What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

I have never had a problem. But now just wait, I will start to notice it. Thanks!

 

Ordered front and rear blue sumo springs today as well as the Anderson engineering manifold spacer. With any luck will at least have the sumo springs before the weekend and be able to install them. Now if only my VF Tuner cable would show so I can flash a tune I will have pretty much everything that I immediately wanted to do all good to go.

 

Just installed seat jackers, front & rear, big difference, much more comfortable. Worth the $$

 

IMO no. The OEM filter does just fine.

 

been a busy week, got my DX4 Rebel wheels and Toyo Open Country A/T III’s installed

 

I used to run those in many vehicles. Ran one in a 3rd gen for over 4.5 years. Alone it does nothing except increase the sound of the intake air. Adding a better flowing exhaust with the CAI will give you better throttle response. You might "think", adding both, that you gain hp but, at best, you may gain 10 hp. Not a fan of the expensive tune, not a fan of the 3.5 especially with the automatic, however you are better off putting CAI and exhaust money into a tune. Unfortunately that is the only way to get better performance/satisfaction from the 3.5. Not a 3rd gen hater. I tried to love mine for 5.5 years. I gave up and went back to 2nd gens and could not be happier. I have owned 6 different Toyota Tacoma trucks, a pre-gen a 1st gen 3 2nd gens and a 3rd gen, and none have been more satisfying than 2nd gens with a 4.0 engine. No tune required.

 

As a first time Toyota owner I thought about going with a second gen.
I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The older the vehicle the more problems you seem to inherit...... nothing against the 2nd gen, I just wanted a vehicle that I could put most all of the golden miles on, and wanted to keep it for a long while and buying a vehicle more than 8 years old was not the way.

I agree 3rd gens have their issues, but my only real issue was the shift points.

Honestly, regarding a tune, for about 1/4th the price of my rack, or my bumber or even my sliders, I had a local guy put an OTT tune on my truck and it's no exaggeration to say it has completely fixed the issues I had with the truck, and it's now actually fun to drive.
I can see not wanting to splurge on a tune, but it was by FAR and away the best purchase I've ever made for my truck.

 

Same here. There’s no way I’d be happy with this truck going back to the stock tune after knowing what driving it feels like now with a tune on it. Night and day difference for me.

 

THIS is what the 3rd gen should have been like from the factory.

 

Didn't feel like installing the skid or runners today, but continued small aesthetic touches...blacked out vents, decals in door sill, added grippers to steering wheel, and plastidipped the wheel emblems. I was kinda shocked how easy plastidip is, curious how it holds up.

 

Better shots w/ 1.25" Spidertrax spacers installed

 

Finally got an exhaust reroute and a T case skid.

 

Looks close to the transfer case. This was how far away mine guy set mine re-route ...

 

It’s to close for my liking and doubt I’ll be able to service the actuator if it stops working.

The heat shield works really well. I can tell a drastic difference from before I had it to now.

I’ll probably eventually reroute it again.

 

Someone can remove the exhaust pipe if needed to service the actuator, but ... yeah ... talk to the people who performed it now instead of paying full-fare later in my opinion.

 

Not worth it. It’s already cold air intake minus a cone. Plus it’s a truck and there’s minimal return on investment according to what I’ve read here. I’d rather spend $400 on a winch for my future high clearance bumper.

 

I think there’s a switch or button on the mirror itself.

 

Well you may have just made more work for me . I was fine with my shiny little wheel emblems but now I'm tempted to dip them in red or black (I blacked out the chrome on the OR wheels a week or so back with vinyl).
My my chrome bumper got dipped a year ago and it has held up perfectly. It is super easy to work with.

What do you all think? Leave the wheel emblems chrome? Plasti-dip red? Black?

 

I saw a guy on youtube do his red and it looked pretty good tbh lol.

 

I am thinking of the wheels but I hate applying decals with a passion. Getting those door sills done was painful. I might dip the wheels instead. I think the red is a nice pop, at least you can remove it if you don't like the end result.

Side note, anyone have a part number for the hubcap emblem inserts? Wouldn't mind have a few extras to play with color.