Xtra_Taco's 1996 V6 4x4 5mt Build

Ah yes, the time of year we winterize our rigs, prepare them for the snow and ice, and replace our 7 year-old batteries with their 3 remaining cold-cranking amps...

With that out of the way, here's some details about my truck.

1996 Toyota Tacoma Xtracab
3.4l V6 with 3 pedals and 4wd

Mods:

Power/Drive-train:

• Marlin Crawler clutch kit
• LockRite locker

Suspension:

• Toytec ultimate coilovers
• OME Dakar leaf springs
• U-bolt flip
• Bilstein 5125 rear (8" I think?)
• 2" Shackles

Exterior and lighting:

• 2x Lasfit LED foglights
• 2x 9" round Auxbeam spotlights
• Auxbeam gang switch panel
• Holley Retrobright LED headlights
• Louvre'd hood
• Custom bed rack
• Custom roof rack (coming soon)
• 01+ side mirrors

Armor:

• High-clearance rear bumper (Build link here!)
• Sliders (coming soon, not yet installed)
• Trailgear Rock Defense bumper

Interior:

• 4runner seat swap
• Joying android auto/carplay head unit
• Rear-seat dog platform
• Viofo 129Pro-Duo dashcam
• Power door locks (alarm and remote start)

Wheels/Tires

• Raceline Rockcrusher 15x8 4.5" BS
• Cooper Discoverer AT3-XLT 33x12.5r15

Pictures!

Pic from the owner before me


The day I brought it home! 141k miles, $5,500!

03/2020

Took my girlfriend on a date on the side of a mountain later the same day


03/2020

Got rid of the ugly LED headlights for some less ugly LED headlights. Also lightbar

03/2020

Springtime

04/2020

Rhinorack track mounted bars on the tonneau cover

05/2020

Tried some wheels and ended up not liking them so I took them off a few hours later


05/2020

Full bed of gear, rooftop tent, trailer with a quad and a dirt-bike with gear and tools, over mountain passes on a 150k mile clutch. Yeahhh smoked it
05/2020

Camping mode

07/2020

4Runner seat swap (first time welding)


Center console from a 1st gen regular cab so the fit was a little weird.

Had to make a goofy little bracket to mount it because it didn't come with one. Sturdy!

Made a little cupholder insert and reupholstered the armrest

03/2021

Interior shot (also replaced the brown steering wheel wrap)

03/2021

Tint

04/2021

More camping




New wheels, tires, and put a yellow film on the lightbar

06/2022

 

Staying tuned...

 

Did a couple things over this last weekend. Finally started work on this roof rack idea that's been rattling around in my head for the better part of a year. I used to work construction and got a TON of 1/4" aluminum plate. More than enough to build skid plates and racks for several trucks. Since I am only a novice fabricator, I resorted to CAD (cardboard aided design), and then to PAD (plywood aided design) for a more robust template.
Very much still a work in progress, and needs some minor tweaking to fit just right, but I think it will look just fantastic when it's all finished.

 

Also picked up a used TG rock defense front bumper for an absolute steal. Was going to get it sandblasted and powder-coated, but since my Fiancee and I just bought a house I decided to save the dough and spend the elbow-grease instead. Surprisingly, I only spent about 45 minutes to get the thing completely stripped down with a wire-wheel. I thought with all the complicated joints and tight clearances, it would be an absolute PITA to clean up, but I'm pleased to have been wrong. It needed some repair too, a couple holes needed filled and I believe the mounting plate was notched for the AC line on a 3rd gen T4R.

Crusty


Notched for AC line


Notch filled


Looks like somebody used a torch? Not a big deal but I'm particular



Couple of holes where lights were mounted. I'd rather weld some tabs on once I figure out light placement.



Just gotta grind it all nice and smooth now. Next up I'll weld on some tabs for my foglights, primer it and bed-line it and hopefully get it mounted up this weekend. Looking forward to the extra protection it will offer as we head into the winter months.

 

Got my TG front bumper mounted up over the weekend along with my fog lights and spot lights! Digging this thing. Looks great and inspires much more confidence on the road!

 

Trucks a beaut!

 

Bit of a small mod tonight while I'm at work. Little Hi-Lift mounts for my bed rack! Perks of working night-shift is that I can work on my truck when there's down time.

Also, not a mod, but refitted the factory skid-plate after mounting the TG bumper, so no longer worrying about the vulnerable underside of the radiator is good. Hit the trails with my Fiancée and my buddy last weekend without it and I was constantly worried.

Last but not least, found some snow a few weeks back. Can't wait for the white fluffy stuff in town.

 

Very nice truck, it appears your in a northern climate what prompted the hood louvres and where did you get it? would also like to see a pic of the underside of hood.
Thanks

 

Thanks! Nothing really prompted it other than we had some louvres laying around and wanted to do something fun with it. My brother put some on his XJ too. It's trimmed out underneath, I'll try to find a pic!

 

Thanks for pics, just what i wanted to see, you saved the structural integrity of the hood, now to find a set of louvres that size.
Thanks again

 

We got the louvres from our metal guy. He used to be the owner of a metal supplier but passed the company to his kid. Now he gets all the recycled bits and resells on CL. He had these giant aluminum louvres for industrial rooftop HVAC systems. Sold us 3 sheets for like 15 bucks each!

 

Went snow wheeling the other day and the Tacoma did great. Set my tires to 7 psi and the truck was a little billy-goat all the way up and down the mountain. Near white-out conditions in spots, but the snow was absolutely perfect. Wheeling with an XJ, 4runner, and a 2dr Bronco, the Taco and the 4runner out-performed the others, only struggling getting turned around on a tight switchback due to our longer wheelbase. The Bronco and the XJ kept getting stuck moving up the trail. Great day overall until the driver of the Bronco decided to stop at the bottom of the hill to shift out of 4-lo. I was barely able to stop in time but the heavy V8 4runner slid into me and took out my tail light. Oh well, if I wasn't okay with a little damage I wouldn't take it off-road, but it is still frustrating when the people around you have no situational awareness.

 

Now to accomplish some long-overdue maintenance. Valve covers have been leaking forever, 3 y/o carrier bearing is shot, 1 y/o axle boots are shot, tail gate handle is busted, and now a new tail light!