Tyson's 03 Tacoma Mild Build

[Cascadia]

I'm not very good at doing build threads. I wouldn't say this is a build but it's more of a thread to document my upgrades that I do. I'm not building a hard core wheeler. It's going to be a truck that I can take out and have fun with but still be a comfortable daily driver. My last DD/wheeler was no longer very comfortable to drive around in. I don't want that to happen again.

I started with a 2003 Black Tacoma Double Cab. Automatic, 3.4 l motor, Supercharged, K&N cold air intake, Magnaflow exhaust, and a few other creature comforts. It came with 31ish inch BFG All Terrains on chrome wheels.

 

[Cascadia]

I'm not a chrome guy and I didn't think it matched this truck. It may have matched the bumpers but hopefully the stock bumpers will be gone in the near future. So I went with some Level 8 Strike 6 wheels from Discount. They are a matte black finish and have red writing on the center cap. I think the compliment the 33 12.5 17 General Grabber red labels pretty well.

 

[Max Power]

Nice wheels and rubber!

 

[mesha]

Looking good with the new tires and wheels.

Now lets see those sliders!

 

[Cascadia]

Here's the sliders Davy is talking about. I ordered them through him with the Trail Gear deal. They are dual purpose. I will use them for wheeling and my wife and Yorkie will use them to get in and out of the truck. Due to the latter purpose, I had Davy make them custom for me. I wanted to have more of a step for my wife. So Davy and Carl got together and got some plates cut out and dimple died. I didn't want the whole slider to be a step though so I did only the 3 middle sections.

They're not on the truck yet, but they are in my "paint booth" in the basement. One of them is done with a coat of primer and 2 coats of hammered finish paint. I just need to find a little time to get the other one painted and welded up on the truck. I think they look awesome though. Thanks Davy for the help with these, and Carl for making them look exactly how I wanted.

 

[Cascadia]

Next up is a set of All Pro 3 inch expedition springs. I'll be picking those up from Panos. To match those I will be getting a set of OME 882 coils and matching 90004 shocks for the front. I'll be getting those from Kurt as soon as I can get up to Salt Lake. I'm going with the heavier 882 coils because in the future I plan on having bumpers, maybe a winch, and the reason for the expedition springs is because I pull a trailer everyday.

 

[rholbrook]

Those Grabbers look so good on it. I told you how cool they were in real life. I just wished they had made them in a 305. The red really looks cool with all the black. Cant wait to see it all done.

 

[ricsrx]

That is a good lookin truck

 

[Cascadia]

Thanks Ric. I'm liking it a lot. Usually by now I've listed my new vehicle for sale. I don't see that happening for a long time. I don't have any complaints, but if there was one thing I would change is the k&n cold air intake is so dang loud. That's my only gripe.

I picked up my all pro springs tonight from Nick. Those things are heavy. They're a 9 leaf pack and the stock ones are only a 4 leaf pack. I hope they're not too stiff.

 

[Venture13]

Looking good, maybe next time we can hit up 5 mile with some rock slider action.. Wonder if TG even makes those sliders in the USA or has CHINA making them with slave labor..

Let me know when your ready for some Dana 60s...

 

[Max Power]

I don't know if an intake does much with a supercharged engine. I would go back to the stock setup if the k&n is driving you nuts. I have a k&n intake on my Titan and it is pretty loud under load. I couldn't justify the noise if I had a supercharger.

 

[Max Power]

P.S. I like what you did with your sliders. Dimples are the shiz.

 

[Cascadia]

Ya there's a few different lines I would have taken if I had sliders and some corner protection for the bed. Nothing too crazy but more of a challenge.

Max, thanks for the comments. I'm happy with how they turned out. I'm with you on the air intake being pointless. I can't imagine it doing much of anything with the supercharger. If anything, it might be causing the engine to get too much air. The noise is ridiculously loud. I might need to go back to stock with just a k&n filter.

 

[Bart]

Looking good Tyson.

 

[Cascadia]

Thanks Bart! I jusrt need to get the sliders on now. They are all done being painted. Just need to find a few extra hands to help get them on. It's tough with only one jack and a pregnant wife.

 

[Cascadia]

I finally got one slider on and welded up tonight. The other one is drying in the basement from a 3rd coat of paint. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 2 jackstands and a few shims and they were right where they needed to be. I mocked them up first and marked where I needed to grind the paint and tar-ish stuff off the frame. Got it all cleaned up. Then tacked them in and welded them up.

 

[Cascadia]

This was my first time ever welding. I bought my welder about 6 months ago but soon after sold my rig. I tried welding a few scraps together once but that was literally about 5 minutes of trying. I am pretty happy with how my welds turned out. There were a few that were boogerish but I was upside down. Man does it suck to weld upside down. The last pic is of how smokey my garage was.

 

[sixstringsteve]

those are great first welds Tyson!

If you're not going to weld the top, you may think about putting some silicone over the edge there to keep water out. Just a thought.

 

[Cascadia]

Thanks Steve! Sorry I didn't make it last night. I got the itch to go work in my garage and that doesn't happen very often. I thought I'd take advantage of it.

I was thinking I'd do some kind of waterproofing on the top. Maybe a roofers sealant or something. I might still try and weld them though. It's just a tight fit to get in there.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I was stoked to see that you had welded them on, no worries about last night.

The real question is, how many times did you get hot sparks in your ears from welding? There are some awkward angles under there when welding sliders on.