BLP's 2021 TRD OR 6MT

KC Cyclone V2 Under-Hood Lights

When I had my Frontier, I originally bought these KC Cyclones and some flush mount pods from KC to mount in the Frontier bed as bed lights using a 2.5" hole saw. I never got around to it before I sold it, which I am happy about. I decided to repurpose them for the Tacoma.

I am always messing around under the hood, sometimes when I should be and other times when I shouldn't be. Regardless, it's always better to have some light under there. Especially at night, if you're finishing up an oil change or something, or searching for problems on the side of the road. So, I had good reason to repurpose these lights to be hood lights.

I bought some camera mounts from Amazon, and removed them from their clamps they come with.

MDW 2 Pcs Tripod Clip Clamp Mount for HTC Vive/Vive Pro,for Oculus Rift with 360 Swivel Tripod Mini Ball Head Standard 1/4" Screw,SLR, Digital SLR, Video Came

Tripod Clip Clamp Camera Mounts

After taking the pivot mount off of the clamp, I was able to bolt the KC lights onto each mount, and then bolt those to the under side of the hood using some empty holes. Easy enough.



I temporarily hooked up wiring at night to see how bright they are....they'll do the job!



I have not finalized the wiring yet, since I wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. I originally wanted to wire into the factory hood latch, so that the lights turn on as soon as the hood is opened. However, this latch works backwards from how I need it unfortunately. The hood latch grounds the hood sense circuit when the hood is shut. When the ground is lost, the dash alerts you the hood is up. Sadly, I needed the latch to provide my lights a ground when the hood is up, not down. So, I can not make this hookup work.

My plan is to get a hood pin switch from Amazon (DEI brand) and bolt it into the front grille frame area. I will use that to control a relay. Open the hood, the pin switch gets ground and triggers the relay to turn the lights on. Easy enough. I preferred the OEM hood latch because it would have just been that much sleeker, but oh well. I'm not a huge pin switch fan as it seems the elements affect them, but I'll set it up the best I can and see how it goes. Part of the problem is not adjusting them to where the hood smashes them way down. They only need to be operated by the hood a tiny bit to disable the lights, beyond that you're just weaering out the switch's spring, which causes the switch to not spring all the way up later and you don't get ground when you need it.

So, I think with the switch adjusted properly I'll have an automatic light that serves me well enough. People will talk about what about the lights during the day, yada yada, and so on. Valid point, but I don't really keep my hood up all that long. If I do, then worst case I can just disconnect the single wire on the hood switch and they'll go off. Or I can unplug the relay.

 

Meso Puddle Pods

I received the Meso Puddle Pods from Bustabeatgeorge. I didn't realize it at the time but I needed a splitter harness from VLEDS, so I ordered that as well. This allowed me to plug the puddle pods right into the VLEDS footwell light kit.

I'm not going to detail out the whole install, but basically you run the Meso harnesses from the VLEDS hookup, over to the doors, through the door boots and then up to the mirrors. Then you run the short harnesses through the mirror hinges and into the little spot where the lights go. Plug the lights in and clip them in place of the old mirror trim that they go in place of.

The results are sweet. Super bright lights that come on with the unlock button or the doors opening. You can get a switch to turn them on on command as well, but I don't really see the point to it so I opted to skip that functionality.

 

Overland Torque Tune by Overland Tailor Tuning

I was tired of the super laggy and padded throttle feel by day 1 of driving the truck. It just felt like it needed so much gas pedal to get moving and then when you hit 4,000 rpm, the power really kicks in which is just awkward for that last 2000 rpm. I did some searching and decided I wanted to try the KDMax tune.

I looked on the tuning map and found that Alex Link (a_tacoma01) did tuning for DFW, so I reached out to him. He informed me that he could have me try the KDMax, as well as the Overland Torque Tune (OTT) that he had switched to. I said sure, and a week or so later we met up to try the options.

KDMax has 3 throttle settings, I don't remember what they are but we did the sport, which is most aggressive. OTT has 4 options: mild, medium, spicy, and super spicy. We tried spicy and super spicy.

First up we tried KDMax on the sport throttle setting. It was fun for sure, but didn't feel all that polished of a tune. Hard to describe it but it felt difficult to control the throttle and if I floored it, it just seemed like it was sort of jerky or something.

Next, we tried the OTT on the spicy setting, which felt nice but it was far less aggressive, which is surprising because I felt it was so tame and spicy makes you think it's going to be aggressive. After driving KDMax, I kept lugging the engine on starting from a stop, because the OTT was so much less...responsive. Not to say it was bad, but it just felt like a downgrade to me from the KDMax settings.

Lastly, we tried the super spicy setting, which I thought would be too dramatic, but it was honestly just right for me. The truck takes off when I want it to, but it's still easy to control 100%. Honestly at this point I'm used to it and it feels like it could have been a stock truck. I really enjoy it. It's hard to put into words the results of a tune but the truck just drives much better.

My final thoughts on this are that I thought it would fix my wanting to regear for more pep, and also would keep me from wanting smaller and lighter tires, but overall not really. I still find myself wanting more power. The tune fixed my dead throttle complaints, but it did not give me enough of a power/torque boost to really make me content. So a 4.88 regear is still in the future, as well as smaller/lighter tires. I enjoy me some low gears that I can rip through. I don't mind the higher highway rpm.

 

OEM Power Tailgate Lock

I knew when I bought the truck and determined it had no power tailgate lock, that a power lock addition would be in my near future. I installed Pop N Locks on both of my Frontiers and absolutely loved them. After some quick research, the OEM kit from Toyota seemed to be the way to go:

$237 Toyota Genuine 2019 & Newer Tacoma Short Wheelbase Tailgate Lock (PK3B6-35JS0)

PK3B6-35JS0 - Short Wheelbase

$219 Toyota Genuine 2019 & Newer Tacoma Long Wheelbase Tailgate Lock PK3B6-35JL0

PK3B6-35JL0 - Long Wheelbase

I ordered the short wheelbase kit and got it about a week later. Overall cost was around $173 shipped. Not too bad for a quality OEM product.

Install was really easy. Take off the tailgate panel, drop the lock in place, run the tailgate harness out the tailgate and zip tie it to the existing backup camera harness, and clip it into the provided body fastener clips that hold the two looms together. Run the long harness from where it plugs in inside the cab, through the floor using a grommet in an existing hole, and zip tie the harness down the frame. Plug into the tailgate harness.

Plenty of YouTube videos for this install as well, so I'm not going to waste the keystrokes detailing it out.

The kit works well, however it is quiet and I wish it wasn't. But, I wanted OEM quality, so I will live with it. In the Frontiers, the Pop N Lock was super loud and made loud thuds, which I grew to really appreciate because it made me fully aware that the truck locked and the tailgate locked with it. That was especially useful on the Frontier as it doesn't honk the horn when unlocking. The Tacoma beeps the beeper, so I suppose I don't really need the tailgate lock to be loud, but it would be cool if it was. Oh well, I'd for sure recommend the OEM kit as it's the nicest put together kit on the market, and it just fits and works well.

 

I just did this same exact swap except for the XM module. I'll just stream it off the phone. Waiting on the iDataLink

$30 ACC-SAT-TO2 Sat Radio and GPS Antenna adaptors for TO2 Vehicles

ACC-SAT-TO2, it was back ordered - getting here next week. I did do the ready harness from Crutchfield, literally made the swap as painless as possible - less than an hour. I do agree, it seems like they could have made the screen bigger - especially since there is a lot of plastic around the unit. I am happy, much improved over the factory unit.

 

2020+ TRD Pro Tail Lights

I am not a fan of the chrome accented tail lights that the 2020+ TRD Pros and Sports come with. The previous owner of my truck swapped my OEM tail lights out for all-red ones from a lower model. I liked them, but a tab was broken on each of them. I liked the way the TRD Pro black accented lights look, so I ordered some brand new from Sparks Parts.

Left: 81560-04230
Right: 81550-04230

I also ordered new bolts and guide clips.

Installed:





Very easy install, obviously. I ended up using these with the VLEDS 50-LED red bulbs that I have mentioned previously. For about a week I used incandescent bulbs (Meso Stage 1 kit still), but with the clear lens of these tail lights, the red of the VLEDS bulbs is actually quite visible. On the all-red tail lights, the LED red would be sort of washed out. I like these better for sure.

Here is a comparison of the incandescent vs LEDs. Left is incandescent, right is VLEDS:



Final pic, all LED:



Overall I'm happy with the turnout of these tail lamps. They fit the truck better, are plenty bright with the upgraded bulbs and Meso functionality, and they aren't broken! Can't ask for much more.

 

License Plate Disable in Reverse (DIR)

AND Meso HitchPod with Baja Designs S1 (powered by FBC DIR Harness)

I saw the DIR thread and instantly had to try it out. I was going to build my own harness as the original thread was just a DIY tutorial, no product was being sold in that thread. Later I found the actual thread where they were later started to be sold to forum folk and so I ordered one up from FBC. I also ordered my OEM LED headlight harness. Both were very nice quality.

Install was easy, I'm not going to go over it as Chloe has a good video on YouTube and plenty of info can be found on the forum.

I love the results. You can see in this pic that my tail lights are on, reverse is on, license plate lights are NOT on.



What's also really cool is the Meso HitchPod and Baja Designs S1 light, which mounts inside the HitchPod and goes into the trailer hitch. What's even cooler than that though is that the FBC harness offers an option for the S1 to plug into! So I did this all plug and play and got a ton of light behind the truck with very little effort at all. Another cool thing about the FBC harness is that they bring the power from the license plate light harness, so the HitchPod light actually does not come on until the parking lamp circuit is on, so during the day when the light is unneeded, it isn't on.

Here are some pictures:





Overall really happy with this outcome.

 

Homelink 5 Mirror Upgrade from Homelink 4

When I got the truck, it had no garage door opener. I wanted one, so I ordered this mirror from Bob's Automotive Mirrors and More. It was Homelink 4, and I was very happy with it! Until....I learned that there was a Homelink 5 mirror he sells that I missed when I looked the first time. The Homelink 4 supports 2013+ garage door motors that have higher security. Homelink 5 takes garage door communication a bit further by knowing the position the door last went in when you left the house. That way you can see what direction the door is going when you press the button, as well as check when you're away from home to see what the last direction it went was.

My garage door opener is from 2008, so mine is not fancy enough to be able to do the Homelink 5 stuff anyways. However, my parents have a compatible opener, so I wanted Homelink 5 for their house. Also, this mirror is brand new vs the Homelink 4 being used. Also, the Homelink 5 mirror has a nice function that no one knows about: after clicking the button, the mirror holds it for you so that it has the best possible chance of getting the door open or closed. Sometimes you have to hold the button and let go too early or whatever? No issues here. Just click it, it self applies for about 3 seconds, and that's it. So far so good, I am really enjoying this mirror. I sent my Homelink 4 back under the return policy and other than paying for return shipping, I got all my money back. I am happy with it.

 

Rear Axle Extended Breather

I don't really do water crossings, but I like to have my axle breather as high as it can be. For me this means up behind the tail light. I bought this kit from YotaShop. It was affordable and did the job just fine. It is just a hose, a nipple fitting for the axle housing, and a breather fitting for the end of the hose.

Installation was easy, I removed the old fitting, threaded in the new one with some teflon tape, snugged it down, installed the hose and snugged the hose clamp, and zip tied the hose to various items, running it up to the tail light. I made sure to leave enough slack for the hose to flex with the brake lines for axle articulation.

Not much to say about this one. It's cheap insurance, easy enough to install, and certainly can't hurt anything. The kit was complete, and I used my own long zip ties that I prefer. Not much else to it.

 

2LOW

I knew before I bought the truck that I would do the 2LOW Modification. It's basically a plug and play harness that plugs into the 4WD control module and disables the front differential from actuating when you go into 4LOW. What this does is allow you to get the gearing benefit of the transfer case, but still be able to steer without damaging the 4WD system, steering, or have to physically fight the steering which sucks.

there is plenty of info on this forum about this mod, so I'm not going to post the install or pictures. I will say however, holy cow is it nice! It's great being able to just idle around in reverse super slowly, especially for backing up a trailer or a steep surface.

I bought a switch from CH4x4 and put it next to my power rear window:



It is a bit bright at night, so I am working with kmorgan3 on a plug and play harness that will instead power the "2WD Low Range" indicator on this switch with the dash illumination circuit, which will also intelligently dim the switch. It will still be a bit tacky since the blue does not match the dash blue, but there is nothing I can do about that.



Overall I really enjoy the 2LOW mod and highly recommend it for manuals or automatics. It's just too convenient of a function to not have it.

 

I’m glad I found your build. Great info. Can you share a bit on how you removed the blanks on the lower switch panel? I have been searching and what I’m finding isn’t very productive.

 

OEM Door Sill Guards

When I was installing the 2LOW harness, one of my trim panels got lodged against the door sill and scratched the paint pretty bad. I already wanted door sill guards, but from the scratch, I now had the urge to fix it by getting some touch up paint and then covering up the spot with door sill guards. So I ordered touch up paint (1G3 for MGM) and door sill guards (

$45 PT747-35201-02 , Black

PT747-35201-02).

I don't have any pictures of the fixed spot with touch up paint, but here are the door sill guards:









I think they look sharp, they cover my paint messup, and will protect the area for the future. All good results.

 

Thanks, and sure thing. During the 2LOW install you have to remove the glove box. I believe most people take out the radio, but after I did my Kenwood install I really am dreading going back in there, so I tried without and it worked. I reached in from the removed glove box area and found the empty blank I wanted to put my switch in, squeezed the top and bottom of the switch blank and kind of rotated it backwards like a backflip. It seems difficult but it wasn't really at all. You could also grab a small flat blade screwdriver bit and use it blindly to dislodge the tabs if you're good. Either way I don't think you'd have trouble this way. If you do, then just remove the radio and do it from above. I just didn't want to go through all that if I could avoid it; it was super hot in the garage that night and I was already sweating buckets from 2LM, so I wanted to be done.

 

Clutch "Accumulator Delete" Hack

Everybody with a manual Tacoma knows the clutch sucks. Well, it's not so much the clutch disc/pressure plate/flywheel that sucks, but it's the hydraulics. The hydraulics would be fine, except Toyota plumbs in this dumb "clutch accumulator" into the hydraulic line. Literally all it does is act like a shock absorber or dampener to slow how quickly you can release the clutch pedal and reengage the clutch and transmission to the engine. It works okay for what it's supposed to do, but for a skilled manual driver, it is only a hindrance/annoyance and literally provides 0 benefit. It is mostly to protect the truck from the shock load of a new learning driver who is not smooth with releasing the clutch.

There are many ways to skin this cat, my personal favorite is the accumulator hack. What this does is basically modifies the accumulator to remove the acculumator function, and puts the stock part right back in place. No need for custom made fluid lines or anything else, just the stock part still in place but no longer doing the stock job.

It's pretty easy. Removing the clutch accumulator is outlined on this forum in many places, especially the mega thread, so I'm not going to detail the removal.

Once it's removed, unbolt the 4 bolts holding the backer to the accumulator, and remove the little circlip, the circular plate, and the rubber square seal. The "hack" is to dremel out a channel between the two holes you see. Doing so removes the hindrance in the brake fluid circuit and allows fluid to flow freely like we want it to.

I did this in about 2 minutes by putting my accumulator in my neighbor's vise. I used this bit, Dremel #194, and my Milwaukee rotary tool on the highest speed setting. After that, I followed it up with some compressed air to blow out all the aluminum shavings. I made sure to hold various holes closed while blowing the air in others so that shards would be blown out in all directions.

The end result:



I installed this morning and wow! The results are great. At first the pedal felt really soft, which made me think I didn't get all the air out, but later it firmed back up. The engagement of the clutch is just great. It's really solid, doesn't feel vague at all, and it releases in the exact same spot every single time. Shifting feels much more realistic and similar to my Jeep that I'm used to. I really like the way it works now, and highly recommend!

With the accumulator hack being free AND OEM looking, I don't see any reason to do it another method. With the right tools, this is honestly a pretty simple job. Removing and reinstalling the accumulator itself is not fun, but the dremel part is easy with the proper tools. Don't be afraid, and ask questions if needed. It's really worth the work.

 

Thanks so much. That make sense and it is better than one I read that said basically to remove everything from above the switch panel. I’m kinda waiting for my seat covers to come in to install mine. I think it will be easier for my 51 year old self to move around without seats in the way.

 

Status Update

I think that's all I've done so far?? It's hard to keep up. I've been installing things at such a quick rate that I can't possibly update the forum at the same speed, so I end up coming here and hustling out catch up posts in spurts. I think I've got it all, or at least the important stuff.

Coming up soon I am planning on 265/65R17 SL 116T Toyo Open Country ATIIIs. I am also planning on the OEM LED headlights. I have a work bonus coming this week that should fund all of that and pay off some bills, so that will be cool. Other than those, eventually I'll get the tonneau, TRD skid, finish up the stereo, the other small stuff I want and then likely 4.88 gears. I am interested in the Hilux transmission if it ends up being figured out on this forum soon. If I go the Hilux transmission then I would do 5.29 gears and probably keep the 265/70R17 tires.

Other than the mods done, I have been up to maintenance and driving. I have put 3000 miles on it so far, and have changed all fluids except the transfer case, brake and coolant. All the more regular important stuff like gear oils, transmission and engine oil, have all been changed:

Front and Rear Diffs: 85W-140 Currie Conventional GL6 Gear Oil
Transmission: Motorcraft XT-MS-Q5

$26 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 Synthetic

I'm really enjoying this truck. It is a bit of a pig on gas and it is not fast, but it's getting more enjoyable to drive as I fix things the way I want them.

 

It will probably be better with the seats out. They were not a huge hindrance but it would be easier to be able to sit on the floor and work on the dash rather than leaning in through the door way. That install was not bad but I did not enjoy it. My biggest frustration with it was just that you had to remove so much of the dash to get to the 4WD module. It is what it is, totally worth the swap, but just annoying that the install consisted of what it did. Not hard at all, so don't be concerned, but it just wasn't a blast.

 

OEM Tailgate Letter Inserts (Black)

Naturally, I was not caught up when I said I was. I forgot I bought the black Toyota tailgate letters (

$54 PT948-35181-02

PT948-35181-02).

Nothing to say about these except the look good. I cleaned up the letters of dust and dirt, peeled them and stuck them on. I’m not a decal or advertising guy but if the indentions are there, it only makes sense to me for the letters to be there.

 

TufSkins Glove Box Letter Inserts (MGM)

Similar to the tailgate, the glove box letter indentions irritated me. I saw body color ones from TufSkinz, so I ordered them in Magnetic Gray Metallic. They went on real easily, no issues at all. Very small change, but nice enough.

 

Debadged the Chrome Door "TACOMA" Emblems

I am really not a debadger guy but on the Tacoma some of it just plain makes sense. The previous owner debadged the lonesome "V6" on the tailgate, which I like to have gone. It looks weird out there by itself. I didn't like the chrome TACOMAs on the doors, and I didn't want to turn them black either, so I removed them. Just some fishing line and goo gone, and then cleaned up the areas after. Looks much cleaner afterwards I think.





That is almost the last of the chrome! I am definitely a chrome hater for the most part, but I don't really agree that replacing it with black is always the way to go. Many people will just put black plastic in place of the chrome bumper caps but I find that equally as bad as the chrome personally, if not worse. Unfinished black plastic looks like work truck level stuff to me. Anyways, I ordered the Ecoological bumper end caps in MGM which I think will fix the bumper up the way I like. Otherwise the only chrome left is on my door mirror turn signals, which I am perfectly fine with as those are minimal chrome.