Thanks for all the posts! Glad I've joined up now

Hi all,

Growing up I was always a Chevy guy and kind of snickered at my friends with "half-sized" trucks. About a year and a half ago I was newly wed with one car and looking to expand, and found a '97 Tacoma extended cab v6 for $1400. Knowing essentially nothing about Tacomas, I bought it, and just about immediately fell in love and changed my ways!

I was in school at the time, so I didn't do much to it (it was pretty much stock) but had to do a fair amount of maintenance (water pump/timing belt, interior cleanup, stereo, rack/pinion/tie rods, etc). Now that I've gotten all that done it's on to the fun side of things! I found a camper shell on craigslist and am now on the quest to making it our little adventure truck. As a climber who lives in an apartment, I'm looking forward to more permanent/organized gear storage in the bed and the ability to get to the cool places. I just put some adjustable Bilstein 5100s on the front and am waiting on my OME leafs for the back.

The top of the cab was pretty well rusted, but after a fair amount of sanding, rust stopper, and bondo, it looks better than it ever did. Here's to hoping that it holds for a while. I'm hoping to paint it in the near future, but I guess we'll see how much money I have at that point!

(the only good picture I have with me currently is from a few days ago. Notice my sweet tall front end compared to the saggy rear springs. Changing that this weekend! )


Camping down in St. George before the fire engulfed this area. We were there about 3 days before it started!




After losing my water pump (notice the dried fluid on the fender) and before starting the job. This turned out to be quite a job, but we got it done!




After putting on my new Bilsteins on the front. Anxiously awaiting those OMEs in the mail!

 

Welcome to the club!

 

Welcome to TW and enjoy your truck.