MIzak82 the already built, Build Thread:

Hello All..

I am the owner of a Radiant Red 2002 Toyota Tacoma xtra cab 4x4 V6 Off Road with the electronic rear locker.. I purchased it later on in its life, so there was a good amount of work done prior. I will give credit to the previous owner, he did great electrical work (that's a first), wasn't cheap about parts, and kept up with the maintenance.. However, we had slightly different tastes, so I tried to blend in some of his mods and make the best off it.. Im an OEM plus type of guy.. Like how I feel it should of come out of the factory.. This truck is more rugged than that I think, but tastefully done IMO..

My search for a 1st gen Tacoma took several years.. this was the first one of about a dozen i saw that wasn't rusted.. The previous owner was a mechanic at a dealership in south florida and this truck came in on a trade with 70k miles on it.. He scooped it up that day before it even hit the floor.. drove it for like 100k miles.. He bought a big boat and a new Tacoma, So put this up for sale.. So I naturally jumped at the deal.. I bought the truck and I didnt drive it for another year as I went over the whole truck until I got it dialed into to my liking..

 

Day 1

 

Most recent

 

So when I got the truck it was well used.. it needed attention in a few areas.. but my OCD forced me to focus on getting the interior cleaned up first.. It definitely saw better days.. I took everything out of the cab short of the dashboard and headliner and I deep cleaned the cab.. While everything was out, I added sound deadening material to the whole cab minus the roof.. I cleaned every piece of plastic, and restored the center console with some sandpaper super glue and SEM spray paint.. came out brand new..

 

My next step in the interior was replacing the sound system.. I did standard 6.5 Alpines.. I put in a Jensen all in one head unit, which included Navigation, a back up camera, bluetooth, dvd/cd.. I then proceeded to replace the tint on the windows, convert the entire interior to LEDs (dome light was a PIA), i replaced all the shifter bushings as it was very sloppy (they denigrated into nothing), the stupid back side window flanges i replaced with metal ones.. added 2nd gen rubber oem mats (slightly short on driver, perfect for passenger)

The previous owner added a cb radio in the ashtray location.. He also added the Rigid Light bar with the switches in the clock location. Grey wire mod.. I flushed up the ashtray mount a little more, added a couple new chargers, one that reads battery voltage and a dual usb charger..

I replaced the driver door seal (oem, ouch), the outside window seals, the cup holder tabs.. the one OEM item i really wanted was a New center console cover, but they were discontinued.. I searched for them for a while with no luck.

 

Once the Interior was set my next goal was to address the maintenance and engine bay.. the good news was the timing belt was done 25k miles ago.. Bad news was it needed valve cover gaskets..

I changed all the fluids to get a base line.. Diffs, transfer case, engine, transmission (dealer flush), steering, brake and radiator fluid.. added a new red top battery, new spark plugs, 2 new O2 sensors..

 

Next came the drivetrain.. with the oils being done.. I decided on doing the Tundra brake upgrade.. Front: New rotors, oem pads, 13wl calipers, stainless steel brake lines.. Rear I replaced the pads and the brake cylinders as well.. The dreaded rear axle seal came up PIA, ended up bringing the axle to Toyota to have them put in a new wheel bearing..

I spent a lot of time on making sure the frame was well protected, knowing what these trucks achilles heal is.. So I cleaned out the frame of all debris, there wasn't any rust to take off, but i coated the frame with like 8 coats of paint and 4 cans of the inside frame spray..

 

Beautiful truck and a beautiful restoration. Great work! I only hope that mine goes that well!

 

thanks man.. Lot more work than I thought Iwas going to put into it. but here we are lol

 

Suspension.. The truck came with the Fox 2.0 in the rear and a dakar OME leaf springs.. So I decided on Fox 2.5 for front..

 

I sold the Softtopper and got a matte tool box (crapsman).. I just coudnt see out the back with the cover driving.. Truck came with 15 inch steel wheels and mud terrains.. I sold those because I needed 16s to clear the tundra brakes.. I bought Duratracs 285/75/16s.. they are a little stiff IMO.. but they def look great.. I was able to fit one under the bed.. had to bend the tire holders a little and cut back the exhaust.. but so far so good

 

I did finally get around to putting on the rock sliders.. which was kind of the final touch.. it rounded out the front bumper set up..

 

Goodness. beautiful build. Can't wait to see more. May I ask what sliders those are? Not sure if I missed that, sorry if I did. Great call on getting the toolbox, makes the truck look much better IMO. Thank you in advance!

 

thanks bud. Ya the sliders were custom made but mirror the trail gear ones. If I could do it over. I would of just bought them from 4WP all put together. But they came with the truck in pieces. Got them welded up. sprayed Bedliner on them. Not perfect but not bad.

 

I unfortunately haven’t gotten to take the truck off road yet. It was a project for so long. Right when I basically finished it up, I bought a house and I’ve been doing projects ever since.

but did put the truck to work. Filled the bed with all kinds of stuff. Mulch. Rocks. Pavers. Cement. Wood. Dirt. Appliances. It’s definitely a beast.

I need to plan an outing to really test out the 4wd.

 

Not a lot to update.. I did replace the idler pulley and redid the 3 serpentine belts.. kind of a PIA compared to my 4th gen 4runner which took 5 minutes..

I also added a small 5/8 inch poly spacer up front to get rid of some of the rake.. the FOXs were maxed out.. While I was there, I put in new SPC UCA ball joints.

replaced a door handle, OEM.. and a driver power window motor..

I also had some rear O2 sensor issues and i did the rewire.. so far so good..

I redid the front sway bar components.. new bushings, end links etc.



anyone can have a nice truck.. not everyone can have a nice old truck.. take a lot to keep them going..

 

What tire pressure are you running? Usually when tires are "stiff" is because they have too much air.

 

Whoa this thread is a year old. Haha

 

like 25-30 psi.. honestly im trying to decide whether to pull the trigger for some 17x9 -35mm offset SCS f5s, so i can get 285/70/17s in C rated.. get rid of the wheel spacers.. less rolling weight than the stock rims..