Flavor of the Week

[skippy]

With the jk it's more of the towing capability. I hated towing with my lj. Granted it did have 37's, no sway bars, triangulated in the rear and 4.56 gearing. But I imagine if I had a jk it'd turn into that again. I can't say a raptor doesn't cross my mind 5 times a week and be telling the truth. But I like not having loans and owning my junk so I can buy and trade and sell at my liesure. Maybe if I got a loan though I couldn't do that.

A four door JK is an awesome Rig throw a teraflex long arm kit on it and there is no reason to make another adjustment to the suspension they are a little under powered but the driveability is amazing compared to pre JK models

 

[Cascadia]

Maybe I'll try another one out tomorrow. It's been a few years. I think I'll try one of those tomorrow and a 4 runner. Not sure what else.

 

[Cascadia]

I didn't drive anything yesterday. I just couldn't get excited about anything and after searching for hours I cant get excited about anything at all. Hopefully the weather stays nice cause it looks like I'm going to be on the v star for a while.

 

[sixstringsteve]

do you enjoy the process of selecting your next vehicle, or do you hate it? I'm at the point now that I'm so sick of vehicle shopping that I just want to keep improving my current vehicles.

 

[Cascadia]

I used to love shopping for my next vehicle. It was always fun to try something new. But I think I'm getting burnt out now on it. I've tried so many and now I can't find something new that I like. I think back to my past vehicles and don't want to get one that's the same because there was something I didn't love about all of them. I would love a 1st gen Tacoma dc but I would want leather, a nice stereo, and a 4.7 tundra motor and trans and t case. But I don't want to spend that much money. I've been quoted 6-8k for the entire swap.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I hear ya, I'm in the same boat.

I like your idea of the dream vehicle. Did they ever make a leather 1st gen tacoma? I think a 2nd gen tacoma wouldn't be too far off from the power of a 4.7.

 

[Cascadia]

I'm not sure if they ever came with leather. I'll have to research that. I'd want one with around 100k with the tundra drivetrain which puts me at about 20k. Then 1k for the leather and 2500 for the mods I'd want to do. It'd be my dream rig and I know I'd keep it for a long time. Can't really handle the down time of a swap though. I need a vehicle everyday.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I know you miss your old tacoma. If you didn't have to tow with it, would you still want to do the 4.7 swap, or would the SC 3.4L be good enough? Why not buy a beater 1500 reg cab for work for towing the trailer, and build a nice DC Taco for camping/enjoying?

 

[Cascadia]

I'd still want to do the swap. I like having more when I need it. I wouldn't mind A cheaper truck for work but I feel like I'm more likely to get jobs with a nicer truck. IMO it just looks like it represents your business better and looks like a higher quality business. Just my opinion though.

 

[BCGPER]

As a customer (now) and someone in the same business (then), I'd hire a guy in a 74 Chevy long before I'd hire a guy in a nice new lifted truck. Your customers dont want to think they're making your truck payments. Show up in an old beater, and they think they're getting a deal.

 

[Cascadia]

Still haven't come up with anything. I've just been riding the v star. I had to put it back to stock height for comfort reasons. It's starting to get pretty cool in the mornings though so I need to find something soon. Anyone want to trade an 06 yamaha v star 1100 for a jeep or Toyota truck that is street legal? I could make up the difference. Just a thought.

We are in Boise this weekend mountain biking and at a cross country race, we test drove an Audi s4 because I have always wanted one but cant decide if I want to pull the trigger. I might be picking up a p20 step van when I get back in town so I can really get whatever vehicle I want as long as it's under 25k. I just can't get 100% excited about anything but I want to stick with this one for a while.

 

[Cascadia]

I decided to pass on both s4's I checked out in Idaho this weekend and hopefully get back to my roots a little more. I'm leaning towards a first gen 4 door tacoma and doing the tundra drivetrain swap, minus the axles. It will most likely sit on 33's, bumpers, sliders, leather interior. I think it would be a good fit and I would have no complaints. The leather interior would give me the comfort I want. The motor will give me the power I want, the vehicle will give me the capability to wheel again. The motor swap in a smaller vehicle will give me the better gas mileage that I want?

Am I headed in the right direction? Does anyone disagree with my assumptions? Is this a good choice?

 

[Greg]

So you're planning on swapping a 4.7 into a Tacoma? Sounds like a lot of work and a lot of money! Who would be doing the drivetrain swap? Has anyone done this before? Making it all fit may be fun.

Sounds interesting... I think it would be a killer vehicle with a V8! I don't think you'll see big mileage increase, our 4.7 4Runner seems to average about 16 MPG and it should be pretty similar in weight to a 4 door Tacoma.

 

[Cascadia]

16 is a big difference compared to the 12 I am used to getting with the full size trucks I've had. Nic (Panos) would be doing the entire swap for me. The drive train would all have less than 40k on it. It would be pricey but it will still keep me at under what I am wanting to spend, and I would be getting exactly what I want.

 

[sixstringsteve]

How much heavier is the 4.7 and tranny?

 

[Greg]

Do it, but I want to see a killer build thread! Sounds like it's what you want and within your price range... I want to see it done!

 

[sixstringsteve]

my buddy supercharged his tacoma, and did the urd 7th injector, and its a beautiful truck. that being said, it was a ton of money and the performance increase isnt that impressive. I think huge mods can introduce headaches, but you've definitely got the right guy doing them for you.

One huge consideration is that each of these mods will reduce the value of the truck. Once you go down that path, youre committed because if you try to sell it youre going to.lose tons of money.

I really want to see the swap done, itd be awesome. But i still think you'd end up wishing you had a raptor instead

 

[Cascadia]

I think you want me to have a raptor more than I want a raptor. If I go down this road I will be sticking with a for a long time. I am sick of buying and selling cars. That is why it is taking me so long to decide on what I want. I keep coming back to the tacoma.

 

[Cascadia]

How much heavier is the 4.7 and tranny?

I'm not sure. I will leave that up to nic to figure out all the details. If I need to get some heavier ome coils up front, that can be easily done. Before any of it starts I still need to find the right color truck and things like that and then there will be a lot of measuring done to make sure the swap can even happen.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Go for it! It sounds like you've given it lots of thought. Are you planning on towing your trailer with it?