Ultimate Daily Driver 5 Lug Build

Lurker, turned new guy here.

Thought a build thread would be a cool way to document where this build goes, how much $$$ I can sink in a 200k mile truck, share cool/interesting mods with other fellow 5 luggers.

Bought a 200k mile 5 lug RCLB - farmer was going to crush it (rusted frame), I saw a diamond in the rough needing saved. A few moments of negotiation and I was firing it up to drive it back home to begin the task of restoring/improving upon this basic little Toyota pickup.

Get it home. Inspections begin. Realize the massive mountain needing climbed to even make it some what road worthy, even for short daily runs around town. Unsafe was putting it nicely.

Here are some pictures from the day I brought it home. This was back in August of 2023.

You can see the frame was rotten all the way through - some spots were such large chunks of the frame missing I could put my fist thru the frame.

Yikes. But I do enjoy a nice challenge...

Plan is to get it solid, safe, and sound on the road in stock form first. Then build around it as needed for my needs/wants. I have a strange love for RC/small trucks and we rarely get crazy winter weather to NEED 4x4... so here we are. My daily drive is about 10miles round trip to work and back... this thing will do just fine.

Completed before posting this thread:
-New Frame, Control Arms, Shocks, Springs, Bolts, hardware
-New brake lines
-New fuel lines
-New Valve Cover/Gasket/PCV valve
-Fresh oil change w/filter
-New Air Filter and Cabin Filter
-Professional Interior Detail (had to get the smell of farm/work out of it)
- Shorty antenna installed
-New wiper blades

MILES: 201238 (3/27/24)

Planned Upgrades:
Wheels and Tires
Android Auto Head Unit
Speaker Upgrade
Headlight Upgrade
Topper? Tonneau?
Bucket seat/center console swap?

 

Dats a pretty holy looking frame..... Looking forward to seeing the build

 

In the garage for a couple nights.

New front pads and rotors installed. Working on OEM smoked headlights and 100w bulb upgrade w/ harness these next few nights. Should bring some new life to a tired front end.

 

Where and how much $ for the frame?

 

I work at a Toyota dealer and was able to source through the US parts network. From what I was told, I snagged one of the last few available for the regular cab.

 

sub'd

 

Back for an update.

Wrapped up quite a few nice improvements I felt necessary before selling off my 5th gen 4Runner and daily driving this one.

Followed the "ultimate 2nd gen headlight upgrade/mod" - new heavy gauge harness/relays, 100w bulbs, and some OEM TRD smoked headlight housings and added a pinch of style with a knock off TRD PRO style grille. Took some mods to get the grille installed how I wanted. The weather stripping they send with the kit to seal against the hood is pretty shit. Already starting to peel away from back of grille. Other than that, I think its nice subtle nod to some of modern TRD stuff Toyota is doing and freshens up this base model front end nicely. Only other thing that bothers me... I now want a new bumper cover or might try some products to bring back the "black" of the original plastic.



Next big upgrade to tackle was the Joying Android Auto head unit and some RockFord Fosgate tweeters and door speakers. This was pretty straight forward if you have done car audio - speaker upgrade took some creativity. I wanted to re-use as much of the stock wiring/clips that I could. So there was some cutting, splicing, soldering and heat shrinking to get everything looking OEM. While I was in there, I laid down as much KilMat sound deadening as my hands could inside the doors. They feel nice and solid now when opening/closing, and helps keep the tunes sounding good inside. A few hours each night after work and its all sorted. Also went ahead and got a MasterTailgaters Backup Camera handle and a PopNLock handle. Combine the 2 - you get a nice, OEM type locking tailgate handle with the back up camera. Other than a few hours on my back, carefully running a few wires along the harness with some new split loom and splicing into the rear back up lights to trigger the head unit, I am finally finished today. Boy does my back ache.

Android auto works well. Takes a few seconds to connect, but the head unit has good power and the audio quality is night and day from the old factory, paper speakers. Backup camera function, if wired correctly, will auto trigger the screen as soon you bump into reverse. These few upgrades are really going to help me not go insane - I am extremely fortunate to be around new Toyotas every day, and some of these more modern features are simply must haves for me. I am satisfied as of today. Time will tell if they stand the test of time and don't cause me headaches down the road.


Bonus: My parts guy at work was able to track down a set of NOS, OEM Tacoma rubber floor mats. Its the cherry on top of a build that I consider some what OEM+ . Shout out my guy for finding something super cool, that he knew I would appreciate the hell out of.

 

As for wheels and tires, look into used wheels from other Toyotas.
Search the forum and you'll find trucks with Highlander, Rav4, Sienna and Camry wheels.
I've got a set of 16" Highlander wheels on mine and it was a no-mod swap.

 

What year was your Highlander wheels from have a pic of them? What tire size did they come with?

 

If you want to go with a color matched bumper cover there are a couple places online that sell them pre-painted. I got mine from Paintapart for $360 shipped. Color match was good, only downside is they fold the bumper to ship it so there are stress cracks where the sides of the bumper meet the middle. Not bad enough to notice unless you get very close, even in super white. If you do the front then you can also get covers for the rear bumper to color match it from Bumpershellz.

 

I have thought about color matched front bumper, but I think the more I see it come together the black looks good on the Desert Sand Mica or as I call it "old man tan". Stay tuned - wheels/tires will be soon, trying to hunt down a nice Leer/ARE topper that is color matched... Like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

To be continued

 

Pretty sure these came on 2001 - 2007 Highlanders.
I've got 235/70R16 tires mounted on them.

 

Update:

Been driving it to work full time for about a week. All is well. Wireless android auto is some what annoying for my taste, coming from 5th gen 4runner where its wired even in a 23 model. I opted for a cheap USB port, drilled a hole in the storage tray in front of shifter location, and have gone wired. My headache is gone.

Truck goes in for tint next week because every vehicle deserves to be tinted. No fish bowls in my driveway.

Still working on the right wheel/tire buy. Anyone have info on max 17" tire size on stock suspension, currently considering a 17x8 REIKA wheel, but trouble finding good photos for reference.

The not-so beater is fun putting around town and puts a smile on the face.

 

Awesome build, inspo for my 2015 white double cab. I want to add a backup camera and my tailgate appears to have a wiring rigged into the handle already for a camera to slot along. Just unsure what camera module to get, any idea?