Keepin It T100
New member
It seems that not many folks choose to build the T100, and of those who do, fewer still have documented their work for others to see. I have been one of the guys who hasn't documented much and I think its time for that to change.
The truck itself is a 1997 T100 Xtra cab, 3.4 5VZ 4x4 with Aisin A340LE Automatic transmission. The truck was originally my grandfathers who purchased it lightly used after retirement with fewer than 50k miles. Years later his unfortunate passing led to my parents taking possession of the T and they simply never liked it. They owned it for about 3 years during which it mostly sat parked which led them to post it for sale. This would have been late 2014 if memory serves me correctly. I simply had to have it and fate was on my side this time so finally the truck came into my possession in stock form with about 180k miles and a misfire. One coil pack, 3 wires, and 6 spark plugs later she was running like a song and has been ever since. These were the early days and i never thought to take many pictures until much later. I think it is, however, easy enough to imagine a tune up on a 3.4....
The very next thing i did was remove the huge, low hanging side steps that were poorly attached to the cab and really making a mess of the aesthetics. With them removed i gained some ground clearance as well as a big smile as the truck looked so much better without them. At 0" of lift they were rather unnecessary to begin with. Now i could set my focus on some better tires. Luckily a good friend of mine had recently opened a small tire shop and i was able to get some decent used tires for next to nothing. They were mismatched but i was on a tight budget at the time and was happy to have them. This was probably the first time I ever thought to snap a photo as i was really digging the truck more than ever.
The next thing i did was rather lackluster, but a huge comfort improvement and certainly worth mentioning. I had a nice JVC stereo head unit that was in a Celica i used to own, and a set of two 12" subwoofers out of the same vehicle so i went about wiring all of it in. I was missing an amp, so i took a trip to the flea market where i found a Boss Class D dual channel 2,000 watt amp for $150 and got to work. I already had 0G power and ground wires so I only had to source a wiring harness adapter. I really put some time into the harness; all connections were soldered and heat shrink tubing applied so I ended up with a really professional job. I didn't take any pics of this at the time but i was really happy with the results. The audio is really balanced and I ended up with really clear, booming bass that's not too "in your face"
I was really itching to do some modification, but as i mentioned i had essentially no extra cash at the time. I decided that some interior lighting would be a really cool, low budget addition. I picked up two red LED strips and wired them into the headlight circuit. This way i didn't have to add any switches, they are simply on whenever the headlights or parking lights are. I have been very satisfied with this setup, and i feel like the red light not only adds a nice ambiance but its also useful at night without being too bright. I was probably too happy about this mod when i first did it (lol) but I do still enjoy having them even after all this time.
In pretty much no time flat i was dreaming of lift and bigger tires. I kept my eyes on local craigslist ads until I ended up finding a hell of a deal on a set of Yokohama Geolandar A/T tires size 33x12.5 on Centerline brand 15x10 wheels. A 2 hour drive and a short conversation revealed a really cool Tacoma owner who was ready for a new wheel setup and I ended up scoring the set for only $250. Of course i came straight home and threw them on and wow it looked great on those big tires, but with no lift I had some rubbing at the firewall. Here's how she looked with the new-to-me tires.
The truck was looking better than ever, I did lose a little bit of acceleration but not enough to really care. Now I had to figure out lift options, and anyone with a T100 knows there aren't many to choose from. Besides that my budget was still very tight at the time so my options were even more limited. After some research i decided that a 3" body lift would fit my needs and ordered a kit online for right at $200. I drove out to my brother's house early the next Saturday and we spent the day getting the body lift on. Although time consuming, this was a rather easy straight-forward job. The truck was literally made for a body lift as I found raised bumper mounting locations and coiled brake lines accommodated the lift without any of the hassle some other brands present. This was a turning point for me with the truck as I realized a major off-road performance improvement with the increased ground clearance and bigger tires. Here's how it looked the day after we finished.
And how it looked the following weekend after finding some local trails
I was in heaven, the T was looking amazing and it performed great too! I was wheeling with semi-built jeeps, some of which even had lockers, and went everywhere they did. I enjoyed the truck in this state for about a year before making any more modifications. It served me well and I was simply having a blast with it. More on that later....
The truck itself is a 1997 T100 Xtra cab, 3.4 5VZ 4x4 with Aisin A340LE Automatic transmission. The truck was originally my grandfathers who purchased it lightly used after retirement with fewer than 50k miles. Years later his unfortunate passing led to my parents taking possession of the T and they simply never liked it. They owned it for about 3 years during which it mostly sat parked which led them to post it for sale. This would have been late 2014 if memory serves me correctly. I simply had to have it and fate was on my side this time so finally the truck came into my possession in stock form with about 180k miles and a misfire. One coil pack, 3 wires, and 6 spark plugs later she was running like a song and has been ever since. These were the early days and i never thought to take many pictures until much later. I think it is, however, easy enough to imagine a tune up on a 3.4....
The very next thing i did was remove the huge, low hanging side steps that were poorly attached to the cab and really making a mess of the aesthetics. With them removed i gained some ground clearance as well as a big smile as the truck looked so much better without them. At 0" of lift they were rather unnecessary to begin with. Now i could set my focus on some better tires. Luckily a good friend of mine had recently opened a small tire shop and i was able to get some decent used tires for next to nothing. They were mismatched but i was on a tight budget at the time and was happy to have them. This was probably the first time I ever thought to snap a photo as i was really digging the truck more than ever.
The next thing i did was rather lackluster, but a huge comfort improvement and certainly worth mentioning. I had a nice JVC stereo head unit that was in a Celica i used to own, and a set of two 12" subwoofers out of the same vehicle so i went about wiring all of it in. I was missing an amp, so i took a trip to the flea market where i found a Boss Class D dual channel 2,000 watt amp for $150 and got to work. I already had 0G power and ground wires so I only had to source a wiring harness adapter. I really put some time into the harness; all connections were soldered and heat shrink tubing applied so I ended up with a really professional job. I didn't take any pics of this at the time but i was really happy with the results. The audio is really balanced and I ended up with really clear, booming bass that's not too "in your face"
I was really itching to do some modification, but as i mentioned i had essentially no extra cash at the time. I decided that some interior lighting would be a really cool, low budget addition. I picked up two red LED strips and wired them into the headlight circuit. This way i didn't have to add any switches, they are simply on whenever the headlights or parking lights are. I have been very satisfied with this setup, and i feel like the red light not only adds a nice ambiance but its also useful at night without being too bright. I was probably too happy about this mod when i first did it (lol) but I do still enjoy having them even after all this time.
In pretty much no time flat i was dreaming of lift and bigger tires. I kept my eyes on local craigslist ads until I ended up finding a hell of a deal on a set of Yokohama Geolandar A/T tires size 33x12.5 on Centerline brand 15x10 wheels. A 2 hour drive and a short conversation revealed a really cool Tacoma owner who was ready for a new wheel setup and I ended up scoring the set for only $250. Of course i came straight home and threw them on and wow it looked great on those big tires, but with no lift I had some rubbing at the firewall. Here's how she looked with the new-to-me tires.
The truck was looking better than ever, I did lose a little bit of acceleration but not enough to really care. Now I had to figure out lift options, and anyone with a T100 knows there aren't many to choose from. Besides that my budget was still very tight at the time so my options were even more limited. After some research i decided that a 3" body lift would fit my needs and ordered a kit online for right at $200. I drove out to my brother's house early the next Saturday and we spent the day getting the body lift on. Although time consuming, this was a rather easy straight-forward job. The truck was literally made for a body lift as I found raised bumper mounting locations and coiled brake lines accommodated the lift without any of the hassle some other brands present. This was a turning point for me with the truck as I realized a major off-road performance improvement with the increased ground clearance and bigger tires. Here's how it looked the day after we finished.
And how it looked the following weekend after finding some local trails
I was in heaven, the T was looking amazing and it performed great too! I was wheeling with semi-built jeeps, some of which even had lockers, and went everywhere they did. I enjoyed the truck in this state for about a year before making any more modifications. It served me well and I was simply having a blast with it. More on that later....
