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

Fresh from powder coat. Need to clean the (tacoma) gunk off my grille but it’s not coming off even with googone.

 

Installed my @ragofabrication CB antenna bracket. Solid chunk of metal right there, and very fine finished too. Don't have the rest of the CB parts yet to test it out though. Had to tap the bend on my tailgate corner a bit with a hammer because it rubbed slightly (more info here in my thread). I am pretty pleased though with it, we will see how it holds up over time once I do get my CB equipment.

 

Thanks for the pics.
When so is mine, I consider she's pretty clean...!

 

Not today but last night, I plasti dipped these chrome wheel covers to help hide the ugly and corroded stock rims/snow tires which look pretty ugly from 8 upstate New York winters!

 

With a spray ?

 

Yes it's this product, sticks on plastic and can be easily removed! Many different colours too

 

Looks like Tucker Lake.

 

Had full intentions of getting my truck washed and waxed today. I got it washed and all I could get done after that was get the hood waxed. Damn I wish I could do what I used to do.

 

Thanks a lot

 

How many sprays do I need for the 4 wheels ?

 

I used 2 full cans and did four and a little touch up coat's. You can redo as needed if you skuff up a wheel.

 

painted the pinch welds and finally installed the small triangle billet inserts that have been sitting on my table for 2 months lol

 

I uninstalled my radar detector, gave my Weathertech floor liners and bed liner to a friend, emptied and cleaned the truck, and have it ready to bring to my local BMW dealer, which has agreed to pay me $3000 over my residual and get me out of the lease early and into a CPO 2016 BMW X5. The Taco just wasn’t the truck for me and I cannot wait for it to be gone, The seats we’re miserably uncomfortable, and the Entune Audio/navigations system was junk. I couldn’t count on making a call via Bluetooth without the system crashing and rebooting. I’ll be happy to see this truck gone forever.

 

must've been a 3rd gen huh?

 

2nd Gen., 2014 TRD Pro BAJA Edition. Nice truck if your so inclined, but I wanted something more refined. I’ve driven it for four years, and it was handy, It wasnt the most comfortable vehicle to drive, and things like leather heated seats, heated mirrors, dual zone heating and cooling, could have made the truck more enjoyable. I thought seriously about an F150 platimum, but ended up with a BMW X5.

 

Today I Prepped the drivers side CMC. When I bought the truck somebody had "tried" to clearance it I guess, but it was hacked as you can see. I'll cut a plate at work tomorrow and weld it in sometime this week if the weather holds. I also relocated my trailer plug. Used a 2 1/8" hole saw to cut the hole. Don't mind the hardware, its all I had that would fit. I'll grab something less obnoxious tomorrow. Both of these things I got the idea from Tacomaworld, so thank you Tacomaworld.

 

Last week I started a week of upgrades/maintenance... It was supposed to be one day but....

Before:
Got Freedom Off-road UCA's, 3" lift spacers, 2" AAL with axle wedge shims, front bearings (thanks 05Taco4x4! https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-bearings-hubs-4x4-prerunner-165-ea.537080/), and East Coat Gear Supply's needle bearing replacement busing and removal tool, and some Amsoil Synthetic 75W90 Gear Lube.
I rented some of the major tools I need from Auto Zone since they'd let me keep them longer with less hassle. Got torque wrench that goes above 180 ftlbs, the 35'm axle socket, the slide hammer with attachments, and the tie-rod fork set.
I thought my buddy and I could tackle all of this in 6 hours or so.....LOL.

Got the wheel bearings out and realized the bushing from ECGS had a hairline fracture...They sent a new one right away, but that meant pulling the drivers side front end apart twice. Always check your parts before you start. I couldn't live without my truck during the wait and had to drive with some toe'd scrubbing for a few days...

The orientation of the UCA bolt made for real slow going on the drivers side, even longer on the passenger side. I even spent some time trying to get a quick replacement so I could cut the passenger side bolt off.

The spacer lift was a spacer swap. The truck had 1.5"lift spacer when I bought it, but I wanted the full 3".

Only got the front done minus the needle bearing replacement the first day and it took 7 hours. So much learned.

Two days later I got to the rear. Hated the severe bro-lean in the interim. Followed this roughly:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/aal-install-second-gen.54186/.
Wish I'd have closer. Mistake I made was trying to leave one tire on the side I hadn't gotten to yet and didn't have tall enough stands. This made the axle landing very hard to pull into place seeing it back together. I also broke a hacksaw and cut my finger pretty badly on this one. But I love having a little bit of the stock forward lean dynamics back. Closer to leveled than stock, but I feel a big difference in the corners.

Friday, my second needle bushing arrived in perfect condition. Took 5 hours to get in and out to the success side of the front diff. The first diff seal fouled when I was installing it. Sent my buddy for a replacement and he came back with the wrong one. Had to go down myself. This video is the best I've found on this job: https://youtu.be/m9W31KGy6k0

Today I took it in for an alignment at the highest recommended in my area by those that know. Jerry & Walt's Complete Auto Care in Eugene Oregon. I explained I wanted some extra caster as I'll be going from 32's to 33's in the near future.

I bought this truck 25k miles ago. I had no idea it could drive this nice! Totally pleased with the upgrades made.

Here's the after:
Still got a headlight swap and some stereo install stuff to do. I'll keep y'all posted on that soon.