cheap taco

[strange1]

I found a running/driving 97 tacoma extra-cab for cheap, so I decided what the heck. It is a v6, 5-speed, with 4.10 gears and open diffs. the body/chassis has 299k on it, and the engine has approximately 200k. this is the only before pic i have...



Since the build budget is very, very tight, I decided to do some free or cheap modifications first.













I cut 14" off the bed, and cut the framerails flush with the shackle hangers. The bumper is a piece of 2x4x3/16" scrap that had been laying in the grass next to my uncles shop for about 15 years. It wasnt pitted bad, so after cutting it to length I hit it with a flap-wheel and it cleaned right up.

total build cost so far... $21 for the hitch tube from tractor supply. future plans include some sliders, heavy duty skid plates, a winch, 2.5-3" of lift, and some 34" ltb's. Probably the very next thing will be to put a seal in the rear axle and weld the spider gears up. Nothing like a free locker when you are working on a budget.

 

[strange1]

Here is the budget buster...


I really hadn't planned on spending much on the rear axle, but I found a great deal on an e-locker with the correct ratio, so I grabbed it. My bilstein lift struts, 1/2 lift poly spring isolators, and diff drop spacers all should be here next week. And I robbed the winch and a pair of 12" travel bilstein shocks off my cj-5 project that seems to have hit a brick wall...

 

[strange1]

I spent a couple of hours this weekend deciding how to mount a winch. I refuse to spend hundreds on an aftermarket bumper, and I dont really want it mounted on a hitch, so this is what I ended up with.

The tacoma lacked a real crossmember up front, and I had plenty of scrap 2x4 tubing, so I decided to weld a piece on and add some frame extensions.


I wasnt able to mount it quite as high, or as far back into the grille as I wanted, but I think this will do.




There is lots of welding left to do, and lots of reinforcement to be added, but I think its a good start. Add another $42 to the build cost for the harbor freight winch plate.

 

[strange1]

The UPS guy, and the post office, were good to me yesterday. I got my 2.5" lift bilsteins, .5" lift spacers, and the differential drop spacers. Add another $230 to the build cost. Unfortunately, it will probably be at least a week before I am able to get it into the shop again.

 

[alove0750]

I like the bed chop! You can't go wrong with building up a taco... good wheeling and driving vehicles.

 

[strange1]

It has been a crazy couple of weeks for me, and the progress on the truck shows it.
I got engaged about a week ago...


This past weekend my brother became a grandfather, no pics, so family time has cut severely into shop time. I did manage to get my struts installed, and put a 1" block in the rear along with a u-bolt flip.



The USPS dropped this off a week ago, I guess it will be the next thing I focus on. After I finish stripping some jeep parts down so they can be sold.

 

[Chris_Keziah]

looks good, what tire size is that?

 

[strange1]

It has mismatched tires right now, 31's on the back and worn out 30's up front. Hopefully Saturday I can get my 34" LTB's on there and see what rubs.

 

[cgm147]

MAN looks great gonna look tits with some new diggers on it... id love to do the same thing to a taco and drive the wheels off it!

 

[Chris_Keziah]

It has mismatched tires right now, 31's on the back and worn out 30's up front. Hopefully Saturday I can get my 34" LTB's on there and see what rubs.

Everything, but nothing a BFH cant fix.

 

[strange1]

I prefer an angle grinder with a thin cut-off disc over a bfh. With it I can move stuff out of the way and trim a few pounds off at the same time.

 

[Chris_Keziah]

I think the main issue is the fire wall on the tacos. The frt axle is just to far back to fit without trimming.


Sent from my mobile Toyota base using Tapatalk

 

[strange1]

Not really much progress this weekend, but I did get my wheels/tires put on.





the rear clears perfectly. Believe it or not, it isnt touching a thing at this point. I am going to install bumpstops to stop it about 1" below this, just to be safe.


the front clears fine if you dont turn the steering wheel, but if you turn thats another story...



I got the notch cut for the e-locker, but still need to drill and tap 4 holes. Hopefully I can get that done and install the axle this weekend.

 

[yoder519]

nice build. I like the look of the polished wheels. I got the ever so popular black steelies on mine, had them for about 6 years, they was cool at first, but personally, i dont care for them any more. Nice to seee somethin different. So how are you cut your fenders? you gonna have to tub the firewall any?

 

[strange1]

Thanks, it took forever to get a set of chrome rockcrawlers, but I think they were worth it. I wish I had taken better care of them, but they are a steel rim and will get beat up. I'm hoping that all I will have to do is a little trimming and hammering on the pinch weld area up front. I'm not planning on doing anything in rear except some proper bumpstops. At the moment, I'm off to the garage to bleed the brakes on my e-locker rear axle. I guess I will be calling 12volt guy tomorrow. Price breakdown....

E-locker third.........$250
Complete ifs rear....$150
Gasket/studs..........$30
Sell non-trd rear.....-$100

Total for e-locked rear $330. I still need to wire it up, so that number will go up. But I have an 8" third with a lock-rite I can sell to recover more money. Or I can hold onto it for a while in case I decide to SAS it in the future. It does have the correct gear ratio......

 

[strange1]

No work this weekend, just wanted to say that I sent budbuilt.com an email asking a couple of questions at 6:47 on a Sunday evening, and had a reply in less than 5 minutes. Wow. As if buying local wasn't incentive enough, how about good service???

 

[Chris_Keziah]

No work this weekend, just wanted to say that I sent budbuilt.com an email asking a couple of questions at 6:47 on a Sunday evening, and had a reply in less than 5 minutes. Wow. As if buying local wasn't incentive enough, how about good service???

I think this just convinced me to get my skid plate through them.


Sent from my mobile Toyota base using Tapatalk

 

[strange1]

Yeah, he definately locked up my purchase, but he has now got me second guessing my choice in front bumper. D*mn.

 

[strange1]

On my way home from Budbuilt's shop in Lenoir, very happy with my purchase and with the service. I highly recommend talking to Bud if you are building a Toyota. After hearing him talk about breaking 9 front axle shafts in a single weekend, I am starting to worry about the ifs. I guess I will definitely hold onto to that extra third for when I SAS it. 12voltguy.com shipped my e-locker panel and harness yesterday. Merry Christmas to me.

 

[khwrx]

Can't go wrong with Bud or his products . Trying to talk him into making me a skid plate for the yj .

 

[strange1]

Still no shop time in over a month. I do have some goodies ready to install, and some skid plates from BudBuilt.com ready to be painted.

Sky Manufacturing E-locker skid


12voltguy.com panel and harness


Skids from Bud (I stole these pics from his website).

 

[strange1]

Actually made some progress over the last couple of weekends.

Got my e-locker wiring in place and hooked up.


Got my winch mount welded together and installed. I had originally planned to weld it solid to the frame, but later changed my mind. I wasnt able to get as many bolts in it as i would have liked, but I think it will hold. There is one of the factory tow hook bolts up through the bottom of the frame, and a 3/4 grade 8 bolt that passes all the way through both sides of the frame. Through a sleeved hole of course.




Did a little cutting/hammering on the pinch weld. I think this would be enough to clear if I wasnt planning on wheeling, but I did manage to make the tires rub a little during a mild test run...


And finally, I got my skids painted and installed.




Next up is a shock hoop for the rear, and a prerunner style tube bumper to protect the front.

 

[strange1]

I was finally able to get in the shop this weekend and work on my shock hoop for the rear. Since I did a u-bolt flip, and one of the factory shock mounts was broken off the frame, I was gonna have to fab both upper and lower mounts. So I decided to build a hoop to fit a pair of 12" bilsteins I already had. I thought about a cantilever system, and decided that the 12" shocks would be too long, and that the entire system was above my skill level. With that out of the way, I decided I wanted the shocks mounted on top of the axle and as vertical as I could get them. But there is too much brake hardware on the drivers side of a Tacoma. This is what I ended up with.








Still have to secure some brake lines and wiring underneath. And get a tailpipe built. There should be about 1" of compression left when the bumpstop makes contact with the frame.


I didnt get a pic from the side with the shocks mounted, but the line represents the approximate angle.

 

[strange1]

Did a little wheeling this past weekend at Darnell Creek (whippoorwill).











Had a great time, the truck performed great, but I did find a few things that are in the way/need protecting.

I need rocker guards quickly if I am going to stay this low to the ground... the drivers side door is scrubbing pretty bad on the bottom door sill and the bed is torn up pretty good as well. It doesnt show well in the pics; but it is creased in several places, including above the wheel well and it pulled the front of the bed side away from the cab about an inch or so.





Bud's skids took a helluva beating and performed flawlessly. I'm hoping to get it on a lift tonight or tomorrow to fix a few small things, and get a full underbelly picture. Hopefully, I can get a valve stem replaced, do some hammering on the body, and get it to Big Jakes Fab to finish the front bumper and build those rocker guards before the end of the month. I am gonna try to drive it to Harlan and back for the April Fools Crawl.



Here's my friend Jeff getting some air in his sidekick.

 

[strange1]

A small repair from last weekend. I didnt realize how far the roller fairlead stuck out when it was on my jeep, but it didnt take long to find it once I put it on the truck.