What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

What seats ya running there?

 

They look like RSX seats

 

Last weekend I got a few projects done at the shop. Finished the Scion seat swap and ran into a few issues, my Tacoma’s seat rails required some modification not mentioned elsewhere, the bearing cages fit for sh*t, and sliding them back and forth is basically a hernia-inducing move unless you’re in the seat.

Also, a note on height. I’m 5’9” and I’d say I’m borderline sitting too high. While I have a commanding perspective that is way better than the low rider stock seats, perhaps a medium betwixt the two is what I’m after.

All ears for your seat suggestions.

Removed my dual battery setup, planning on putting it below the bed or in the bed somewhere.

In my ongoing saga with my wedge camper, removed corner brackets, cleaned like crazy, cleaned more, used all the silicone in the state and slapped ‘em back together. Excited for rain Wednesday, feeling cautiously confident. Ground and painted a few spots on the camper frame I had to fix too, then cleaned up an old welding cart for use at work.

This weekend, no f’n wrenching, only driving.

 

I thought this is how they look.

 

So much brighter, haven't been flashed yet

 

My comment said nothing about being flashed by oncoming drivers. Yes light scatter is a problem for them too. But is is also a problem for the driver that is in front of you, going the same direction as you. Especially when the headlight centers are 30" or more off the ground.

Yes, I noticed that too. lots of light scatter in both pics. Makes me wonder if they are aftermarket housings. I've never seen OEM housings with a pattern like that.

Whether one gets flashed or not, doesn't mean all that much any more anyway. It used to be that flashing someone was a courteous act. A kind, but very rare one. One to let the other person know their lights were an issue, in case they didn't realize it. Heck, maybe they had left their brights on and didn't realize it.

But in today's world all of that courtesy is lost because there is so much headlight abuse. It seems hopeless, a fatigue of sorts. So many folks have just stopped bothering to let that oncoming driver know his lights are blinding others. They have given up trying to be helpful.

 

I'm over the blinding LEDs and HIDs swapped into housings they shouldn't be. What pisses me off now is when someone buys some really cheap LED pods and runs them as fog lights even though they are just a bright ass flood light.

God that pisses me off.

 

Infuriating. Those and even some rolling around with eBay light bars running as the “fogs”.
It’s always something random like a damn accord or early CRV running it too. Smh.

 

I hit them with my spot lights every time. Like..come on man.

 

I will never stop the good fight lol. I'll flash once if your brights stay on, flash and hold again if you don't turn them off. Then they get the light bar if they haven't passed me by that point and nobody else is around. Fuck assholes who don't give a shit about blinding other drivers.

 

I miss having my Lightforce 240's on my truck. Was always fun to flash them. Then flash again. Then just say fuck you and hit those suckers. I swear you could see them panic with those big lights on

Always worked though.

 

Yes. It is a very contentious and divisive topic on here.

 

Don't give up trying to be helpful. Our world - especially today - needs more helpful and courteous.

And you said "in front of you." That's oncoming drivers too, , just sayin. You never said "going the same direction" either.

I first flash just the brights. Then, the HID Hellas are a nice 1-2 punch now, hahaha.

I now know that feeling. It's great.

 

At 6'1", I, also feel too "tall in the saddle". I have engineered in my mind a fix for my BMW seats. That is to remove the raised area that the front of the seat rail sits on. This is basically just a panel that creates a cavity. There is nothing inside the cavity. This would drop the front edge of the seat by a couple of inches, and you would then alter the rear brackets an equal amount. This is based on working with my BMW seat rails, which are flat, and can be bolted through at the front and back.

 

It may make you feel better but it only matters if it helps to make a change. Does it really make that other driver feel they need to change their behaviors?

I sometimes wonder if it has the opposite effect.

 

I'm ready to do my BMW seats soon. I definately know what you mean about sitting high in the saddle with them. My son's BMW seats in his 4 runner lifted the seating position noticably. I'm going to have to look in to modifying the brackets (or fabricating my own) to lower it down a bit. I think it's basically an inch (thickness of the rails) that I need to account for.

 

Called my local Toyota dealer and ordered them. I got all four that I need for five bucks and they will come in tomorrow. Thank you for the help

 

My feeling is that it’s like anything else, if you are trying to be helpful, then it is a good thing to let someone know that they are blinding others.

Being helpful means that you give them a couple quick flashes, as opposed to pounding on all the off-road lights and leaving them illuminated in order to blind the person who has LEDs or a light bar can use.

So much today, people opt for the second alternative - trying to win the “blinding battle.” That kind of behavior would absolutely cause the opposite reaction.

However, I think there are still plenty of people out there who think that they’ve done themselves a favor with a headlight upgrade, but if enough people politely flash them to let them know that there is a problem, they might at least take it in to get looked at.

The way I approach it is a couple quick flashes. Usually, if the person is paying attention, and their highbeams are not on, they will flash their highbeams as well to let me know that those are their lows. If I get no reaction from them, I flash the hellas at them. But I leave it at that, because there’s no reason to road rage my lights at them (even if it feels good). I’ve let them know that they have an issue.

Well, I guess I do leave my Hellas on in the case where they have a full array of light bars turned on, and don’t turn them off after I flash them. But then, they deserve it.

 

I just put some Matrix seats in my truck and same "high in the saddle" result. I actually like it at 5'11", but I can see anybody more than an inch taller than me having a problem. The inside legs of the Matrix seats are flat on the floor and the outside legs needed about 1 3/4" spacer blocks to stay level side to side.

I like the new position. Makes it feel like the truck has a lift. I do slide the seat back when I exit and it makes getting in easier.