In the beginning
 Here
is my Tacoma rolling out of the factory. (Yes, this
is actually mine!) It looks pretty good, but
it's still pretty plain. By the way, for those of
you in the Charleston, SC area, I bought mine a West
Ashley Toyota. I did not really have a good experience
with them and will never buy from them again. Way
too much pressure going on there. I would recommend
James
Ervin Toyota in Lugoff,
SC. It's worth the drive as they don't have all
the high pressure "What do I have to do to put
you in this car today" crap. Plus they actually
gave my dad a lower price by several hundred dollards
on my truck over the phone. Unfortunately I had already
signed the paperwork and didn't feel like trying to
un-do it. Oh well.
Line-X Bedliner
 I
chose to go with the Line-X bed liner mainly because
I didn't want to do the work my self and a buddy had
had some problems (fading, chipping) with his Rhino
Liner. I paid around $400 for it in North Charleston,
SC in December 2003. The Line-X may have taken a little
longer than the Rhino to fade but it, too, eventually
started to fade. I would think they offer a UV protectant
now but I don't know. It has not ever chipped, however.
All in all it's pretty good. More info about Line-X
here.
3" Suspension Lift
 I
lifted my truck with RaceRunner Shocks by Sway-A-Way.
The Toyota threaded coilover kit they sell (part no.
5200-108-5) allows 0-3" of lift. More information
about the RaceRunner shocks is available here.
The rear was lifted with a 3" lift kit with diff
drop kit from Cornfed Suspensions. This kit includes
Pro Comp add-a-leafs and shocks, which my buddy originally
had on his Tacoma along with the 3" front spacers
that comes with the kit. I, obviously, did not use the
front spacers. More info on Cornfed is available here.
Side rails
I only mention this because they're not on in the "out
of the factory" picture. I bought these OE rails from
a buddy before he sold his Tacoma.
Warn Trans4mer
 I
originally only put on the Grille Guard and one light
bar. I have since gone back and added the two brush
guards and another light bar. I put driving lights on
the top light bar and fog lights on the bottom. When
I added the second light bar I replaced the thin top
bar with the thick bottom bar. The only problem is you
obviously can't use the bottom light bar if you install
a winch carrier. Fortunately, I haven't been able to
afford a winch yet so it hasn't been an issue for me!
I got mine from GoWarn.com.
Other than an order mix up, which was as much my fault
as theirs, they were great to deal with: extremely fast
shipping with tracking information. More information
on the Warn Trans4mer system here.
32" Tires
 After
putting on the lift I replaced the factory tires with
the BF Goodrich Mud- Terrain T/A KMs. I did not change
out my wheels so I used the 265/75R16s, which is roughly
a 32" tire (31.9 to be exact). They were roughly
$180 each and I got them from tirerack.com. I highly
recommend this company as they were great to work with,
shipped quickly, and had all the tracking information.
I had them mounted at Pep Boys for $20 each, which includes
lifetime balance and rotation every 7,500 miles. I believe
Wal-Mart will do it relatively cheap as well if you
don't have a Pep Boys in your area. More information
on the BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM here.
Lights
When I put on the Warn Trans4mer system I put Hella
500 driving lights on the light bar. Either spend the
money for some decent lights or just save your $80!
The lights really don't do anything for me and I have
since replaced them with Hella
Rallye 4000 Cornering Lamps from Performance
Offroad Center. The lights are a little too large
to fit where the tabs on the Trans4mer lightbar are.
So I took a piece of square aluminum tube, drilled the
holes to attach it to the tabs and holes through which
to mount the lights, spray painted it black, attached
it to the light bar and put the lights on. I stuck the
old Hella 500 lights on my bike rack in the back to
use for reverse lights. I will likely end up moving
them because of the glare they put off by lighting up
the entire bed, making it a little difficult to see.
When I added the second light bar I also added the Warn
4X fog lights. These lights have worked out really
well and the bottom light bar is a perfect location
for them. Regarding switches: you can get a Toyota accessory
light switch (Toyota part no. 00550-35976), which fits
into the openings next to your accessory outlets under
your radio, from RallyLights.com
for $7 (item no. HL96517)! Or you can be an idiot like
I was the first time I bought one and get it from the
dealer and pay $25 for it. Since I now have three switches
and in anticipation of adding rock lights, which would
give me a total of five switched (plus the control box
for the alarm) I cut out some spaces for extra switches
on the side of the housing for the shifters (see pics).
Free Alarm Mod
I found out about this through the TTORA
Forum which was linked to this article.
On the 2003 Tacoma (and evidently other years and models)
simply disconnecting a single wire will convert your
keyless entry into a fully-functional alarm. And for
only another $15 you can add the LED/glass breakage
sensor monitor (Toyota P/N: 08192-3T820). I bought mine
at partznet.com
for $14.42 with free shipping and no tax. It is also
available at toyotapart.com
for $13.87 but they have a $20 minimum order policy.
Now there is another part out there that says it is
specifically for the Tacoma, and it probably is. However,
it costs $130+ and for that all you get is an easy connection.
For the $14 version you will have to remove the adapters
both on the wiring that's already in the truck and on
the part you order and splice them. But it's really
quite simple. I think the hardest part is finding the
correct wires. He are some pics that I hope help with
that.
CB
I chose to go with the Cobra 18 WX ST II which has 40
CB channels and 10 NOAA weather stations. Luckily I
was able to install the CB below my aftermarket radio
simply by attaching it to the radio mounting bracket
using the side knobs that come with the CB unit. It
fits perfectly. The only caveat is you have to get a
right angle adapted in order to attach the antenna in
the back. I have read about other people having to warm/melt
the air duct in the back in order to make it fit but
that was not necessary for me. For my antenna I purchased
a Firestik FSII 3 foot antenna and mounted it to my
bike rack/light bar in the bed of my truck. I have run
all of the wiring, incluing the ground for the antenna,
the coax, and the wiring for the lights together into
the cab through the hole that comes into the cab in
the compartment behind the driver's seat. Here are some
pics.
Bestop® Supertop
So I had been wanting to put some sort of cover on the
bed of my truck for a while for two reasons. One obvious
advantage is keeping gear dry and inside your truck.
The other advantage for me is to have a place for my
dog to lay out on long trips as the front seat is no
longer big enough for him. After doing some research
I decided on a soft top because of its versatility.
I then decided on the Bestop brand for several reasons:
1) Price - much cheaper than Can-bak 2) Side windows
increase visibility vs. the closed sides of the Can-bak
3) Bestop has produced side panels with screens for
their top. Installation was pretty straightforward,
though I would take their advice and NOT try to install
it when it is cool (less than 72° F). I installed
mine at 55° F and it was a bear. It took me almost
four hours just due to the canvas being so contracted.
There was actually a 2+" gap on both sides preventing
me from zipping the windows shut when I first installed
it. But after 24 hours and some sunshine I was able
to close it with ease. The only complaints I have at
this point are 1) There is a steel bar at the bottom
of the back window with a rubber gasket on the bottom
which is supposed to fit flush with the tail gate. However,
at this point there is still about a 1/4 - 1/2"
gap which could allow water in. 2) The front window
is attached to the front of the bed via a velcro strip
that is put onto the bed via an adhesive strip. The
instructions state to allow to cure for 72 hours but
as of five days after installation I could still pull
the strip off. It's nothing little Liquid Nails won't
take care of, but kind of a pain. Overall I am satisfied.
|
