Xtra_Taco's 1996 V6 4x4 5mt

Bit of a duplicate thread but this one is in the right section with better formatting!

1996 Toyota Tacoma Xtracab
3.4l V6 with 3 pedals and 4wd

Mods:
Power/Drive-train:

• Marlin Crawler clutch kit
• LockRite locker

Suspension:

• Toytec ultimate coilovers
• OME Dakar leaf springs
• U-bolt flip
• Bilstein 5125 rear (8" I think?)
• 2" Shackles
• Riderite Airbags w/ daystar cradles

Exterior and lighting:

• 2x Lasfit LED foglights
• 2x 9" round Auxbeam spotlights
• Auxbeam gang switch panel
• Holley Retrobright LED headlights
• Louvre'd hood
• Custom bed rack
• Custom roof rack (coming soon)
• 01+ side mirrors

Armor:

• High-clearance rear bumper (Build link here!)
• Sliders (coming soon, not yet installed)
• Trailgear Rock Defense bumper

Interior:

• 4runner seat swap
• Joying android auto/carplay head unit
• Rear-seat dog platform
• Viofo 129Pro-Duo dashcam
• Power door locks (alarm and remote start)

Wheels/Tires

• Raceline Rockcrusher 15x8 4.5" BS
• Cooper Discoverer AT3-XLT 33x12.5r15

Pictures!

Pic from the owner before me


The day I brought it home! 141k miles, $5,500!

03/2020

Took my girlfriend on a date on the side of a mountain later the same day


03/2020

Got rid of the ugly LED headlights for some less ugly LED headlights. Also lightbar

03/2020

Springtime

04/2020

Rhinorack track mounted bars on the tonneau cover

05/2020

Tried some wheels and ended up not liking them so I took them off a few hours later


05/2020

Full bed of gear, rooftop tent, trailer with a quad and a dirt-bike with gear and tools, over mountain passes on a 150k mile clutch. Yeahhh smoked it
05/2020

Camping mode

07/2020

4Runner seat swap (first time welding)


Center console from a 1st gen regular cab so the fit was a little weird.

Had to make a goofy little bracket to mount it because it didn't come with one. Sturdy!

Made a little cupholder insert and reupholstered the armrest

03/2021

Interior shot (also replaced the brown steering wheel wrap)

03/2021

Tint

04/2021

More camping



07/2021

 

Found a pretty beat up jade green topper. Needed several cracks repaired, the rear window glass was gone and the window frame was damaged, etc. But I got it for like $50
09/2021

Put a yellow film on the lightbar

09/2021

Repaired and resprayed the topper

10/2021

Snow and repainted topper

12/2021

Frosty (feat. seatbelt)

03/2022

Goofin' at the beach

04/2022

Sold the topper

06/2022

Back to camping mode


Buffed, polished and waxed

09/2022

Foglights

10/2022

Started building the rear high clearance bumper


10/2022

 

Then I lifted it and put new wheels and tires on


11/2022

Then I drove it in the snow for the first time with the new tires and it sucked!

11/2022

So I installed a rear locker and then it went anywhere I aimed it!

11/2022

My Fiancee got bit by the Toyota bug and she picked up a V8 4Runner in October of 2022

11/2022

Installed some Auxbeam spotlights. Beam bounced like crazy mounted to the sheet metal. Ended up sandwiching the bumper with 1/8" steel but still didn't prevent the bouncing

01/2023

We don't get a lot of snow in our area, so it's always fun when we do


Found a friend

02/2023

Decided to chop up my hood



05/2023

Beauty shots (finally finished the rear bumper too)







06/2023

Last hurrah beach camping trip before I left for basic training. Had to build a bike rack for our new bikes

Broke my bumper pulling a beached MDX out of the sand

06/2023

Then I was gone for what felt like forever!

 

Came back for Christmas and the weather was really mild so we went camping at the coast


12/2023

Finished up all my training and came home

03/2024

May was a productive month. Replaced the Amazon LED headlights with some Holley retrobrights

05/2024

Went to watch the aurora borealis

05/2024

Fixed my bumper (reinforced this time)

05/2024

Started a plan for a prinsu style roof rack


05/2024

Planned a camping trip, and with only a few days before leaving, realized my tonneau cover was broken and could not be repaired. So I set about building a bed rack.

07/2024

The rack worked great, despite building it to the last possible second before leaving for our trip. It was nice actually being able to fit a full-size cooler for once.

We pulled up to our campsite at almost 4am after a 7 hour drive. To answer your question, no, we do not manage our time well.


Following the Oregon Trail


07/2024

Learned a bit from that trip, namely that I desperately need some bags if I keep using the truck for these long distance camping trips. Anyways, got home and cleaned up. Man this thing looks so good.



07/2024

Took a few months off the truck stuff, minus an oil change and new LBJ's. I was rockin' Moog/555 ball joints for the last 3 years. I was amazed at how much more comfortable the ride became after new OEM Toyota LBJ's.


Picked up a TG rock defense bumper for an absolute steal. Fixed it up and started working again on the prinsu style rack. Got the side rails cut out of aluminum.



11/2024

 

I got the bumper bolted up and the lights swapped over. Only had room for 2 of the fog lights so I ended up putting them on the Fiancée's 4Runner later on.

11/2024

Made a high lift jack mount

12/2024

Found some snow!


02/2025

Installed a new carrier bearing, new shackles, 26" extended rear brake line, lifted the front some more and bisseled the seats. I think that just about brings us to present day!



02/2024

 

Installed some bigger mirrors so I can actually see what's behind me. I got chrome (much to my Fiancee's dismay) since my truck has the factory chrome package. They're manual mirrors from an 01+ Tacoma I think. Being able to fold in my mirrors without needing to readjust them is a creature comfort I was definitely missing. Also I think they look way better. Baby flex on this snow pile after I installed the extended rear brake line and new shackles.

 

Took the Taco on a little spring-break trip to Central Oregon. Stayed the first night at Kahneeta resort and had a great time relaxing in the pools. Stayed in a Tipi for the first time ever. It got to about 47 degrees overnight, woke up to a chilly morning but heated up the tipi quick with our propane firepit. Added self-inflating sleeping pads to our kit which were really nice to have because the tipis only come with pool-style lounge chairs being used like cots.




On the way out caught this beautiful view. It was going to be the warmest March day on record for the last 50 or 60 years.





Stopped near Pelton dam to test the water. Stepped in and our feet went numb within about 30 seconds, and the river was very full and flowing fast. Can't believe there were people trying to swim in it.


The second night we planned on staying at the "Bivy" at Smith Rock, which is a little first-come, first served campground. Unfortunately we were turned away because roof-top tents are not allowed. We will probably end up adding a ground tent to our kit just for situations like this. Still loved stopping there though.



Stopped in Bend to get my Fiancée a new rear tire for her "new" bike, a 2008 Transition Covert (26" 4 lyfe). Swapped out the tire in the parking lot and drove off without my Leatherman, which I didn't realize until later that night. Hit up a Velosolutions track for the first time ever, which was a ton of fun.



Ended up at La Pine State Park later that night. Even though Bend had been 81° and sunny when we left, it was 36° when we arrived at our campsite with about 8-10" of snow on the ground in spots, and supposed to drop into the high-twenties. Our fire pit had about 2 inches of muddy water in and around it. Like a dummy, I had left our diesel heater at home since it was supposed to be so warm during our trip. Even though we had already paid for the site, we bit the bullet and high-tailed it back north about an hour and a half to Crooked Creek campground. When we arrived at about 11pm, it was still warm so we definitely made the right choice. We made an awesome dinner and did some stargazing. It was about this time I realized I was missing my Leatherman, a gift from my Fiancée that I had carried with me every day for the last 8 years. I was super bummed.


We awoke to a strong warm breeze that just about pulled our rain-fly off the tent. We made breakfast and went for a bike ride and slowly packed up camp, not sure if we wanted to head back before or after a large storm was supposed to hit the Willamette valley later in the day.




We chose to head back before the storm so we could move our other 4 cars into the shop before the "golf-ball sized" hail could damage them. The storm ended up being a major dud though.

All in all a great little trip. Wish I had been more prepared with the diesel heater, but I'm glad we ended up moving camp. Was a better experience and we were over an hour closer to home which cut our drive down a lot.
Definitely need to add bags to the rear suspension. The dakars sag a lot with this kind of load, which is pretty standard for our trips. Planning on using the firestone kit with daystar cradles.

The truck is also pretty gutless with this load. I'm amazed that these trucks have a tow-rating of 5k lbs. I couldn't imagine driving anything other than flat ground with that kind of load. Got me thinking about forced-induction or trading up for a Tundra. It's frustrating having to shift into 3rd gear just to maintain the speed-limit with a load of maybe 750lbs of gear, I'd like to get the truck weighed with a full tank and a bed-full of gear, I'd wager its only around 4,900lbs.

Also fought a lot of front-end vibrations around 45mph. I already knew both my cv-axles had blown boots, and I just didn't care enough to have them replaced. The cv's are less than two years old, which is kind of a bummer. Will probably end up with the reinforced Trakmotive axles and do the slide boot mod to extend the life of the boots. Just another thing to add to the already long list.

 

Recently realigned the front end because the camber was way out and increasing wear on the tires. Super wander-y steering with the rear loaded down. I have a new steering rack to go in, just need the time and a nice day to make the swap. Should probably get axles to go in at the same time.

 

Also just gotta love when a stranger with an almost identical truck parks next to you.

 

That is quite the transformation!

 

It's been a labor of love for sure! Enjoyed every minute of it, though!

 

Central OR is the best

 

Love it out there. Hope to move out there someday!

 

Swapped out the steering rack finally. Rack has been bad pretty much since I bought the truck in 2020, but it never really got any worse so I got used to it. Having access to a lift made this process such a breeze, and to think I was dreading this job. My Fiancée is an automotive instructor so we made my truck the class project today. Had the old rack and axles out and new rack and axles installed in about an hour, which is really impressive!


I replaced the CV axles with the Trakmotive extended travel axles. Time will tell how they hold up!



Also started mocking up the bags and Daystar Cradles I got from Mootiger.


Tomorrow I'll finish up the air bag install, and do a transmission fluid change, front diff fluid change, and an alignment (she's also got a sweet Hunter alignment rack, we've done our own alignments for the last 3 years).

 

Were your CV axles OEM? I might be interested in buying one of them if in working condition.

 

They were not OEM unfortunately. Like many others, I made the mistake of sending my OEM axles back for the core deposit long ago

 

Got back to working on the truck the other day. Ended up doing a front diff fluid service, a transmission fluid service, and a transfer case fluid service. Finding GL-4 fluid for the transmission and transfer case locally was a huge PITA. Ended up getting 90wt Stalube from CRC which is so far working quite well. Shifts are much smoother than they were beforehand. Front diff got Valvoline 75w90 GL-5.


Unexpectedly ended up needing a passenger side brake caliper, which of course meant a full brake bleed, and all I can say is that was an awful experience. Bled the brakes 4 times and went through about a gallon of brake fluid. Wtf? Tried pressure bleeding, vacuum bleeding and gravity bleeding, and the pedal is still mushy. It was fine before replacing the caliper.

Anyways, finished up the air bag install, and all I can say is wow, the improvement with a load in the bed is night and day. My headlights now point down the road rather than into other drivers retinas. Had to make some modifications due to the fact that I have the U-bolt flip. This required changing the mounts for the cradles, but it was honestly much more straightforward than I was anticipating.




Currently on a little shakedown run to the Oregon coast. The new steering rack is sublime, the new CV's aren't shaking me to bits, the truck sits level, and the shifts are buttery. Only bad is mushy brakes, and my driver's side exterior door handle finally decided it was time to break. I can still use it, though very gently. I'll have to replace it when we get home.



I'll get some side profile pics today to compare the squat difference with and without the bags, it's pretty drastic. Ride dramatically improved as well!

 

The north Oregon coast is one of our favorite places in Oregon to camp. Fort Stevens is a wonderful campground, and beach access is right around the corner.

 

Unfortunately I didn't take a dedicated side profile pic to compare the rake after the airbag install, but I think this is pretty sufficient.

Before (pic taken in July 2024):


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:


All after pics were taken with about 12psi in the bags. As I said before, HUGE ride quality improvement, and the ability to level the truck on the fly for the RTT. Definitely sacrificed about 3/4ths of an inch of up-travel, but I think I gained a lot of other benefits so I'm very happy. If you're on the fence about this setup and you always have a heavy load in your truck, just do it!