My Tacoma- And Friends

[colepepper]

So here it is... My 1998 Toyota Tacoma SR5 . It used to be my dad's but now it has been passed on to me. He has taken fairly good care of it despite the frequent "It's just a truck" line dropped whenever it gets a fresh blemish. The most damage it has endured, was being rear ended by a woman preoccupied with petting her dog but that damage was sorted out years ago. He has however (with some help from me), kept the mechanicals in top shape, and the truck never skips a beat even with 107,000 miles on the clock. Since I have started using the truck full time I have attempted to clean it up as best I can with a near nonexistent budget. This includes taking on the tedious task of polishing some shine back into the paint that has been tortured by the Arizona sun for years. Also, new headlights to replace horribly fogged up originals, a new passenger side taillight after someone backed into it while the truck was parked outside my dad's work and don't forget the super classy AutoZone wheel covers. For the interior I have put on some seat covers to hide the fairly "broken in" seats, a new stereo (with iPod compatibility ) and all new speakers to replace the old cardboard cones. Now for some pictures after a fresh wash (please excuse the cellphone picture quality):

Look at that luxurious interior...

It even has room in the back for another half a person!

The heart of the beast with a whopping 140hp!

Oh I almost forgot... I was planning on getting a new set of wheels but since the tires are fairly new my parents would only let me get measly 14" rims. Another issue is I had a difficult time finding any wheels the fit and look good (going for something that looks stock-ish). I was wondering if anyone here had any suggestions on wheel brands or designs (5x114.3 pattern and preferably 15"). I'm pretty clueless when it comes to deciphering all those numbers when it comes to wheel sizes so any help there would be much appreciated. Until I get the money and find the right rims I will be ditching the wheel covers and spray painting the steel wheels.

 

[nobuffalo]

Nice truck, big fan of the small Toyota pickups. 2 particular styles I always liked on Toyota trucks, although they may not look "stockish". The second style are cheap and can be found here at jcwhitney, or maybe on a small trailer.

This

And this

 

[colepepper]

Thanks for the suggestions. Do you know what the brand or style name of the first one is so I can look into them a little more?

 

[BobbyBRAKEaNek]

Wow, only 107k miles. Nice Yota, and continue to take care of it. Plenty more miles left in that.

 

[Parker]

Nice truck, I've always been a fan of Toyota trucks, but they don't offer a diesel over here so I'll more than likely never own one.

 

[colepepper]

So I finally got rid of the hubcaps and resorted to taking the good ol' rattle can to the steelies. Here's what they looked like before:

At first glance the wheels appeared to be in good condition and looked like just a layer of brake dust was separating me from a fresh finish. However, with closer inspection I realized that it would take a lot more work than a a quick wipe down. Since it has always had hubcaps on the actual steel hasn't been clean since the truck rolled out of the factory. So two days, about a gallon of Simple Green and 6 scouring pads later the 100,000 miles worth of grime was removed. I then lightly sanded them even though the scouring pads did a pretty good job on their own.

Before and after cleaning/sanding:

Once that laborious process was dealt with the actual job of painting began.

After a few coats of new paint:

After waiting about 24 hours I replaced the wheel weights and put the wheels back on.

Overall I think this looks cleaner and will do until I get new rims...

 

[T-Squared]

The rims look much better now with the new paint than it did before with the hubcaps on. Love how clean it is. That rust free last shot makes me extremely jealous you live somewhere that doesn't have salt blasted roads on the roads 4 months out of the year.

 

[colepepper]

Thanks. The more I look at it the more I like it with the new paint. We're lucky to get any kind of precipitation at all around here so rust isn't ever an issue. All we have to worry about is the sun baking our clear coats away.

 

[dudeguy]

m-m-m-m-my tacoma (sharona)

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Actually, I don't think you need new wheels, those look really, really good. You did a great job painting them 👍

 

[GDII]

That's a very tidy Tacoma. The silver wheels look much better than the plactic wheel covers. New Zealand doesn't really have any. Only imports if they are here. We have the Hilux which has a very similar body shape but definitely different.

 

[motortrend]

Looks very clean, pictures always help hide the details but from closely inspecting them it does indeed look pretty flawless, especially considering it's 14 years old

 

[colepepper]

It has its fair share of dents (mostly on the bed section and tail gate) but over all it's in a lot better shape than most. I am very satisfied with it especially as a first car.

 

[colepepper]

Here my Taco's buddies: my parents' cars...

2003 Nissan Maxima GLE:

This car never seems to be happy. There's always something its groaning or whining about, but we love it. I will be doing some maintenance on this one over winter break. It needs spark plugs and to put new ones in the intake manifold must come out. More proof that engineers hate DIYers. Also needs a new windshield washer pump and the whole front bumper must come off to get at it (oh joy ). Any tips you all might have on either job would be much appreciated.


2009 MINI Cooper S:

This one is a lot of fun to drive... Too bad they don't trust me to take it out on my own yet.

EDIT: Sorry just realized this is a double post.

 

[Doog]

But, but, Minis are harmless.

Given how precise the steering, throttle and braking are, you have to maintain a higher level of focus than you would in any other car. But you are right, they are fun to drive.

And double posts are acceptable given that over two weeks had passed since your last post.

 

[colepepper]

That's what I keep telling them! My mom is just worried her pride and joy will end up wrapped around a tree and that I can understand.