rclark84

In following the footsteps of others in this forum, I will detail my build up of my 2002 Tacoma. Again, as others have, I will list what will be done to the truck and it's related status. And yes, there most definitly will be pictures detailing the trucks progression.

Robert

The stock truck as purchased in early October, 2007:



Item or Project***Status***
1. 3" Skyjacker Suspension Lift (w/ Nitro Shocks)***Installed***
2. 32" Pro Comp Mud Terrain Tires***Installed***
3. 16" Pro Comp Extreme Series 8023 Alloy Cast Wheels***Installed***
4. TireGate Vertical Series Tailgate***Installed***
5. Cobra HH Road Trip Handheld CB Radio***Installed***
6. Rhino Lining (Bed, Toolbox, Rocker Panels, TireGate)***Installed***
7. Mile Marker PE8000 Winch***Installed***
8. All Pro Off Road Front Bumper***Installed***
9. All Pro Off Road Rear Bumper***Installed***
10. All Pro Off Road Rock Sliders***Installed***
11. All Pro Off Road Skid Plates (Differential, Transmission, Transfer Case)***Installed***
12. Wet Okole Seat Covers***Awaiting Installation***
13. Bushwacker Fender Flares***RETURNED (See Reply Below)***
14. Wicked Flow Muffler***Installed***
15. Daystar 1" Front Spacer Kit***RETURNED (See Reply Below)***
16. FourTreks Hi Lift Jack Mounts***Installed***
17. Fire Extinguisher***Installed***

The truck as of October 24th, 2007:

Yoogene

sweet!

Knuckles

looks good rclark! glad to see another Oklahoman.

apalmer1

cant wait to see how it looks with all the allpro body armor installed

rclark84

Today I had to return the Bushwacker Fender Flares. The flares that shipped to me do not cover the mounting holes that the stock fender used. I am somewhat upset, as I believe this should be a sub-note on their website. For now, I have thrown the original fender flares back on the truck.

Robert

BajaRunner

I like the oem black flares a lot.

Tacoclimber

Me too...


Nice Taco. Where'd you find the money tree?

grantsmith

any rub with the 33"s at alll.. you have the exact setup i want with the lift and tires.

rclark84

No rubbing yet!

rclark84

Thanks, it is getting there. As for the money tree, I think my better half found it for me.

rclark84

Just had a Wicked Flow muffler thrown on while I was having the rear portion of the tailpipe shortened. Sounds awesome! I wanted something that would sound like a subtle growl at low RPMs and then crescendo when the throttle opened up. I also wanted something that would not be obnoxious while driving on the highway. This muffler accomplished all that perfectly. Highly recommended for our V6 trucks.

Robert

grantsmith

very nice i might have to look into that skyjacker .. cant wait to see all the all pro on

rclark84

The "Item/Project" statuses have been updated.

Still no pictures. I have an Apple computer with their .Mac service. Anyhow, when I upgraded to their new operating system, I lost my .Mac website that was storing (and in one way hosting) my pics. So I have to redesign my website from scratch. Not really an issue for me as I like creating these things, but it means my pictures are going to be down for a couple of days.

The All Pro Off Road bumpers and sliders have been painted. I will be putting them on the truck this Saturday along with the winch. The All Pro skid plates are being painted also, but with a completion date of Monday or Tuesday. I have mounted my fire extinguisher, CB Radio and am in the process of having the TireGate Rhino Lined (it came powder coated, but once I scratch it, they cannot re-powder coat it because it would damage or destroy some of the mounting hardware). This way I will be able to touch it up. I figured I would have it professionally done even though I did the bed-liner on my rocker panels because of all the joints/holes and pivoting locations to deal with. I have found some "plastic restorer" (removes oxidation) for my stock fender flares. If it removes most of the discoloration, I will be happy with keeping them.

I am also having some new OEM front coil springs installed tomorrow (just in case there was any sag in my current ones). It turns out that my lift is only 2.5 in the front (?), so I still have a "leveling" issue. I am not comfortable stacking lift kits (spacers), so I might be stuck with this issue until I purchase another daily driver and this truck becomes my project truck (at which point I be upgrading the lift completely anyways).

Well, I should have the original pics back up before Monday along with pictures of the newly installed hardware. Look for the bump.

Robert

mokai

I am very interested to hear how this Plastic restore works as my fender flares on my 03 are discolored also..

rclark84

The "Item/Project" statuses have been updated.

My truck is now officially ready to hit the trail. For now, all I have left to install is a 1" Daystar Spacer Kit to level the truck out and those Wet Okole seat covers. I have mounted a chrome fire extinguisher directly behind the drivers seat on the side modeling below the window. Also, I have mounted my Hi Lift jack to my TireGate using Fourtrek's Hi Lift mounts. They have been reviewed on yotatech and are totally worth the good praise.

Some interesting notes on the installations. As you noticed, the winch's solenoid box is mounted below the left headlight (looking forwards). This is due to the fact that you can not mount it on the winch and be able to fit the factory grill. I had to also cut a spot out of the grill to operate the winch clutch. And by having to move the solenoid box, I had to buy longer wires to reach their connections. Will this work for water crossings? To mount the bolt-on All Pro Off Road Rock Sliders, you must lift the body off the frame to line up the drill. We had to drill 32 holes in my frame just to mount these sliders. I ended up getting them welded just to be sure of the stability (the whole point of bolt-ons was to prevent the welding). When installing the All Pro Front Bumper, there are 2 little metal tabs that stick forward out from the original bumper mounts. All Pro has taken theses tabs into account by providing a slot for them to go through, but they stick out like a sore thumb...so you will have to cut them off. You also have to remove 2 support brackets that normally hold up the inner wheel well cover. To install the All Pro Front Skid Plate, you will have to loosen up the front bumper to reach the skid plate's mounting holes. My biggest advice when installing a TireGate is to leave all the bolts/nuts loose until you have the outer frame completely fitted and secure. If you tighten up stuff early, you will most likely be un-tightening it later....way later. On the hint side, Gun Locks work great for securing Hi Lift jacks and tow hooks. If any one is interested, I have pictures detailing the installation of most of the parts and will have those available in a week or two. If there are any questions out there, I would be happy to answer them. I would also like to say that I could not have done this (for cheap) if it were not for some good friends (and some beer) and their kindness. Thanks guys.

Robert

The Truck as of November 15th, 2007:

ARB1977

Very clean...its cool see her all grown up.

881stGenRunner

dang man, that is the exact truck i want. that thing is awesome! great job on it.

rclark84

Thanks for the feedback. I plan on installing the 1" Daystar spacer kit this Thanksgiving weekend. Tonight I plan on putting on the seat covers. Some of my next mods will be: Off road lighting for the All Pro Off Road front bumper, Front turn signals for the truck, and a snorkel.

MillerPKA

right on man looking great, did you paint your rear axle?

hmm 20 posts and already contributing member, good man

rclark84

The guys I had paint my bumpers, sliders, and skid plates thought they would surprise me and painted the rear axle and front A arms for me free of charge. I had the hardware painted by Maaco with the same stuff GM puts on their vehicles for durability and a solid paint foundation.