What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Cool! The Mazda3 shift knob is a definite upgrade I’m sure. I bought my truck in December of 2020 and it was the last TRD Off-road on the lot and an automatic. Kind of regret not holding out for the MT but it was around the time inventories we’re starting to get thin so I left with it a couple hours later. As we all know the MT is an excellent theft deterrent as well.

 

I used to often head out to the Anza Borrego area back in the 70's with my High School buddies to camp and do what High Schoolers do. In those days you could drive up Coyote Creek in your capable vehicles and into Sheep Canyon. I had a 1965 Ford F-100 step side short bed with a side mount spare. I would lead the way up the creek on my 17" rims ahead of Ford Bronco's. My trusty German Shepherd "Aragon" bouncing in the bed. Never better times to be had. Now I return to Borrego Springs in my Winnebago Mini Winnie to camp at "The Springs" with an occasional trip to Shelter Valley off of Scissors Crossing.

 

The older I get..the better I was!

 

Had some fun in the snow in an empty section of the neighborhood

 

Check for water intrusion. I'm on my second set which are also taking in water but not as much. I'm super disappointed in the quality of the lens (they cracked which I think is where the water came in) and the fact that BD told me to send in EVERYTHING for the return, but they didn't send back the wiring harness. And FYI for anyone else, the combo lens is insane. I didn't see on the BD website, but the combo lens is/should not be street legal. They're absolutely blinding. But great offroad!

 

Are these rubberized like the other RAV knobs?

 

Are you talking about the bed lights that install into cutouts in the rear of the bed? The 21 OR is pre-wired for them. Just need to pop out the blanks and connect to the wiring located behind the tail lights.

 

What'd they quote you?

The bed lights are plug & play. Install is 10 mins per side, no wiring in the dash. You can get OEM for $50ish or get the superbrights from Caliraised

If your not sure pull a tail light and check for the connector. Plenty of vids out there on the install.

 

if you need the relay, it’s an extra 5 minutes of work to install and add the cargo lamp switch if you need that as well.

you don’t need to remove the whole dash. Just the small panel section left of the steering that holds the auto-headlight and other buttons depending on your trim.

 

I thought those lights on top were your neighbor's Christmas lights.

 

Baja Designs
One of the Squadron options

 

Hey there! Interesting observation.

I used to drive fleet vehicles.
Fleet management had a strict policy of no cell phone use (even with hands-free operation) to a bunch of gabbing sales people. The policy was widely violated, as I observed directly riding with others. The first question in any accident was always "were you using your cell phone?" and if the vehicle log data was consistent with inattentive driving, they would pull your cell phone records (the cell phone was also company provided). Then make decisions about your employment status and whether you were allowed to drive a fleet vehicle (ever again?!). It was clear from the moment you accepted a company car what your safe driving obligations were. They went so far as to let us know via some training video, not unlike the one linked below, modern vehicles have "vehicle logs" so we know what you doing (at least after the fact).

Not sure if these logs were accessed by law enforcement while the vehicle was in their possession, an insurance requirement for fleet, or simply an HR policy. Vehicle logs certainly provide more clarity about potential inattentive driving.

https://www.geotab.com/video/use-accidents-log-data-report-fleet-safety/

 

Awesome! Thanks for the support.

 

From what I've seen, law enforcement will only attempt to access data like that when the accident's fault is in question. Last month somebody in oncoming traffic hung a left in front of me and totaled both of our vehicles. The police didn't give me much hassle since the fault was obvious. In a rear-end collision the fault is pretty much automatic so I doubt they would've spent the additional man-hours to investigate it any further than they needed to.

 

Threw a little lightbar behind the grill, started on a new front skid.

 

These are RAV4 knobs, but the are not rubberized.

 

$600-ish! I saw this video. Looks simple.

 

Yes. That's what I mean. And, I was at the dealership service center for my 20,000 mile service (just got the damn truck in April), so they new it was a 21 OR presumably.

 

I do, and the truck was being serviced when I asked. Maybe they asked someone who wasn't working on my actual truck. Who knows. Whatever they would charge wouldn't be cheap enough to not do it myself if it's as easy as it seems. Also can do better on the kit than the $70 they quoted.

 

It is as easy as it seems, did my 2021 Off Road, yes it’s pre wired by tail lights and works off existing dash switch, nothing needs to be done with switch, just use it.