build including the prices you scored the items for! sweet deal on the yakima rack & RTT

 

Haha yeah my only option at 18 working at Jersey Mikes while trying to save for college(can't work in college bc of sports) you gotta find those deals. Honestly the budget build taco is fun as hell!

 

Welcome to TW! Looks like you're hitting the ground running, truck looks great! Regarding tires you can't go wrong with a set of KO2's. I've had them in deep snow, mud, rocks and they've taken everything I've thrown at them

 

UPDATE!
On my way home friday (literally 200 meters from my house) my tire blew. Tire bead had some sorta factory defect or installation mess up… not repairable but I replaced all the tires with BF Goodrich KO2 AT’s in a 265/75R16… I love them! Super smooth tire badass look and can’t wait to see the offroad performance. Was originally gonna go for the Goodyear Wrangler Ultraterrains from Discount Tire, they thought they had new ones but actually had 5 used ones. Since this is a warranty void, I opted for the KO2’s and got them for no additional cost since I already purchased the Ultraterrains. What a steal! 4 brand new KO2’s 50,000 mile warranty with no questions replacements, lifetime rotation and balancing for a grand total of $1024!