Just bought a 2003 xtra cab 4x4

Very Nice Truck

 

I'm digging the forest green color! Looks like a good find, what are the specs? Mileage, maintenance, owners... etc? I voted for upgrades, what are the plans?

 

You can't vote "both"... It's clean, but of course you need more upgrades!

What's your plan for it? Daily driver or will this thing be an off-roader?

Where are you located? Is there frame rust?

 

I feel like that question always looms with our 1st Gen's, "Awesome truck dude... but will it fold in half?" One day, the only 1st gen's left will either be from AZ or had a frame replacement!

 

Yeah, I need to rephrase that question. I'm new to the forum and just wanted to get a post out there.

It will be my daily driver for a little while, but definitely bought it to hit some trails and get me to future adventures.

I live in Ohio (rust belt) but luckily it was coated in 2005 by the dealership. No frame rust. Old man owned since new and it has 84,000 miles.

Here's the kicker, it's a 2.7 liter and not a TRD. The guy had the decals put on lol. I didn't care because of how good of shape the truck was in. I would like to get them off though. I just put a 2.5 in lift on and looking for wheels and tires now.
I'd like to go 285/70R17

Not sure on all the upgrades yet, just getting started and I have already invested 2k

 

Awesome! It looks clean and you can upgrade. Sky is the limit, scratch that, budget is the limit. I have the 285/70/17

 

don't laugh, I tried clicking the other photos!

 

looks to have been well maintained inside, and out as much as cane be seen.

If the frame is clean, start protecting it. That should be your 1st objective after fluid check/changes. As an '04, there may be warranty coverage on the frame. Check other threads on the details if your not familiar with this.

 

Looks like you (or the truck anyway) are in a cold weather state if that's Dayton Ohio CL. In that case, definitely check out your frame warranty coverage with Toyota.

 

Well, basically anywhere that doesn't salt their roads.

It's not just an issue with 1st gens, iirc, 2nd gens have a recall, too...

 

Thanks for the info on the frame! That was my biggest worry living where I do. There are a few small areas that the coating has worn off. The guys already know me well at the dealership after only owning it 6 weeks.

 

Any trimming required with 285/70r16 setup?

 

The more you drive it, the more you'll figure out what "upgrades" you want/need.

There's a sticky "what have you done to your 1st gen lately" that that will give you a LOT of ideas all us other Toyota dorks have done to our trucks. There's also a "DIY and how to" sticky that's really helpful.

But, don't use those threads as shopping lists for things you "need" just because some bro on the interwebs did it. The more you drive it, the more you'll come up with your own needs, then you can search here for what people have done to address similar needs, and give you ideas. I see so many threads like "just bought a Taco, what lift and tires to go off-roading?" My advice is always to just run what you brung for a while, and figure out what YOU need. Usually, that ends up being some combination of tires, a lift of some sort, and some sort of trail armor (bumpers, rock sliders, etc...). There are so many to choose from, and they all meet different needs/budgets/skill levels. For the casual off-roader, just some shocks/springs to lift it a bit and get some slightly larger tires with better tread will more than suffice.

Make no mistake, a bone stock poverty spec truck is perfectly capable off-road. I've seen mostly stock, open diff trucks out wheel other trucks paid for, I presume, with 2nd mortgages...

As for maintaining the frame rust thing, just be real good about washing it after you drive in the salt, and remove any surface rust and reapply undercoating/paint as necessary.

 

Yes.

But how much depends on your wheel offset, how much lift you end up with, etc... Even with a 3" lift you typically have to trim some. Best bet, for off-roading anyway, is to minimize your lift (keep a low center of gravity), and trim. There's a thread on here where a guy fit 35's at STOCK height - but he also did a LOT of

I've been looking into the pizza cutter size tires recently, and I will most likely end up with 255/85r16's. I don't do much mud/snow driving, which is really the only place that wide tires excel over the skinnies. Plus, the 255's generally don't rub as much, and you get better highway mileage, and less wear and tear on the drivetrain.

I would say the main detractor of the skinnies is that the 285's look "cooler" and there is more of a breadth of tread designs in the 285 sizes.

 

X 2 !! - NICE TRUCK!

 

Thanks for the info and advice!

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Eye of the beholder I would say, I have no complaints with my Pizza cutters... they run great on/off road, and happen to find them quite attractive... as much as you can say that about a hunk of rubber!

It's hard to keep yourself at bay when it comes to mods, I've found myself many times with an item or two in a cart and not remembering how I got there...confused with a credit card in hand only to snap out of it last minute! it's a disease for sure! For me, I bought my lift because all my original components were shot... and even then I had my Truck sitting an extra week with the front Eibachs in because there was no way I could've added the AAL to my original leaf pack, so I ordered new Dakar packs.

Most, not all of my upgrades have been due to some lack of the original or really just replacing worn out components.

I would be mindful of that K&N filter, I too once bought into the hype but have come to understand the short comings of K&N's. I run the original air box with an AFE dry filter.