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

Yeah man, that was me... Had to drop the boat off and turn around to pick up the little one from school.

Appreciate it!

 

Yesterday, I washed, dried, clay barred, and waxed my Tacoma. That was the first time I had ever used a clay bar kit. I like the results. The paint feels really smooth. I haven't always dried my truck after washing so it had water spots that were especially visible on the hood. The clay bar treatment did a great job of removing those spots. These pics are from today:

 

I used a flat black and a flat clearcoat

 

Sucked up and got the grille on eBay for $200 with free shipping. Got a new OEM Sport bumper for $175 shipped on eBay, too. The bumpers come flat black, so I got it painted for $175 locally and installed it in an hour.

 

I need to get this lucky!

 

Same bumper is always on eBay through Toyota dealerships with free shipping. Since they come stripped of plastic they are ready for paint. Just call around and see what paint quotes you get. You might be surprised.

 

Yesterday hooked up the trailer and helped my cousin and his wife move their big stuff to their new house, then got a trailer full of firewood on the way home. First big load on the new taco, and am very pleased with how it tows. This is the first time I'd loaded that trailer up behind anything that wasn't a V8, didn't have super high expectations, but just like everything else with this taco I was very happy. No loaded pics, but here is the aftermath; complete with the helper of the day.

 

As assistants go these days, that's one of the best.

 

Installed Rough Country duallys on CBI ditch light brackets, hooked up to an OTRATTW switch, took the "8" off my Mk6 wheels with some acetone. Very satisfied with the way it turned out.

 

installed an OEM skid plate that I scored from a local member!

 

Wired up some auxiliary power to the back seat for the kids. Made it so its powered all the time.


More pics of process in my build thread.

 

K&N CAI! Did some much needed 4Low exercise.

 

Painted the radio shroud black

 

blue LEDs??????????? how hard was that?

 

That's a good dog right there. Good taste in trucks

 

Not too bad, although the leds are frickin tiny so using a normal sized soldering tip was kind of tricky to not burn the leds. Luckily I had a bunch of extras

 

Finally got around to a proper clay, polish, sealant and paint guard application since buying the truck back in July.
Aside from a small ding and scratch, I couldn't be happier with the condition of the paint. Super White doesn't have the depth I could get out of my black Mini Cooper, nor does it show dirt/scratches like black does.

Sonus clay
Ultimate Detailing Machine Dual Action Orbital Polisher
Sonus SFX-2 polish w/ swirlbuster pad
Klasse AIO w/ light polish pad
Ultima Paint Guard+
303 Aerospace on all plastic/rubber

 

Next little project getting underway.

 

Where did you buy your turn signal mirror caps from?

 

From the dealership. I had to buy the whole mirror assemblies since my truck is a 2010, then I had to wire the turn signals since they're not plug-n-play.