What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Ceramic Coated a new lens for the dash cluster. Scratch free with an 9H harness coating Installed the new lens while I had the cluster out to install the Rough Country Speedometer Calibrator.

 

I predict less fun in the future.

 

Not much today, just added a little touch that no one will notice but me lol Thanks Tacoma Lifestyle and AJT Design...

 

Added hood struts. Went with the Spiker Engineering ones because there is no measuring and it opens 6” higher than stock.

 

Looks right at home up there.

 

Okay, now you need to tell us more. Where did you have the coating done and how much was it? Did you buy a new lens to have coated so you could just swap new and old?

 

When I bought my Pro Comp 285s and leveling kit I was assured there was no rub. Noticed right away that was definitely not the case when I realized I had UCA rub, and while doing this job I found four additional places inside the wheel well that those tires were rubbing on that I didn't even know about. So today I put on a set of Spidertrax 1.5 in wheel spacers, front and rear. Not only did I solve my UCA rub issue, but I still have a good inch of clearance on my cab mounts as well, which definitely wasn't expected. That, and now she looks even better with that wider stance!


Took the opportunity to take those goofy Predator steps off also. Score!

 

Added a Garage door opener button

 

Dude, your neighbor across the street is KILLING you in the yard department! It's not even close!... But I get it. It's a jungle sometimes.

 

Details please? This is cool and I'd imagine it's not too expensive

 

I knew somebody was going to call me out on that, didn't expect it to be that fast though.

I own the house, but I have since moved to the mountains and my son and his roommate live there now. I'm thankful that he keeps the house mostly clean so I don't complain too much about the yard. That, and I never did come up with the money to put a sprinkler system in there like I always wanted to.

 

Last July, I purchased two Armor Shield IX ceramic coating kits to coat my truck (avalonking.com - not the highest rated coating but it works). You will need all of one kit and a quarter of the second kit to cover your tacoma with two passes ($104 without a discount, and you can find discount codes by googling). I had enough left over to coat my wife's car too. As long as your paint does not require correction (removal of swirls and scratches), ceramic coating of a vehicle is very easy.

I purchased a replacement lens (usually use TRDShop.com - usually a couple bucks less than everyone else with shipping). The coating process is just like coating your vehicle. Wipe the surface down with an IPA to remove contaminates. Apply the ceramic coating to the new lens, just as you would your vehicle (technique is covered in dozens of videos on youtube). I typically apply the coating twice, with 30 minutes between applications. The coating is self leveling. It does not build upon itself, so the second application is done to ensure complete coating of the surface. A single bottle of ceramic coating would probably coat a hundred or more lenses, so purchase of the product just for this application is not worth it. Once it is dried to the touch, you simply pull the cluster and replace the lens.

PS. If a detailing shop charges you more than $20 bucks for this, they are ripping you off. It is less than a buck worth of material and 5 min of labor, start to finish.

 

Thanks!

 

Here's a pretty good link for how I did it pretty much. https://aaronoverheaddoor.com/garage-door-opener-hack/ Got the button off Amazon for like ten bucks, popped out a blank switch plate and drilled a hole through it for the button. I just taped the old garage door opener (no need to put it in a separate case really) behind the panel where the switch plate is, probably didn't need to but didn't want it rattling around.

 

Who's the member on here doing the color matched front emblems? Forgive me but I hang out in the 2nd gen so this isn't my area of expertise.

 

Although I might consider Ceramic coating for my wife’s Lexus, with taking my truck off road, and often getting scratches and scrapes from the tough Texas brush, it would become very difficult to maintain the Ceramic base coating. With a sealant and wax you can buff out the light scratches and reseal quite easily, with Ceramics, not so much, as it requires sanding or at least compounding to remove. From my understanding regarding warranties, there are loopholes detailers have to protect themselves if the coating fails prematurely, and no warranty covers scratches or stone chips.

However, if you are meticulous about maintenance and don’t go off road, Ceramics might be a good investment. I do know one thing, they are a huge money maker for detailers, not only for the initial treatment, but also for the products they sell that are supposedly made to work with your coating. Not to mention the huge initial investment.

 

Love your wrap!!

 

@tacos4cheap. He has a page in the 3rd Gen BST Marketplace.