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

My concern is that it would keep water and debris in and make things worse over time

 

If you haven't started yet you might want to try Diablo carbide teeth blades. I got them at Home Depot and cut out all 4 bolts with 1 blade when I did mine.

 

Got muddy. At Citrus WMA, Florida for the first time! This place is awesome!

 

Carried 1700 LBS of Concrete , had to exercise the bump stops )

 

LIKE A BOSS

 

I did the passenger side and was about to do the drivers side when I found the bolt was stuck in the lower shock mount. I have Diablo blades and someone recommend I get the Torch blades.

 

Mctuning LED strips. Used my Jackery but draws 15 to 20 watts per light strip(3). Theres an option to disconnect the other LEDs and just run one. Mounted under the 270 and the opposite side of the RTT

 

Do you have past experience with Dr Beasley's or other ceramic coatings on headlights?

I just got a set of new TRD Pro lights for my truck that I am trying to prep for install.

 

Someday...

 

I do not, this will be my first go around with a ceramic coating. I’ve had good experiences with other Dr. Beasley’s products and read up on reviews. I feel confident that this will provide the protection I’m looking for against hazing and yellowing. I followed the instructions to a T, they mentioned applying multiple coats to high impact areas. I believe I applied 3, maybe 4 coats total (applying a coat, letting it flash, buffing, repeat…. Goes on crystal clear once the flash is buffed off.
Cure time is advertised as 30 min to an hour before exposing to the elements but it also states not to wash for 7 days. Since I haven’t installed them yet I’m keeping them in the house for 7 days to cure proper.

 

I had Hikari LED's in my 3rd gen both high and low beams. After adjusting them the cutoff was perfect and in 2.5 years I never got flashed. Had considered their H4 for my 2008. In my 3rd gen they were amazingly bright and I loved the color. I read all these replies regarding LED bulbs in stock housings. I see that you understand that they are fine as long as they are oriented correctly and adjusted to control the cutoff. I get blinded more by people that installed aftermarket halogen headlights because people do not know how to adjust them. Usually 1 beam is nearly correct while the other is aimed out 30° and aimed up 20°. I tried some in one of my older late 1990's car and they were completely scattered so they certainly won't work in every housing. My cutoff was set to be just below the rear glass of cars in front of me. Pic of my 3rd gen Hikaris and cutoff:

 

Congratulations on the payoff!

 

Super busy day. I’m gonna split this into multiple posts because I did so much lol. First I picked up the truck from Maaco for more Carvana warranty repairs. They repainted the roof because there was a pretty deep gouge in the paint (to the bare metal). Just shy of $3k total in repairs under the Carvana warranty, not too shabby.

Then I took it to Brown Bear for a much needed wash (it had been sitting outside while I’d been out of town and had a generous coating of pollen).

 

Minor bodywork - victim to a runaway shopping cart the other day and left a nice (albeit shallow) V-shaped dent in my passenger door. Was only about 31% successful though...

Also painted over a small spot of flaked paint on the bed, as well as did the ol' mud flap delete.

 

There was some unsightly overspray on the lower front from an earlier respray (done before I purchased) so I got some matte black spray paint at AutoZone and sanded, taped off, primed, and painted the spots that needed it.

Before (overspray just visible under the front bumper)



After (partway through another job for another post)

 

I installed the OEM Pro grille with painted surround and Pro headlights. Grille was much easier than I expected to remove, and headlights were much harder, but I finally got the technique down for removing them after carefully studying a YouTube video. I was able to remove and install the headlights without needing to remove the bumper or go through the wheel wells (my arms were just barely long enough to access the third bolt).

I’m very happy with how the front end looks now.

 

The 4x4 on my mudflaps was super faded so I picked up a tire paint pen from autozone, removed them, removed the old paint and scuffed them up by wet sanding with 600 grit, and repainted them. I’ll probably touch up a couple spots tomorrow (instructions say to wait 12 hours between coats) but they’re not bad after one coat.



Underneath them is what the fedex truck delivered while I was working on this

 

It was about 6:30 pm and I still had my bakflip mx4 to install. According to google it should take 30 minutes so I decided to go for it. Lol. I’m very careful when installing stuff so it was about 8:30 by the time I was done, and right as I was cleaning up it started raining. (In Seattle you gotta make the most of what little sunshine you get in the rainy months.) It seems like a quality product, but I’m slightly annoyed that the Bakflip sticker on the lower left is crooked. I’ll probably just debadge it.

 

Those RPT1's really got me wanting a set...

Please share when you get em on

 

Will do! Got an appointment at Discount Tire for 11 on Monday