02 Tacoma

[rj ︈]

Howdy y'all,

I wrote this up for Tacomaworld and figured I'd share some of what I've been up to here on OKShooters, in case any of y'all are interested in somewhat older Toyota 4x4s.

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I'm putting this thread together to document the life of my 2002 Double Cab Toyota Tacoma. It's 4WD and mystic gold metallic. I'll share mods as I go along and welcome any suggestions on preventative maintenance that would be worth doing.

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I bought the truck in Denver, CO from the previous owner. We were visiting the area and I took that chance to rule out frame rust and any other major issues that would keep me from buying it and driving it home. I live in Oklahoma and found a one way flight for $42 so I picked the truck up a few weeks later. The previous owner met me at the airport and we signed the title and I took off from there. The truck made it home with just a mess of grease from one of the CV axle seals. Here is the truck as I bought it:

I'll do my best to keep this thread up to date with the latest on my Tacoma!

 

[rj ︈]

Before I picked up the truck, I bought a used camper shell on Facebook Marketplace for $200. This thing was in rough shape but it fit the truck. I started by sanding the whole thing with 220 grit sandpaper and thought I would do my best to save some money on a paint job by removing the windows and replace the seals while I was at it.

I cleaned it up with the sander and put some non-automotive primer on the thing. That was a mistake. I was ready to drop it off at a local body shop and the guy took one look at it and showed me that the primer was not right by just scratching it with his fingernail. Dragged the shell back home and wet sanded the whole thing to remove the primer and the body shop just sprayed over the old paint, which seemed to work out great.

 

[rj ︈]

Picked the camper shell up from paint and he charged me $300 to get it painted. I thought that was a fair price. I reinstalled the windows and cracked the fiberglass near the rear corner. I'll need to drill that to keep it from cracking more and I should be able to patch it with some fiberglass bondo and just use a touch up pen to get it good enough. The shell is definitely not showroom quality so I am not too worried about it.

The previous owner also sent a rear bumper with a tire carrier with the truck, which was a nice bonus. I had to remove the tow hitch in order to install it, so I'll likely be adding a tow hitch to the bumper just to tow my small utility trailer around town.

I installed that bumper and put the spare on, which is just for looks until my actual size spare tire gets delivered in a few days. The truck is starting to look better already! I'll get a full photo of the truck once I get my actual spare mounted.

 

[rj ︈]

I took the whole front end apart over the past few days. I bought new upper and lower control arm bushings, lower and upper ball joints, outer tie rod ends, steering rack bushings, CV axles, and probably some other stuff I am forgetting.

I borrowed a press from a family member's shop and rented the ball joint kit from a local auto parts store. I was able to get everything done myself other than the upper control arm bushings. I ended up hiring a shop to remove and press the new ones in for $30. They also pressed the lower control arm bushings in while I was there for free.

While I had everything apart, I cleaned it up really well and put a coat of spray paint.

I'll be putting everything back together today and hopefully can get an alignment this weekend.

Side note: Thanks to @Prostick for driving out to my house to purchase some goods to help finance this project.

 

[rj ︈]

Finished getting the truck back together this morning and got it down to Hibdon Tire for an alignment. I bought a lifetime alignment there so that should save me some money over the years that I plan to keep this truck. It drives much better now after all of the work, although it is hard to tell when the wind is blowing a hundred miles an hour.

Next on the list is the P0420 engine code and then I can get into modifications.

 

[O4L]

Looks good from here! Nice rig.

 

[Roy14]

Great work. Those are as close to unkillable as anything we can get in the states.

 

[dennishoddy]

Great job on the rebuild! I ran a 95 Tacoma from 95 to 2016 before buying a Tundra.
356,000 miles with zero repairs other than a timing belt that looked new at 130,000.
Guy that bought it has another 50K or so on it the last time I saw him.
There is a saying among Tacoma 3.4 liter V6 engine owners.
It’s said that when the world ends, two things will still be alive.
Cockroaches and 3.4 V6 engines……

 

[AirMech74]

Great looking truck...I had an 04 SR5 TSS in that same color......traded my Dad for his new 2014 a few yrs ago (his idea).....I miss that old Gen 1 sometimes. Those are great trucks that will drive forever....i'm slowly outgrowing mine....family....will more than likely trade up to a Tundra.

 

[montesa]

Great job on the rebuild! I ran a 95 Tacoma from 95 to 2016 before buying a Tundra.
356,000 miles with zero repairs other than a timing belt that looked new at 130,000.
Guy that bought it has another 50K or so on it the last time I saw him.
There is a saying among Tacoma 3.4 liter V6 engine owners.
It’s said that when the world ends, two things will still be alive.
Cockroaches and 3.4 V6 engines……

What about the 3rz-fe?