What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

No concern about air flow to engine/radiator?

 

@ERMB
Got "SOS Concepts" from Eddy. Access Cab, Bolt-On with Kickouts.
As I don't get to offroad much, due to lack of time, I had them professionally painted.
Black under the truck and Color Matched the Silversteak Mica on all the exposed round stock.

Process:
2 hours of Sandblasting
Self Etching Primer
Epoxy Primer
Gravel Guard
2 Base Coats - Black
1 Base Coat - Silver (Over Black, on Round Stock)
4 Coats Clear Coat

Got 1" Wide 3M Clear Safety-Walk Tread 620 for the top, to step on.

Sorry, haven't taken any pictures of 'em

All I gotta do is Sandblast and POR-15 the Frame 1st.

Stick with the art, good luck.



CC

 

Did you take off the front bumper?

 

Nope! Just the grille. I was able to do it just fine and I don't have any special or compact tools. It's a tight fit but manageable.

 

Yea i did mine the first time without taking it off but when I adjusted the mounts I took the front bumper off. So much easier

 

Luckily my mounts are in there really solid and don't need any adjusting. As far as adjusting the actual light, the bolts on the side are accessible from the front without having to remove anything. Now whether or not there's enough up and down travel to actually aim is a different story. I sure hope there is or I'm gonna have to do a lot more trimming.

 

Looks Great!!! What light bar is it? and what mounts did you use?

 

So I'll be honest here. This light is mostly for aesthetics because I rarely off road. With that being said, that's why I went with this one.

Xprite 30" LED Off Road Light Bar Flood/Spot Combo Beam, 180W LED Power

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LNJI1KI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
It's inexpensive and it got great reviews as far as it's brightness and reliability. To wire it, I had most of the stuff and I just picked up a relay and generic switch from Pep Boys that I put in a blank.

As far as the mount, it's "custom" (jerry rigged). I took some angle iron, two 1" x 5" strips of metal stock, misc nuts and bolts, and two self tapping screws. The light sat too far above the angle iron, so I cut the stock, drilled a couple holes, and used it to fill the gap between the light mounts and the angle iron. Once I had all that tightened down, I put the self tapping screws straight into the crash bar. It's surprisingly sturdy because the light was such a tight fit in the valence, there isn't much weight for the mount to support.

 

Nice light bar.. should post up a night shot when you get a chance.

 

Thanks! I plan on waiting until it's dark out and aiming it with my garage. One of the perks of a long, level driveway.

 

ah cool, wish I had that when I did my retros lol. Ended up having to drive to work where there is a nice level area to work with to handle the rotation and aim.

I've considered a light bar in the same spot. Just not sure if I will have it out like yours or behind the valance so I don't need to cut anything. I imagine behind is going to reduce the output a bit though... kind of channeling the light rather than letting it spread.

 

I did a bunch of reading on this and a couple people have it behind the valence. They say that they don't even notice it's there and it doesn't affect light output at all. The reason I have mine flush with the bumper is that I just think it looks way better.

 

Yep. I'll have mine slightly less than flush if that makes sense

 

The top of my shopping list was an off-road bumper with an LED bar. But we hit some mud on Saturday night in the desert and I completely lost eyesight. In the dark. My kid was on the passenger seat with a flashlight pointing to the road ahead until we got to the next stop. Hahaha.

And now I have changed my mind. Going to get a Prinsu roof rack and an LED bar to put on it first. Less chances of it being covered by mud there. Bumper can wait. I'd rather see where I am going

 

Or get both

 

Damn! That's pretty impressive that you managed to cover your headlights so well. I really want the same set up too. Roof racks with lights on them look great IMO

 

"Everybody needs money. Thats why they call it money"


I will definitely get the bumper, but have to play favorites... because money.

 

I can definitely understand that

 

I have two light bars mounted behind the grill and they get covered pretty bad sometimes. The one on the roof stays out of the muck, but when the windshield is dirty the glare is unbearable.