Workin’ With Whatcha Have

Most guys get an early jump when it comes to the whole custom truck thing. Many of us, like Matt Moreno, became interested in them as soon as we were issued a driver’s license. Matt had a ’92 Toyota pickup back when he was a junior in high school. It wasn’t much to look at, but it was his, and that was enough for him. Sure, he tried his best to set it apart from the others in the parking lot, throwing a couple bucks into it when he had some extra cash in his pocket, but it never did get too impressive. Still, Matt loved his truck and drove it with pride throughout the rest of his career as a student, until it started to run weird and overheat. It was toast: the block had cracked, and instead of dumping money he didn’t have into the truck, he was forced to move on and scrap the vehicle he learned to drive in.

At that point, Matt was a high school grad without a set of wheels, which is a pretty tragic thing when you’re used to cruising around with your pals trying to pick up chicks. Luckily, his time as a carless young stud didn’t last too long. Matt’s grandparents had an old truck they were about to retire from farm duty, so naturally they offered it to their grandson. It was used, and it was definitely abused, but, hey, it was free, and it was another Toyota, a ’99 Tacoma. Matt jumped on the opportunity and snatched the keys from their hands before they could even contemplate changing their minds. “When I got it, it was in rough shape but that’s how a work truck should be. I was looking for something that I could easily fix up and customize,” Matt says.

Once he had the truck in his clutches, Matt immediately went to work on it. “My dad and I spent so many hours on our backs in the garage fixing stuff, replacing parts, so of course I learned a lot from those days.” They got the truck up and running respectably again, so it was time to customize. Even though Matt had scored the truck for nothing, money was still an issue, but he made sure progress happened. First, all of the dents and rough spots were straightened out in preparation for the full color change he wanted. Once that was done, the rear was dropped 2 inches to level out the stance, and a set of 20s was brought into the mix. The truck was coming together faster than Matt had ever thought it would, and when he eventually bought a house, he used the first-time buyer rebate for an air ride system.

The only portion of the truck that Matt didn’t go nuts on was the engine, but that’s only because it didn’t really need much besides catching up on the maintenance schedule. “It’s the original motor with 160k miles on it. I dressed it up a bit and added a few improvements, but it wasn’t broken, so it didn’t make sense to toss it aside.” Yep, things were looking real good for the family beater truck.

Somewhere in the middle of the truck’s progress, however, there was an unexpected occurrence. “My grandma, who had given me the truck, passed away. She was never able to see what her old work truck had turned into, but I know that she sent her love and support from above during the rest of the build, and that she is proud of what it has become.” In homage to his grandma, Matt made sure that the rest of the truck was done right. “I learned a lot about life during the span of this project. Of course, there are the physical tips and tricks that go into turning wrenches, but I also learned how to tell who is really on your side and who is there to root against you. If I could, I wouldn’t go back and do a thing differently throughout the four years I spent on my truck. It was difficult, expensive and a bit more complicated than it should’ve been, but if it were easy, everyone would be doing this.”

Matt has, on average, accomplished a great deal more than some of his peers could claim, but he doesn’t gloat. He put in the work to afford the impressive list of modifications. He dug deep within himself to have the patience and determination to see the project through, and he has bettered himself through the process. Appreciation is definitely a lesson that he’s become familiar with, and it’s apparent in how he responded to some of the nagging questions we put in front of him. When asked what his favorite part of the build process was, he said, “The best thing about it was just doing something I have fun with and enjoy. I’m very proud of what I’ve done.” ST

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNERS

Matthew Moreno
1999 Toyota Tacoma Moreno
Kustomz Lubbock, TX

ENGINE/TRANS

• Stock 2.4L
• Pace Setter header
• K&N cold air intake
• 1994 Toyota rearend
• Painted valve cover, chrome radiator hoses and oil cap
• MSD wires

SUSPENSION

• Slam Specialties RE-6 front airbags, RE-7 airbags in rear
• Sadistic Iron Werks upper control arms
• Cantilever 4-link with ’bags on lower bars
• Two Viair 450 compressors
• 8-inch C-notch
• ½-Inch SMC valves

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8.5 Forte F5
• 255/35ZR20 Nitto NT555

BODY & PAINT

• Shaved hood squirters, antenna, front side marker lights, door handles, gas door, rear window drip molding and tailgate handle
• 4Runner front-end conversion
• Rear glass with license plate box
• PPG Toyota black metallic
• Tailgate pinstriping

INTERIOR

• Black vinyl and suede- covered bucket seats
• Smoothed and painted dash
• AVS single-needle air gauges
• Black suede headliner and door panels
• 12-inch widescreen sun visor monitors
• Chrome Hurst shifter
• LCE short shifter
• 6.5-inch Clarion double DIN touch-screen head unit
• 10-inch Alpine Type X subwoofer
• 1500-watt Hifonics amplifier

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