What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

how do you paint them black? it looks so damn good!!

 

Thank ya! He put them in a oven to heat up the adhesive and then had to take it apart

 

I may look into doing something like that

 

I was to scared to do it myself lol

 

Yes, that is correct. Taco's are the hottest selling truck in Hawaii. Just for shits and giggles, one day on the way to work (45 min drive) I counted 80 plus Tacoma's, and that was 2nd & 3rd gens only (nothing against 1st gens). As far as lifted trucks and their use, not sure about beach so much, more to do with "status." For me, I won't be lifting my truck...I'm the minority.

 

Washed it. Just got back from week long Beach vacation.

 

Nicely done!

 

I just did the same, purchased one for $102 99 on eBay. And that included shipping to Hawaii. The quality is nice, no complaints.

 

Thank you for your service, did some time with the Black Cats of Det 2 back in the 80's.

 

Very nice. I need to do this. That cubby is where I carry my compressor and it would be nice to plug it in right there. I would look into replacing one of those two outlets with one of these Power Pole receptacles (fits in a 1-1/8" hole, comes with a rubber dust cap):

 

SR71?

 

U-2, was there to help out for about 3 months then moved up to the DMZ. It was fun to hear them come bye and then the big boy comes right after with it's double sonic boom.

 

Remember! Laid off!

 

The stock fobs have to be all but waterproof. I inadvertently took mine on 30 minute, 15' - 30' fresh water SCUBA dive with no ill effects. Got home and popped it open to find it dry as a bone. That experience is the only reason I haven't picked up one of the AJT fobs.. They do look sweet.

 

Decided to put the TracRac I had on my old F150 on my new Taco (first official mod). Alas, the silver just wasn’t working with the white, black, and red color combo. Quick trip to Home Depot for primer and paint and we have a look that will work until I decide what route to take this build. I went flat black with red cap accents, which makes her easy to spot in the parking lot. While the old TracRac was pretty roughed up in spots, the fresh paint looks clean and happy.

I also got a dragon on the hood. (I’ve had a dragon sticker on every vehicle I’ve owned, so finally getting one on this truck makes me feel a lot less like a Taco’mposter.)


Original silver


End cap pizzazz


Finished look

 

Looks awesome! Where did you get the decal?

 

Finally, after a 4 MONTH wait for my sliders, I did my first major mods! Here they are:

• Added 3 skid pack from RCI group buy organized here on TW- (800$ or so) These skids are super well designed with all the clever access points for maintenance. Well machined for the most part, but they didn't really deburr much, so there were sharp edges. Instructions were really clear. Highly recommend.
• Added rock sliders from Mobtown Offroad. (1200$) I went with the plating, kickout, and the flat option for the wifey and the stock look.These are 100% bolt on sliders that you can jack the vehicle from. Went on ok, more deburring issues sometimes preventing a bolt from passing. Problematic if they are mostly in place and it's an awkward spot. So I guess, the lesson is check all the holes for problems before you get going. Also, you will need a variety of tools to access challenging spots bolting these on.
• Added Bilstein 5100's to the front, (like 150$?) on the second to highest setting (got close to a couple of inches of lift, basically by compressing the spring a little more, will change to bigger spring soon when i add a bumper and winch to reduce compression)
• Added Headstrong Offroad add-a-leaf pack to the rear. (180 or so$) The kit seems great so far, but goddamn it was hard to install. We had to cut off the rear leaf bushing, which Toyota really didn't want to come off. It's also a challenge getting everything lined up, but seems like a really good kit for the price. The ride quality is just a tiny bit more stiff than stock, and we def got close to a couple of inches of lift as well (i think, sorry, i regret not measuring before and after)

 

Cut off some stuff and relocated the ps cooler

 

Simple mod today- intermittent wiper switch installed. Took all of five minutes. Now I just need some rain to enjoy.

 

De-badged the side doors
Lol emblem came off easy but then had to use a heat gun on lowest setting and picked and rolled the glue backing off by hand.


Washed the truck down twice using dish soap to start to remove the 5 coats of wax and sealer I had on the truck.

Then spayed it all down with an iron remover like Iron-X.

Then hand washed again with dish soap.

Then Clay bar with a dish soap lube.

Then power washed.

Then 2 passes of the entire truck (truck is only 7 months old 10K KM (6k Mi) ) with a a DA orbital with medium cutting pad and Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. Plus I'd already done a paint correction to the truck about 4-5 months ago.

Power washed with dish soap. Rinsed with regular water.

Rinsed with RO/DI water ( O TDS reading, I have a RO/DI filter system for my saltwater aquarium, will not leave a residue as there is 0 contamination in it).

3 coats of Cquartz everywhere except the roof and tailgate which only have 2 coats so far.

Pictures don't do it justice, the CQuartz darkened the black a little bit but made it "deeper",
It looks like a layer of glass on the paint.




I had hmmmed and hawed about removing the side badges or painting them black, but now that they are gone, I like it like this. (Mobtown Bolt-On Sliders, LOVE-EM!)




and it's a crappy pic but I was too tired to put in the effort for a decent shot. but I painted the letters in my IFS Pro skidplate black.



Took 3 days, and even though the truck looked better than new before,
It looks "holy-crap that's shiny" polished now. I can see why people pay and charge (holy crap my arms are tired) $1500+ for this to be done to their vehicle.

I bought the 50Ml bottle of CQuartz and have about 25% left. I'm going to wait a week until after the first wash and then apply another coat all over the truck.

In the mean time I'm deciding what top coating I want to put on or if I should just use Carpro Reload.