What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

I have hope for my fellow taco lovers. We have a good attention to detail

 

Battery is charged by solar power. I'm not going to have a typical dual battery set-up. I'm adding a another battery soon so if I ever run out of energy, I'll turn off the disco lights and waterfall. LOL
Zim

 

Mine felt that a well digger's ass wasn't as cold as a witches tit in a brass bra....

 

2017s are the best, no TSS and a nifty tray!

 

Plasti-dip lowers that commitment level

 

Thanks man! Wheels are Method MR315’s 17x9 -12

Tires are Falken Wilpeak At3W 275/70R17
Small rub when reversing. It hits some plastic in the front, just have to trim a little bit

Edit: forgot to mention that I’m on Bilstein 5100’s all around with a 1” block in the rear

 

Replaced the rubber bumps with hydro's



then went camping in the Black Rock desert

 

Beautiful.

 

U.S Military M4s are shipped in Cosmoline as well...

 

Got my ARB 2.5” suspension lift kit installed. Installed the anytime backup cam front cam. Removed all badges! Waiting on my Decked system to arrive.

 

Pics?

 

They illuminate the soul.

 

I've got my recovery gear for when the trail becomes disagreeable.
The strap is from Rhino USA, via Amazon, along with the shackle hitch. It's 30 feet long and its spec'd at 30,000 pounds breaking strength.
The 3/4 inch shackles i also found on Amazon from a company call Autmatch. They are rated at 40,00 pounds.

 

Have the same set up. The kinetic strap is awesome!

 

Sure thing! So I added on the switch because I wanted to be able to turn them off while normal driving in the city (or the summer where it's light until 9:30pm) and then on manually to use as a rock light or camping light. That added some complexity that is optional, but I think for the TW folks it's pretty useful. Here's a story in pictures.



So in MESO's instructions he uses a smaller trim tool to remove the door panel that's too flexible. If you have this one, use it, it's more rigid. You can run the tool right up against the pins and leverage them off the door much easier. It feels more natural and less like you're going to break something. Highly recommend this one. Be careful with the door handle and lock rods. I bent mine and had to bend it back. The trick with the GIANT ASS window switch plug in the inside middle is that it has a locking collar you have to squeeze from the inside and pull back. There's a lock mechanism inside of it I've never seen before, so when you go to plug it back in, watch how that lock works when the collar moves. You want the collar locked all the way open otherwise it won't plug back in.









I didn't have a helper, so a backpack and bungee cord worked great for keeping the side mirror on... You don't REALLY need it because it doesn't just fall out, but just in case. I thought about opening the window but later realized the window sinks all the way down to the speaker so it would be in the way. Be super super careful with those nuts inside those three holes that hold the mirror on. They really want to fall off into the door. I stuck wads of masking tape under mine and I've seen other people fashion toilet paper rolls into catchers. Look at the bolt on there because it tapers and the threading stops. So it's meant to let you lean the socket down to catch the bolt and pull it off carefully.





In the step where MESO talks about running the cord up through the door, cutting open the plastic and grabbing the cord to attach to the mirror, that's all totally unnecessary. Just unbolt your speaker, which weighs a few ounces, and you have full free access to the inside of the door. You can really easily push it up through the plastic and the right channel without cutting anything and maintaining the integrity of your waterproofing material.



MESO tells you to unplug these from the inside so you can manipulate the boot but doesn't explicitly say to just pull them all the way out into the hinge. I think it was implied though. It certainly makes it way easier because the boot needs to be straight and easy to manipulate if you're going to have a chance in hell of getting the thick new cord through it. DEFINITELY wrap the plug and cord in electrical tape like he suggests or it would've snagged and broken for sure. This is by far the hardest part and the instructions recommend patience and other tips that work.

The passenger side is easier because it has fewer wires in the boot so that took half the time. But still pull the plugs all the way out through the hole in the body. It's taken a few days for my cuticles to recover and there's still a cut on my finger but that's just how it goes.






If you're doing a console button (there are almost no instructions for the button) then take off the big chubby AC vent trim piece and the AC switch panel. Unplug everything and put it aside. You should have plenty of access now from the below-steering wheel cover to here. Say hello to any wiring from previous projects and if you're like me, you can untangle some of the rat's nest you might've created from previous wiring. You don't need to take anything else off. If you're doing the left side, then your life will be 100x easier (but MESO's custom pocket buttons panel were sold out).




You MUST ground your wires to metal, not plastic. There are two bolts on either side where all the OEM stuff is grounded. You can access this one through the ignition hole with a big ass extender, or in my case I had a huge power drill flexible extender. The MESO ground has an eyelet on it that just barely fits on this bolt but it fits enough. It'll bend and warp the thing but it's fine. You can screw it on with pliers and a drill until its flush with the washer. Then bolt this back into the other ground wires (that are in my case permanently affixed to that spot so they never moved).



Assorted pieces and parts.




This is what it looks like completed and reassembled.





THESE LITTLE FUCKERS. These are the final clips that hold the interior side mirror moulding cover in place. MESO even mentioned to be careful not to lose these. The trick is to be mean to them. If you put that part back on carefully, it'll push them inside the door. And they fall into a small fold in the steel (I lost 2) and they do not sink to the bottom of the door. You have to pop them in quickly. I ended up going to the dealership and buying 4 more for $18. It was soooo stupid.




Myself and others have had trouble with some sides not working during the test phase (which you should 100% do before reassembly). My driver's side didn't work. And we all had the same issue, that the male side of the plug didn't quite fit right, which made a bad connection to the little pins. Luckily, the pins are pretty rigid and you can flex them a little with the pick tool. BUT what's worth noting, is I ended up switching the driver's side light to the passenger side (on a whim to test it) and they both suddenly worked. I DO NOT KNOW WHY that worked. But once all the wiring and shit is done, the light housing can be picked out of the mirror without taking anything else apart (which I learned on my second try). So if you have an issue, you don't have to start over. You just need to sit under the mirror, pick out the housing and unscrew/unplug the light and mess with it. That'll save you some labor.

OH! And you need a 2mm allen wrench to screw in the lights, which is not in the instructions, so make sure you have one.



The last thing I'll add is that in my truck the dome light harness plug and airbag plug were mounted together on a joint body mount piece that made them perfectly fitted that MESO didn't talk about. I had to remove the bottom half from that mount first before having a chance of getting the new harness in there. It was a total pain in the ass because there's a weird clip holding it in. Detach it from the body first and then use your pick tool to try to slide it off so that it'll flex out like this. This hot mess will fit in your A-pillar but barely.


That's what I learned, hope it helps!

 

Those clips are available one at a time at the dealership for $4 (or less, our dealership mark up seems high) per piece. Instead of getting the pack of 30 online for $10 and never using 29 of them.

 

Is it a kinetic strap? They dont mention it on the Amazon product page.

 

I think their straps are all static, I think the ropes are kinetic.

 

I know mine is. As far as I know all recovery straps are kinetic, meaning they stretch and recoil when you pull. Tow straps do not and should be avoided if possible for recovery. Check Rhino’s website for clarification.

 

I always try to flex on other 3rd gems with mine, and my wife is like “they don’t even care” but I know they do. Lol