Noob checking in!

Hello all!

The name's Austin and I just picked up my first Taco whom I have named Tina lol. I have been lurking for the past few weeks doing some research on Tacomas in general and pros and cons of 1st gen vs 2nd gen, and all sorts of other topics making sure that I was making the best decision on getting a Tacoma. I've had her since this past Friday (11 Apr 2014) and so far I am absolutely happy with my decision!

After searching for about a month I couldn't find anything that fit my requirements for one inside of Georgia that hadn't already been sold, or sold w/in the first 24hrs of being posted. Everything I had found had been a couple states away, and I couldn't justify driving 6+ hrs for a truck that I had no experience w/ other than seeing pictures, descriptions, and threads from here on TW, and a truck that I had never even been in, or much less driven before. My search finally started coming to a close on Thursday the 10th when I was alerted via craigslist of one less than 30mins away. I immediately contacted the seller and promptly set up a time that evening to meet up and check the truck out. Once I was there I was already in love. Driving it only strengthened that. We ended up putting a down payment on it to hold it until we could both meet at his bank to pay off his loan on the truck and receive the title.

The next day, on Friday, I was just getting back in to my office at work after learning I had to work Saturday and wouldn't be able to make it to his bank to make said transaction, when there she was! A few of my good friends and coworkers had gone and picked up the truck unbeknownst to me!

Anyways, enough of the sappy BS, and on to the specs and pics!

2003 Tacoma extra-cab SR5 TRD
4x4
116k miles
V6
5sp

According to the PO she has 4" of suspension lift and 2" body. I don't know enough about the truck yet, to know exactly what is aftermarket and what isn't here. I do know the rear has Rancho shocks (no idea on model and specs), and possibly an AAL. The front has Bilstein shocks (from what I understand though these are OEM), some type of strut spacer, and tuff country spindles. Of course the body lift just consists of the spacers. I'm hoping to meet up w/ a fellow 1st gen owner in the near future in my area that would have better knowledge of what's what underneath this unit.

I'm not sure of the exact wheel specs just yet aside from them all being 16s, and three of them are ProComps (not sure on model), and one is an Ultra brand. They look somewhat similar (aside from the PCs having a faux beadlock look, and the Ultra having a 2-piece look). The tires are 315/75/16 (almost but not quite a 35 at 34.6 according to outside sources!) Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs, which seem to be quite popular here on TW!

If I'm not mistaken, it has been regeared, but to what I have no idea yet as I haven't had it up on the lift to get a good look underneath.

Performance wise the truck has an AirRaid CAI, and a PowerAid throttle body spacer. It also appears to have a set of aftermarket plug wires. Aside from that I am unsure. Exhaust is stock for now, but I plan on getting something a little louder in the future.

On to the pics! (Hopefully if they're not too big and/or I get my photobucket to work)







Btw, I picked her up for $8k!

I look forward to hanging out here, getting in on some SouthEast meets/trips/excursions, and learning about my truck!

EDIT: You can slightly see the difference in the wheels in the first pic. Also sorry for the long post and sappy story haha!

 

whatsup man welcome to TW. looks like theres alot of bad ass offroading where you live. good job getting a v6 stick shift by the way like mine first thing you might want to do though is get rid of all those spacers and crap and replace it with something that actually plays a role in the performance of the truck. overall it looks great tho, nice ride!



check out my build and maybe get some ideas for your truck since we have almost the same thing

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...-shocks-heres-how-she-got-there-my-build.html

 

Welcome to TW, great looking ride!

 

Thanks guys!

I'm definitely planning on taking the spacers off at least and possibly completely starting over w/ the suspension lift as well.

 

Welcome!

 

Thank ya sir!

 

Nice Truck!

Did the PO seem honest and upfront about the truck? Did he Wheeled it much? You should ask him what gears and the ratio just so you know. Its a huge plus to have a truck that's already been re-geared. That's something I gotta do soon.

Have fun with the truck and learn how to control the "modification" bug, or else your money will fly away , like mine did

 

Thank ya much!

You can def tell it's been in the mud. I still haven't gotten it on the lift yet to wash underneath. And the engine bay is speckled with mud. The PO was LE (which doesn't necessarily mean he is an honest person), but I do trust him. Especially when he inquired about getting a part-time job w/ my company lol. I know if I were to hide something about a vehicle I sold I wouldn't be even thinking about that haha. He did say though that the PO before him put all the aftermarket stuff on it so I don't think he'd know what it's been regeared to, but my brother in law seems to think it's got somewhere near 4.77s. Not to mention after looking at the lift a few more times, I think it's only got about 3ish inches of suspension lift instead of the 4. And most of that is spacers. I did notice it appears to have a sway bar and diff drop kit bc the spindles aren't at crazy angles.

And my mod bug is suppressed by the CFO/wife, and lack of funds lol.

 

Welcome to TW.Good looking truck man and great score for a great price . Good luck In The future and that's always a big thing that will slow you down is funds but anyway good catch man and enjoy.

 

Thank ya! Lack of funds are no fun lol. It always slowed me down on any of my old cars.