What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Relentless bumper in the works

 

That is the wrong word. Tense would describe it better. I didn't want to fuck it up. I was most worried about making the whole too big with my step drill. But as you can see, it worked. Took my time, measured twice, cut once.

 

Installed a Pioneer FH-X820BS Radio, CD, with Sirius, Bluetooth and all the bells and whistles. took 1.5 hours and it works great, great sound out of OEM speakers, but I am almost 74 and my hearing is bad so having expensive speakers does nothing for me. Having the Bluetooth handsfree phone is great and the abilty to play my music off my phone or listen to Pandora is great. Bought it from Crutchfield's cheaper the Pioneer, and Amazon and free shipping. Got a $70 rebate on the Sirius receiver and some kind of discount on the programing. Got free Pandora for 60 days. No modifications need basically plug and play.

Tom

 

$2500 for a new frame? That's a good deal, if it's as easy as you say I think i can make my taco live forever...

 

ITs not an easy at home type job. You'd need a ton of shop space and lots of tools.

lifting the full cab off is no easy task.

Otherwise, just be very time consuming. Lots of things on the frame people don't think about, wiring looms and fuel and brake lines. Plus while you're there you may as well get a bunch on new parts, all new bushings everywhere and such. Toyota installs all new bushings when they do it, even new suspension.

2500 for a frame...sure. Cheap..BUT..add on all the labor and it's probably around 5k.

 

Plus there are a lot of weak points on the frame. It would be good to address those before a swap. It's not necessary but it would be beneficial.

 

yea id beef the hell out of mine. Wish i had when i did my body swap...

 

I do have everything, radio, mount kit, wiring kit, but haven't installed it yet. Probably finish it up in the next few days.

 

5k including labor? I was reading about people (not tacos) who were paying like 10-13k for a frame and labor... I definitely don't have the tools to put a new frame on but it would be cool to do if I did though

 

Idk, @cynicalrider would know, he just had his replaced.

 

When toyota replaces the frame they strap the motor into the engine bay so none of that comes out really. Just gets unbolted from the motor mounts. I think I've heard it cost toyota around 10k to do the replacement.

 

The tin foil that is our bodys would not support a strapped in motor..haha

Plus, youd still have to disconnect exhaust, fuel lines and brake lines and cooling system and more.

 

That's what they told me when I had mine replaced. I didn't notice any signs of it being separated from the engine bay

 

Eh it wasn't that hard for us. At all really. We had a pretty comviemt way to do it though. But like you said you need a good shop and some tools. Nothing fancy though. A good impact, extensions and sockets. Some wrenches. Plus stuff to lift the motor and tranny. There's only one loom on the frame. Brake lines are easy to take off. The fuel lines are attached to the cab.

It really wouldn't be that hard. Especially with another set of hands.

 

Pull radiator, unhook any hoses/lines/ cables that are connected to cab, unplug ecu, unbolt steering, unbolt brake lines, take out driver seat, lift up carpet, pull harness through floor, 6 cab bolts, 6 bed bolts( or maybe it's 4?) and bam your here.

Drop tank, 3 bolts and 2 pins, unbolt leafsprings and unhook rear brake line and diff locker and bam your here.

Minus the dakars lol


All that could be done in a day if you didn't screw around and had 2 people

 

I love those taillights

 

WOW!!! 10k for the frame and labor!! i wonder how much it would cost to just build a tube frame for it like 20k? so is it best if you ave a good frame on a prerunner to buy those parts to beef up your frame now while you can or don't worry about it?

 

This is just amazing! The fact that you are still wrenching on your truck and not paying someone to make repairs or mods makes me respect you even more. I said it earlier, I hope I'm still as active at that age.

 

No prices are shown only part numbers. Someone could search them all and price it all out but I'm sure it's not worth the effort.



New frame, lca's, leaf springs and shackles, e brake cable and various nuts and bolts. I honestly can't tell if they replaced the body mounts but I think so. Especially when the tech told me I can cut right through it as long as I left the bolt in tact.

The second gen I saw in progress when I originally went to talk to the techs had the cab on a lift, the bed on another lift and the entire engine/trans on the ground on a dolley. Wanted to see mine in progress but they started at 8 am and were almost done when I got out of work at 4:30.

You gotta think that most of that is labor though. A frame is only 1/4 the cost.

 

All this talk of new frames makes me want this rusty one I have now replaced