PcBuilder's 2003 Tacoma Build

[PcBuilder14]

Build thread of my 2003 Toyota Tacoma Extended Cab 4x4 SR5/TRD Off Road Edition. Bought it on December 21st 2012 with 119,000 miles. Now has just over 130,000 miles!



Plans for this will to eventually have it be full mid-travel with great ride quality for off road trips as well as on the highway for long periods of time. Will also be my camping rig with full camping gear and rescue gear ready at all times to always be prepared!


Currently

Stock




Specs
- 2003 Toyota Tacoma Extended Cab
- 3.4L
- 4x4
- SR5/TRD



Write-ups

- 01-04 Blinker Relocation Mod



Mods

Suspension:
Front - Bilstein 5100's/Eibach coils
Rear - Procomp AAL & 5100's



Wheels & Tires:
- 33x12.50x15 KM2's
- Summit Racing 85 Black 8 Series Wheels/15x8/3.75" Backspacing



Armor:
- 4XInnovations HREW Kickout Sliders



Exterior:
- BetterBuilt Lowpro black tool box
- Satoshi'd Grille (Made by 03tacoman) with M1 Homertaco mesh
- 15% window tint



Interior:
- Weathertech floormats
- Locking Glove Box Latch from a 4Runner
- JVC-KDR840BT stereo
- Orion C0700.1M2 amp
- 10" Kicker CompVT10 subwoofer



Lighting:
- Philips Crystal Vision Ultra Headlight Bulbs
- LED Reverse Bulbs
- LED interior lights



Other:
- Rustoleum Bedlined Bed Rails
- Grey Wire Mod
- Rustoleum Bedlined Fender Flares
- B.A.M.F. BPV Bracket
- 14" Magnaflow Muffler Dumped
- 1" Diff. Drop Kit
- UltraGauge
- 20lb CO2 Tank
- Trailhead Auto Tire Deflators
- Uniden 520XL PRO CB
- Diff. Breather Mod



Future Mods:
- All Pro Expo Leafs - Ordered
- Relentless Fabrication Front Bumper - Ordered
- Rear Icon Remote Reservoir Shocks - Ordered
- Rigid Industries Dually D2 Driving Beam Lights - Ordered
- HID retrofit - Ordered
- TJM Stealth 9000 Winch
- 2 Lightforce 10 Striker HID Spot Lights
- Budbuilt Skids
- Aux. Fuse Block
- Hood Light Mounts With Rigid Industries Dually D2 Driving Beam Lights
- Deck Plate Mod
- Frame Plates
- U-Bolt Flip Kit
- BoxRocketFab Bed Rack
- CVT Tent
- Light Racing Upper Control Arms
- 2.5" Extended Travel Icon Remote Reservoir Coilovers
- Wet Okoles
- Line-x Bed
- CBI Bushmaster 1.0
- Full Size Spare Tire
- Rock Lights
- Aux. Reverse Lights

 

[PcBuilder14]

On February 26th, I drove around in the snow for about 3 hours. Got stuck three times... Twice down a state park road, then once trying to get into a parking spot... Haha But I was able to maneuver out of all of them by myself eventually.
I'm amazed by how much of a difference a locker makes! I was able to do a lot more on stock tires than I expected!

Reason I got stuck the second time was because another truck was coming towards me and I tried to get out of the way. But I slid off into the ditch... So he was going to drive to a spot where he could turn around to pull me out. While he was doing that I wanted to see if I could get it out myself. Sure enough with 4lo/locked I was able to get enough momentum and drove in the ditch for about 30 yards until it leveled out and I could get back on the pavement haha Then after he got turned around he was going around a tree and slid off the road, which happened to be right next to a drop-off into trees... So I drove to him and he dug his tires out with a shovel and I tried pulling him out. After coming within inches of slamming his bed into a tree multiple times I was able to yank him out. So I can gladly say that I pulled out a full size chevy that was stuck in the snow, when all along I was the one stuck in the first place!

Anyways, here's pics...









Here was the from the first time I got stuck... This is on a paved road just to give you an idea of how deep the snow is...


Random, not bad for an iphone!


On March 8th, I put on the grill I bought from 03tacoman on TacomaWorld. Looks great! Now I've just got to paint everything behind it black.... Haha any suggestions for what type of paint I need to use?

 

[PcBuilder14]

On March 9th, I finally got it lifted! I need new tires! Haha these little 31's just don't do it for me! Haha Btw my truck vibrates at certain speeds now... at 55 and 70. I got an alingment so that's fine, I'm wondering if it's my cv's, tires, or driveline. The truck did it when I bought it, but it went away because I think I got used to it. I'm wanting to say the wheels and tires just aren't balanced perfectly, but I'm not 100% sure. I need to get a diff. drop kit because my cv angles are almost too much. The inner fins are rubbing just a little bit more than I'd like.

PICS!!!








I ordered a diff drop kit from Wheelers Offroad. For some reason I can't understand how you install it, even after reading the instructions.... Hopefully it'll all make sense once I'm under the truck looking at the differential!

More pictures! Haha

First off though, here are some specs on how much lift I got...

Stock Tire to fender:
Driver Front - 5.75"
Driver Rear - 6.5"
Passenger Front - 5.75"
Passenger Rear - 7"

Lifted Tire to Fender:
Driver Front - 9.25"
Driver Rear - 8.75"
Passenger Front - 9.5"
Passenger Rear - 8.75"

Overall I got about 3.5" of lift in the front, and 2.25" of lift in the back.

Stock



Lifted



Here are some pics of my cv angles, they really aren't bad for 3.5" of lift in the front... They are literally either millimeters within touching each other or just barely, so hopefully what little amount of difference the differential drop makes will be enough.

Driver side outer boot


Driver side outer boot


Passenger side outer boot


Passenger side inner boot



Random pics

 

[PcBuilder14]

And now I've got new tires!

 

[Revco]

Great looking truck!

 

[Morticon]

Tire size?

 

[pray4surf]

Quite a change with just the few mods you've done.. Did the vibrations go away with the new tires?

 

[PcBuilder14]

Great looking truck!

Thanks!

Tire size?

33x12.50x15

Quite a change with just the few mods you've done.. Did the vibrations go away with the new tires?

Thanks! It got rid of most of it, but not all. I'm going to install my diff-drop kit some day and see if that helps. If not I'm going to get a cb drop bracket too.

 

[PcBuilder14]

Did a little driving in the snow and flexed it out.

I really wanted to get my back tire off the ground so I'd know what my max is. But my driver side tire was rubbing the fender flare bad, and I didn't want to break it so I stopped... I need to move my axle forward about an inch.

 

[PcBuilder14]

Okay, so here's a big update to the original post since I forgot about this build on here.... Haha


I was in New Mexico during the Summer and while I was there I did a lot of trail riding. Also went to a weekend long FJ Rally which got me excited to get into camping out of the truck again.

Not going to post all of the pictures on here, so here is a link to my pictures for those of you that are interested!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/101674105@N04/sets