What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

nobody will steal that tailgate

 

What *someone* did to the "ouchie" on their car ...

 

@whatarush , @DavesSR5

I bought my truck new just over 9 years ago and had 4 spiderweb cracks from rocks and stones during the first year. The first two were repaired professionally and then I bought a cheap repair kit off the web for $11 and repaired the next two cracks. Finally, the fifth crack quickly expanded to over a foot long and forced me to get a new windshield. My research on the OEM, Safelight, Pilkington, and PPG revealed that PPG had the best reviews for the Tacoma at that time. I had my glass repair company install the PPG windshield and have never had a single spiderweb or crack in the last 8 years even though there have been several stones and rocks that have hit it. It took a couple more days for my glass company to find the proper PPG windshield but it was definitely worth the wait. In well over 50 years of driving I have never had such a bad experience with an OEM windshield. I understand that some have had a good experience with Pilkington so maybe I just had a lemon. I do know that many stones and rocks have hit my PPG windshield over the years without a crack. YMMV

JN20.31

 

Gads, I don't like the Stinger already....

 

The Steelers stickers did that already.

 

Just a reminder that the H9 bulbs are very inexpensive, and provide a good increase in visibility.

For those of us in the Great White North, they also provide the heat necessary to remove ice and snow from the lenses.

 

yeah, I’ve changed my mind on it. I believe my next purchase is the Sony 9500es. Just seems a better unit.

 

And, I know both units have it, but I can’t wait to play with the equalizer and see how good my music can really be.

 

Removed the bug deflector.

Aired tires up.

 

Did the fabled H11 to H9 low beam conversion. $25 and 10 minutes, definitely an increase in output! Probably 15-20% over stock garbage.

I need to do ATF refresh, transfer case, coolant flush etc. as recommended by Toyota. I've got 108k on the truck.

Have you guys had independent shops do these services? For better rates? I got a quote for a lot of this in September 2024 and went back last week to do some of it, "prices went up for the New Year."

 

Does anybody have a side by side comparison from the drivers seat of the H11 VS H9?? Video or pics...

I am also curious if anybody (not in their right mind lol) has temporarily just swapped out the low/high beam bulbs before committing to buying the H9's for the low beams just for comparison??

 

Buried somewhere in the first post of this (I am lazy today): https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

But you will not be disappointed by the increase if you just pull the trigger. ... maybe if you get the China-Phillips H9 instead of the Germany-Phillips. I use NAPA (BP1265/H9-N) and have not found them insufficient to the task. Remove the green insert from the existing harness to make an easy swap.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

 

Appreciate you both responding with the thread that’s a sticky for a reason. People can’t seem to fathom a credible source of experimented output that clearly shows it’s a better bulb.

 

The problem is not people understanding H9 is better than H11 ... they do want some assurances it will be good enough to spend the time. The problem is people who cannot understand LED in a halogen assembly is wasted money and often dangerous ... that is the real point of the sticky thread.

 

Well looking at my backup bulb set, it is H11, crap. So I just placed orders for these 2 sets of H9 since my low beams seem to be fading out somewhat so I am preparing for the inevitable burn out of one of my low bulbs. Which one of the below will be brighter?

 

Paging Dr. @crashnburn80.

 

Wait. You're not saying, at least 1 of those bulb sets is H9, one may not be H9. I know, I'm taking that risk I just couldn't pass up the 6k brightness propaganda...

 

Just received, via free shipping, my next project.