The SR thread, let's see them!

Lookin awesome. What wheels are those?

 

Ok folks... not particularly an SR related post, but I have an SR and I wanted to share my personal review of a product I have used

Last summer a few months after purchasing my truck I wanted to employ the "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" on my truck. My sons 96 had the infamous shock mount rot on the passenger's side and that ultimately led to it breaking free of the frame. My 02 had the infamous frame rot dilemma and I had a frame replacement done, unfortunately the frame looked great and the rest of the truck was falling apart with rot, axle, fenders, bed, etc. I have used every type of rust reform product to try and rectify the problems and ultimately I realized that once it starts, theres no turning back. Plug up one leak, and another one springs. So upon purchasing my 2020 SR I wanted to try and prevent rust as best as possible rather than try and reform it.

I did my research and fluid film seemed to be a good option, but I heard its messy so I kept looking. Some guy on this thread suggested Mavcoat and I saw some pictures of his upstate NY 2016 after a couple years of application and I decided to give it a go. It's a little pricey at $20 a can, but any rust reform product you buy is at least $20 and they dont really get the job done, so pay now or pay later.

This stuff goes on like a waxy blue liquid and dries clear. I used 3 cans last year and after having a bit of snow/salt I found a few spots where I missed, and guess what. Surface rust.... Everywhere else I applied the stuff still looked brand new (aside from normal dust/dirt). I bought another 3 cans and hit the undercarriage/inner fenders again this morning. This stuff doesn't really collect dirt and dust like FF, so my frame and leafs look brand new after hitting it with another coat. I could tell that the coat I put on last year was mostly intact still, so it does last. I plan on doing 2-3 cans every June for the life of the truck and see what happens.

Mavcoat



Heres what it looks like mostly dry. I didn't wash the frame and only quickly wiped down any debris.


My hubs are exposed , so these were showing signs of surface rust (even though I painted them last year). A quick cleaning, touch up paint job, and coating of Mavcoat. Hopefully I wont get any more. I never pulled the wheels off and hit my drums when I initially applied this stuff last summer. The drums had some surface rust, so I'll be pulling the rear wheels every year when I do this, or do it every other tire rotation once my Toyota care is up.
It is not messy, it's fairly inexpensive, and much easier than pulling off the bed and trying to grind away huge chunks of rust off the 3rd member and rear axle -- then hoping whatever miracle product I purchased from Eastwood encapsulates and stops further rust (which it doesn't).

 

Out in Western Colo

 

super clean bruv.

 

This is completely normal.

I have a 21 4cyl and it does it every night. If you read your owners manual, it states it's an EVAP test done about 4-5 hours after your engine has been turned off. Only reason I know (besides reading it) is that my neighbor has mentioned hearing it happen randomly to me.

 

Been a while since I posted here.
Eibach Suspension, 255 Duratracs, Leer Shell, Diode Dynamics lighting.
Sliders should be next once they’re finished up.

 

One more mod completed on my 2020 SR SX. Installed a steel RCI transmission skid plate to compliment the the RCI front I installed last year. Already have the RCI rock sliders, installed last month, so I'll add the gas tank skid next.

 

Anyone interested

2020 SR SX OEM take offs. They have roughly 3500 miles on them. NO TPMS.
Firestone Destination 245/75/16
Wheel size:
16" x 7"
139.7mm x6 Bolt/LugPattern
25mm Offset
106.1 Centerbore
Includes OEM wheel locks for all 4 wheels and lugnuts for 3 wheels (need a set for the for the spare).

No marring or paint issues, these are basically brand new. Looking for $650.

 

Installed a rotopax yesterday

 

Un-holy mount from Hondo Garage! It wasn’t cheap but I like it.

 

Hello SR kings. We picked up our first Tacoma two weeks ago and we are loving it so far. It has kind of an interesting option set. It's an SR 4x4 DCSB but with the "XP Predator" accessory package. This (as I have learned) is something added by "Southeast Toyota Distributors" and it is an open question as to whether or not it was a good value. At any rate, it gains the TRD pro wheels with Duratracs on them, blackout badging, and the tube steps. I took the liberty of adding the TRD pro skid plate and the Lund fender flares. For the most part I like the truck although Toyota has done a horrific job of transmission programming. I just leave it in fourth until I am on the highway. We ended up with this particular Tacoma because, well, there are so few out there and this was the only 4x4 they had on the lot. Another dealer had a TRD off road that looked nice but was asking $48k for it. This one was substantially cheaper. The next thing I'm doing is adding the TRD pro grille (or at least a replica one) and wiring up the raptor lights. There may be a transmission cooler and a gas tank skid plate somewhere in the future too.

Also--random, but the gauge cluster intrigues me. It seems that all Tacomas use the same basic layout along with the same information display (the SR now has the full info display), but for some reason the SR has an exclusive blue/red lighting setup as opposed to white/white on all other trims. Who knows.

 

I was toying around on the website and put in a zip for Alabama, and saw that package. I sorta want to get one. But strangely enough, Mississippi is in the "gulf states region." The packages here suck. And SE region gets more options vs. us. But I'm also just south of Memphis which is in the Cincinnati region. And again, they have better packages.

 

It's strange how it all works. I'm in Alabama and you would think that Toyota would offer things uniformly across the nation as far as accessories go. I'd never even heard of "Southeast Toyota Distributors" until I read the window sticker.

 

Nice... .

What happened here. The wheel well in the bed looks deformed. Maybe it's just the lighting?

 

My aunt used to do payroll for one of the big guys in Memphis. And they bought up a couple smaller dealerships over the years (including a Toyota dealership). And after a year or 2 of doing payroll for the Toyota dealership, she learned about the different region Toyota has.

And some of the info she learned is that an exact equipped Tacoma costing, say $30K in the Cincinnati region, cost aboitb$500-1000 more in the Gulf states. A couple of the main reason was because of the sales pack (what dealership makes off the sale) and how Toyota does the inventory. In the Cincy reg, Toyota corporate OWNS the actual iinventory.

Whereas in the Gulf region, the sale pack is higher and the dealers BUYS the inventory from Toyota.

It's a strange setup. But somehow, it works.

 

found this post in looking for pics of headache racks. Truck looks great. Simple and clean.

 

I know this question has been asked a million times but I cant really find a great answer, for anyone that swapped from steel to alloy wheels, what did you do for the TPMS? I was reading something that said you could just rotate the old ones but you have to be careful with that, are there any OEM or cheaper options for new ones available?

 

I had the local tire shop rotate mine 180 degrees. They didn't have an issue with it, but some places will. You also have to be mindful when it comes time to replace tires, you'll have to remind them that they need to drop the sensor prior to breaking the bead. If not the pressure of the machine will more than likely destroy the sensor. I hate seeing idiot lights on my dash.... especially in a brand new truck, but I'd rather not spend $200 on sensors. I would have just told them not to install them if they wouldn't rotate em 180. I check my tire pressure monthly and can usually tell when things are off cuz my mpg goes down.

Edit.... some folks make some contraption where you throw the sensors in a pressurized tube with a valve stem.

 

Optical illusion