fbksurferjoe
Adventurer
96 Tacoma mods
Hey everyone just signed up for this site.
I have had a 1996 tacoma for 2 years now and love everything about it. It seems like everywhere i have gone i have done circles around other offroad trucks even when it was stock!
Recently i would say in the last 6 months i have moved away from the desert scene and started enjoying taking my truck into remote areas. I rock climb, fish, spearfish and lobster dive. So the places i have been going lately have been kind of hairy.
In the last month i have done the following to my truck in case anyone is intersted or has a similar truck that they are looking for upgrades to do.
I based the upgrades off of Chris Marzonie's truck on www.bajataco.com
I started by getting new tires.
32" bfgoodrich mud terrain which were a great choice, unlike most mudders i have gotten about 60k miles out of them and still have half tread.
I purchased king coilovers, total chaos upper arms, flared fenders and rear bilstein shocks as a package deal and loved it. It gave me about 3" of lift in the front and made it ride a lot better.
I found it very hard to find a bumper that i liked that would replace/ go over the stock tacoma bumper. As im sure a lot have realized that when the bumper is removed from older tacoma's the radiator hangs down so low that any bumper you put on looks like crap and makes the radiator vulnerable to rocks, unless you attach a large skid plate. I decided to purchase a light bar instead that bolts on to your stock bumper. My tacoma has a stock skid plate attached so i figured it was good enough for my needs. Whether this was a good choice or not i do not know but i am happy with it.
I found a used camper shell that i could not pass up and installed it. I then built a custom carpet kit that is great for sleeping, storing equipmet and supplies. Chris Marzonie's site has a good step by step way to build one.
I noticed when i put all of this in my bed my rear end sagged quite a bit. I originally looked at fixing it with the new donahoe rear bolt on shocks. This would have worked great but i found some fox shocks with 10" stroke for dirt cheap and decided that my rear end was going to get a makeover. I built a custom crossbar, shock mounts and installed the fox shocks. I also installed the Downey rear shackles to my leaf springs. This was by far the best thing i could have done to my truck and would highly suggest it to everyone. I get about 4 more inches of articulation out of my rear end. The best part is, it is all underneath the truck so if you are a truckbed lover you dont have to kill it by putting hoops through your truck bed.
Other than that i have done a few engine modifications like a k&n air filter/intake. 2x12" electric fans and a 2 chamber flow master muffler.
Anyway I live in san diego california and am looking for some people to go on trips with. Anyone who is interested or has questions about my truck let me know. I will post some pictures up within a few days.
Hey everyone just signed up for this site.
I have had a 1996 tacoma for 2 years now and love everything about it. It seems like everywhere i have gone i have done circles around other offroad trucks even when it was stock!
Recently i would say in the last 6 months i have moved away from the desert scene and started enjoying taking my truck into remote areas. I rock climb, fish, spearfish and lobster dive. So the places i have been going lately have been kind of hairy.
In the last month i have done the following to my truck in case anyone is intersted or has a similar truck that they are looking for upgrades to do.
I based the upgrades off of Chris Marzonie's truck on www.bajataco.com
I started by getting new tires.
32" bfgoodrich mud terrain which were a great choice, unlike most mudders i have gotten about 60k miles out of them and still have half tread.
I purchased king coilovers, total chaos upper arms, flared fenders and rear bilstein shocks as a package deal and loved it. It gave me about 3" of lift in the front and made it ride a lot better.
I found it very hard to find a bumper that i liked that would replace/ go over the stock tacoma bumper. As im sure a lot have realized that when the bumper is removed from older tacoma's the radiator hangs down so low that any bumper you put on looks like crap and makes the radiator vulnerable to rocks, unless you attach a large skid plate. I decided to purchase a light bar instead that bolts on to your stock bumper. My tacoma has a stock skid plate attached so i figured it was good enough for my needs. Whether this was a good choice or not i do not know but i am happy with it.
I found a used camper shell that i could not pass up and installed it. I then built a custom carpet kit that is great for sleeping, storing equipmet and supplies. Chris Marzonie's site has a good step by step way to build one.
I noticed when i put all of this in my bed my rear end sagged quite a bit. I originally looked at fixing it with the new donahoe rear bolt on shocks. This would have worked great but i found some fox shocks with 10" stroke for dirt cheap and decided that my rear end was going to get a makeover. I built a custom crossbar, shock mounts and installed the fox shocks. I also installed the Downey rear shackles to my leaf springs. This was by far the best thing i could have done to my truck and would highly suggest it to everyone. I get about 4 more inches of articulation out of my rear end. The best part is, it is all underneath the truck so if you are a truckbed lover you dont have to kill it by putting hoops through your truck bed.
Other than that i have done a few engine modifications like a k&n air filter/intake. 2x12" electric fans and a 2 chamber flow master muffler.
Anyway I live in san diego california and am looking for some people to go on trips with. Anyone who is interested or has questions about my truck let me know. I will post some pictures up within a few days.
