Like a child that you grow increasingly proud of with each life-changing experience, our 40th Anniversary Toyota Tacoma Sweepstakes truck has been bringing us pride and joy throughout its evolution from stocker to slick custom ride. We've modified the truck over our last three issues with the help of a whole bunch of good partners.
We began our buildup by first adding power and torque with a TRD Sportsparts package. The kit included a supercharger, a stainless steel header and exhaust system and a high-flow air system. Then we took our Taco up a few notches with a Pro Comp 4-inch lift, new RaceRunner coilover shocks up front and Monotube MX-6 shocks at the rear. Plus, we set up some Pro Comp rear traction bars and a stainless steel front skidplate. Then we added paint and graphics from Molly design, tires from BFGoodrich and wheels from Colorado Custom.
In this, our final installment, we finalized our improvements to the Tacoma's comfort level and 'wheelability. We dropped the truck off at Downey Off Road, where founder Jim Sickles custom-fabricated a brand-new front bumper for the Toy. Its pre-runner look goes great with the Tacoma, giving it that sought after intimidating profile. To complete the look, we added a Duffco spare-tire mount to the Toyota's bed, and we then had the guys at Line-X coat the raw steel skin of the bumper and spare-tire mount.
Once our bumper was taken care of, we turned to Beard seats for special custom buckets. Owner Tim Sousamian delivered with a striking two-color design and engineer Al Hinkle created special mounting brackets for the seats in the front and rear. Easy to install, they look and feel great.
The last step in completing our sweepstakes truck was adding a set of PIAA off-road lights and a proper race-style spare-tire carrier. Now complete, this Toyota never looked or felt so good.
Seats Beard Seats designed...
Seats
Beard Seats designed our new seats for us. They're very comfortable and install easily. Designed initially for our project, they are now available from Beard for new Toyota Tacomas.
Removing the stock seats was...
Removing the stock seats was incredibly easy. Just squeeze off the bolt covers, unbolt the seats, and then pull them out.
Once the stock seats are gone,...
Once the stock seats are gone, bolt in the base brackets to the Tacoma's existing floor brackets. Beard designed these brackets to fit the same way the stock ones worked. Very easy. Our install was a little more involved than yours would be because Beard sends the brackets pre-assembled. We had to bolt the top and bottom portions together.
Fit the provided seatbelts...
Fit the provided seatbelts between the bracket and the seats and then bolt on the seats, back-end first. You can also mount the seats onto the brackets outside the vehicle and then bolt them in as one unit. Beard engineer Al Hinkle advised that all the bolts remain loose so that once the seat is installed it can be aligned correctly. Once alignment is satisfactory, the bolts can be tightened. The holes in the brackets are slightly larger than the supplied bolts for this reason.
Start installing the rear...
Start installing the rear seats by first unbolting the side rails along the doorjamb. Then lift up the carpet off the floor section. Beard engineer Al Hinkle designed a custom mounting bracket for the rear section, which is elevated slightly compared to the front seats. The bracket features the correct bolt mounts for the seats and seatbelts.
Bolt in the rear seatbelts...
Bolt in the rear seatbelts and then lower the carpet back down, making sure to pull the brackets through the carpet's holes. No cutting of the carpet is necessary.
Because the seats are buckets,...
Because the seats are buckets, unlike the stock rear seat (a bench), Hinkle designed these braces for the outside corners of the seats. A little extra comfort and support never hurt.
Last step. Bolt in the rear...
Last step. Bolt in the rear seats. Pretty easy, pretty cool and quite comfy.
Front Bumper To aid in installation,...
Front Bumper
To aid in installation, Downey's front bar is a two-piece design. You don't have to remove the entire front bumper to install the lower piece, just unbolt the right side.
The only trimming required...
The only trimming required on the factory bumper is a pair of 2x2-inch scallops to make room for the tubes. Start the cuts approximately 111/42 inch inside the vertical trim piece.
Since we had it coated in...
Since we had it coated in Line-X we had to scrape off the coating in the coupling areas. We found that a sharp knife works best. Make a straight cut all the way to the metal then start to whittle the coating off. You then will have a nice clean edge.
After you have fully tightened...
After you have fully tightened the lower tubes, realign the factory bumper and tighten its mounting bolts. You'll be drilling into the factory bumper to mount the upper tubes so make sure the factory bumper is level. Slide the upper portion in place, mark your holes with a scribe, remove the upper portion and drill your holes.
Lights
Installing the KC SlimLights was also an easy process. As an added cool factor, we used shrink-wrap to cover the external wires and connectors. Lucky for us, Toyota left a nice plugged hole in the firewall. Just make a knife slit in the grommet that's in that hole and feed your wires through. We mounted the relay out of harm's way on the inner firewall.
This is another easy bolt-on that you'll thank yourself for. Mount a set a floodlights (we chose KC #517) to the frame underneath the rear of the truck. With the emergency brake on, turn the ignition key forward without starting the truck and put the shifter in reverse. Make sure the taillights and brake lights are off. Locate the wire loom heading up to the taillight assembly (or to the reverse lights) and unfold it to expose the wires. Poke around with a continuity tester until you find the hot wire for the back-up bulbs. Using a simple wire-splice connector, connect your newly mounted light-power wire. Ground out the other wire that came with your light, and you're set.
Spare Tire Carrier
The Duffco spare-tire mount is a trick bolt-in with a cool factor of 10-plus. The mounting holes line up right on the raised slats in the bed. The only difficult step is holding the nuts between the frame and bed when you thread the bolt in from the top. We used duct tape to hold the nut in the end of a wrench, but you may wish to make use of a second set of hands.
We coated the entire spare-tire carrier in Line-X to match the bed. If you elect to do the same, make sure you mask off the large threaded holes, or you'll be shopping for a very large thread tap to clean them. If you choose to coat the hold-down disc, use a large washer on top when mounting the wheel. The washer will keep the tie-bar from damaging the coating when you crank it down.
THE WINNER!!
Editor Jon Thompson hands 40th Anniversary Sweepstakes winner Kevin Grass (left) the keys to the Four Wheeler Tacoma project truck.
Project 40th Anniversary Tacoma - Part 1, click here.
Project 40th Anniversary Tacoma - Part 2, click here.
Project 40th Anniversary Tacoma - Part 3, click here.