cully
New member
Hey nissan ExPo folks
I thought I'd post up a build thread for my new to me 2006 CrewCab short bed Auto SE 4x4 that I picked up last week. I needed to size up from my 91 Yota SR5 5spd since we just had a kid and I can't fathom not taking him on some great offroad adventures in the expansive wilderness that is our backyard (Colorado Springs).
when I first started looking for a CC truck I was looking at all the brands, but at least here in Colorado CC Tacomas hold their value like crazy, frontiers, not as much, but I still view them as great 4x4s, when I bought my first truck I was actually this close to picking up a hardbody instead. Initially I was looking for a long bed manual but those seem pretty hard to come by especially for 05+. so when this 06 Auto SB popped up in town I jumped on it, it has 139K and is entirely stock and sitting on some loud, nearly new Goodyear wrangler authority's that I think I'll put up with unless they really annoy the wife. while disappointed about giving up the manual trans, the 4.0 has some kick to it, i'm excited not to be the slow guy on the highway passes around here. While it's not the most exciting thing, I ordered a car seat this weekend so that I can start using the truck for it's intended purpose of haulling our little guy around in the mountains.
updates planed in order of importance:
Suspension - (within the first year?) since the truck is still sitting on stock (and I imagine original) shocks I'm looking to put a mild lift on it. probably a 2" leveling kit with adjustable shocks. I was originally weighing the difference between the OME and Bilsten set ups. But I've found a line on Icon 2.5 coil overs and 2" AAL's in back with 5100's for the rear shocks. My plan now is to go that route eventually with UCA's up front I think that should be plenty capable for what I'm looking to do. I also see that NissTec is up in Denver so it's great to have one of the goto Nissan off-road shop within an hours drive. Eventually I'd like to do a titan swap but first I should probably see how much daycare digs into our pocket book LOL
Headlights - (within the first year?) mine are super fogged but haven't been too bad on the road so far. Somebody local has some morimoto plug and play HID projector setups that I may pick up. we'll see if I bite the bullet on that.
Topper - Though I don't have the luxury of a 6ft bed any more I still think the utility of a topper is helpful. I'd like to be able to though my mountain bikes, and luggage in the bed and for everything to stay dry. I also like the idea of camping in the bed with a camper topper, or 4wheel type pop up camper though the 5 ft bed makes that a bit harder.
Basic recovery stuff - Hi lift jack, recovery straps, shovel, traction mats, compressor, you know so, i'm not stuck on a mountain somewhere. feel free weigh in on recommendations for a place to start.
Bumper,winch, armor - so far I just done the air dam delete but I'd like to pick up a bumper and sliders sooner than later. yeah that's way out there but I'd love to pick something up eventually so that I'm not as worried about angle of attack and getting stuck.
Locker - while the ABLS may be enough for my imediate needs I think a locker is in the long term plans whether that's an ARB, some sort of auto locker, or a Pro 4x rear end swap still has to be decided
Roof Top tent? - maybe eventually, since I've got the short bed this may be a better way for 3 of us to sleep in the wilderness, probably getting mounted on top of the topper that doesn't exist yet.
so, hi everybody, hopefully this rig will facilitate some great adventures and live a long life. I'm sure there's a sticky somewhere saying what the "best" mods are, I guess the most advantageous to the basic off road performance/life of the truck, basically what are the general shortcomings that we need to overcome with this platform? Thanks in advance for the advice and hopefully I'll see you guys out on the trail.
I thought I'd post up a build thread for my new to me 2006 CrewCab short bed Auto SE 4x4 that I picked up last week. I needed to size up from my 91 Yota SR5 5spd since we just had a kid and I can't fathom not taking him on some great offroad adventures in the expansive wilderness that is our backyard (Colorado Springs).
when I first started looking for a CC truck I was looking at all the brands, but at least here in Colorado CC Tacomas hold their value like crazy, frontiers, not as much, but I still view them as great 4x4s, when I bought my first truck I was actually this close to picking up a hardbody instead. Initially I was looking for a long bed manual but those seem pretty hard to come by especially for 05+. so when this 06 Auto SB popped up in town I jumped on it, it has 139K and is entirely stock and sitting on some loud, nearly new Goodyear wrangler authority's that I think I'll put up with unless they really annoy the wife. while disappointed about giving up the manual trans, the 4.0 has some kick to it, i'm excited not to be the slow guy on the highway passes around here. While it's not the most exciting thing, I ordered a car seat this weekend so that I can start using the truck for it's intended purpose of haulling our little guy around in the mountains.
updates planed in order of importance:
Suspension - (within the first year?) since the truck is still sitting on stock (and I imagine original) shocks I'm looking to put a mild lift on it. probably a 2" leveling kit with adjustable shocks. I was originally weighing the difference between the OME and Bilsten set ups. But I've found a line on Icon 2.5 coil overs and 2" AAL's in back with 5100's for the rear shocks. My plan now is to go that route eventually with UCA's up front I think that should be plenty capable for what I'm looking to do. I also see that NissTec is up in Denver so it's great to have one of the goto Nissan off-road shop within an hours drive. Eventually I'd like to do a titan swap but first I should probably see how much daycare digs into our pocket book LOL
Headlights - (within the first year?) mine are super fogged but haven't been too bad on the road so far. Somebody local has some morimoto plug and play HID projector setups that I may pick up. we'll see if I bite the bullet on that.
Topper - Though I don't have the luxury of a 6ft bed any more I still think the utility of a topper is helpful. I'd like to be able to though my mountain bikes, and luggage in the bed and for everything to stay dry. I also like the idea of camping in the bed with a camper topper, or 4wheel type pop up camper though the 5 ft bed makes that a bit harder.
Basic recovery stuff - Hi lift jack, recovery straps, shovel, traction mats, compressor, you know so, i'm not stuck on a mountain somewhere. feel free weigh in on recommendations for a place to start.
Bumper,winch, armor - so far I just done the air dam delete but I'd like to pick up a bumper and sliders sooner than later. yeah that's way out there but I'd love to pick something up eventually so that I'm not as worried about angle of attack and getting stuck.
Locker - while the ABLS may be enough for my imediate needs I think a locker is in the long term plans whether that's an ARB, some sort of auto locker, or a Pro 4x rear end swap still has to be decided
Roof Top tent? - maybe eventually, since I've got the short bed this may be a better way for 3 of us to sleep in the wilderness, probably getting mounted on top of the topper that doesn't exist yet.
so, hi everybody, hopefully this rig will facilitate some great adventures and live a long life. I'm sure there's a sticky somewhere saying what the "best" mods are, I guess the most advantageous to the basic off road performance/life of the truck, basically what are the general shortcomings that we need to overcome with this platform? Thanks in advance for the advice and hopefully I'll see you guys out on the trail.