What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

I had a buddy that followed Harry Gant of NASCAR back in the day and had his Lumina decked out to look like the race car, complete with sponsor decals. Ya personalize it how you want, it's your truck. Make it fun.

 

It doesn't look good IMHO, roll calls are so 2015 (say it like a valley girl). Why give free advertising?

 

Fair point.

 

On rainy days they let us smoke inside

 

I never knew there was a Cult for Tacoma's! My wife did some research on line when I asked her what kind of a Pickup do you want. She came up with a Tacoma TRD to me one hell of a neat truck! Look at all the stuff you can buy for one too! Now I am sold and hooked too!

 

Just saved $150 thanks again for the heads up! $310 shipped to me in Colorado lol at this rate my truck is going full TRD Bro style…

 

Cheaper than what I paid. Ordered mine this past Sunday BEFORE this sale. I saw their original price was $325. But I did get free shipping.

C'est la vie.

 

That is a good deal. I paid $320 locally 3-4 years ago by price matching.

 

Installed Pro X15 and Fog Lamps

 

I never thought I'd be the type of person to add fender flares... but I did. And I love it! The small amount of contrast from the rims hub center cap, lug nuts, trd 4x4 sticker, and chrome in the front headlights as well as the toyota logo in the grille tie it all together nicely. I used to be the type to remove stickers, badges, any blackout everything! I just enjoy the look as is on this truck. I also have a TRD skid plate on the way. Results:

















I was so reluctant to put them on. Even as they were going on I was contemplating life choices. I feel I made the right choice, especially for Montana winters. RockBlokz are on the way, because the stock mud guards just don't cover enough and don't fit properly with these mud guards. These are

EAG Front and Rear Fender Flares ABS Pocket Rivet Style Fit for 16-21 Tacoma

EAG Fender Flares. I got these over the other options because they were not as aggressive and the material looks stock. Some that I have seen are too shiny and some were too aggressive. I found these to be a medium.

All that said, the instructions and process was an absolute pain in the ass. Briefly read through the instruction and you will be fluent in Mandarin by page 3. The surprising part is this whole kit is made in the USA! Well, not surprising, but kind of is for the terrible unclear instructions and improper techniques mentioned. There was barely enough materials to complete the setup. 6 of the star washers broke, I had to trim the inside of the fender where the chrome "screws" go (which btw, are totally aesthetic) due to poor drilling leaving all kinds of excess plastic inside. Then I decided to seal those aesthetic plastic chrome screws to the fender with black RTV because they were not flush and moved all over the place, thus allowing all kinds of debris to enter. Finally, the included rubber grommet (not sure what it's called) was barely long enough. I had to really stretch it on the last fender while assembling. Maybe I didn't stretch it enough on the rest, but I don't feel you should have to when paying this much for a product. There should be tons of extra hardware. To top it off, the instructions say to remove 6 inches of the adhesive tape at a time when applying the rubber. I was actually kind of shocked there was adhesive at all inside that stuff. Do NOT do that. I did it on the first one and it ends up sticking together making it harder to wrap around the trim portion. The second one I did, I left the red adhesive tape attached and laid the pipe (giggity) then removed the adhesive tape once it was all done. Much easier. Actual application on the vehicle was interesting for the first one, but went smoothly for the rest. Once you decipher the instructions and decide to discard them, you can figure it out. The odd part was they don't utilize any of the factory clip locations. It's just the bottom bolts that hold it all in. I had to make a lot of adjustments on the first one I did because it wasn't seating properly. After figuring that out the rest went smoothly. The rears are easy. No issues with them at all. But not using factory clips doesn't seem like the most secure idea here. They are snug, but could be better with a clip implementation. Overall, since this was the first set of fender flares I have ever done, I have nothing to compare to and I'd recommend them to someone that is looking. But if you have done them before and know a better set, maybe go with them. I hope this helps someone in the future looking to install fender flares.

Also, not sure why this refused to post the picture in thumbnail format. Maybe the pics are too big? I was hoping to make it easier to view. Whatever.

 

Used my lil' desktop plotter to make some silver-on-black TRD center caps for my new wheels. (also got my new AJT Designs radio knobs installed thanks to @Devious6 )

 

I've considered magnets. Seems like a win win, even if it doesn't work out just right.

Bond a few of those round disc supermagnets to the lamp assembly, and match them to a few on the opposite side of the fabric.

Might need to put handles on the inside magnets, they can be very "attractive"! ;-)

 

Used mirror heaters yesterday to burn off the dew (I know, tough here in FL). Anyway, passenger side cleared way quicker than drivers. Anyone else notice a difference with theirs?

 

In which direction was your Taco parked? Was the sun up when you attempted this? Were there equal amounts of the stuff?
I've seen vastly different amounts of dew on each side of my ride... God's flashlight has everything to do with it.

 

Nice work!

 

Add a leaf for my Ironman nitro stage 2, it’s sagging after 13 months on 22,600 miles.

 

It is a hell of a truck. I’ve underestimated it a few times off-road but it seems to get through pretty much anything I’ve come across. Yeah, the aftermarket for these trucks is phenomenal to say the least. Welcome to the family!

 

Nice! double the price in Canada.

 

30K mile service

Took the truck in today for an oil change and tire rotation. I knew I had to pay for this one so I changed the Air Filter myself to save some bucks. Was hit up for up-sale to clean fuel injectors for only $349 and you need your brake fluid flushed for only $149. NO, I do not. Your cabin filter needs replacing too for only $59.95. NO, I can order one from Amazon for $15. But I looked and it was my understanding that was supposed to be replaced at 20K miles. It was filthy as it did not look to have been changed at all since I bought the truck. And this was after being in the shop for a month for an AC condensation leak on the passenger side inside the cab. I would have thought the AC drip guy needs to have his cabin filter replaced so just do it. Didn't happen. The total came to $98 for an oil change and tire rotation. The next tire rotation will be on Discount Tire.