What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

@CaliRaisedLed

 

Very fine sandpaper followed by very fine steel wool to remove the shiny chrome. Mild soap/rinse to remove any oils from your hands. Dry with lint free cloth. Probably 3 light coats of a good enamel paint.

 

Amazon brought my smoked sequential turn signals. Just almost dark and worked to long today to put them in.

 

I like it would look great on white.

 

Over the past week I've been tinkering on a head unit replacement with front camera install.

For head unit, I decided on the Jensen Car910x for a few reasons. First of all, the Entune unit constantly dropped Bluetooth and I'd had enough.

The reasons for the Jensen were larger screen size (9" vs. 7" Entune), Android Auto, resolution slightly higher than a many competing units, second A/V input, and $399 is good for what you get. No, it's not a premium unit, but it does work well and the screen is more than satisfactory.

I bought it through Amazon because after waffling for weeks, it went out of stock at Crutchfield, and I was getting desperate with almost everything I've been researching now out of stock.

I used the

$75 CRUX SWRTY-61N Radio Replacement with SWC & OE RVC Retention (for Toyota Vehicles 2012-Up)

Crux SWRTY-61N wiring harness which made it all relatively straightforward. I wish Crutchfield had everything in stock, I would have opted for the Ready Harness service and have them do all the wiring, it would have come out cleaner for sure.

The backup camera is just the

$40 NATIKA Backup/Front View Camera,IP69K Waterproof Great Night Vision HD and Super Wide Angle Metal OEM Style Reverse Rear View Backup Camera for Cars Pickup Trucks SUVs RVs Vans (Black)

Nakita Backup/Front camera that seemed the most popular and highly rated. Quality seemed solid out of the box, it's got some weight to it and looks very well sealed.

I have the Body Armor 4x4 HiLine winch bumper and love it. The bar gave me a great mounting option, just had to buy some strong

$14 LAMPHUS Off-Road Light Mounting Bracket Bar Clamp Kits [1"/1.5"/1.75"/2" Inch] [Horizontal Bar] [Aluminium] [2 Units] Bull Roll Cage Clamps Mount for ATV UTV

tube clamps.

Overall it wasn't a terrible job, but I haven't installed a new stereo in a car in about 20 years, many more wires and components now.

Happy to answer any questions, but wanted to share if anyone else is thinking of swapping out the head unit.

Anybody have ideas for what I should do with the stock unit, given that it was experiencing constant Bluetooth disconnects? Ebay at a discount/as-is, just not sure what to do with it.

 

Or on the drain screw

 

I want a tailgate panel so bad but it's hard to throw $250 at one ...... How are you liking it?
Any reason you went with the plastic vs an aluminum panel?

 

You must be in aviation. I used that orange goop on my helo when I was out of station.

 

Some things today, others the other day....
Pro tails,
Yellow vinyl stickums,
Ventilation for my bumper,

 

Speed holes make the car go faster

 

Re-wrapped the fog lights, two layers this time and hooked up the grill lights . Then last week installed an air intake accelerator to go with my drop in K&N air filter...CAI for a fraction of the cost!

 

What kind of wrap and where do you get it?

thanks

 

Is there a link for lights
Thanks

 

Is the shape of the air accelerater beneficial or does it just keep it in the fenderwell? Could you just cut the scoop portion of the factory one for increased air flow?

I like the light wraps. Curious to see how they hold up to wear & tear

 

It holds up fine, use fine grit sand paper to rough up, primer and let dry for a day, then paint.

 

Kinda rainy in GA so used truck as an improv work station for body work..

 

Having the edges of the air intake flared allows for air to be drawn in with much less resistance/restriction. Is that a measurable thing ?, it could be. And in conjunction with a K&N I believe it allows the engine to breathe easier. The flared thing is made out of EPDM rubber that's synthetic in nature and it's very resistant to wear and tear more so than regular rubber .
About the fog wraps, I got enough to redo it again. Because I insisted on using Sylvania Zevo led bulbs I had no choice but wrap the lens since the led inside it's white.

 

Contact Gar-Fab. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/gar-fab-tailgate-panel-group-buy-canada.715433/
Myself and several Canadian TW members are very happy with this product. Perhaps arrange a group buy to reduce shipping costs.

 

thats one way to use your resources

 

I work with an old boomer with a suped up side-by-side and he has Gaia on a tablet and SD card dedicated to his offline maps. He swears by having a unit that he can use in his truck, side-by-side and hiking all in one.

He knows most of the well-known AZ routes by heart and tracks all his trails when he strays from those. He said he prefers something he can have with him if he has to abandon his truck or UTV.