mholmes137's Tacoma Limited

[mholmes137]

I'm in the process of doing what Toyota should have done, build a Tacoma Limited. Ok, maybe it'll end up having a little more done to it than the standard limited trim level that Toyota offers, but this is how they should build them.

For starters I took a 2010 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab short box with the TRD Offroad package in Super White. I bought it new, but only after I had most of this stuff planned out because I'm a sucker for heated leather and nav. The only picture taken of my truck stock was by the dealer before I left the lot because I guess they make calanders with the picture and send them out. Seeing the truck stock isn't what this is all about though.

None of the modifications so far have a very well documented process because I tackled almost everything at once. Heck I'm going on my third week with the truck now, so it's all come along pretty fast. I'll list all of the mods on separate posts so I can edit and add pictures neatly.

[mholmes137]

This was one of my had to do mods being I live in northern MN and it's cold. I've gotten spoiled with having heated leather seats available from the factory in my other cars (Saab 9-3 Turbo and 4Runner limited) and didn't want a Tacoma without them. This mod was done by a professional, not me, so I can't tell you how long it took (I was without the truck for 1.5 days but that's because I live 90 miles from the dealer and had to schedule it around my work schedule) or how hard it was.

The leather seats are actually available from a company called Katzkin http://www.katzkin.com/main.html I didn't know how much custom stuff they did or I might have gone a little crazier, but it looks pretty factory the way it is now. It matches the factory grey interior and they did a nice job installing them. It's damn near factory quality/fit/finish. Most of that has to do with the installer though, and I'm happy with my results.

I don't remember the brand of the seat heaters, but I've got the paperwork at home if anyone's really interested. It's in the base and back of both front seats. It's got high and low and automatically shuts off after one hour (or so the instructions say, I can't say I've really tried to check that). They take a little longer to warm up than heated seats in my Dad's Chevy 2500HD Duramax, but they get plenty hot- definitely more so than in my Saab. The switch location was chosen by the installer. At first I was a little bummed about where they put them by the cupholder, but they've really grown on me there. If I decide I need to put my iPhone holder down there I'll move them to the dash, maybe right into the climate control panel.

[mholmes137]

This was installed by the same guy as my seats. I really didn't shop around much for this, it was kind of a package deal with the seats that was set up straight through the Toyota dealer for me.

http://autostartusa.com/Products/Pro...ProductID=4201

It's an Autostart AS-3742. It's got like a 3000' range and an LCD remote that tells me how long the car has been running and if it's locked or not. The main unit is installed behind the drivers side kick panel and there is an external antenna mounted up by the mirror.

As for install instructions, I have no idea other than what I've found while messing with other stuff. I'm sure I could have installed it, but like I said before, it was a package deal.

[mholmes137]

This was the first thing I did to the truck when I got home.

Instructions:
1) Heat up the emblems with a heat gun. If you don't have a heat gun, go buy one. They're uber useful for decals, painting, wiring stuff etc. Leave your wife's haridryer in the bathroom. And I suggest a nice Milwakee heat gun, I had some cheaper ones in the past and they never lasted long. I've had this one for three years and treat it was worse than my others and it keeps working.

2) Take some fishing line and work it behind the emblems to break up the doubled sided tape. Use monofilament line, I chose 20 lb test because it's what I had sitting there and then it's also less prone to breakage. I did break it a few times, but part of that due to the heat and friction. Don't be affraid to keep heating the emblem- just don't get it so hot that you can't touch it- I almost burned my fingers on one of them.

3) The emblem should come off easy then and you can rub/roll the excess double sided tape pretty easily if you warm it up a little with that nice heat gun you bought, gotta get your money's worth oit of it.

4) 3M adhesive remover. It's much superior to Goo-Gone. It's more industrial but still won't take off paint (as long as it's high quality paint and has been clear coated- the can has a warning about that). It won't hurt your Tacoma paint. It's in a blue can and available in the automotive section at Wal-Mart.

5) Wash/wax that little area so it shines like the rest of the truck.

I took my badges off right away so it was really easy. If your badges have been on for longer they might be more difficult to remove and you might need more heat and more 3M adhesive remove. There's also the possibility of some paint fading around the logo and not under that could look bad. That's your call to make, but I like the debadged. I took off all the logos (excpet grill, that's getting replaced anyways) and the TRD sticker.

[mholmes137]

Special thanks to jayshahu for hooking me up with a sweet deal on this head unit along with an iPod cable and XM tuner from Al & Ed's Autosound as part of a group buy on here.

I found all the info I could ever need for installing it here http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/aud...ion-links.html There's even things I didn't know I could do on there. I've got Blutooth controls on the way, they're supposed to be here in 2 days and that means I should have them installed by the end of the weekend.

It's unlocked too so that I can program nav directions and watch movies while in drive (don't need parking brake on). Instructions to do that here: http://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=25867

I used the Scosche Double DIN kit and am happy with it. It's not factory perfect fit, but everyone's looking at the screen not if there's a slightly bigger gap than would be expected. The color matches the hazard button perfectly, but seems maybe a little lighter than the silver by the vents. Could just be in my head too, but I think it looks good.

I'm still working on my iPod mount so the cable temporarily is just routed through one of the dummy switch holes. I'll get better pictures of that stuff once it's all final.

[genxer36]

Welcome to tw!

[mholmes137]

After much searching, I decided to give aftermarket headlights a try instead of painting mine. It seems like people have had good luck with the ones made in Taiwan, so I found this set on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT They're already black and get rid of the orange plastic on the side. I've still got to get some chromed orange bulbs to replace the yellow ones with so that they are totally black/chrome/clear and no orange unless illuminated. I'll keep this thread posted with any trouble fogging. There doesn't appear to be any flaws in the chrome reflectors upon initial inspection.

They just showed up tonight, but I'm going to wait until my grill shows up to install them. Should be on within a week.

[mholmes137]

In an attempt to get rid of all the chrome I'm going with a replacement black grill http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...d=223022897022

Shipping from this seller has been very slow. It's been two weeks and it's still not here yet.

[1337Taco]

You can probably sell your 10' lights for a good amount. Welcome to Tw!

[mholmes137]

Thanks for the welcomes. I'll consider selling my '10 lights once the aftermarket's prove themselves. I figure that if they leak, I'll put the stock lights back in while I pull and work on resealing the aftermarket ones. I'll probably consider selling the factory 6-disc changer at some point in time too. I'm sure there's someone with a base model or older 4 cylinder that would appreciate the upgrade. I'm planning on keeping this rig for quite a while, so once all my mods show that they're trustworthy I'll start selling the rest of the parts.

[1337Taco]

Cool deal. Are you making this into an offroad vehicle?

[mholmes137]

Here's the current list of things, in no specific order, that will get done to my taco in the near future

New wheels and tires- Goodyear Duratrac tires are a must and probably the FJ TRD SE gunmetal 16" wheels. I'll probably go with 265/75-16 to begin with until I'm out of warranty and get a lift.

Leer topper- I'm not really a topper fan, but I need the extra enclosed storage space.

Locking Rear diff mod so that it works more than in just 4L

Inverter mod- 400 watts all the time and add plugs to the interior

Bed lights- probably small fog lights in the front pockets. I'll add a 12V outlet back there too then.

TSB rear springs- I just need to call Toyota and get this set-up.

Shocks/Lift- Fox Front Coilovers- once the warranty is up I plan on this and the Fox remote reservoirs for the back. Not sure how much of a lift I really want, because I need to be able to fit in parking ramps and my garage.

[mholmes137]

If I wanted something to look good in parking lots, I would have kept my Saab 9-3 turbo. It got 35 mpg when I took it easy and 27 mpg when I drove like a maniac, along with being pretty luxurious. I will miss that car, but it just didn't work with all the hunting and fishing I do.

So yes, it'll be an off road vehicle, just nothing too radical because it's still got to be my daily driver and I put on a lot of miles. Eventually once the warranty is up I'll probably lift it about 3" and stick 33's on it. The biggest thing I need for my offroading is ground clearance because of snow while ice fishing and mud/ruts while out camping and fishing in the middle of no where the rest of the year.

I'm thinking I'll get a big replacement front bumper with winch mounts, but haven't found one that has been exactly what i'm looking for yet. When I do though, I'll probably put that towards the top of my list for deer protection. We've got way too many deer on the highways up here.....

[1337Taco]

The lift won't void your warranty. Also the offroad has a locker. Sounds like a good list of mods. I can see you already got the mod bug.

[1337Taco]

As for offroad bumpers check ARB, Shrockworks, CBI, and All Pro to name a few.

[mholmes137]

I guess I didn't phase my locker mod comment correctly- I meant the locker anytime mod to the current locker. The locker is part of why I got a tacoma that I did. I had a 4Runner with the factory electronic locker and loved it. It'll be even better if I can use it in more than just 4L- when I'm messing around in the snow on lakes, wheel speed can be a very good thing, and I'll take all the tires I can get spinning. I know that the new Tacomas have a pretty badass 4WD system and they apply the brake to the spinning wheel to function to a sort of an auto LSD and I'll be using that frequently, but I still like the option of going locked in the rear.

I know that lifts don't void the warranty totally, but if the truck is lifted and bigger wheels and tires are installed and something in the drive train or suspension fails, you can still be hosed. Dealers and Toyota can decide that the failure was related to the modifications or how you were using it because you've got all these modifications and then it's not covered.

Thanks for the bumpers to look into. Now I've got to start selling all my Saab parts and extra Jeep parts (I've got a 59 CJ5) to start funding more of this.

[ktmrider]

looks sick, are the seats katskinz

[mholmes137]

Originally Posted by ktmrider

looks sick, are the seats katskinz

yup, there's a link to their website in the second post.

[mholmes137]

So I've had these mods done for quite a while, I've just been busier working on my truck than on my computer. The bumper I originally ordered was lost in shipping. A call to the eBay seller and apparently they had lost multiple shipments that week, so it was a speedy process of getting the lost package stuff done. Unfortunately that was the last of that style bumper they had, and they were no longer available from their supplier in black. They did have chrome, but that defeats the purpose for me. They did have a new black mesh style on the way, and they were willing to upgrade my shipping for all of the hassle and wait, so I figured I'd go for that. The look of it is definitely growing on me.

The bumper vinyl is flat black 3M Scotchcal Matte Black from Beacon Graphics. It was under $52 for a big roll shipped to my door. That way I've got plenty to re do it or other parts as needed. It's not the easiest to put on, but it's possible. I don't really like soapy water and I wish I wouldn't have messed with that. I'm a bigger fan of heat and stretch and heat stretch. I've got quite a bit of graphics experience from snowmobile racing, but this was by far the hardest project I've tackled.

The lights are the ones listed above. No problems fogging yet, but we haven't had any major rain storms either. I need to re-aim the headlights because they're a little off, just haven't gotten around to that yet.

[mholmes137]

These were a Wal-Mart special that I picked up a while ago for under $20. They're small driving lights that I knew I would find some use for. All of the wiring if run along side the factory wiring in convoluted tubing. I ran three wires back there, one for back up/rock lights, one for bed lights, and one constant power that I'll use for the automatic bed lights and a 12V outlet.

No extra holes drilled for mounting either. I just pushed out one of the plastic push darts for the mud flaps and stuck a bolt through there to mount the lights. Seems plenty sturdy and it's tucked way up out of the way. It doesn't provide a lot of distance back up lighting, it's more close to the truck as rock lights. I could get more distance if I changed the mounting location, but this is nice for working right behind the truck, loading stuff back there, and great lighting for when you're going through rocky sections off road at night. I chose not to wire it to automatically come on with the regular back up lights because that's not really their intended purpose, I like to be able to have them on whenever. I'll have to get some night shots and a shot of my 6 interior switches in the center console.