NinjaxBart's 2020 Cement Grey

Thank you for all the warm welcomes here so far!! I figured I'd start a slow n steady build thread. This is my 2020 Double cab short box off-road Tacoma, and my favorite color, Cement Grey! This is my first truck so the progress will be slow as I learn new things and make this truck my own, and to fit my needs (and adventures!) We have lots of nice areas and trails to explore here in Alberta where I live!

The day I picked up the Tacoma.. we shot a commercial for the dealership here! I've done one photo campaign for Toyota Canada shooting a 2020' Tacoma prior to this!

https://youtu.be/lsgMpPeUi5k

 

First week of owning the Taco we took a trip into Banff and Yoho Parks here in Alberta/ British Columbia..

DSC09313 by Spencer, on Flickr

DSC09305 by Spencer, on Flickr

The Garage (19ft) just barely fits, but it works! Here's a shot the day before the new owner came and picked up my Subaru that I sold. The bike is my 2019 MT-09.

Untitled by Spencer, on Flickr

Pretty messy roads along the way.

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A stop at Morant's Curve in Banff

DSC09320 by Spencer, on Flickr

To catch the train some folks travel and wait hours for it to come. There's no set schedule, it's just pure luck. Then when the train comes, you either have a nice cargo train with (Canadian Tire / CP carts, nice red and green etc.) OR you get a super ugly brown freight train haha. This was our last time seeing it.

DSC07749a by Spencer, on Flickr

Surprisingly cheaper than my previous Subaru WRX was to fill on gas!!

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Okay I figure these grill lights resemble the Raptor' but eh, it's my first truck, and I love that wide aggressive front end look these add!!

Slight dremel down the edge because I wanted to fit them in the middle row. Went with 4 to be just.. a little.. different, haha!

DSC09435 by SHPIXX, on Flickr

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Classic Canada, it was sunny, and then 10cm of snow came that night! Made for some good shots!!
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Some video work I did of the grill lights! Shoutout @Jesse Rizo on his channel for the inspiration and motivation jumping straight into the Tacoma world on YouTube. Hopefully my channel can transition from the Subaru into the Tacoma smoothly!!



Out exploring a trail called Ya Ha Tinda here in Alberta with some friends (who played a role influencing me into the Tacoma!!)

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Now I'm a pretty big lighting nerd, so next up was a nice foglight upgrade! I did some photo work and marketing for Diode Dynamics in the past, so ofcourse I went with the popular SS3 Foglights (Sports) Wide SAE Amber lenses!



DSC09621 by SHPIXX, on Flickr


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Got the front end PPF's with Suntek self-headling film.

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Door handle cups... a must!!

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MORE SNOW! Went out with the guys for some fun...

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My twin

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Then... wheels arrived!! I went with the Stealth Custom BR6's, Specs: 16 x 8, + 12mm, dark bronze and white spoke decal, black lugnuts..

DSC00190 by SHPIXX, on Flickr

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Just a little dirty

DSC00202 by SHPIXX, on Flickr

 

Next, Diode Dynamics SL1 LED's in the low-beams projectors for headlights! Pretty much a nice white crisp color change from the yellow halogen, same cut-off line in my opinion but the overall color temp. feels and appears more reflective ahead, on the road, lines, signs, fence posts, etc.! I am often out in the back-country on dark roads driving so these were a good upgrade.


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Comparison (OEM LEFT vs. SL1 RIGHT)

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MORE SNOW... When will it end.. It's Spring, right??

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I'm also a huge dashcam nerd, so I swapped/ installed over my DR900s + B-124X 24h backup battery into the Tacoma! It's a pretty intense dashcam setup haha...

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I decided on tires and they arrived! I kind of opted for a good - budget friendly option to start out with. Eventually I might go bigger, go the whole life/ cmc route, but that might be a year or two down the road. I'd still like to get out off-roading and exploring, focus on having fun with how it is now, before I "need" more upgrades in this department! General Grabber AT/X's 265/ 75 /16


DSC00558 by SHPIXX, on Flickr


Installed a ProClip mount for my Iphone 11 pro, I am a fan of their mounts in terms of flexability (can be removed and installed with two clips out and very easy) and no drilling required permanently yet. Holding off doing anything permanent.


DSC00572 by SHPIXX, on Flickr

 

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New wheels + tires are on! Went with General Grabber ATX 265/75/16, they were about $850 shipped to my door incl. taxes, etc. and shipped next day from a website

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(Few shots from before the wheels)

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Everything loaded up the night before..

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Great choice on the tires!

 

ohhhh you were the other guy that was in The Car Creative's Instagram post! Didn't know you were on tacomaworld. Yall both have some pretty clean tacomas!

 

Yes! My friend Alex is suuuuper talented oh man, very lucky to have met him (actually met him through Toyota which was super cool!)

Our new video that we kind of worked together on shooting is up on our Youtube channel's now, too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpKCxxMAc0s

 

A bit of a random update / clips of me struggling to pick up the 60 lbs. tires hahaha... Loaded up everything the night before going down to the shop for the install..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3b-X3r8oMg&t=


DSC00780 by SHPIXX, on Flickr

 

The new wheels + tires are installed and I'm sooo stoked!! They look so awesome, the truck actually drivers smoother (turning almost feels a bit more linear to me if that makes sense) and they look so much more aggressive. Even stock height / suspension, the 265 / 75/ 16's fill up nicely (pretty snug actually). I get a little bit of rub slow speed parking lot turning, just on the corner of the inside mudflap. They said a custom alignment adjustment would be able to get rid of that so I think that's next on the to-do list!


If you guys have a few minutes to check it and leave a comment on my video I'd be super thankful for that!! I just reached 10K Subscribers on my YouTube which is really so crazy to me, 4 years in the making doing videos every single week!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdt74CsSTK0

 

A little bit of an update, short vlog talking about my initial impressions driving on the new tires, fuel mileage, and road noise!


Would love to hear your guys thoughts or experiences on AT/X's with tire noise, and running more aggressive tires related to fuel mileage.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDEGgLxL8wo

 

Fancy seeing you here , truck is looking good man

 

Hey buddy thanks so much!! Hope you're doing good!

 

Yup, all is well just concentrating on life stuff, hope all is well on your end too. Looking forward to the rest of the build

 

The truck bed light comes with LED's, but literally every other bulb on the truck came factory with incandescent yellow bulbs!! A little disappointing but I guess it's a cost savings for Toyota haha.. :thumbsdow

Swapped out for some new white LED's because I'm a fan of the color temp and added brightness! If you've got a few mins. to leave a comment on my new video I'd be very thankful for that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_iOLIsiYpw

 

Welcome to TW. I'm a newb here too. First truck, first Toyota.

Stellar cine work, man. I'm following you on YT. I'm starting some vids of our adventures here in Alabama, just learning Premiere Pro is a slow process. I'm more of a hobbyist photographer so I'm just getting the hang of getting footage needed for videos. I should have my first video up in a week or so of the trip we did in Northern Georgia. Anyways, keep up the good work.

p.s. thought you might enjoy a pic of the custom bed rack I designed, fab'd, painted and installed just today. Gearin' up for several trips this year.

Peace