Hello everyone, even though I haven't done much to my truck, I've decided to create a build thread. To begin, here is some history. I was searching for about 6 months for a truck just like this, though with the 22-RE of course. One day my dad came home and said his boss had one that he was willing to sell, though with the 3VZ-E. I went and looked at it and it seemed fairly solid. The interior was almost perfect. There are some minor dents on the front right fender, left rear of the bed by the tail light and a long dent from where a lady sideswiped it with her mirror. No biggie. He was asking for $4000 but sold it to us for $3500 because it needed tires. This was about mid-March. This is my first vehicle and I will be using it mainly to go back and forth to college and work and the occational wheeling.

When I bought it.








I started doing minor things with it such as putting in new floor mats because the other ones had holes in them and I washed it and took off the mud flaps. Also, my dad and I fixed two rust holes, one in the hood and one on the lower right front fender.

I also put in a cold air intake (pic below). It's an MQT Auto Parts CAI. Their website stated that it was specifically for this truck but when I put it together I had to modify a bunch of stuff to get it to work. I know the vacuum tubes are hooked up wrong, I just haven't fixed it yet. I can't complain because it was only $38 with free shipping





I was starting to get bored with the stock look of the truck and scored this sweet set of 32x11.5x15 Sidewinders on 15x10 Outlaw II's. $375!! The only downside was that one of the tires had a gash in the sidewall. It still held air and was still driveable...but I didn't trust it one bit. I can't complain because I probably couldn't find the rims itself for that price. Craigslist win!

I was so excited that the next day I fitted the one side with the good tires.






It was until after i put them on, I realized that I never measured the backspacing on the new rims They stick out a hair xD The back spacing is possibly why they rub the fenders when turned all the way either side. There was no rubbing on the valance which I was glad of.



At the time I was afraid I was going to get hassled by the fuzz if I were to run the tires sticking out like. I put the old horrible Duelers back on until I could find another tire. FYI I haven't gotten hassled by any cops so far, but I was followed home by one once. Not a great feeling...

Weeks later I bought a set of driving lights from Wal Mart. They were 20-some bucks. I hooked them up and everything and wasn't satisfied. I bought 100w ultra white bulbs off Ebay for like a buck a piece. Very little difference. I figured I could find the problem later. If you haven't noticed, I tend to procrastinate.



I tried to recharge my A/C but then my compressor seized up. It had to happen on the hottest week of the summer too. It was a good thing it happened, though, because it gave me a chance to change out the compressor and all the dryrotted belts all at one time. Also bought a new fan shroud because I broke the one I had trying to get it out.

Another Craigslist score!! 32x11.5x15 BFG All Terrain. The seller stated it was only used as a spare on his J**p. $50! Gotta love CL.

Got it mounted and balanced and all that jazz. Finally driving on the big tires!You can kind of see the dent in the bed in this pic.



Got the three Sidewinders balanced because they shook horribly when on the highway. They still shook after being balanced. Possibly a broken cord.

I love this angle



Bought a Hurst pistol grip shift knob. Nbd.



Out at a friends house doing donuts in his neighbors field. That's my friends '94 Isuzu Rodeo 2wd. That is not me at the right rear of my truck.



Quick pic. Sitting at my grandmothers house. Cell phone quality!



I was driving on the freeway at about 75 mph and my left rear tire decided to call it quits. Back to the Duelers...



After a couple weeks of searching and reading reviews, I decided to go with the Sport King A/T, same size. I got 'em from Tire Buyer for $131.89 a piece and $71 for mounting/balancing/tire disposal. The person who mounted my tires said the Sidewinders were made on the 43rd week of 1998...no wonder it blew up it was 13 years old.

New tires!



Decided to wash the mud of from the field donuts (about a month after the fact) and take a quick pic with the new Sport Kings.




Thanks to the kind people of Yotatech, I found the source of my problem regarding my driving lights. I had the lights grounded to the valance, giving it a bad connection (I'm no wiring guru) I moved the wires to a known ground location and installed a relay. It made my lights a lot brighter. That was still with the 100w bulbs. I'm happy with them, but not totally satisfied. I'm asking way too much from these $20 lights.



Lately, I have been prepping the underneath for some undercoating. The frame itself is solid but some of the mounts are rusting a bit and I just want to put some undercoating on it to prevent further rusting. I also used Ace Rust Stop Satin Black to paint my skid plate and my rear axle and leaf springs. I sprayed the tow hitch with some Rustoleum Rust Reformer but didn't paint it. I might either put undercoating on it or take it off. I don't use it for anything except I have a small noose hanging on it, but it will be good for the weight come winter time.

Possible Future plans:
BJ Spacers and AAL
Roll bar w/ KC Daylighters
Manual Locking Hubs, Aisins or Warns
Headers and stright pipe in 2 years when I can tag it historic
Side window visors
New Bug Deflector
Lund Sun Visor
New brake and fuel lines
Decals (Yotatech decal, of course!)
Remove plastic bedliner and Roll in Herculiner

More pictures pending. If you have any suggestions feel free to comment!

 

Put in new brake and fuel lines with the little spare time I had a few days ago. The old ones were a disaster waiting to happen. CHECKED OFF THE LIST!

 

Aisins over Warns for sure!!!! Everybody on here will say so also...
No Lund Sun Visor, you don't want to drill into your roof of your awesome Toy. Leaks!!!!
Everything else on your list looks like plus things to do. Do lock out hubs first!!!!
Again, you have an awesome Toy!!!!

 

hey i have the same gen toyota and same body style but i have an auto and my 4x4 isnt working u got any ideas of y and how to fix it?

 

Thank you! Definitly Aisins are the #1 choice. Warns are just the backup plan if money is a little tight And about the Sun Visor, I've always liked the looks of them, but the hole drilling is the only reason I haven't acted on buying one. If I ever wanted to take it off, there would be gapping holes and rust that I would have to stare at.

 

Try going to the 86 - 95 Trucks & 4Runner section. You'll get a better response there. I don't know how to fix it because you aren't specific enough with your problem

 

Thanks beautiful toyota by the way. My dad had the same one back in the day that's y I picked up my 89 Toyota

 

Another item added to my list:

Nathan K3HA Train Horn. "Go ahead and cut me off...I dare you" xD

 

Did I and yourself talk you out of the Lund sun visor? I might look neat, but I wouldn't drill holes in the body of my truck, I might on the bed, like for a toolbox or inner lip, I try to use already existing ones like I did with the flag mount by removing tie down and using the captive nuts already there, but not the cab on the outside where exposed to driving rain or "snow"<if someone lives in those area's. But like I said, everything else on the list looks great things to do ;}

Go to all your local salvage yards to try get your set of aisin lockouts you need.

 

Looks like a good start!

 

A little of both. At first I was only skeptical of the drilling. I never took in account the fact that it might leak. And, there is a local junkyard but there is a guy that lives next to it that has had at least 8 Toyotas in his lifetime and gets all his parts from them. The chance that I would get a set of Aisins from them is very slim.

 

Got bored. Took a few shots

 

Sweet truck. a toyota will last you forever. just wondering does that V6 still have power after putting those big tires on. in looking to put 31s or 32s on my truck. the police here dont care how much your wheels stick out. but the tires sling rocks on my truck because they stick out. your truck is awsome and cant wait to see more upgrades on it.

 

Thanks a lot! The 32's are pushing it with the stock gears. If I were to go any taller I'd have to change gears. Even know when I hit a hill on the freeway at about 70, it slows down to about 55, however I try to use as little throttle as possible to save gas. However, judging by your avatar, it looks like you have a Tacoma with the 5VZ-E which is an overall better engine because it has tons more horsepower and the durability to match. Your truck should handle 32s with no problem, possibly with a slight lift. I'm not sure if 32's would fit with a stock suspension on the newer models. The reason mine stick out is because I failed to check backspacing when purchasing the rims and tires. They rub the bottom of the fender, but not the valance. As for the cops, I was skeptical over driving it at first but I haven't been hassled yet.

 

For the past couple of weeks, my brakes have been acting up. My brakes would stick after I released them and I'd end up wandering to the left or the right. I figure that this is partially the reason that my mileage has suddenly decreased (other reason being winter blend gasoline. Thanks government.) Today, it happened so bad that I could turn off the freeway offramp without even steering....I kid you not. So, I took 'em off (what an ordeal) and found that the retainer ring for the piston was broken on the right side and the calipers were just overall seized up. So, I'm gonna pick me up some calipers and pads tomorrow! I'd post pics, but I'm pretty sure you guys have already seen some nasty rusted brakes before xDD

 

Updated To-Do List:

BJ Spacers and AAL
Roll bar w/ KC Daylighters
Manual Locking Hubs
Headers and stright pipe
Side window visors
New Bug Deflector
Decals (As we all know each sticker adds roughly 100 hp)
Remove plastic bedliner and Roll in Herculiner
Ashtray removal, CB install
LED dash light conversion
A satoshi grill conversion would be cool but I'm kinda on the fence about that

I probably forgot something, but whatever xD The only thing stopping me is money and time...

 

Where did you order the cold air from? I've been looking into getting one to help on the gas mileage and hp but didn't wanna spend 250 bucks

 

I bought it on eBay. The company that manufactured it had a website, but it seems like it is gone now, though they still sell the kits on eBay.

It is this kit, however in red: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLUE-TACOMA-...ht_3711wt_1270

If you buy this, I have to warn you that the factory intake has 3 vacuum ports and the kit only has 2. I T'ed two of the hoses together, which is not recommended but I did it as a quick fix just to get it on the road. Also, you'll have to cut the pipes in a couple places because they are too friggin' long.

Another cheap CAI I just saw on eBay is this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BCP-BLUE-88-...ht_3328wt_1037

This one look like it is a more straight forward design. It has less bends that inhibit airflow and it looks like it would fit much better. However, it looks like it only has two vacuum ports. To see all that eBay has to offer just search "Toyota 3.0L cold air intake".

A cold air intake really doesn't do much unless you have a performance exhaust to compliment it. I have a stock exhaust on mine and with the CAI, I haven't really felt much gains, just a gain in noise (which sounds pretty good if I may add). With the cheaper cold air intakes, you literally get what you pay for: a lot of hassle trying to get it to work. My recommendation would be to just get a K&N drop in air filter and be done with it. The performance gains would be about the same that way. I know I might be sending you mixed signals about the cold air kits, but there isn't any easy way to sum it up. I hope this helps!

 

Nice clean truck. I'm very jealous of your interior.

 

Nice Ex Cab Man!
Just curious, how did you mount those fog lights?