TOD's mods and product review

Went to Target and got a pair of those seat covers yesterday. Do they move around on you at all?

 

A little bit at first. You have to really wedge the pad thing into the crack of the seat. Keep tightening the straps and eventually it fits tight with less movement.

These seats make it easier for me to slide in and out of the cab. I think you'll discover that too.

 

"CHINCHILLA" review cont'd:



Here's a pic of the Chinchilla detail towel (Taco manual for scale). It measures 16"x 16" as advertised.

I have to say that it is very soft...the softest microfiber towel I've handled yet. Similar to animal fur. It is a single piece towel, not two towels sewn together. This is a plus. Also the red edged boarder is "satiny smooth". It's probably best to have no edged boarder but I really don't see a downside with this construction.

Pile length and construction is the same on both sides of the towel.

I actually think the size of this towel could actually be an advantage because you don't have to worry about it accidentally touching the ground when working on the sides of a car. A larger towel would be harder to control in this regard.

BTW the tag peels off easy.

I haven't had a chance to use it yet so stay tuned...

UPDATE 1/21/2018:

Got a chance to wash and wax my wife's car today. Used the Chinchilla and it worked wonderfully. Very soft and spread the Lucas Speed Wax with ease.

 

Here's a product that I discovered through my Dad:



For decades he used a chamois (shammy), but on a trip back home I made earlier this year I discovered he was using this product. He's a tough customer so I knew that this product must be good. It's sold at Wal-Mart. I remember seeing it on the shelves for years but never really picked it up and really looked at it.

I've had mine for about 6 months and love it. It's a big 27"x17" rectangle of absorbent goodness. You've got to store it damp in the tube so it doesn't dry out.

When I use it to dry off my truck after washing and before waxing, I use both hands and use it unrolled. I find that this way of using this towel gives you more control for a quicker drying time.

These things can last you for years. Just follow the directions and you'll be good to go!

Well worth the money.

 

Mines starting to stink. I let it dry almost all the way before I shove it back in the tube.

 

Is it like a mold smell?

 

If your'e an anal detailer like me, I would avoid using an absorber as they drag anything it catches across your paint. You want a waffle weave drying towel as it can pick up anything it comes across without marring your paint.

 

I can attest to this. it's almost 4 years now and it's still good. . Still as absorbent as it was when new☺️

 

Yup. Mildewy

 

I'm playing around with modifying my crappy little bitty Entune knobs and I might have devised something unique and not very expensive using "Rainbow Loom" little rubber bands from Michael's craft store:



These things fit and grip the crappy knobs really well. This pack has a variety of colors but I really wanted it for the orange bands, since I have an orange truck.

It takes about 5 of these bands to cover each knob.

I'll post pics when I have daylight tomorrow.

This pack was normally $2.99 but I got it for $1.58 because of a sale.

I need to test these out more thoroughly before I give a final opinion as to how well they work as "knob grippers".

 

Here's the pics in the light of day:






Note: I think the first one I rolled on the knob has a slight twist. This shows how snug they go on though. But that twist will drive me nuts until I re-do it LOL.

 

I let it air dry completely. Soak in warm water before using.

 

Yap. That was my initial reply as well

 

I PUT A GROMMIT ON IT

Still obsessing over the tiny Entune knob nubbins and I think I came up with a final solution. I bought a pack of two rubber grommits from LOWES (Home Desperado didn't have any):



Results:



These grommets fit snug on the knobs and will not move around. Very solid fit. Added three orange rubber bands within the groove of each grommet from my previous project described above.

I'm really happy with how this turned out. I now find myself using the knobs more.

Cost of rubber grommets = $1.50
Cost of rubber bands = $1.50 (on sale)

Total cost = $3.00

Happiness and satisfaction = priceless

 

I wash mine with OxiClean every once in a while to get rid of the smell.

 

INTERIOR LED LIGHT INSTALL - REPLACING THE CRAPPY OEM 5 VOLT BULB:

I decided that I had enough of the warm orange glow of the OEM bulbs and ordered the Partsam LED "Kit" off Amazon for $15.

Got the "Kit" in the mail today. The "kit" consists of 7 bulbs in a bubble rap bag. No instructions and no spec/detail sheet. However 7 bulbs at $15 seems to be a great deal. I viewed this video several times (note: pay close attention to this guy's tape method to extract the bulb...the hardest part of the project):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bAKB3nNELzE

It takes about 10 tries to figure out how to get the best tape grip. What worked best for me was to totally wrap the bulb in packing tape and then twist the overhang tape so that you make a "pull tab". Then gently pull and gently wiggle the bulb until it comes out. It's like pulling a tooth. And yes it's a pain in the ass, but well worth the results.

Next project is the dome light, but I'm taking a break.

Break over. The dome light is tricky because when you watch video's on dome light replacement they make it look easy, and it is easy if you know more detail. You will want to use a screw driver and you don't want to pry off the grey trim part (housing?). You only want to pry off the clear lens part. If you look closely there are 4 tab spaces that are screw driver sized. You'll want to pop the two in front and then the two in back.

Initially I was going to town on trying to wedge a screwdriver between the grey trim and cushioning on the roof. DON'T DO THIS. Find the four tabs and gently pry each one with your screwdriver between the grey plastic outer trim and the clear plastic lens. Once you pop the lens out it's easy peasy...just pop out the crappy OEM bulb and replace with the LED. The LED seems like it might be slightly too big but it wedges into the connectors and works well. Test it out before popping the lens back in.

Now I have cool bright white LED lights that are comparable to my wife's base model Ford Escape. Yay!

 

I watched that video several weeks back.

I found it much easier, and probably safer to protect plastic lenses from breaking, especially if cold outside, to just pull the whole ceiling console down. It pulls out easily.

You then just twist the bulb holders out, easily pull out the old bulb, push in the new bulbs on both sides and then push the console back into place.

No tools needed.

It seems as though it was designed to easily do it this way.

 

The back seat ceiling light is similarly easy.

Pull the whole light housing down (it hangs up a little on the ceiling liner), swing open the little plastic protective cage on the back side, easily pull out old bulb, pop in new one, swing the cage closed and push housing back up into place.

 

Just bought this today at Sears:


It cost $59, normally $69. It's rated at 8000 mAh / 400 amps. Not sure if it would bring a totally dead battery back to life, but who knows? It does charge cell phones and laptops, etc...

I plan on testing it thoroughly. The only thing I can say at this point is:

1. The size of the jump starter is roughly the size of an iPhone 5s and twice as thick. Has a nice ruggedized rubber surface.

2. Needs to be charged out of the box...only 75% charged out of the box. Didn't take long to charge to 100%.

3. It has an integrated LED light that works well and has several modes. SOS flash mode and steady light mode. I've been using the LED regularly around the house and it still has 100% charge.

4. The cables are rugged and well made.

5. It comes with a USB chord but not the outlet cube thingy.

UPDATE 1/19/2018:

I charged my iPhone on this jump starter last night. It did what it was supposed to...charged the phone to 100%. I couldn't tell if it charged any faster than just plugging it in the wall. I know it didn't take any longer than normal. The power indicator on the jump starter went from 100% to 83%.

I'll figure out how many charges I can get out of this unit per recharge.

FWIW I let my cell phone go down to 10% before I recharge it.

So far I really like this product.


UPDATE 1/20/2018:

Just recharged the iPhone. The Die Hard jump starter is now at 67%.

As I was charging the phone today, I did a little internet searching while I waited. The issue I noticed is that it charged to 98% and then dropped to 97%. I flipped the switch from "on" to "off" then back to "on". Unit seemed to start charging again and then hit 100% finally. Apparently after a certain amount of time it automatically turns itself off. I'm sure my web searching activity prolonged the charging process.

UPDATE 1/21/2018:

Recharged today. Went to 99% and stopped. I purposely stayed off of internet searching while the phone was charging. However I kept checking phone to see if it was fully charged. Maybe I did this too much because it hit 99% and didn't seem to charge further.

After this charge, the jump starter battery is at 53%.

UPDATE 1/24/2018

Charged phone today. Went from 52% to 39%.

UPDATE 1/28/2018

Charged the phone to 59% and then the jump starter battery fully discharged and had a blank screen.

The initial % battery life on the jump starter was at 39%.


CONCLUSION:

You get close to 5 cell phone recharges per full Die Hard battery charge. Charging is no faster than an outlet (i.e. no quick charge).

LED light is a nice function. The light is bright and puts no noticeable drag on the battery charge.

I have not had an opportunity to jump start a car battery yet.

The bottom line is that this is a handy device to have for the car in case of emergencies and it works well for a backup cellphone charger and flashlight if nothing else. Jump starting cars with this device is a bonus. In my opinion this device is better to have than not have in an emergency. The price point is reasonable, however I wish it was 600 amps and not 400 amps.

 

CENTER CONSOLE LID ORGANIZER

I saw where someone had the idea to take an organizer made by Cocoon and fit it into the underside of the console lid


Several people have done this. Here's an example:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/posts/16069903/

Anyhoo instead of going through the hassel of buying a product and then modding it to fit the need, I figured there was a custom way to do it from scratch where it is built in firmly under the console lid. Here's the game plan:

1. Industrial strength velcro from Wal Mart = $8

2. 1" elastic band = $4



So I measured the inner surface of the console lid which was roughly 5 1/4" long by 6" wide.

I cut three strips of the "carpet fiber" part of the velcro and essentially carpeted the entire inner surface of the console lid. The adhesive cures in about 15 minutes. Here's the result:



That's as far as I got today.

Next phase will be attaching the elastic web straps.

Here is the final product:






Kinda tacticool. It makes the most of the space in the center console. Also there was no sewing required.

Now I'm going to load it up with stuff.

UPDATE 1/20/2018: