2000 Tacoma need a buildup

[spaldam]

I recently sold my FJC and just bought a 2000 Tacoma v6, SR5, 4x4, manual hubs, automatic, and I'm looking to do a build up on it. Any ideas or suggests would be great. It's going to be my daily driver, but I also plan to take it off-road a few times a year on some moderate trails.

I basically have $2k to do the following (as you can tell I need to stretch the money as far as I can). They are listed in order of importance (at least I think they are):

• Tune up (spark plugs, fuel filter, belts, etc).
• Windshield replacement (lots of cracks)
• Tail light replacement (one of them is broken)
• Exhaust replacement (yes it's very rusted and sounds like it has a hole in it).
• Fluids flushed/replaced (planning to go Mobile 1 synthetic).
• Interior upgrades (driver seat is well warn but the rest looks decent).
• Stereo - it has the stock CD/tape deck but I'd like an MP3 disk player (might just use the old one I have sitting around in my garage).
• I've already got lost of extra wiring and fuse boxes laying around along with a CB, but I might try to put in a secondary battery to run it and some lights (maybe a winch some day too).
• It's defiantly going to need a lift, but I'm not sure what I can do that will be decent for cheap. I'm thinking a combination of shackles and add-a-leaf on the rear (along with shock relocation and U-bolt flip and new break lines), but I'm not sure what to do on the front.
• Wheels and tires - I'm thinking 33x12.5x16 (the current set is in good condition for street use, but worthless for off-road)
• If there's anything left over I'll start looking at rock-rails and tube bumpers.
• Someday I'd like to supercharge if, but that may be a while.

Thanks for any suggestions or input.

 

[hardontoyotas]

make sure the frame is in good shape before you spend your money on this truck

 

[hayesvegas]

yeah its probably in the recall/buyback. i had a great experience getting mine swapped out. it's an '01, now with a new frame.

 

[spaldam]

I guess I'll have to take a closer look at the frame. Other then the after market tow hitch hanging of the back of it, I didn't see anything noticeably wrong with the frame.

 

[hayesvegas]

neither did i until the dealership inspected it. they beat on it with a ball peen hammer until they find a brittle enough spot to make a whole. then you're in business.

 

[Jacket]

I basically have $2k to do the following (as you can tell I need to stretch the money as far as I can). They are listed in order of importance (at least I think they are):

• It's defiantly going to need a lift, but I'm not sure what I can do that will be decent for cheap. I'm thinking a combination of shackles and add-a-leaf on the rear (along with shock relocation and U-bolt flip and new break lines), but I'm not sure what to do on the front.
• Wheels and tires - I'm thinking 33x12.5x16 (the current set is in good condition for street use, but worthless for off-road)
• If there's anything left over I'll start looking at rock-rails and tube bumpers.
• Someday I'd like to supercharge if, but that may be a while.

Thanks for any suggestions or input.

For the front, a set of OME springs and struts will serve you nice for a reasonable price. AAL in the rear is a good budget option, unless your rear leafs are already worn out.

Personally, I think 12.5" wide tires are too wide - I'd go for 285/75/16 or 255/85/16 - fits better, steers better and more tire options for the same height.

Don't wait to long on the sliders - that long wheel base will require rocker protection sooner rather than later.

 

[spaldam]

I'm starting to understand a little better why I got such a cheap price on this thing...

So the good news is that the frame appears to be in good condition. The bad news is that the engine and suspension are not in such good condition.

There's a ticking noise coming from the engine that seems consistent with the RPM's.
It's leaking oil from what appears to be the front and rear main seals.
The coolant was boiling over into the overflow tank, but the temp gauge wasn't showing any signs of over heating.
the suspension is getting rather rusty and it's very shaky at 45 MPH.
The Catalytic convert has been replaced with a straight pipe.

I guess I've got a lot of work to get done this weekend.

 

[hardontoyotas]

glad to hear the frame is in good shape. hope the ticking noise isn't bad news.

 

[spaldam]

So now that I have the front of the engine pulled apart...

I didn't find any oil in the water (though there was some copper looking floaties in the reservoir and under the radiator cap). I didn't find any water in the oil either, so I'm hoping the head gaskets are ok.

The oil leaking appears that it may be from the valve cover on the passenger side near the back of the engine. The bolts were a bit loose on the valve cover, so I snugged them up as best i could without taking everything off. The area around the head gasket looks fairly clean as best I can tell, except the one area under the valve cover were the oil appears to be leaking from higher up.

I was able to barrow a special too to remove the crank shaft pulley so that I can replace the timing belt (Thanks Chris).

The problem now is the tensioner pulley. I can't get the belt of without removing the pulley and I can't get the pulley off without removing the A/C bracket, and the A/C condenser bolts won't budge.

Is there a shortcut to getting this done that doesn't require removing the A/C condenser?

On the other hand, the belt and pump don't look all that bad. Maybe they were replaced recently enough? I guess I really don't have anything to reference to know that for sure.

Thanks

 

[spaldam]

We'll, it looks like the heads and gaskets were fine, but one of the cylinders is cracked...

So now I'm looking for an engine.

 

[spaldam]

Here's my official blog site with more information

So the truck has 177k miles on it when I got it about a month ago. I just spend $3k on a replacement engine with 98K on it.

Up next is the suspension, wheels/tires, and electrical stuff:

• Suspension - Toytec coilovers, Blistin rear shocks, Wheelers Off-road Leaf Springs and accessories, Downey Shackles, and an Allpro U-bolt flip kit (I'm going to need to find someone who can weld).
• Electrical - Aftermarket Taillights, Stereo (antenna is missing and I need to be able to play my MP3 CDs), HAM radio (pulled from the FJC), CB (mostly pulled from the FJC), a cheap alarm of some kind (I'll find something at WalMart when I get the bracket I need for the stereo) so I have a blinking light, a noise maker, and maybe add on key-less entry. O, and don't forget the undercarriage rock lights and wiring up an extra fuse box for all this (stuff I also have left over from the FJC).
• Wheels & tires - Wheelers off-road black steal wheels, and some slightly used Goodyear MTR's 285/75/16.

Before:

After:

​

I finally got all my suspension parts together (delivered) on Tuesday:

​

So after getting off early for the Holiday Weekend today, I got started on the suspension replacement:

The old stock tires were a pain to get off, so I'm not planning to put them back on ever again... I think a couple of the bolts are striped to, so that's going to be an added element of fun for this project.

 

[spaldam]

Before:

After:

And here's what happens when you use a cheap torque wrench that's past it's years:

That makes three bolts I now have to repair....

Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow before I start pulling the rear-end apart.

 

[spaldam]

After taking a break for Black Friday, watching the kids and sleeping on the couch while the wife spend all night and day shopping......

I cleaned up and identified some broken and damage bolts:

After comparing the broken break line bolt that came with the kit from Wheelers, I decided I was better off staying with the more robust looking stock bolts:

I also finished up the front end with a front diff drop kit.

I found four lug nut bolts that are in need of some repair as I couldn't get lug nuts on them all the way without hitting some resistance. I should be able to trim the worst one down slightly, and then get a thread cleaning kit or something similar to get them all working properly again.

After spraying the rear bolts with some PB Blaster, and loosening up the bolts...

I was tired of wrenching and decided to work on wiring up the electronics I pulled from the FJ (and an old stereo I've had laying around for some time).

 

[spaldam]

A couple more days of working on the rig, and it's almost all back together:

The rear suspension is replaced:

Before:

After:

Interior wiring:

 

[spaldam]

Day 6 & 7

So a couple more evenings of putting the vehicle back together and hopefully I'll get me to work this next week without any major problems...

The wife picked me up a new torque wrench, so I don't break any more bolts, and got everything torqued down:




Re-filed the break fluid, and got the wife to push on the peddle while I got the air out of the lines:



Did some lug bolt clean up:

And got the new wheels on:



------------------
Next up, mostly in order, will be:

Probably another tune up, as I'm not sure what kind of maintenance was done on the 98k engine that was just put in it. The exahst will needs some work as well, but hopefully will be fine until the next emissions test is due.

The throttle needs to be looked at as it stuck on me the one time I floored it, but I still have the original, so maybe just need to swap them.

I still need to get my CB and HAM radios hooked up. Mostly just need to hook up the antennas, and get the mics a place to live. O, and the GPS mount needs some Velcro to stick it to the dash.

Bumpers, Rock Rails, and lights...

By the time these tires are ware out, I'll either get some new gears, or get a size smaller tire... We'll see.