Ok, so I partially lied. Due to my lack of the ability to document my progress, this will only be a sudo build thread :ybrick:. I bought my first t4r, an '01 sr5 sport, in feb of 2009 bone stock with approx. 80k on the ticker. I had been looking for some time at purchasing a toyota 4x4 to replace my 01 gc impreza as my functional daily driver. I have two dogs and move fairly frequently so the s door subie wasn't cutting it. After test driving numerous 4th gens (until then, my only experience with t4r was in my mother's 4th gen, which I loved) and a handful of 2nd gen tacomas, I decided that a. I loved the look and track record of the 3rd gen more and b. why spend $20k+ on a truck when I can spend $10-12 and put the rest towards mods?
So after some fairly painless CL searching, I found my beast up in State College PA, just a few hours drive away.
The first year I had the truck, things stayed pretty tame and stock. Did a full tune up since it was still rocking the original plugs and wires, deckplate mod, tint and removed the running boards.
Then came the frenzy :hungry: Within about a 4 week timeframe, I did the toytec ultimate, shrockworks front and the goodyears. I was looking for a great look that could also be used well both on and off road. my family has property in both WV and CO so the truck see's a ton of off highway use.
a few months later, after looking around for a bit, I came across a pretty sweet deal on a used but recently rebuilt TRD SC. The p/o had it completely rebuilt by PSE and it came with a lifetime warrantee on all rebuild parts. On that went and let me say, wow...what a difference. The t4r is already an EXTREMELY capable truck and will go almost anywhere, but the SC just makes it all the more easy. climbing steep grades is a breeze now and highway cruising is excellent. I actually noticed an increase in my highway mpg's!
With that, the obligatory external tranny cooler and cooler spark plugs. with the deckplate and the Airraid MIT, all I can say is that this is how the truck should have been built!
Other tid bits are as follows:
-55w hid retrofitted IPF 900xs
-Full length bajarack
-leather from a 97 limited (kind of want to trade back to newer cloth, if anyone is interested)
-extended rear breather up to the top of the rear hatch.
-full LED exterior lights (with the exception of the turns and the head/fog lights)
I am sure I am forgetting something.
Things that are waiting for install:
-projector retro
-safari snorkel
-warn m8000
-10" rigid industries SR series (going to instal it in the factory hood scoop)
-mean green alternator
-prosport halo boost gauge
On to the very few pics I currently have. I promise, there are plenty more on the way!! (I apologize for the crappy cell quality and the poser shots, I just wanted to get some pics for the sake of getting a thread started)
The old subie (long gone, sold to fund an engagement ring):
day after getting the bumper and lights installed and hooked up:
testing out the new flashlights:
Clearing some debris down in WV:
<a href="http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo160/McFly2003/Bruce/?action=view¤t=Bruce-10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo160/McFly2003/Bruce/Bruce-10.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
There will be a ton more to come as I have a bunch of stuff waiting to go on. I am also about to ship out and will be moving/exploring a whole lot more of the world :thumb3: any questions or comments, I look forward to any feedback. Thanks guys!
So after some fairly painless CL searching, I found my beast up in State College PA, just a few hours drive away.
The first year I had the truck, things stayed pretty tame and stock. Did a full tune up since it was still rocking the original plugs and wires, deckplate mod, tint and removed the running boards.
Then came the frenzy :hungry: Within about a 4 week timeframe, I did the toytec ultimate, shrockworks front and the goodyears. I was looking for a great look that could also be used well both on and off road. my family has property in both WV and CO so the truck see's a ton of off highway use.
a few months later, after looking around for a bit, I came across a pretty sweet deal on a used but recently rebuilt TRD SC. The p/o had it completely rebuilt by PSE and it came with a lifetime warrantee on all rebuild parts. On that went and let me say, wow...what a difference. The t4r is already an EXTREMELY capable truck and will go almost anywhere, but the SC just makes it all the more easy. climbing steep grades is a breeze now and highway cruising is excellent. I actually noticed an increase in my highway mpg's!
With that, the obligatory external tranny cooler and cooler spark plugs. with the deckplate and the Airraid MIT, all I can say is that this is how the truck should have been built!
Other tid bits are as follows:
-55w hid retrofitted IPF 900xs
-Full length bajarack
-leather from a 97 limited (kind of want to trade back to newer cloth, if anyone is interested)
-extended rear breather up to the top of the rear hatch.
-full LED exterior lights (with the exception of the turns and the head/fog lights)
I am sure I am forgetting something.
Things that are waiting for install:
-projector retro
-safari snorkel
-warn m8000
-10" rigid industries SR series (going to instal it in the factory hood scoop)
-mean green alternator
-prosport halo boost gauge
On to the very few pics I currently have. I promise, there are plenty more on the way!! (I apologize for the crappy cell quality and the poser shots, I just wanted to get some pics for the sake of getting a thread started)
The old subie (long gone, sold to fund an engagement ring):
day after getting the bumper and lights installed and hooked up:
testing out the new flashlights:
Clearing some debris down in WV:
<a href="http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo160/McFly2003/Bruce/?action=view¤t=Bruce-10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo160/McFly2003/Bruce/Bruce-10.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
There will be a ton more to come as I have a bunch of stuff waiting to go on. I am also about to ship out and will be moving/exploring a whole lot more of the world :thumb3: any questions or comments, I look forward to any feedback. Thanks guys!
also got my new (polyurethane steering rack bushings). look for those pics coming very soon, as well as final installed pics of my projector retrofit. cheers!
