Adventurous's Tacoma Build

[Adventurous]

Greetings ExPo! :wavey: I've been a faithful reader for a few years but have never had the means, the vehicle, or the motivation until now. With that being said, I'll be using this thread to document my build as it progresses at a glacial pace and to gather feedback from those who have done it.

Background:

I am a recent transplant from MA to CO. Having moved out without a job my girlfriend and I took advantage of our few months off to travel the state in my Ford Escape. It quickly became apparent as we traversed the state that the Escape was not well suited for the places I wanted to visit. With the idea in my head I started looking around for a suitable vehicle that would meet our needs. I waffled back and forth between LandCruisers and Tacomas and finally decided I would make the leap from the SUV world to a pickup truck. After about two weeks of searching and replacing one frozen CV shaft on the Escape I proceeded to locate, test drive, and negotiate what I thought was a good deal on a new truck. So without further delay, I introduce...

The Vehicle:

2007 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab short bed TRD Off Road
93K miles on the clock
Auto tranny
255/70R16 Firestone Destination LE2 tires
Non-functioning compass/thermometer
Broken cup holder
Non-latching cargo compartments under the rear seat
Needs brakes

As it sits today...

The Plan:

This truck is my daily driver as well as our camping/wheeling/dog shuttle vehicle. As an apartment dweller, I lack a suitable work space and my toolbox that couldn't make the journey with me from MA . As a recent transplant, I lack the connections to help me work on my truck. And finally, as someone who wasn't fortunate to be brought up working on cars, I lack a lot of the mechanical and electrical knowledge to help make my dream a reality. Disclaimers aside, I'm really looking forward to digging in, learning, and the most important part, taking my truck on some awesome adventures!

 

[5280transplant]

You're definitely going to want to check out TacomaWorld.com It is an awesome resource that has a write-up on most everything you need to do to your truck. For example, here is a fix for your temp/compass: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/18497-overhead-compass-temp-fix.html I had to do that to my own truck.

Also, check out my username, I wen't from CO to the East Coast. Anyways, good luck!

 

[Adventurous]

First order of business was to address some of the things that the PO had done that the dealer decided wasn't worth fixing.

Issue 1: The non-functioning compass/thermometer

It is apparently a fairly well documented issue that the compass/thermometer in the Tacoma has a habit of kicking it at some point in time. It is a fairly easy fix and requires resoldering one of the resistors back onto the circuit board. I can't take credit for developing the fix as I just followed those before me who had done the same. After a few attempts at laying down a solid solder bead I was able to get something that stuck and wouldn't you know it, the damned thing came back to life. Success!

See the following: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/18497-overhead-compass-temp-fix.html

Issue 2: Broken cup holder

I'm not sure how you even manage to do such a thing, but when I picked up the cup holder in the truck it crumbled into about 5 pieces in my hands. The cause? A snapped retaining clip. 5 minutes with some glue and about 20 struggling to get everything back together without it popping apart again and it was fixed!

Issue 3: Non latching cargo compartments

Once again, some hamfist had tried to close the latches when the hatch was not properly closed, thus stripping out the plastic latch and bending the metal catch into some horrific position. Another 5 minutes to disassemble the whole thing, realign the catch with the lever, and bend the catch into the proper position, and once again, fixed!

Still on the list of piddly stuffs to do:
- Flip spare tire to turn off TPMS light
- Pull apart dash and figure out what wiring they botched to turn off power to the lights behind the HVAC system

 

[Adventurous]

How badly the brakes needed to be replaced made itself blatantly obvious as I made a trip up from Boulder to Estes Park this past weekend. Coming down into town from the mountains was absolutely brutal as the vibration from rotor runout steadily became worse as they heated up. It got to the point where the wheel was gyrating violently back and forth; it was very, very unsettling. First thing I did when I got home was placed an order for new brakes. Raybestos HD rotors and pads on the way! Too bad once they arrive all they will do is add to the certainly slowly growing list until I can get some garage time at my friends house.

 

[Adventurous]

Next thing up on the list? Replace those turd slippers. Off with the Firestones and on with a real tire!

I was going back and forth between getting a 255/85, 265/75, or 285/75s. As much as I wanted to go with the 255 I was worried about having enough oomph getting up and down the hills around here running the stock 3.73 gears. I was also concerned about clearance issues; not having a lift on (at the moment of course) and staying with the stock rims limited my options without running into too many clearance issues. Long story short I settled on 265/75 for the moment. Those will probably end up getting replaced with some 255/85s a little bit further down the road once I have addressed some of the other needs of the truck.

Tire wise I have had good luck in the past with General Grabber AT2s. Cheaper than BFGs and they seem to do a little bit better in adverse conditions. I ordered a set of those and am patiently awaiting their arrival. It'll be nice to finally have a real set of tires on.

 

[FullTankHank]

Congrats on the new truck and welcome to Expo:sombrero: It sounds like you have a good idea in mind already of how you want to see your truck progress. I look forward to seeing how it comes along. Btw, good choice on the Grabber AT2. I had those on my previous Tacoma and they worked great, aside from a small issue with traction and turning in massive downpours.

 

[Adventurous]

Step 3 = Lift!

Having never had a lifted vehicle before I was immediately overwhelmed with the plethora of kits and configurations available for the Taco platform. My current needs don't demand anything too hardcore so I went with the tried and true lift kit from OME. 885 coils, trim packer, and a ToyTec 2" AAL. Great customer service and they were patient with me on the phone while I discussed my needs and configuration with them. It was a pretty cool visit to their shop, no mistaking you are at ToyTec when you see half a dozen crazily built Toyotas out front.

Now, some questions for those who have done this lift before:
- Do I need to get new u-bolts? The existing ones appear to be in pretty good condition and have enough exposed threads to get the new leaf in there with some to spare. They are the originals however.
- Driveline vibes...do I combat this from the beginning by installing axle shims and rotating the carrier bearing? Or is the logical way to approach this to install the lift and see if I have vibrations before going through that trouble?
- Any advice heading into this? I'm attempting to tackle this with a couple friends after work one night. From what I can tell this is a fairly involved process...

 

[mtnbike28]

I suggest you slow down and read some build and de-build threads. So many folks start here, read too much, build too much for what they use the truck for and go backwards.
I suggest fixing your brakes, baseline fluids and start to take your trips, see what you really need.

In my case I installed sliders first since the length of the DC was so much more than my other trucks. The lift came much later. I think you are thinking clear on tire size, but do the 265 fit without a lift (I think they do) so skip the lift. PS I am running the Grabbers too, they have done everything I wanted them to do.

 

[Adventurous]

Too late on the lift, it's sitting in my storage unit right now waiting. :sombrero: What can I say, I've become more impatient with age. I hear you though, before I go too much further I'm going to get out and see how things go this season before embarking on any other major upgrades or changes.

 

[Adventurous]

Step 4 = Bed Cap!

For a multitude of reasons I decided to get a bed cap. As nice as leaving the bed open would have been on my wallet the GF and I decided capping it makes the most sense for the way we will use it when camping. The goal is to have something that we can sleep in but also carries a lot of our other gear without having to put stuff on the roof.

In retrospect searching and finding a topper was a PITA. I searched Craigslist for a while hoping to find something that met my needs but I couldn't find anything that fit the criteria. Things I was looking for: sliding half windows, roof rack rails, carpeted interior, and a sliding front window. I finally resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to find what I wanted on the gently used market, sucked it up, and headed to the local topper place. I ended up going the ARE route because their dealer was close, it came recommended by several friends, and there didn't seem to be too great a difference between the ARE and a LEER to seek out a LEER dealer.

I ordered one this past Monday (4/28) and now have to wait 2-3 weeks for delivery. Boo to that.

 

[Adventurous]

And that is the current status of things. I know I know, this thread is worthless without pics. I fully intend to deliver as soon as some of this stuff starts going on and I have some progress to share. In the mean time I will be working on a couple of small things and using it.

- Chrome grill to black via Plastidip
- Rims to black via Plastidip
- Rear differential breather extension
- Change fluids in diffs and TC

I will depart for the moment with a lovely shot of Rocky Mountain National Park. Going to head up there this weekend for some hiking!

 

[Adventurous]

Well, I did a poor job keeping this thread up to date as I progressed but that's kind of a moot point now as the truck was totaled (not my fault) 5 months to the day that I made this thread. Now I'm just waiting on the insurance payout but at this point I'm leaning towards buying a 2015. So, a new thread for new beginnings!

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[Rotorgeek]

Wow, I was heartbroken when I saw that pic. I hope everyone was ok. I hope to see a new 2015 thread soon, just rub some sage on the truck first, to ward off the evil spirits or something.

 

[MtnClimber]

It better be a TRD Pro if you get one...