Introduction of Taco Time!

February 8, 2024

As you're probably aware, I've owned a lot of cars. I've owned everything from mid-80's American sports cars (1986 Pontiac Fiero) to American sedans that were gutted for rally-cross racing (2001 Saturn L300) to $300 Korean minivans (need to write this post). With all of those vehicles, I have NEVER owned a truck. Well, that all changed a few days ago...

Introducing my first truck, a 1996 Toyota Tacoma with 258,000 miles that was purchased for $2,000. It has the (not-so) legendary 2RZ 2.4L engine and 5-speed manual. Is it a poverty-spec, 5-lug truck? Yes, but it still qualifies as a truck nonetheless! With all of the things I work on and do around the house, having a little pickup will definitely come in handy! Let me give you the grand tour:

Alright, so maybe you aren't as enamored with the idea of having a truck as I am, but I promise I'm excited enough for both of us! In all the truck is actually in good condition. There isn't any rust (plagues all body-on-frame Toyota vehicles), the body is in good shape with minimal bumps and bruises, and most importantly it runs perfectly! Now, let's go through the couple areas of needed improvement:

• Mechanically:
• Oil leaks are one thing; this Tacoma is herniating oil on a different level. For example, if you park it facing slightly downhill, you will lose around half a quart of oil in a night. Ask me how I know...
  
  
  
  
  
• Roar of old tires over about 25 miles per hour. Frankly, it's just time to retire these old, deteriorated tires produced by a Chinese manufacturer that I won't try to pronounce as I would indefinitely offend someone
  
  
• The interior...
• The odor is pungent. It smells like 25 years of dust, dirt, and debris mixed with a pleasant odor of 10-year aged cigarettes
• The bench seat appears as though 10 years of festering rodents inhabited it and has the comfort to match. It even had a towel jammed in on the underside that I couldn't imagine the filth that had been dwelling for decades in it...
  
  
  
  
  
• The single-din Bluetooth radio that was installed no longer has Bluetooth capability (unsure of how that fails) and the speakers sound as if they went through a blender before being installed in the Tacoma

The good news is the items noted above are not deal-breakers. Each of the noted items are straightforward and relatively inexpensive to resolve. This will help me segue into what I've already done and what's next:

1. Bench Seat Conversion
• As stated and shown above, the current bench seat is in terrible condition. Rather than replacing the bench seat, I have decided to convert the seat to bucket seats using a later year (1998) Tacoma's seats for the conversion. My new seats bolted up with no issue are in much better shape for a meager $100. Well worth it in my opinion
  
  
  
  
  
2. Carpet Cleaning becomes Carpet Replacement
• Similar to the seats, the car wreaked making it nearly undrivable to be in. The easiest solution in something like this Tacoma is cleaning the carpet. Well, after pulling the carpet out of the car (and removing the seats again to do so), I found that the carpet was hosting 99% of the terrible odor and would be easier to replace it rather than try and resolve. I am currently waiting on samples from an interior carpet manufacturer to decide on the color that I want to do. At most this will cost $160 and I think it will be well-worth it!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
3. Bed Liner
• This was actually not an intended purchase, but an individual was giving away a free bed liner about 5 minutes from my house. It's in decent shape and couldn't pass up a free one. Install took all of 10 minutes.
  
  
  
  
  
4. Oil Leak and Engine Service
• I have now crawled underneath the Tacoma to seat what is actually leaking. I have subsequently determined that it's essentially everything... In all of my vehicles that I have owned, this one singlehandedly takes the cake for being the largest and most oil leaks I have worked on. To resolve, I am intending to replace the:
  
  
• Valve cover gasket
• Oil pan gasket
• Oil pump gasket
• Front main seal
• Potentially the timing chain cover gasket
  
  
• During this service, I will also check on the timing chain guides (plastic can break/fail), replace the spark plugs, and do a formal lookover of the engine in its entirety. Parts for this car are super inexpensive, so I anticipate using OEM Toyota parts will cost somewhere around $200-250.
  
  
5. Wheels & Tires
• Tires don't last forever and are a safety-related item. The problem with purchasing new tires for this car are the wheel size. Very few manufacturers actually make tires for a 14" wheel. That said, I am intending to purchase take-off wheels from a different car (have one in-mind) and run Cooper Discoverer 4S tires on them. Cost will range based on the cost of the wheels and the tires that are inevitably selected.
  
  
6. Suspension Service
• Couple of callouts on this one:
  
  
• Ball-Joint Service. This is actually a safety item on the Tacoma's, Sequoia's, and Tundra's of the era as the lower ball-join can actually separate from the lower control arm causing some serious scariness (see the image below for reference). I have no idea if they have ever been serviced and Toyota advises replacement every 100,000 miles. Anticipating this to cost ~$200.
  
  
  
  
  
• Shocks/Springs. I don't plan on lifting the Tacoma. It is 2-wheel drive and a 5-lug design (for more information on 5-lug read this). That said, the suspension does have a trip to the moon in terms of miles on it and is probably ready for a refresh. I intend to install new shocks and springs that are better suited for daily driving. Realistically this will cost $200-300 depending on what I choose to go with.

To recap, the Tacoma is FAR from perfect but its a perfect example of an inexpensive truck that I can haul parts, furniture, or motorcycles and other toys in. After I'm done performing its needed service, I anticipate it'll be ready for another 250,000+ miles and I will have probably $3,500 total in the truck. I'm excited to have Taco the beater Tacoma around the house going forward and I'm already putting it to use including a trip to the dump and moving furniture!