New Taco owner

Hello,

My name is Kyle and a couple months ago I purchased a 2004 4x4 inline 4 taco with 90k miles for 13k$.

The previous owner had been using it as a commuting vehicle for 5k miles and the original owner prior to that was an elderly man that didn't drive it all that much.

I consider it a steal, and I am having lots of fun in Northern California with it.

I plan on doing a trail, perhaps the Mohave road trail, this winter.

Iv'e gotten it cooper all terrains, and the current plan is to give it a front 3 inch boost and some rear leaf reinforcements, as well as a beefy front bumper and some rock rails. I look foreword to diving into the upgrade favorites of folks on here.

Before this my daily driver was a little 1982 2x4 Isuzu pup diesel long bed pickup. I have been on a forum for that for some years. She is still trucki'n'.

Forgive the terrible pic.

Thanks for having me.

 

Nice taco and welcome

 

Steal is right! Congrats.

 

A few decent pics

 

Welcome to the TW,congrats on the new truck,very nice.

 

Well, it's been some time since I've updated upgrades.

Truck is looking pretty sweet...I spent somewhere around 4 grand if I remember correctly...Icon coilovers /w aux reservoirs, rear fox shocks, rear add-a leafs(free), total chaos UCAs, front ARB bumper, warn winch, all terrain tires. Did all the installations myself (mostly), as I am fortunate enough to have access to a shop and lift.

It's fun and really helps me on the backroads around the farm, lifting up to 1300 lb loads, while retaining the good mpg required to make town trips, like tacos do. The clearance is perfect for the big whoops on the property.

Gripes: Rear fox shocks rub ever so slightly on rear add-a-leafs. ( Super springs). Somewhere around 1100 lbs on backroads, the weight and width of the springs comes in slight contact with the shocks. It doesn't appear to be enough to disable the shock...A little angle grinder should take a sufficient amount off of the leaf to address the rubbing. I talked to the leaf company and they were manufactured for a wider variety of trucks than just my year bracket of taco. Rear is stiff, and lifted perfectly (1/2 inch higher than front). There are two leaf adjustment positions. With bedload, only the stiffest and highest adjustment works without the add-a leaf shackles coming in contact with the frame.

The off-road store sold me the wrong winch at first. I "installed" it only to find out that Warn makes the only compatable winch for this year bracket taco with the ARB bumper. It works killer. I used it the other day to bend an ATV frame back into shape.

I originally ordered FOX ex. travel coilovers. After two months, they still had not delivered, so I cancelled and found some icons with aux. reservoirs. They are awesome and I installed them in the adjustment configuration they came in. I think I have another 1/2 inch of adjustment if I wish, but I want a squishy ride as much as I can get along with my previously stated needs.

However, at wheel rotation and a little shock absorption, the wheels rub on the aux. reservoirs and the associated reservoir line. The bracket was not manufactured quite accurately enough for real-life stock use. I'm riding tires with the same clearance measurements as stock tires. It is a problem I have not gotten to get into with the company yet. I don't have the time right now.

The upper control arms are cool. They make the drive feel more rigid, slightly less fluid...almost as if I have less power steering. I didn't expect that, but I like it.

The bumper resembles a tank. I feel pretty cool riding around with it and no longer worry about hitting the large amount of large wildlife/livestock in my area. I'm still getting 300 miles out of a tank on the freeway, so I don't really see much loss in MPG due to the winch and bumper, to be honest...Which is great!

Thanks for your help.

 

Side note: Bumper works great as a slackline tether point!