PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

They weight like 30 lbs.

They extend maybe 6-8".

 

I have owned my truck since new and have made it through 7 winters without rust or body integrity issues. All I do is run my truck through a drive-thru carwash with underbody rinse a few times a winter and after each major snowfall.

I was wondering what those who own Tacomas in any of these three states and the surrounding area do to keep their trucks looking sharp for years to come. My truck was a gift and I have a clear title in my name. I plan on driving it until it dies or becomes obsolete. Even when I have a family of my own, I have no plans on getting rid of my truck. If there's one thing I've learned, if you can afford the insurance and other various expenses associated with a third vehicle, it's always good to have one just in case.

I've been using the same mechanic (my dad's mechanic) for 3 years and I trust him. My frame is not rusted beyond the usual surface rust, and my truck has always passed Pennsylvania safety inspection without issue. I still see myself driving my 2010 Toyota Tacoma 6 to 8 years from now, even if it isn't a primary vehicle. I have become quite attached to my truck and would be devastated if I take it to my mechanic for inspection and find it won't pass because something important has rusted and it isn't worth it to fix. How do I avoid a situation like this?

I'll bring my Tacoma in for it's annual inspection and my mechanical My truck is not effected by the frame recall, but my frame is starting to develop surface rust. I know that the Midwest (especially the states of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin) has some of the harshest winter conditions in the country.

Michigan in particular is a place I would never buy a used Taco from because of the extreme winter conditions and the salt used as a result.

 

I use fluid film in the cans with extension wand and spray the whole frame inside and out

 

In Minnesota we resign ourselves to the fact that you get 8 years. I don't even try to fight it. They put so much salt on the roads in the cities it rots the concrete. The ongoing joke is that Toyotas are biodegradable here. Good luck.

 

Original video: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-a-heat-pump-defrosting.414045/#post-11728401

I was involved in a minor accident in which my horn, among other things, was damaged. This was in August 2015. The problem did not manifest itself until weeks later. Some guy ran a stop sign and I beeped my horn at him. The horn just continued to beep, so I had to disconnect it. The horn was replaced at my local dealership, Thompson Toyota in Doylestown.

As it got colder, I noticed that whenever it is was in the 40s or colder, my horn was high-pitched like that of a clown car. This eventually got on my nerves and I brought it back to Thompson. I don't know how many other dealerships do this, but Thompson gives you free 1-year warranty on top of the factory Toyota warranty on all parts. That means a 2-year warranty. Thompson replaced the horn free of charge with a new one, and a for little while this one sounded normal. Soon, however, it started to sound high-pitched as well. I didn't feel like going back to the dealership AGAIN, so I just lived with it. My hope was that after an entire summer of regular use, it would sound normal.

Throughout summer 2016, my horn sounded normal. However, once it started to get cold again in October or so, the high-pitched clown car horn came back. My truck is due for an oil change in about 2,300 miles, so I will bring it back to Thompson for an oil change and another free horn under the warranty. What I am wondering is if Thompson got a batch of faulty horns and when I bring it back in a couple months they will install one that doesn't start sounding like a clown car horn. If this horn starts acting up, then I may just get a high-quality aftermarket horn.

Questions:

Has anybody else had this problem with their horn?

Are there easy-to-install aftermarket alternatives?

 

I went with Whelen Power Air Horn. Makes me chuckle every time

https://youtu.be/kN4cP4JM_wc

 

Hella Supertones sound nice, but I can't help with much else.
I think theres an install mod on those too somewhere on here.

 

Roll with it, man. Honk and wave when you pass people. Or being from Bucks, you could get the Dixie horn and really freak people out.

 

The only vehicle I'd ever want with a Dixie horn is a replica of a certain orange 1969 Charger owned by a couple of good ol' boys from Hazzard County, Georgia. I feel the same way about confederate flags on vehicles. Fine on the General Lee, but not a good idea on anything else...

I was thinking something along the lines of a Nathan AirChime KL5A...

 

Same horn problem. And a towing capacity issue.

 

Could you imagine rolling down the Blvd in something like that, though? People be like and maybe a little .

 

That's a Ford Doodlebug!

 

The Dixie horn or the AirChime? I've seen both around here...

 

The General Lee

 

You would be surprised how many General Lees show up at the local car shows. People wouldn't be that shocked. I saw two General Lees and a replica of Rosco's patrol car at this year's Vargo Dragway Reunion. One General Lee was a very high-quality replica. The other one was an original from the series that also saw use in the 2014 AutoTrader commercial starring John Schneider and Tom Wopat as Bo and Luke.

 

No problem with the horn, but sometimes my shoes get caught in the pedals.

 

I am surprised! My being Southern was generally met with mild derision among co-workers when I lived there, hence my joking around about the horn and such.

 

I got 16-inch Platinum Apex rims installed on my Tacoma in October 2013. I ordered the rims and BFG tires from Tirerack.com and they came mounted and balanced. My mechanic installed the wheels for free when I brought my truck in for an inspection and an oil change. However, his gadget could not read the new TPMS sensors in the aftermarket wheels. Thompson Toyota, the dealer closer to my house, couldn't get the sensors matched up to the truck's system either. I finally ended up taking my Taco to Peruzzi Toyota, a dealer about 15-20 minutes away where my dad originally bought the truck.

Peruzzi was able to get the sensors synced up. Meanwhile, I browsed the lot and came across a brand new white regular cab 4WD automatic on the lot. I forget whether it was a 2013 or 2014, but it was brand new. I asked if I could take a test drive and the salesman obliged. Aside from having 4WD, it was very similar to mine. It did, however, have some improvements, including Bluetooth. The stereo speakers had absolutely no balls, just like the factory ones in my truck. It also lacked intermittent wipers. However, this truck had individual bucket seats and a full center console.

I would love to install something like this in my Tacoma. In a 2005-2008 model, it probably wouldn't be that much of a problem because those years did not have side airbags in the seats. My 2010, however, has the seat airbags. Would it be possible to hook the airbag wires from bucket seats to the wires in my truck? Also, I couldn't help but notice that the bolt patterns for the buckets are different than the bench seat. I'd probably have to drill new holes?

Also, how much do you think a bucket seat/console setup would cost? A new one would probably cost a couple grand. I'm sure I could find a wrecked 2009-2015 Tacoma with bucket seats in a junkyard, in which the airbags did not deploy.

Does anybody think this could work? Does anybody think it would be worth it? When I almost exclusively drove my truck from 2011-2013, the bench seat didn't bother me. In 2014, my parents bought a used 2013 Nissan Murano SV. This is the vehicle I drive when my truck is getting oil change and/or getting inspected. I drove my mom's Murano for three days when my truck was in the body shop after being hit by the drunk driver. Whenever I go back to my truck after driving the Murano for a day or two, I realized just how unsupportive the bench seat in my Taco really is. This is why I'd like to swap it out for buckets.

 

Whenever I drink, I use Uber to get home. One time, my Uber driver was a black gentleman in his late 30s or early 40s. We got to talking about current events, including the confederate flag controversy. He told me that he had loved watching Dukes of Hazzard as a kid, that in his opinion the General Lee was "Just a car," and that they should not have stopped airing reruns just because of the flag on the car.

 

Once, in the summer of either 2010 or 2011, I was in New Hope with a friend of mine. It was not long after my dad bought my Taco, so I think it must have been 2010. Anyway, I saw a white 2005-2010 regular cab driving through town. The weird thing about it was that it had a body-colored front bumper, a chrome grille, and chrome rear bumper. All of these exterior features are indicative of the SR5 trim. However, as far as I know, the 2nd gen regular cab was never available as an SR5, just a base model. I am thinking the owner of this mysterious white Taco swapped out the basic black trim pieces for ones from an SR5.

However, does anybody know if Toyota actually did make 2nd gen SR5 regular cabs with upgraded interior trim/upholstery, intermittent wipers, power windows and locks, etc?

Also, it is possible to take interior door panels from an extra-cab Taco and install them in a regular cab to give the regular cab power windows and locks? On another note, I've never seen a 2nd gen Tacoma extra cab WITHOUT power windows and locks. I've seen 2001-2004 extra cab models with the SR5 package and rollup windows, but never a 2nd gen.