1999 TRD 4X4 Off-Road Manual SR5

I just bought a 1999 Tacoma and took possession of it today. It was a friends dream truck that he built for a major trip to Tierra Del Fuego and back. He got married and had to change directions. It’s been well maintained over the years and has just about every upgrade in place. There are two upgrades that I’ll be doing for sure(Brakes to the larger Tundra option and a winch) and some aesthetics (mostly paint or paint alternative). I’m still sorting out the specifics to each component, but here’s a list of what I know… TRD Super Charger, Downey Headers, K&N cold air intake, OME suspension with beefed up lower and upper control arms(not certain of maker) and heavy duty leaf springs, 285/75/16 BFG all terrain tires, ARB front bumper, Kennesaw Mtn rear bumper w/ swinging tire mount, Rock Sliders, Magnaflow exhaust, contractors roof rack with adjustable crossbar and Vision camper shell. My plans are to paint and refurbish the camper shell, bumpers, grill, trim pieces and roof rack black. The interior is in great condition, minus the driver side arm rest and the middle console pad. Otherwise, it’s in really good shape. I’m looking at the larger 231mm caliper option for the brake upgrade and a Warn vr evo 10 winch. For paint options, I’m looking at Monstaliner(thanks to a member here’s suggestion) and a more standard matte or satin black paint. I don’t know if I like the texture of the Monstaliner for the trim pieces and I want the trim pieces to match the camper shell.

I’ve always wanted to join the Taco club, but never wanted enough to get past the new and used sticker prices. After a years of going back and forth, I finally lucked into the perfect situation for me. I’ll be posting some pics as I go along. If anyone has suggestions and or questions, I’d appreciate any and all feedback. One note, this will be my daily driver.

 

I just dropped it off at the mechanic to get the clutch looked over. I bought it knowing the clutch was on its last leg. After driving it around town, I found that it was probably time to at least do a couple minor improvements to see if it would improve shifting into first and second. I replaced the transmission fluid and the bushing and white plastic pivot deal in the stick, but not much changed. I have a little trip to Arizona planned for next Friday and I don’t want to worry about it. It’s better to just pay the money now and start this mission on a fresh clutch.

I’m still researching paint options for the fender flares, bumpers, roof rack, grill and whatever else makes sense. Monstaliner is probably a no go. After looking into it more, I remembered a that I’d seen it in person on a ‘69? Camaro drag car when I worked on an eBay commercial last year. I liked it, but I don’t think it’s for me on this truck.

 

I’m leaning towards SEM Trim Paint for my exterior pieces and shell. I get the truck back on Monday and I’ll start with the fender flares and bumpers and go from there. I don’t think I’ll have time to get the shell completed before Friday. I’m going to replace the window seals and I want to take my time with it and try to enjoy the process as much as possible. There’s going to be a ton of slow prep work going on with getting all the pieces ready for paint and I have to convert my garage into a temporary spray booth as well. I’m looking forward to chilling out and slowly getting this thing looking perty before I thrash it off road. The one issue I’m going to have is taking that beast of a rack off safely, solo. I’m going to go over the entire truck doing paint corrections and to do that the way that I think it’s best that the shell and bedliner come off.

Edit: Purchased the SEM Trim Paint today

 

I got the truck back and it drives like a f’n dream. They replaced the clutch with an Exedy clutch kit, master cylinder and resurfaced the flywheel. It’s raining over here and will be till Wednesday morning. It’s going to delay a little progress before I leave for AZ this week, but that stuff can wait. I’ll get a half day in Wednesday and Thursday… We’ll see how far I get. I’ll def get the bumpers and fender flares done, but I don’t know what else will make sense to start, knowing I don’t have all the time in the world this week to get it done.

 

I started looking into improving the headlights and stumbled on a great thread here on this site.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

I have to go find out which harness I need out of the two possibilities, but it looks pretty much plug and play and a quick way to completely transform the functionality of the headlights. The lenses are completely fogged over, like most its age and I’m weighing replacing the headlight bezels as well. I don’t have an extra $500 lying around right now though. I’ll probably spend some time wet sand and polishing and see how much better I can get them.

 

I pulled the grill and fender flares today, prepped them for paint and gave them a few coats of SEM in my garage. In hindsight, I probably should’ve only done two coats and let them fully dry over night. It’s about 55 here and humid. I’m pretty certain that I’ll be repainting all of these down the road. With that said, I’ll start on the bumpers and sliders tomorrow in better conditions. I’m not hoping for much, just a refresh at this point. F’n rain and my inability to wait when I know I shouldn’t paint, is a great mix for a poor outcome. All good though… I’m still hopeful that they’ll turn out.

 

nice

 

I also ordered passenger and driver side arm rests from a ‘95 4Runner. I only wanted the driver side pad, but after looking for a bit and then finding the pair I bought, which are in better condition then my full armrest assemblies as a whole, I decided to go a step further. I can sell the ones I’m taking out and get back the difference in cost and then some. I also bought a cheap center console armrest because mine is trashed. It was $16 shipped. I can’t go wrong. Hopefully it matches the armrests, but if not, it’ll still look better than the one I currently have.

A couple pics of my shit paint setup. It works though… Most of the time. lol

 

Thank you!

 

The paint did not turn out great, or horrible. I’m going resend them tomorrow and hit them again. In the future with the SEM Trim Black, I’ll use a primer.

I ended up detailing the engine bay because my paint didn’t arrive last night, or today for that matter.

 

I prepped and sprayed the front bumper this morning. I decided to use some chassis paint from harbor freight that I had lying around. I figured the contrast with the SEM painted grill would be nice… Which it is! The paint arrived this morning while I was working on the front bumper, thankfully… 3 days late, but a day earlier than yesterday’s forecast which was a great surprise. I resanded the fender flares with 400 grit per SEM’s instructions and sprayed in full sun in 63 degree weather. It laid down perfectly. Then I prepped and painted the rock sliders with the SEM trim black. My headlights arrived early as well, but I have to go pick my daughter up and get her ready for basketball practice. It’s already looking a lot better, but the new headlights are going to make a huge difference. Tomorrow I’ll get to the rear bumper… I’ll be taking the shell off and hitting the roof rack as well. Exciting times.

 

I put the new TYC headlights in, resprayed the grill, took off the camper shell and roof rack(solo… I had to get a little crafty) and then did a simple detail to the exterior. I held off of painting the rear bumper because I can’t decide whether to match the front bumper or the trim. Trucks starting to get there.

 

Paint on the front bumper and fender held up after the wash up. I prepped well, as one should, but you never know… While installing the headlights, I got loose with the wrench and knocked the bumper a couple times and there was just some slight scuffs. I’m pretty happy with my outdoor paint job(s). I usually spray in my garage, but after shit luck on my first go around on my fender flares and grill, I went with better temp and humidity conditions outside. It worked out well. Little to no wind was a help. Glad I did.

edit: fender flares

 

rad truck dude. curious about those upper and lower arms mind posting some pictures?

 

Thanks!

Here ya go.







Edit: Link to upper control arms.

 

I pulled some of the plastics and shampooed the carpets and cleaned some of the hidden bits and pieces. Cleaned up and sprayed the screws for the interior trim black. Replaced the steering wheel protector with a neoprene style one.
The replacement middle armrest came in... The door armrests are lost in the mail. Fingers crossed they show up. I ordered some weatherstrips which arrive on Thursday and besides seat covers, I might be done with the interior.

 

I also prepped and painted the detachable crossmember of the roof rack, to test and see if the Harbor Freight chassis paint would be a good look. I like it. I think it’ll look nice, matching the front bumper. I’ll print the rear bumper SEM Trim Black now.

 

I had a little snafu a couple days ago while installing armrests from a ‘95 4Runner in the truck. They’re aesthetically the same minus the color, but the electrical is pinned in a different order. I shorted out a fusible link and had to order one from my local Toyota dealer. I have no clue why I didn’t check the wiring before I plugged that damn thing in. I instantly regretted it and thankfully things like fusible links are there to save the freaking day. In the end, I went back to the original armrest and changed the pad out and used the one from the 4Runner armrest. lol. Trucks back up and running. What’s really funny is that I hadn’t noticed that the driver side door handle had been changed out with a Dorman dark brown one until just after reinstalling it.

I pulled the angle grinder out and hit the roof rack with a wire wheel where there was rust and pitting. Then spent quite a bit of time with my still and various sized wheels, trying to get into the nooks and cranny’s, especially at the joints and welds where there was old cracked paint and more rust. I went over the whole thing with 180 grit then 400 grit. I’ll spend another couple hours tomorrow hand sanding and then I’ll spray it. I should get the rear bumper painted as well tomorrow. A little rain slowed the paint down again this week. I’m in no rush. I still can’t fully commit to what I’m going with the camper shell.

 

I learned quite a bit about the fuse box and fusible link system in the Tacoma from my mistake. I’m glad I did. This is my first Toyota and before this truck, I had zero experience with one. Knowing how to change out the 80a main fusible link and the process to go about it is a big plus. My 80a was fine, but I figured that I might as well remove the fuse box, pull it apart and go over the connections and overall health of the wiring hidden under there. It was a bit of a pita. Worth it though.

 

The roof rack came out pretty nice. After hours and hours of prep It’s not perfect, but all the bad paint and rust is gone and I did an ok job blending. It’s a roof rack, I’ll be ok with it… It’ll age with use no matter what. I used a little rust converter spray where the putting was bad and impossible to remove without taking the angle grinder to it to smooth it all out. Weatherstripping for the door windows came in. It really makes a difference in looks. I still owe the badging and bumper and the exterior driver side door handle. Other than that, I’m done with paint. Well, besides the shell. I’m stoked that the roof rack is done though.