14Tacos4me's Best of Both Worlds Build

Finally checked out part of the TN Dirt Devil this weekend, we covered about 120 miles in just under 4 1/2 hours. It was a very nice scenic drive, with lots of cool old buildings, wild animals, and about 20 low water crossings. I'll probably want to go back again this fall to act like a tourist and watch the leaves change colors.
it was a good time just riding through the country.

 

Installed my new rear bumper last night, I did it with basic hand tools by myself, but an extra set of hands would've made this a lot easier.
First I removed the old bumper which took about an hour.




Then I put the new one on using a jack, a couple stands, and some odd yoga poses.






As soon as I was tightening the last bolt my wife got home from work and was eager to help with the last 30 minutes wiring up lights. 2 hours and one soldering iron burn later the plate lights were wired, and we figured I'd wire up the LED pods later.






This morning I went out and wired up the pods. Wiring is one thing that I have never been any good at but I wanted to give this a try.
No surprise, my wiring didn't work. I'm hoping I blew a fuse or something simple.





Update: I went back and messed with this wiring again. I tapped the positives and one of the grounds into the driver side reverse light, and the remaining passenger ground connected to the license plate light ground wire. Now they work!

 

Looks great!! Ready for anything now

 

Get a 12v Testing light, that will help determine if you have a good ground/positive connections.

 

I need to put on a new bumper myself. which one is that? looks great!

 

Thanks! This is the one off of eBay, it’s an all pro knock-off.

 

Adventure Offroad Park Oct 11-13:
This last weekend I went to AOP for the first time and had a blast. The park is really close to me so I'm sure I'll be back, and hopefully soon. Here's some of the pictures we got.
Shout out @2TRunner for bringing my spare down, I really appreciate it.

 

My wife randomly ordered me a new third brake light, and since the ones on our 2nd gens still look like they're from 95 I went ahead and installed it today.
The stock housing, wasn't expecting it to take a star bit.


After I unscrewed it I used a flathead screwdriver to pry it up a bit then peeled it off the old adhesive foam.


Old housing once it was removed.


This one was just plug and play so I didn't have to deal with any wiring.


New brake light.

 

Hmmm.... Does it come in black? Brand name?

 

*shamelessly logs in to wife's Amazon account* it was this one, it does look like it comes in black apparently, I think she got me the smoked lens, maybe clear, either way it brings it into this century.

$24 Auto Dynasty Rear High Mount Black Housing LED 3rd Third Tail Brake Light Stop Lamp Compatible with Toyota Tacoma 95-15, 16+ for Access Cab Only

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F2N4EEM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

Thinking of upgrading mine on the cab, then use the oem on the topper.

 

I got my reverse LED light pods "correctly" wired and working now, just waiting for it to get dark to see how bright they actually are.




Edit: Took some photos once it got dark out.

 

Decided to hit up the Tennessee Dirt Devil during the peak of the leaves changing, and it was gorgeous. We drove down Natchez Trace, covered over 100 miles of the Dirt Devil, and did about half a dozen water crossings. Here's a few of the photos we took this trip.

 

Got some mall crawlin in those last few pics. Haha

 

Absolutely, this was definitely a weekend cruise, and not a wheeling trip. I'm hoping I might get one more fun trip in this year, maybe exploring LBL or Windrock.

 

This thread sucks... The hitch for my rear bumper arrived yesterday so I'll have to throw that on soon.
Other than that nothing new and exciting just yet, here's a random wintry picture of the truck.


I also got bored over the holidays and started a new project. I found a 10 gallon aquarium for $5.00 and started building an aquaponic system. At this point I just need some more grow media for the plant bed, and to run the water line properly around the planter. After that I'll wait a couple weeks and put some plants in it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIqrG-HRvtE

 

You selling these plants? ...

 

I wasn't planning on selling anything, but if a large black market opens up for spinach and cilantro during the next e-coli/ listeria/ groundhog flu outbreak then I might be open to it.

 

I'll take the cilantro

 

I eat probably 4 cups of spinach a day. Black market open!