007 TACO PRO

007 TACO PRO ..... 2007 TACOma PROject that is



Thanks for stopping by to have a look, this is a place where i can document my truck build, modifications, pictures, lessons learned, and all the fun that is involved with building a 11 year old truck into a Daily Driver that will be capable for my needs.

Back story .....

Started with a 1992 Toyota Truck 22RE std 4x4 i loved this truck ...... then moved into a 2002 Tacoma v6 std 4x4



The need for a family friendly truck, after 4 years of trying to have a Baby our first one, we finally had the most expensive procedure ever and we are now expecting a Baby Boy (due date late Jan 2018) Dr said could happen any time now just a bit excited dirt bikes, lego, trucks ....... : )

Due to our expanding family the xtra cab 1st gen was not going to suit our needs and it was time for a 4 door.

November 20 2017 after looking at a few this 2007 Tacoma Crew cab long Box v6 4x4 with 3803390 Km that was well used and needed a rebuild fell into my lap.



This truck is a PROJECT and will need major work to be put back on the road and to be considered safe to use as a Daily Driver for me and my expanding family

Truck Inspection MVI
R & L Tie Rod end
High Pressure line
Upper R Ball Joint
Upper L Ball Joint
Sterring Rack
Sterring Shaft
Cv axel seals
Cv axel seals
Cv axel
Hand brake cable
Rear Drums
Rear Brakes
Hardwear Kit
Rear wheel Cyl
Rear Axel seals
Pinion Seal
Windshield
Spark Plugs
Oil Filter
Oil
Diff Oil
Fuel Filter

Tail Gate (bent so bad wont stay closed)

And the List Goes on ........ I knew all the problems with this truck before i bought it. I am hoping to have this ready for the summer

So knowing what the truck needed it was time to start to shop around to find some parts

My local upick yard had a sale on two weekends in a row $50 for all you can carry, the people that worked there came out of the office to watch me carry my parts to the counter, The most parts taken out at one time they told me. I said i will see you next weekend for the second day of the sale
First weekend sale


Second weekend sale yes that is a diff and a cv axle and a full door



I should also add in here that my plan is to keep my 2002 Tacoma as its in good shape to restore it to it previous glory. It had a new frame a few years ago under the recall. It needs some love but for me to do anything with it i would have to stop driving it in the winter as the salt around here kills everything. The box of the truck suffered some Major damage so i found a 2004 tacoma v6 trd that had a bad frame but the body is good, i am going to make one truck out of the two and use whats left over as my cabin truck with a flat deck.




If you have gotten this far well you know i am a Tacoma Hoarder or collector as i see it.

2007 crew cab ( why your here)
2002 xtra cab ( 1st gen, rebuild to former glory)
2004 xtra cab ( 1st gen parts truck / cabin truck)

Hi my name is jon and i have a problem i am addicted to Tacos ....

007 TACO PRO

The Truck went to the dealer to get checked for outstanding recalls before xmas ........ they called and said my truck failed the frame inspection and they were sending the required information and pictures to Toyota Canada. Few days passes and the dealer came back saying toyota approved the frame but they needed to do a MVI before they could proceed (I needed one anyways to transfer it) I needed a tie rod end, upper ball joints, two cv axles some brake work ..... basically items i knew about so there was no surprises except for the lower intermediary steering shaft $500 part. They gave me a quote to fix the required parts and labor. The items that came back with are all items i planned on replacing anyways. I went into the dealer and discussed what items could be replaced during the frame replacement at no cost to me, this narrowed down my list big time. I do have a bit of work to do on it before i drop it off to the dealer. FYI just a random toyota frame picture.



his weekend i put the Family Taco in the garage at work to start knocking things off the list that is required by toyota to be done before they start the frame.

First up is the passenger upper ball Joint, i used my 3 jaw puller to remove and install without any problems.









And Done



JUST a FYI i bought a master ball joint service kit from Princess Auto $199 ish CAD so thats like $900 US

Not worth a F it is not suited for ball joints on imports






Out comes the glue gun, took a 3/4 bolt and hammered it into the open of the lug and welded it in, twisted off the bolt. Welded a nut on then quenched it with water, twisted it all off. Dont judge me for my welds

so we are back to looking at the end of the stud.









Got it off. it put up a good fight !!!! I took a Pencil grinder and cut in to the remaining of the lug nut until I got close to the thread, stud. Then took a chisel in vice grips and a sledgehammer with the attitude of its f...Ed anyways might as well beat on it some more. It started to slowly move, penetrating oil and lots of backing it off by hammer and chisel

Thinking about this after last night I am going to go back and put some anti lock on the shoulder of the lug nut that slides into the rim.

The thing here is the difference between hub and lug centric rims. Toyota used lug nuts that have a shoulder on them that fit snug into the hole in the rim, making the rim out of aluminum and the lugs out of steel with a chrome cap allowed for the steel nut to rust swelling the chrome cap so it gets destroyed when trying to remove. Then the steel lug rusting in a aluminum rim made a bond. The shouldered nuts go into the rim and have a contact area of about 1/2’’ so the possibility for it to stick / swell with rust is more then with acorn nuts

Say on my 02 tacoma and most other cars they have acorn shaped lug nuts that fit into dishes area on the rim where the surface area is only small less chance of sticking

Either way its OFFFFFF


new frame will be sweet ! It is unreal the amount of rust in Newfoundland, cars last about 5-8 years before they are rusted piles. my 2002 is one of the oldest things that i see on the road that is driven daily.

007 TACO PRO

Bit of filler on the smaller things i have done .....

Installed used weather tech mats, stressful job but it had to be done lol


Hate the cover on the bed of the truck, it will be removed once i put my sled or dirt bike in the back but until then Black monkey tape

She anit preduy she just looks that way


New to me wipers that came from the $50 trip to the Upick all you can carry






Trim on the roof that was missing, got one off a acess cab at the upick cut the end off it, this will do untill i find a used one





The Previous owner installed a new battery and used a piece of wood siding as a shim ..... while i was rust checking EVERYTHING i took it out and made a proper rubber shim out of something i found in the garage. ( No Picture)


Love your dog ! this is my 4 Paw drive IN MY RED 2002 !

007 TACO PRO

Ok back to ball joint fun ....... Sunday afternoon i went back to the garage and started to do the drivers side ball joint. I could not get the nut off the Joint as the wrench had it rounded out so i took the grinder to the side of the nut, then removed it. More headaches the method i used to remove the passenger side was not working for the drivers side due to more rust ? anyways i spent the whole afternoon turning my two 3 jaw pullers into two jaw pullers ...... F

Check your BALL JOINTS and TIE ROD ENDS regardless of the age of your truck. IF your truck is 5 years old or older REPLACE

FYI having a lift puts more stress on the front end and wears out parts twice as fast. If one part is worn you can be sure the rest of them are just as bad or worse ..

IF any of this fails it could result in BAD ˟˟˟˟˟, if your lucky to live to tell about it you will be faced with a huge repair bill (ball joints, cv axel, brake flex line, fender damage the list goes on)

This came out of my 2007 with a lift the previous owner is very lucky this did not come apart on him.



Searched the interwebs for a fix for the overhead console

Overhead compass / temp gauge not working check here easy fix !!!

007 TACO PRO

Yes it does have high mileage, the previous owner owned a few business in different towns and visited them all once every week. That being said the body is in good shape, and Toyota putting a new frame under it, if the motor or trans gave up it would be worth it to change it.Last time I was at the dump there was a early 90’s Toyota truck there it was in hard shape but the TOYOTA in the front grill was still intact.
Test fit it onto the front of the family taco. I think it looks good and will Center it up and make it happen.





As my princess Auto (Canada’s harbour freight) 3 jaw puller turned into a 2 jaw puller. I tried to return it for warranty with no luck. Looks like I am going to make my own links to give this a second try after work

So my two three jaw pullers broke, princess Auto would not warranty them due to no receipt. The offered me to give me the sale price on them. Ok $28 give it to me but I am going to make stronger plates and fix my old one and save the $ as family taco is on a major budget.





I had all my plates cut and one hole drilled and then it struck me that $28 is holding up progress on truck. Ditched the plate idea for now and went and got the new one to start working.


I had all my plates cut and one hole drilled and then it struck me that $28 is holding up progress on truck. Ditched the plate idea for now and went and got the new one to start working.





Drivers side upper ball joint already had the nut lose, boot and snap ring removed so getting to this stage was easy. I support the spindle with re bar tie wire to keep it from flopping around. You can hold the uca down with a jammed pry bar. I found this easy to work on it this way

I thought i would put this up, I use a 1 1/8 deep impact socket with a short bolt in the end that i drilled a divot in for the point of the 3 jaw puller to seat in to press out the old ball joint.




This upper was so so so so so so so sooooooooooooo stubborn that i had my press all set up with ample force on it with no movement. I took a propane torch and heated the underside of the UCA around where the Ball joint lives and it just Jumped out. I know i will probably get for doing this, BUT this is Newfoundland NOT Disneyland ˟˟˟˟˟ rusts and welds itself to itself. This is common practice here on the ROCK










I took a wire brush and sandpaper to the UCA and the joint seating surface to clean up the rust, I put some anti STICK on the new ball joint. I used my special toyota service tool to install the ball joint. Its really a broken big gear wrench with the guts torn out of it and part of a broken bench vice taped together.






Ha just looking at the pictures and noticed all the marks in the broken jaw of the bench vice from doing my 1st Gen upper ball joints