New Tacoma Owner

Hi, Noob here…

I recently bought a used Tacoma. 1996 V6, 4x4, 5 Speed, ext. cab.

It had 98,000 miles on it from one owner, was garage kept and all. I'm the second owner, and the guy who had it before me bought it brand new and had all the paperwork to confirm proper maintenance. It's the used truck find of a lifetime, I think, and I absolutely love it.

Now, I have a good friend who is a toyota mechanic. He likes to make things look cool and sound loud, etc. I don't care about being flashy, but I do want the best, most durable daily driver/occasional off road vehicle. I wouldn't mind a modest lift, intake, clutch, shocks/suspension, etc. To be clear, if the truck didn't stick out in a line up (appeal to thieves) but kicked ass on and off the road, then I'm happy.

I want to know which parts are the best, which mods are recommended, etc. as well as what not to do.

I'm here to gain any and all wisdom I can from people who know more than me. Please advise.

Thanks,
Truckazoid.

 

Welcome!

You've got the same Yoda as mine, just a year earlier.

Check out my build thread for an idea of all the things you can do. There's plenty more (bumpers, winches, light bars etc) that I didn't do. I didn't want to go too crazy, but I can off-road just fine with the guys that did.

I'd start your own build thread over on the build threads forum to track your progress.

 

Welcome! Some good starter mods to do that are farely cheap are:

Deck plate mod
Intake silencer removal mod
Exhaust
Blacking out emblems
HID head lights

and on the higher end:

Tires/wheels
lift

heres a link to a good thread about mods

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/10856-diy-mods-95-04-tacomas.html