1st Gen Tacoma Budget Build

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Kwikvette

Kwikvette

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Seeing how I went a little overboard in my intro thread, I figured I'd create a separate thread depicting my "build"

2001 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner Access Cab

First picture, all stock with street tires

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Now as of 2020

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First order of business, aside from maintenance, is to replace those fogged up lights and side markers as well as deleting the chrome.

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Since the truck is pretty new to me, and my intentions are to use this rig specifically for camping, I went on to address any and all much needed maintenance.

Here's replacing the radiator and coolant, since the current radiator had a hairline crack. Didn't have any overheating issues at all but I don't like to leave things to chance.

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Kwikvette

Kwikvette

Rank III
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Enthusiast III

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Central CA
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Nelson
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Montero
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Kwikvette

Kwikvette

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Enthusiast III

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Central CA
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Nelson
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Montero
Over the next 2 months, I racked up a few thousand miles to allow the rear to settle, but since I don't carry much weight I wasn't happy with the Fox 2.0's.

I opted to try out some Bilstein 5100's -

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At this point, I've taken care of some maintenance and did a few mods at the same time, but I still needed new tires. Before I could get tires though I needed to replace my LCA bushings because my vehicle wouldn't hold alignment.

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Kwikvette

Kwikvette

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Enthusiast III

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Central CA
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Sorry for the lack of pictures of the LBJ replacement as well as the LCA removal; that was not a fun process but not really difficult by any means. Just a pain undoing things to pull the cam bolts out of tight spaces.

In between the suspension install and some maintenance, I had ordered and installed a new Trail Gear rear bumper as well as a custom made bed rack.

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If you didn't notice, I've also got new tires already installed in this picture. Falken Wildpeak A/T3W in 235/85/16 (10 ply). Can't overland without a good set of tires! Really digging the way the suspension settled since initially, it was a good 3" higher.
 
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Kwikvette

Kwikvette

Rank III
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Enthusiast III

830
Central CA
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Nelson
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Montero
I will say the next mod is already lined up; I purchased a hard to find, discontinued Wilco Tiregate. It replaces the factory tailgate with one that's made to hold a tire (the same way a Jeep does).

I opted for this because

1. a 32" tire is difficult to fit in the stock location, without getting in the way of the exhaust pipe since I had to cut it
2. I can use the spare tire void for my rear shock relocation mod

UPS says my tiregate arrives today! But I'm at work all day and won't be able to install it until I get the necessary hardware needed (pivot cups) directly from Wilco.
 
JCWages

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Curious about the switch from Fox to Bilstein as that is usually the reverse of how most people do it. :)

I'm running the opposite setup of a progressive front and digressive rear and I hate the way the rear end feels.
 
Kwikvette

Kwikvette

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JCWages said:
Curious about the switch from Fox to Bilstein as that is usually the reverse of how most people do it. :)

I'm running the opposite setup of a progressive front and digressive rear and I hate the way the rear end feels.
Click to expand...
I'm glad you mentioned it!

So yes, Fox 2.0 are an upgrade from Bilstein 5100's but I didn't purchase the OE replacement that Fox lists on their site.

Since I wanted more rear travel, I opted for the "universal" rear shock for the full 8.1" of shock travel. Only problem with that is, the valving is different even though 1 source initially claimed that the valving was similar to the OE replacement for my truck.

When I first installed the Fox 2.0's, I thought it was weird that I couldn't compress the rear shock without putting all my weight into it. Installing the Fox rear's consisted of me jacking up on side of the truck and flexing the leaf springs just to get the shock mounts to match the shock. Test driving the truck with no weight in the rear (before I got my rack and bumper) really sucked; going over speed bumps would make the whole truck "jolt" and well..you get the idea.

I reached out to Fox and later confirmed from someone else that works there, that the valving is indeed different from their OE replacement even though I was told they were the same. A revalve will cost me $35/shock and shipping on me. So right now, at only 150 miles give or take a few, they're paperweights until I figure how much weight I'll carry in my truck.

I ordered the Bilsteins since they're cheap, and I figured if I don't like them, I can just give them away. Well, it was night and day and I actually enjoy driving off-road or on really crappy roads. Since I just installed my Tepui yesterday, I've been even more impressed with how the truck feels. Even going over a speed bump quickly is fun!

I've read that if you want a better off-road feel, go with a digressive setup. Progressive will work well off-road as well (versus stock) but they feel a lot better on-road as well.
 
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Kwikvette

Kwikvette

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I keep adding more mods before I get other ones installed!

Anyway, Wilco shipped out some replacement bolts/pivot cups needed to install my tiregate. While I'm waiting for that to arrive, I went to my buddy's shop and bought a Frontrunner water jug.

Originally, I was going to set it up on the passenger side, closest to the tailgate but then I thought, that's going to be over 100lbs when full just behind the axle. So either in 2-3 weeks when I decide to go camping again, I'm going to put it up closest to the cab between my Powertank and my fuel jug.

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It may be a little inconvenient connecting the water supply line to the water jug but we'll see. If it works well though, I'll bolt the bracket to the bed and make it a permanent solution. This way I can set my Trailkitchen sink at the edge of my trucks bed and use it to wash off, etc.

Oh and for the hell of it, I bought some Maxtrax.

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Kwikvette

Kwikvette

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Enthusiast III

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Central CA
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Nelson
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Montero
Stoked to say that just recently I purchased;

Aisin manual hubs, spindles with wheel bearings, axles, and a manual diff tube with new bearing for my 4x4 conversion.

All that's needed is a 4.10 front diff, j-shift transfer case, and auto transmission.

Hardest thing to find will be the transfer case, but that's if I keep my search to a local one.
 
Kwikvette

Kwikvette

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

830
Central CA
First Name
Nelson
Last Name
Montero
Also, these bad boys arrived!

View attachment 118872

I also have an almost-entire front end setup to include spindles, hubs, and axles for my 4x4 conversion. I figured I'd rebuild the manual hubs that are on the old spindles, and use the new ones instead. Rebuilt hubs will remain as a backup.

And since I have more weight in the rear than I did before, I went ahead and cleaned the underside of my truck, and reinstalled the Fox shocks.

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