Subaru Switch & Introduction

Hello all, I impulse bought my truck roughly 6 months ago after the third set up head gaskets went belly up on my Subaru. I have always belonged to forums since I rode BMX at 13, eventually it moved onto vehicles and projects. They're the ultimate resource of knowledge and I love to document/share my experiences. I have a write up on my subbie, and my latest project: https://shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=149558 "Turbo Street Rail"
I am no strangers to tacos; my father is on his 4th one in 20 years, each one over 250k miles. The truck that popped up was something i couldn't pass up. My previous car had cams, higher compression, full exhaust and intake, forester struts, 28" Geolanders, and a couple other upgrades, Subbies are begging to be modded. I loved my Subaru and where it would take us, we even crossed a flooded road out to the ocean in Delaware up over the headlights!(it just kept getting deeper, high water warning signs not functioning) after that it navigated a soggy beach without too much trouble as well. We've had countless trips in the Subaru (3.5 years worth~ 100,000 miles) before it could no longer take my neglect and abuse. Lower radiator hose popped on the way to the vet and it quickly overheated and started pushing water out the exhaust, that week I looked around for a truck-something i wouldn't mod and keep me out of trouble.

the morning after the chaos of trying to get to the ocean during a storm

In front of cascade Mt. in the ADK. another camping spot before tackling a high peak

At RIT playing in the mud

So here's what my search yielded: an ad with no pictures and little description at a dealer 40 minutes from me. It was a 2007 regular cab Tacoma 4x4 with a 2.7l and a 5 speed- perfect truck- with only...38,000 miles, listed at 10k. I requested some information and they immediately called me and said I would have to come down first thing tomorrow because all the activity they have had on it. I couldn't make it until after work so i scheduled an appointment around 5:30 they called me again saying someone was looking at the truck and asked if I still wanted a test drive/ look at other trucks later on.. I show up and the truck was not even there, down the road at another branch. Apparently they saw my appointment and thought it was somebody else, bad start. It pulled up soaking wet, tire shine dripping off fully dry rotted tires, dealer stickers already on the tailgate. They torched the clear on the hood and some of the plastic trying to buff the truck, I'm guessing it had some sun fading from sitting over the years they were trying to get out.
I took it for a test drive- yup its a base model truck-i'll take it. Have more bad experiences with dealer, continuing to try to rush it out the door, several staff members keep bringing it up how many people are calling on the truck. I am trying to get them to do fluid swaps, replace dangerous tires, clean up the frame a bit, restore the headlights, and what they're "220 point certified used car" list entails exactly (never got an answer, or what they did to the truck after the received it >:0)
we go over prices, he tells me he's gonna work on my requests, says it'll be ready tomorrow. I said 'don't rush, i want it right' when i pick it up.
Dealer calls next day and says its ready.
Still have the old tires on the car, they sprayed undercoating all over everything! it got on the cooling fan and got flung all over the engine bay. the dipstick handle was even covered. They didn't do anything i asked, and still couldn't get me the info of what makes the used cars "certifiable". He presented his final price and I was mad, he tacked on a bunch of extras-the ziebart undercoating was nearly $800. I went out to look over the truck with my dad again and he convinced me it was still worth it, i was just upset about getting dicked around by the dealer. I still had great credit and my financing wasn't nearly as painful as my first dealer experience, so I signed the papers- with the exception of them replacing tires. They would not pass inspection. He gave me a credit to get them at cost through them, a final kick while I was down. I ended up putting 15k on them before replacing with a set of Coopers. I drove the truck home seething, this was supposed to be a cheap deal and i still ended up financing 10k even after my down payment which was discouraging.. but i still ended up in a unicorn of a truck, made me feel a little better looking at the odometer.

Here's the truck, Named Julie by my girlfriend- partly after my grandmother, and because all of my cars have had jewel/mineral names.

base as frick. note the dealer plate ripped off the front.

look how faded that rear bumper is! Tires are OG from 2007 D:

We've made a trip to Washington DC, 3-4 ADK trips, a few ski trips to Greek & lab, countless trips to bring the dogs out, I was just in Jersey for a week for a generator program and had about 13hrs seat time in the truck; so far we have put around 20,000 miles on her. Plus my job is around 40 miles round trip daily during the summer so it certainly is getting put to work! I am dreaming of bucket seats and center counsel swap but the bench does have its pros, although my back disagrees. I replaced the factory stereo and installed a low profile subwoofer behind the seats to keep us occupied on our trips.


This is how the truck sits now, Cooper at3 on Tundra wheels. Spent all summer checking CL/marketplace weekly for good deal on OEM toyota alloys. Found these for $10 a piece! I really wanted 4runner wheels but the 5 spokes look decent and are in great shape. I will be painting them Mercruiser Phantom black this spring I think. I also installed a fog light kit in the fall to help during out blinding snow storms we suffer from in upstate NY.

The cap is a Leer 100xl, $200 CL find, sat in the mud for a couple seasons and the glass was bubbled along the rail. They came out with a little use of a heat gun and are barley noticeable now, the color is close to the truck but i think my paint is a little faded compared to the cap's gel-coat. The cap was a must and the first item i searched for because we have two 50-60lb dogs and the cab is just so dinky. We still made a couple beach trips in the bed before I found the cap but our dogs are jackasses and would probably jump out doing 45mph so M watched them in the back.



An earlier trip when we first got the camper shell. dogs enjoyed it but the push out windows are not enough for them to get their faces in the air stream. I planned on doing an RV vent in the roof but that wont be for driving as much as a skylight/ camping vent. I've thought about doing a Subaru hood scoop up top with a operational flap or something, any ideas for air for our four legged friends?

Future plans include:

• Pull-out drawers in the bed, I carry a lot of tools for work and all our hiking/climbing equipment adds up quick.
• Swap out the shitty wiper switch for an intermittent one.
• Install the tow kit my dad had on his 2nd gen.
• Black out the headlight housing and polish lens or find a pair already black
• Paint rear bumper and grill- maybe do Satoshi mod w/driving lights
• Add small inverter to the cap and lighting, RV vent in the ceiling.
• I want to swap out the clutch fan for an electric set-up to save some mpg and gain some HP
• Add diff breather and remove the foam filter in the air pump.
  
• Upgrade shocks (recommendations?)
  
• replace dying bushings- tranny mount feels like its going, what other things tend to go around 50k?
  
• What is the best option to have a lockable rear diff? I would like an lsd in the back but haven't done too much research yet.

Going back to the title of my post I, and many others, have made the switch from sporty AWD to the small JDM truck. This is something I have seen more and more recently. Even if you dump a ton of money into a Subaru, a stock Tacoma will go way further off-road and be 14 times as reliable. A lot of the off-road Subaru builds I follow have traded up to a true 4x4 machine with some real ground clearance to get to some places the little rally car could not. Has anyone else made the switch? What do you like/not like in comparison? I'd like to hear some suggestions for modifications to 'new truck owners'. What would you recommend for better road manners and smiles per gallon mods? What is the Hella-horn or Rally Armour mudflap equivalent for Tacoma owners? Should I still wave to Subarus on the street?

Thanks for reading, i'll be copying and pasting this to start my build thread on here!
-jack

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome aboard

 

Nice! Welcome!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Thanks All!