2nd gen first mod recommendations?

Fog lite anytime mod.
On the link listed above.

 

Bilstein 5100 series shocks, you'll never look back!

 

Weathertech floor mats and an oem bed mat.

 

Catch up on any past-due maintenance. Everything else is unimportant by comparison. That said, a bed mat is a nice addition.

The "sexy" mods everyone wants (lift, wheels/tires, bumper, etc.) cost more than you can likely afford right now. That's okay. Take your time and do lots of research. Nothing sucks quite as much as spending your hard-earned money on garbage.

 

Do you have a set of metric tools to work on the truck? A spend here will pay back many many times. Yeah I know, it isn't very sexy.

 

Like everyone else said catch up on any maintenance first and then I'd drive it and see what bugs you/you want changed and mod accordingly. No one size fits all on mods, it's all about what YOU want.

Not all of us can afford to go out and buy every bolt on accessory immediately after purchasing the truck like some members on here. It took me 10 years to get my truck to where it's at and no regrets. It gave me time to think about every mod and have it exactly how I want it without redoing things 5 times.

 

Do what you want to do and can afford. It’s ok to not have it all at once. Also don’t get paralysis by analysis from this site.

 

Easy for me to remember 50 yrs. ago, I spent all I had on the sexy stuff for my trucks & constantly stayed almost broke. Today I realize how much better it would have been to "Get the damn thing paid off". Spend time, not money, keeping that thing clean. Black trucks are beautiful but by far the hardest to keep clean. If it's already paid off, congrats & I apologize.

 

Like many other have said, start with the basic maintenance items: clean the air filter, change all the fluids, etc.

I’m not sure how long you have had the truck, but I always drive a new to me vehicle for awhile and pick out things I dislike or small stuff I want to change. For instance I hate how dim the regular dome light was, so I added an LED bulb to it now it lights the truck up like crazy. Another item I added was additional tie downs in the bed because I purchase a lot of engines to part out and/or flip so the added tie downs made it quicker to secure an engine for transport.

There will be a few upgrades you will notice right off the bat that you want to add or change to make driving and using the truck more fun or easier. I plan to keep mine for as long as possible so I added the weather tech mats to keep the inside clean. I would save the lifts and wheels and large tires until the truck is paid off personally.

Good luck with it!!

 

I just did LEDs in my cab and honestly, the blue hue kind of bugs me. I miss the soft, warm yellow tint. However I do enjoy being able to see shit better

 

Remove the chrome badges and TRD sticker like I did, I hate badges almost as much as I hate dealer advertisement stickers.

I also trimmed my mud flaps and made them shorter. I think Tacoma mud flaps are too long and low to the ground. I cut mine right above the "4x4" print.

 

Were you able to buy that color-matched grill, or did you paint it? I’d like to have the same, but I have only seen ONE other Nautical Blue taco on this site, and none in person. Crossing my fingers maybe Toyota would have it for touch up work..? It looks so much better than the chrome.

 

Dash cam.
Brighter reverse lights.

 

35s

 

The grilles come paint to match from factory

 

The black and green grill is factory, the only thing I did to the grill was painted the chrome Toyota emblem black. My truck is the TRD Sport which had color matched front and rear bumpers and grill.

 

I recommend replacing your radiator mount bushings and body mount bushings with Energy Suspension urethane bushings.

Body Mounts install: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...all-now-with-pictures-and-a-video-too.432885/
Parts $100:

$110 ENERGY SUSPN Energy Suspension 8.4109G Body Mount Set-Reg, Access & Dbl Cab

https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspension-8-4109G-SET-REG-ACCESS/dp/B00G1X9ZA6

Rad mount install: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/polyurethane-radiator-support-mounts-cab-also.361346/
Parts $30:

$34 Energy Suspension- 9.4101G UNIVERSAL MOUNT

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CN9BZ0

My rad mounts were shot after 100k miles, body bushings were shot after 200k miles of 95% highway driving. If you travel offroad more, then these mileage numbers before needing replacement will be significantly less. I live in SoCal, where we have very little rain and mostly dry weather. The mounts were a bit difficult, but not impossible to remove. For you, where it snows and where roads are probably salted, you might have to cut and replace the body bolts when due to rust, so I recommend this mod as a proactive/preventative maintence.

For $130, this greatly increases the comfort of life when driving offroad or in stop/go traffic. With bad bushings, driving on smooth pavement, I didn't notice anything, but once I got offroad, it was a nonstop rattling/popping/clicking. This mod/replacement got rid of a vast majority of popping, clicking, rattling when driving on marginal roads. It feels like my suspension firmed up, but its because the slop in those mounts is now gone.