What to look for in a used Tacoma

That's a great point.

The frame on my truck has been replaced, but the underside of the hood is pretty crusty.

A lot of sellers will throw some undercoating on a crust frame to hide the rust.

Not to many guys would think to clean up the underside of the hood.

 

Bingo. Goes with most Toyota's, honestly. The clip that holds the heater controls on to the firewall is always a tell-tale sign. On newer Rust Buckets (4th gen 4runners, FJ's, 2nd Gens), the hose clamps holding the intakes on are a good clue to what the truck has been through.

 

I ended up replacing mine with regular hose clamps (the toyota dealer was closed).

The more I read your post, the more I want to go kick my truck.

 

Yup, my cherry condition Chevy (except having needed a new top end) I traded was just getting auctioned. Not shocking for a Toyota dealer of course..

 

where are those fenders from?

 

They are PSI fender flares off ebay. I kinda expected them to suck...But the fitment was preatty good. I had to work with them a bit to get them to fit right. But the end result was cool! And they fit almost perfect.

 

Thanks bro!