The slow thread: The Swiss' Tacoma

[The Swiss]

I ordered a Leer 180 top today. I guess this will mark the beginning of the build up of my Tacoma. Time to start my own thread instead of hijaking other people's threads.

Be prepared for a slow thread. :beer::lurk::tent::1888fbbd:
Build-ups normally take me years and never see full compleation

 

[Dave Bennett]

eepwall: :lurk:

 

[SLOwag]

I hear the longest journey starts with a single step .....I'll be right behind you, I'm very close to pulling the trigger on an '06 Dbl Cab w/ six speed. Have fun

 

[The Swiss]

I hear the longest journey starts with a single step .....I'll be right behind you, I'm very close to pulling the trigger on an '06 Dbl Cab w/ six speed. Have fun

Well, today you might be right behind me and tomorrow, you will have passed me by a mile! Actually, I pretty much finished today my scetches and parts list on how I want to make the sleeping deck, so I am moving :hehe:

Enjoy the process of getting a new Tacoma. What color and what package are you going with?

Before you take the plounge, here my .02 cents: Today, I would seriously consider an automatic instead of the 6 speed. The six speed has a lot of advantages, but IMHO also some serious shortcomings:
- The ratio of the gears is too close together, especially from 5th to 6th. I normally shift from 4th directly into 6th, and cruise comfortbly at 40 mph in 6th. I hardly ever use 5th except on steep inclines on the interstate.
- Result of the short 6th: At 70mph, the engine turns at 2,500 rpm, which I think is too high. Most 4 liter V6 I know are somewhere around 2,100 to 2,250 rpm at that speed, which I like better.
- An other indication for that the 6th is too short is that the gas milage on the interstate is not really better than in small town traffic.
-> I guess the solution would be to compensate for the short 6th with larger tires )
- Clutch pedal squeeks, (just if the vehicle had been standing in the sun for a while). A small detail, but I can't find the squeek and this squeek just does not fit to the well made, high quality impression the Tacome otherwise gives.
- On a side note: The pressureplate broke at 4,500 miles. I consider this more as bad luck and not necessarely an indication that the clutch is designed too week.
Other than that, you can't go wrong with the Tacoma; I absolutely love mine!

 

[Grim Reaper]

Don't get caught up in the RPM's to much. Most Japanese engines are set up to run higher RPM's. US engines tend to set up for lower RPM. If you look at the Dyno sheet for say a 4.3 GM engine and the 3.4 Toyota you will see that the higher RPM's that you are experiencing are right in the sweet spot for that motor but past the Sweet spot for the 4.3.

I am hoping that 4.37's (I have a factory e-locker that is already set up with that gear for this truck) will be enough to make my 4cyl 4Runner happy on the hwy with the 33's. I am having to down shift to hold 70mph on 285 with the 4.10 LOL. Really trying not to spend the money to regear to 4.88's if I can help it.

Look forward to your build. I'm not to far away. Let me know if you need some help with anything.

 

[7wt]

Build-ups normally take me years and never see full compleation

Oh I can relate. I have to battle student loans and the most formitable foe of them all, my wife. But my truck will get to the point I want it at. I am just waiting on the first of the year when my top secret suspension plans get put in place, then goes a skid plate and that will be it for a LONG while.

 

[The Swiss]

I'm not to far away. Let me know if you need some help with anything.

I appreciate it; I will let you know! (Maybe one day will need some help with :beer: too )

- Clutch pedal squeeks, (just if the vehicle had been standing in the sun for a while). A small detail, but I can't find the squeek and this squeek just does not fit to the well made, high quality impression the Tacome otherwise gives.

Just found a TSB on squeekey 2006 Tacoma clutch pedals :ylsmoke:

 

[The Swiss]

Well, I guess the slow thread just died. The build up of my Tacoma started and ended with the purchase of the LEER 180 shell.

My wife never liked trucks (I hope she would start liking the Tacoma, but I was wrong), I kinda missed my built Jeep Grand Cherokee, so the deals dealerships currently offer on '06 Jeep Commanders turned out to be irresistible: I treaded my Tacoma for a 2006 Jeep Commander Sport with the Quadra Trac II.

Well, I guess there will be an other slow thread a little bit further down in the Jeep section!!!

 

[4Rescue]

Wow... You traded an 06 Toyota for an 06 Jeep? You got hosed.

Sorry, but your wife's "not liking trucks" led to you getting rid of a reliable truck for what? A problematic CAR that doesn't drive any less truck-like.

I bet you "don't like" dust ruffles or Potpouri but I'll be you've got lots of them/it.

 

[kcowyo]

Well tell us how you really feel 4Rescue....

No need to dump on the guy just because he got something different.

 

[4Rescue]

yeah alright sorry, that was a bit harsh. I understand that this was probably the "best of the owrst" kinda decision, but women's rationale on these kind of things are to say the least uneducated...

 

[devinsixtyseven]

I bet you "don't like" dust ruffles or Potpouri but I'll be you've got lots of them/it.

:xxrotflma

I'm sorry ...I read this forum with a lot more humor and lighthearted tone than I do others, so while it was a bit harsh it was still pretty funny--came off with a different tone to me than maybe to others, remember without those handy emoticons we get nothing from text, and I usually read with one part sarcasm and two parts guy beer humor. reminds me of a couple other comments, like the one about packing..."we have a fight and then settle somewhere in the middle"...or that thread from the guy who's wife hated camping, tho he loved it .

The Jeep Commander is just another build platform...it's a starting point. Keep in mind there's a Honda Element build on here, and it gets taken the strangest places.

Good luck with the build, and the wife .

-Sean

 

[The Swiss]

yeah alright sorry, that was a bit harsh. I understand that this was probably the "best of the owrst" kinda decision, but women's rationale on these kind of things are to say the least uneducated...

No problem, 4Rescue! I expected to get flamed by some folks here eepwall: Not everybody likes trucks, and apparently not everybody likes Jeeps. That's good so because otherwise we all would be driving expo-white Tacomas

I had a mildly built Jeep WJ for 5 years before the Tacoma and she had probably been the most reliable vehicle I owned so far. We had other Jeeps in the family and they all have been very reliable and long running. So I am a kind of biased towards Jeeps... . So, just because internet knowledge claims Jeeps are unreliable does not mean my wife was uneducated when she twisted my arm really, really hard ...cough, cough, cough... the get the Commander. (BTW, she herself is a die-hard Nissan-chick)

 

[4Rescue]

See, I like Jeeps (not like I live for Toyotas however) hell I've owned 3 of the things(Two XJ's and a CJ7) . All I'll say is an 06 Toyota is a far higher quality truck than an 06 Jeep. That and the fact that I see the Comander as a bastardized oversized IFSized XJ. I'm sure they're really nice inside, but time will tell how the interior and fit and finish (which is notoriously poor on Jeeps) will hold up with age. Also, I have a wife, and having gone through this same thing I'm a little bitter towards the whole wife not liking the truck thing .

Rock on and I'll be watching the build with Interest seeing as I really have nev er seen a built Comander yet.

Cheers and No Worries

Dave