What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Some lessons were learned and reverse drop hitch number 2 has been built.

I think my issue with the first one was the steel. I bought a prebuilt powder coated hitch, cut it up, and rewelded it together. And despite belt grinding it then wire wheeling it then acetone cleaning it I couldn't get good welds on it. The new one, while not TIG dimes pretty, has solid welds for only my fourth time welding using flux core.

Edit: this is for mounting my 1up Rakattach with bike rack to my high clearance bumper, not for actual towing.

 

Mine has squeaked for years, I just accept it as part of life. I have so many other rattles that a clutch squeak is pretty low priority.

 

That Griots looks to be decently better/longer lasting than the Turtle Wax (I was a big fan of it) and it’s only $22. It’s also 6oz more than the Turtle Wax.

 

Honestly don't know a thing about tinting but have been reading up and it seems like ceramic is the way to go and there's also different quality and the need to do all glass even if just a clear film on the windshield if you want maximum heat reduction, not a miracle but helps quite a bit. If that is in fact true I will probably invest in some for my Tacoma and see if I can gain some benefits. Thanks for your insight.

 

grinding down all the stock mount welds absolutely sucks. i see some guys leave it there but that looks hack imo. i already had a cmc done that cleared my tires but i couldn't stand to watch these rust in a box any longer after i paid so much to get them shipped to canada...

 

theres been multiple tsbs about this issue over the years. mines never squeaked on my 2023 tho

 

your supposed to lie on your back and pump the little thread on soap dispenser nozzle 700 times. each time leaking a little more gear oil down your forearm

 

The real beauty of that product is next time you wash your truck, dry it with the towel and the existing wax resets and it fucking sparkles for like 1/4 the effort of your original application. You can wet it and spray more on lightly and dry it off with a good quality towel, and it’s like it got a full exterior detail. I was just raving about that stuff in an earlier post here.

 

get whatevers cheapest at the time. they are virtually the same product

 

Finally wired up and installed my Redarc 1225D and lithium battery in my Smartcap to power my IceCo JP50. Lucked out and was able to modify some random panels I got in the clearance bin at Rack Attack to mount the whole thing against the sliding window.

 

They're 265/75r16 Falken Wild Peak AT4Ws. So far so good, don't notice any more road noise than the stock tires. Hoping to get them sandy this weekend.

 

Returned it to stock; well as stock as I could, and sold it this past Saturday. Was replaced with a 2025 Silverado 1500 ZR2 Bison the Saturday before. It will be missed but the Tacoma was a tad small for our needs and growing kiddo. Look out for some nice parts for sale soon!

 

If you count bushings not fitting, improper washer sizes, poor weld quality and poor fitment as the same product

 

Got a viper cut over the weekend and painted some mirror caps matte black. Not too sure if I like the mirror caps but loving the look of the cut.

 

What is this wizardy? Does it just plug into the USB /head unit slot that's in the dash? Then poof you have Android Auto?

 

So are you guys still outsourcing fab work shops for these to get installed? From what I gathered or read somewhere, you guys used to do these in house, but no longer are. Is that a permanent thing or?

Im currently on a waiting list, basically since may, when I first emailed the recommended shop and they're currently working on a big build atm and their only lift should be free'd up late August, early Sept. Just trying to prepare in case plans get held up further. Which is understandable, they seem like they got their hands full tho.. Im just getting anxious now and looking forward to finally getting my build progressing. .

I plan to check in with them tho here pretty soon again for an update and see if we're still on track for that time frame. But if ya'll plan to do these in house again anytime soon, I'm down to throw my money your way!!

 

What's the advantage of this, saving 4 inches over a drop hitch? Does this go into the back of the hitch?

Whatever you do, use those safety chains.

 

JD Fabrication Pivot Kit and 35s going on!

 

Yes, pretty much. It connects to your phone via bluetooth and forwards all the carplay stuff though the USB port.

I got a decent on in my gen 3, which gives me a whole 'nother OS. I can use the iphone stuff including carplay or just as a BT audio device, but it also gives me android auto, youtube, and access to the OTA updates. It also has another bt device that reads engine sensor data from the obd2 port! [My version is an Atoto CB4A-N-BK1]