What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Aluminum is 1/4” for the RCI. Not sure what the thickness is of the TRD engine skid. The steel crossbrace is 3/16”. The steel versions are all 3/16”. I am not planning on rock crawling so these are more general protection that’s why I went for the weight savings on aluminum.

 

Would you mind posting a link to the exact product you are talking about, I mainly just saw spray cans.... lol

 

Didn't realize that was your stock skid. At some point in the very near future I'm planning on getting back into TIG welding and want to make some skids; similar to you, I'm not planning on crawling so aluminum will do just fine.

 

I installed mine in the same spot, had to move it shortly after as I constantly got "key not detected" errors while driving. Once I moved it to the left side, the errors went away.
Not really sure why the tow controller dial being mounted there caused the issue though.

 

@DavesSR5

https://boeshield.com/products/

 

Amazon, T-9 Spray, in gallons and small squeeze bottles (labeled for bicycle chains) are also on Amz

$21 BOESHIELD T-9 Rust & Corrosion Protection/Inhibitor and Waterproof Lubrication, 12 oz.

https://www.amazon.com/BOESHIELD-Corrosion-Protection-Waterproof-Lubrication/dp/B001447PEK?crid=YHK7TGF89J5J&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OQsYrzWfWcNniHD5RXWDJlg-U6bcZH-WsbbNoU5y-Mqw_CpVuX8ksOiVoxloR8ZP7g0feEE4dSBd5E1hTMOS0rVJVEp81FGanFmX256Iz0bXYad-AMBBPDq1ihLThrplpdo3KQMXTTz2KRowHUWYpb5M0aFypiteI4KrZcxUmsEynkPSMB0_DcFPwjY9B4ACZw8Xx3gXcnmgO9G61bbMz3lNWO7i1xS5NSYHNxTyTxaKT9j_1El3HK1_SkE_p_bnjspDBeparh-leCKv7U_f26JAD_xJwDU2iVOimtvcDPo.zQqfHXc7vRfqrRz755xEvyKfNbkLXxdTzQdLtluAOVk&dib_tag=se&keywords=t9+boeshield&qid=1742752468&sprefix=t9%2Caps%2C248&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

That Boeshield is good stuff, great for squeaky leaf springs among many other things.

 

Finally got my OEM LEDs installed on the SR5 with wiring harness from @Puppypunter! They are so much sexier than the halogens. Install wasn’t too terrible and I’m probably the least handy person I know.



I’d suggest, as others have before, to put painters tape on the sides of the lens before installing. I got a little scratch on the first headlight. Used tape on the 2nd and no scratches.



Any suggestions on easily removing the scratch? I’m kinda leaning towards leaving it alone instead of risking making it worse. I know I’ll eventually have more wear and tear anyways. Open to suggestions.

 

The metal sleeves that go inside the rubber bushings in the shock eye. I have seen a lot of mentions of them for some reason including 2 but most fail to realize they have slightly different inside diameters. Either way both the metal and rubber parts have to be trimmed to fit a 3rd gen Tacoma properly. Although there do appear to be correctly sized replacements available as well.

 

I straightened all the fins on my radiator. My OCD is pretty nuts sometimes

 

I use Novus. It's a 3 stage polish and does a great job. https://novuspolish.com/

 

Forget about it.

 

I felt your pain. Happened on my new evos. Lesson learned

 

Sucks man. I know there’s going to be more dings and scratches down the road, but just sucks having it on Day 1 of install. I’m gonna do some research on that Novus stuff @OldSchlPunk mentioned. 50/50 on leaving alone/attempting to polish out.

 

YES! Love this chart from Team Oil Drop!

 

I would be kinda iffy about polishing it, might polish the protective clear off and then make it worse long term

 

Washed away the winter salt.. quick coat of Colenite 845 .. replaced wiper blades

Got a little rust on some of my lugnuts, I'll have to crawl underneath to see what else got rusty with the winter salt. My truck hasn't had a proper bath in several months.

 

Nice chart, but us 6M guys get left out again

 

Thought this as well..
What about using one of these clear coat pen applicator things?

$15 Toyota Genuine 00258-0000C-21 Clear Coat Touch-Up Paint Pen (.5 fl oz, 14 ml)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009VJXG5W

 

Seems extremely risky to me, to use a solvent based touch up paint, on plastic. Not exactly sure, but I would bet that will make it worse.

If the scratch can only be seen, but not felt, then the novus 3 step might work (though I do not know about a factory protective coating, if that is a real thing, the novus will remove some of that).

If you can feel it, especially if you can feel it with a fingernail, then it is too deep for rubbing out, you would need to sand it out and then polish it. In this case, the simplest thing would be to get a kit for yellowed lenses, and it will have the proper sandpaper, and instructions. Though I would recommend leaving it alone. I have sanded many headlights from yellowing, and the only lasting success is when I start with slightly coarser paper than what is provided in the kits, and use a power buffer for all the buffing (separate pads for each size grit). By hand for an hour, does not produce the near perfect result, that a power buffer and the novus products, will do in about half the time. Also, the ones I did by hand were only clear for about a year, the power buffer method has been 2 years, and still looks new.

Oh, and you probably should remove the headlight and brace it is a wooden structure on a bench; or the process of getting to the edges of the plastic, will remove some of the surrounding paint as well.