00RegCabs Buildup

[00regcab]

00 Reg Cab FRAME
2002 Tacoma Ext. CAB
3.4 5spd Push button 4wd t-case
Line-x Spray In Bedliner
Tinted Windows
Deck Plate Mod
Manual Hubs
Custom .090 Wall rear-driveshaft
All Pro Front Skids
Bobbed 12"
Custom Rear Bumper
ORS Square Tube Sliders
All Pro Front Bumper
OME 881's up front
OME Dakars out back
OME Front Struts
Bilstein 5150's, 10" travel, 255/70 valve
Removed front sway bar
Energy Suspension Poly Steering Rack Bushings
5.29 TRD e-locker rear
5.29 Lockright Front
01-04 Tacoma 16" Alloys
255/85/16 BFG KM2's
Stretched wheelbase 1"
VW Corrado OEM muffler
Cobra 19 VX
Firestick 3ft Tuneable antenna
Mr.Doug bed-bar
48" Hi-lift



It all started with my 1992, 22re, reg cab, 5spd that I purchased August of 07, and later wrecked December of 07.

Heres the truck as purchased, out wheeling the first weekend after purchasing:



At its prime (when I owned it)



(take note of the lower bed corners on that last picture)

After the accident:



The truck had been wrecked once before, and the frame had already been heated/squared up, and a new front cross member put in before I owned it. After the 2nd time, I felt it wouldnt be the same truck again, and just had it totaled.

So the search for a new truck started....



January of 08 I purchased a 2000 Toyota Tacoma, Regular Cab, 2.7, 5spd. It had 117k miles on it, already lifted (OME 3" lift), with the arb bumper, and in awesome shape!

Where it started:



Now, remember that picture I told you to take note of? That picture is what started this:


Now you may be thinking; "WTF? purple stripes?" Nope.....

It was time to bob it and clearance it all in one shot! I do not have many pictures of the process, but here's the few i do have:


Frenching the Hanger


Adding the body line back in:


Duraglass:


I based my bob job off of 01rocktaco and his write up, found here:
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum...ht=bobbing+bed

He suggested 13", however, if I did 13" my shackles would of hung out past the rear of my truck, which then it would be completely useless to cut anymore out of the truck, since the frame would still be hanging out of the rear.

In the end, I cut 12" out of the bed, 6" out of the frame, added a new cross member, and was able to clearance it all before I even sent the check off for the first payment, roughly a month after purchasing it (yes, its financed... I was only 18 at the time, (19 now) I didnt have 8k in cash laying around for a new truck).

Heres how the truck looked for the following 6 months.



Shortly after, I purchased a set of square tube tilt sliders from ORS for a good price (as they didn't have measurements for a reg cab, they cut me a deal )

I dont have any slider specific pics, but here a few with the sliders on, first time out:



Getting used:


I notched the pinch weld for the supports, so I could suck them up as close as possible to the body.

I dont have any pictures on the process of my next mod. I picked up a used TRD e-locker rear axle with 5.29's, and a manual hub front diff with 5.29's and a lock right for a very cheap price.

A couple months pass, nothing changed. I made a trip to moab (videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqIPlgbWQ1Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DIWb...eature=channel ), and did quite a few other local beat dow... err, wheeling trips.

A few misc. pics from them:



Then after a few dead (broke) months, I finally came back to life with some motivation in July.

Finished the bed bob/rear bumper (rear bumper still not 100% complete)




Then proceeded to make two back-to-back trips to Holy Cross City:




(video from the first trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcoZe...eature=channel )

I bent my driveshaft that trip, and also smashed my freshly painted bed (very minor damage). Shortly after my return, I pulled the drive shaft and took it over to a local driveline shop and had it re-tubed with .090 wall, re-balanced, and new u-joints installed. I do not have pics of the process, but it looks the same, just freshly painted.

Nothing overly entertaining happened for a few months, then my rear diff blew up the end of September after a sight seeing trip to take in the fall colors. Had it rebuilt with Precision 5.29's, new bearings, and got it all back together without issues. In this time frame I also bought new wheels (01-04 Tacoma 16" Alloys) and new tires (255/85/16 KM2's).

Heres a video from the first time out after the new diff/wheels/tires:
http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/c...2-20080024.flv

I had some rubbing issues that needed to be worked out hardcore. Got the rubbing issues worked out that weekend (beat the firewall back quite a ways, and trimmed up the bedsides). Also fabbed up some custom brackets to retain my rear mud flaps.

Heres a few pics with the new wheels/tires:




I just ordered Inchworms locker harness, should be here friday (Halloween) and rear shackle points that will get burned on this weekend.

This winter/early spring I plan to, in order of most likely to see:
Finsh rear bumper (bedside protection, and possibly swing out tire/gas can carrier)
Upgrade/replace the clutch/flywheel
Bud built/custom flat bottom
Rebuild front diff with Precision 5.29 & ARB locker

[00regcab]

Starting to collect steel, and misc pieces im going to be needing for Flat Bottom.

Also going to be going dual stock cases, gear drive front (with just stock low right now, until i can afford 4.7's), then my chain drive t-case behind that.

After some chatting with a local friend thats working on flat bottom/drivetrain lift with his 1st gen runner, im going to pass on the body lift and modify the floor pan where needed. Also looks like i'll be able to BARELY skimp by on the drivetrain lift. So that'll save me some time/money/labor as well.

[00regcab]

Well its been a few months, work got slow, money got tight. Nothing got done, had to sell some things i had collected for both hobbies (car and truck).

HOWEVER.....

Two weeks ago, my boss hooked me up with a killer deal on a COMPLETE 01-04 Ext Cab TRD, 3.4, 5spd that was totaled (strictly frame damage). Last weekend that truck got torn down, and prepped for my truck.

This weekend I'll be doing a 3.4 swap, and ext. cab swap (wiring will be cake, since the ext. cab is already wired for it) starting friday evening. I'll try to take some pictures of the process.

I'll be having Scott at Addicted Offroad fab a bumper for me before my Moab trip the end of may, also might have him do up some cab protection off the sliders, and bedside protection. We will have to see what funds allow though.

[00regcab]

So the project ensued, 3.4 swap, and ext. cab swap.

Started the swap tonight, Russell and I started around 4, and had the cab off and motor ready to come out of my truck when Doug showed up around 6:15.

Doug and i got the cab situated, and everything moved around for some space to work. Got the 2.7 motor mounts cut off my frame (PITA BTW), and the 3.4 mounts cut off the frame section (i have pictures showing the differences, i'll get them posted up Sunday or so, along with all of the others).

Cutting the mounts off carefully (to not bend/damage them) was a huge pain in the ass, but I managed to get the task done. After a few more hours of work (and a pinched pinky later), Doug and i got the 3.4 lined up (transfer case x-member is in the same location, but the mount on the 3.4 t-case is wider) and the mounts tacked onto the frame.

Tomorrow I'll do the finish welding on the mounts, and get the 3.4 in (should be done by noon), then its onto the cab.

The cab is going to have to be notched to fit over the frame rails at the rear section, and the floor pan will have to be tubed to clear the gas tank. Also will have to figure out what I'm going to do for the filler neck so I do not have to run it through the cab.

Progress is going good, this is the biggest step. Cutting up the bed, and triangulating the shocks will be the easy work. I have to triangulate the shocks since where the new bed mount will be needs to be on the inside of the frame, right where the passenger shocks bolts to. The tabs are already on my axle, so all I need to do is get a cross member welded in and the degree set on each shock. For now I wont do a u-bolt flip, but it will happen down the road (probably not before moab, but whatever).

Just thought I'd post up some basic info, once everything is DONE and I have time to sit down and resize/edit/upload pics I'll get that done, along with all of the info, and step-by-step processes of the actual motor swap, and what needs to be done to the cab.

Teaser pics:

[00regcab]

Changing titles is easy, they wont look at the motor, and on registration/title it just says '2000 Toyota Tacoma, White' So i just go into the DMV and tell them i painted the truck and it is now black, and have them update it.

All the vin transfer paperwork is being taken care of by my boss at work, it'll be done legit and 100% hassle free.

Today we didnt get much done, but still we got A LOT done in the time frame it was worked on.

Friday 3pm - my truck drove into the shop
Friday 11pm - my truck stripped, and the 3.4 mounts located/tacked into place
Saturday 11am - 3.4 mounts welded, tops of sliders welded, 3.4 bolted in
Saturday 10pm - cab on, floor cut, everything in the bay hooked up, rear cab mounts located
Sunday 1pm - cab mounts welded up
Sunday 10pm - brakes bled, rear wiring tied up... still no fuel tank (have to cut the lines, no way around it)

Jay, the ps lines leaked like a mother fucker without pressure even in them. Just from putting atf in them. Easy fix though, the threads were a little dirty so they were hard to spin (tight already), but not all the way into the rack. It took me about half an hour at 1/8th turn at a time to get both all the way in. Now they do not leak.

3.4 still doesnt run (due to gas tank issue), tomorrow after work i'm going to get the lines cut/flared, and pick up some fuel line so the tank can go up in. After thats done, the truck should run on its own umph.

Heres more pics.



























Theres a bunch more, but i'll get around to those shortly.

[00regcab]

I've got mixed pictures of stuff, but not EVERY step, and all of my notes are in this thread, i'd just have to take the time to organize them and put them together in some sort of formal manner.

Heres a few better quality pictures of the floor pan, and new (to me) all pro bumper.

Floor pan:



Extra Storage:


Factory cubby lids, smaller one doubles as Fuel Pump access:


From underneath:


Other Cubby:


Under the truck:


Exterior:



Deck Plate :


Overall engine:



All pro bumper, all pro says cut 3" off the front of the frame for 98-00 trucks. I cut just over 3" to tuck it up in a little tighter, then put in a 2x3 1/4 wall cross member up front with nuts welded to the back side of the 1/4 wall where it extends out past the frame rails. It was notched to slip back in between them, and sit in front of them as well.




Mt. Dew (throwback) doesnt even fit down between the grille/bumper:

[00regcab]

I'll be working on organizing this thread one post at a time, and giving play by plays of whats going on, what was done, how it was done, etc. etc.

Just trying to get all of my information together right now, before i start going through it all.

[00regcab]

After MANY hours of buffing/polishing, and waxing/general detailing. This is the cleanest this truck will likely ever be again on the outside.

Heres the final product with the new wheels. White walls out are only temporary due to some horrendous tire wear i was getting. Trying to get it to even out now.

[00regcab]

Well it's been awhile since I've updated this.

As far updates go, nothing real exciting has gone down yet; however there's a bunch of things currently in the work.

Right now i've got 70ft of .120 wall 1.5" tube to tube the rear of the truck (bedside protection, better rear bumper, and cab corner protection). I rendered up the rough outline of what it'll look like on my truck in a 3d program.

Here's a few shots of that:

Obviously some of the bracing to the frame will have to be worked a little more than what is depicted. But I put them in just to show where I would likely brace it.

Anyways, onto the pics.









un-colored


Changes to the front section




I upgraded my front springs to 882's, and also tubbed the firewall for 35's. Picking up a set of q78-16's TSL's (measure 35x10.5) on Monday when they come in. I ended up also picking up a set of 1.5" wheel spacers due to the lugs rubbing on the upper control arm, and HARD on the frame at full lock.

Here's a teaser of the 1 tire on it:


Over the past month I also picked up a winch, smittybilt xrc8. Unfortunately I didn't order with synthetic rope (but i should of) so I'll have to order up a synthetic rope, and fairlead for it before I get it mounted on the truck. For now I'll be running it on the all-pro bumper, but beefing up the bumper a bit in order to hold up to the additional weight/abuse it's going to be seeing.

Amongst all of these things I also gathered up some 3/16" plate steel to fab a gas tank skid, and maybe a few other little pieces of I have enough left over. However, we'll see how it goes.

Tax return time is going to bring inchworm dual case setup, likely just with stock gears in the reduction box for now. Which still puts me at nearly a 5.0 final ratio while still obtaining a stock low range.

Pictures will start rolling in here pretty quick over the next few weeks as progress gets moving on the rear tube work and such.