PNWtaco's truck

Hey all.

Here it is right after i bought it, bone stock.



Here is a list of the modifications I have done:
-Procomp rims (15x8 3.75" BS -47 mm OS)
-Goodyear Duratracs 33x12.5
-Toytec coils w/ Bilsein 5100s
-SPC upper control arms
-Stock rear leaf pack with a Skyjacker overload spring (The bottom spring in a Skyjacker tr39s leaf pack) with rough country shocks (8000's)
-U-Pol spray in bedliner
-SDHQ high-flex CV boots
-Magnaflow exhaust (4x9x18)
-VLED's amber side marker, 5k dome light and new head light housings (h6054) with 5k's
-4x Innovations HD rear engine mount
-Rear diff. breather extension
-Polyurethane bushings on the steering rack, upper and lower control arms, sway bar, front struts, rear springs and shackles, as well as the heavy duty mount from 4X Innovations that came with a polyurethane bushing.
-leather boot mod

So far I've replaced regular wear and tear consumables like spark plugs and wires/air filters/PVCs/VC gaskets, fuel filters...I've also replaced the steering rack(non OEM), upper/lower balljoint, pass. side front inner axle seal, carrier bearing, U joint and thermostat

 

I decided to go with a Tough Country 3'' lift/leveling kit.

 

EDIT 3/26/2017 I've had to do this job 3 times until i finally lowered my front struts to the lowest lift position and the boots are holding out much longer now...

After the lift, I noticed that the CV boots blew out, so After a bit of research, I got some bates 930 style Porcshe boots from SHDQ. The kit was 60$ and included the inner and outer boots. I used a tube of generic CV grease, and a half tube of some hi-temp grease i had laying around.



before


after


also replaced leaky inner axle seal on pass. side.

 

Due to the lift a steeper angle was put on the outer tie rods which in turn put excessive strain on the inner tie rods/steering rack assembly causing the part to fail. I bought a new rack from Detroit Axle with a lifetime warranty for about $220 before the core refund of 25$ so not bad compared to the OEM rack. I went cheap because someday i may want to SAS so i did not see the point of a nice new Toyota rack that would slowly be destroyed like the last one. I also got new polyurethane front rack bushings from Summit for $15

*UPDATE 3/26/2017 I have gone through one rack so far already but the part failed quickly due to the front struts being in their highest lift position possible (3"). Since I've lowered the struts to their lowest lift position the rack has been fine.

 

Just replaced the lower ball joints, tie-rod ends, and the lower control arm bushings with the same red polyurethane type bushings from Summit. Sorry, no pics of this, had to make this a quick project. once im in work mode its hard for me to stop and snap pictures.

 

I got a Raptor U-pol bedliner kit for $120 on ebay. Came with gun, 4 bottles of liner, and a can of hardener. I really tried to prep the bed well. I used an angle grinder with a braided wire wheel used to clean slag from welds. It made quick work of the paint/primer. I went over every inch of the bed. Then with paper towels and acetone, I wiped down every inch of the bed. The coats dried in about an hour, I used 4 bottles so it took approximately 4 hours to actually paint it. I wanted it as thick as possible (like a rhino line/line x) pretty happy with the result at almost a quarter the cost to have it professionally done.
***UPDATE***
December 2014. tbh I'd recommend getting a Line-X. I am finding that it rubs away easily. I have hauled a GSX-R 600 a couple hundred miles, a large tool box, concrete forms, firewood/maul, furniture, metal stock among other random things sliding around in the bed. Its holding up alright but there is a reason the kit is a quarter cost of the generic thing. You get what you pay for i guess.

braided wire wheel got me down to metal quickly.


wiped clean with acetone

Not perfect, but this is kind of a beater/wheeler truck anyways

 

I got this idea from SeattleCoug. I had an old wet suit laying around that i sacrificed

looks so much better. I dont know why toyota put the leather boot over the rubber boot in 95. My 94 toyota pickup had just this rubber boot on it

 

i got procomp 15x8 (7069-5883) though i wish i got the 16s incase i want to do the tundra brake swap. Oh well. Anyways, i wrapped them in 33x12.50 duratracs. I really like these tires, i had 33 BFG all terrains on my last yota, which were alright, but i think i like these a bit more. The tread pattern is definitely cooler looking IMO

 

Truck looks great man

 

Thank you. I appreciate it!

 

Yes sir

 

Looking good! How does the truck ride after the lift? Also how much time did the boot mod take, my boots are old but they haven't cracked or blown out yet.

 

Thanks man! As it sits, the ride in my truck isn't the best. I have always attributed the poor ride quality to worn out leafs. A couple of weekends ago, I was hauling about 450 pounds in the bed of the truck and I got to see the springs under a decent load..

I would like to get some OME Dakars. How do you like yours so far?

And to answer your other question, each side took a little more than an hour, but the whole process would go much faster if I were to do it again, I was just taking my time and being cautious because it was my first time pulling the axle. Earlier today I was checking out the boots while I was parked on a slight incline with the wheels fully turned to the right. The fins were slightly touching, I also noticed where the fins were rubbing together a bit from sharp turns. They seem to be holding up well though. This is how I found out about them. http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/sdhq-offroad/317579-tacoma-cv-boot-kits.htmlPrice is $30.49 for TW members.. good deal if you ask me

 

I got some new head light housings on ebay. They came with some 6k bulbs, but I got a kit with a 6k HID conversion kit. I am running the bulbs it came with instead of the HIDs and they seem to work alright but once a bulb goes out I plan on throwing in the HIDs. I also installed some Amber LEDs for the side markers from VLEDs. I also got a 6k LED dome light for the cab.




I also installed 4x Innovations heavy duty R150f mount with polyurethane bushings. It caused a lot of vibrations at first but I figured there would be a break in period for the poly. After about a month the amount and intensity of the vibrations has gradually reduced. Its nice knowing the trans is bolted solid to the cross member. My old rubber mount was shot and moved around a lot when i pushed on it.

I painted it red
Yes i am aware of the oil on the trans. some of it was grease that was slung there from the driveshaft and the rest is from leaky gaskets and seals up front -__-

 

I really dig my Dakars, however they can be a bit much if you don't know what you're getting yourself into (like myself). They are mean't for an 89-95 pickup and because our trucks use pickup springs they happen to fit, however they also make our trucks ride at about 3.75-4.25in instead of 2.75in. I went with a full 3in. up front and it rides at about 4in. in back now that they have settled. I like the rake but some don't. They ride really smooth though.

 

Looks good man! What part of the state are you in?

 

Thank you! I am in Bellingham.

 

I've heard that the 89-95 springs fit on the 95-97 tacomas, was never 100% sure though so it is nice to have that confirmed. But I am leaning towards the Dakars.. Did the leafs include bushings or did you have to buy those separate? Did they include shims?

 

In my never ending quest to rid the truck of the infamous rear end shimmy/wobble/bounce/wrap, I thought it would be a good idea to change out the slip yoke universal joint. Plus i recently developed some driveline vibrations. I paid $52 dollars after tax. I also (finally) installed my Toytec coils/Bilstein 5100's. The ride at slower speeds is very bouncy, and combined with my bad rear end, it makes for a rough ride. But they did ride nicely on the logging grades, which were pretty rough in some stretches of the road. I do see very small scratch marks on the coil from the knuckle hitting it. UCA's will be my next purchase. I also got my scan gauge (UltraGauge) all hooked up and situated. Still learning how to use it and set it up properly, but I'm already enjoying its many uses. I went for a drive today with a buddy to find some snow, and to test out the new components.

 

Looks awesome buddy