ChrisWhaaaat’s Tame Taco build

Hey folks,

so I got a ‘23 in a panic (due to some decisions on interest rates, limited availability of remaining trucks, late deliveries of 2024’s… and I had to get rid of my liability of a Ram eco diesel, which I loved but it let me down a lot.).

I bought a 2023 nightshade, though had wanted a TRD pro. I paid the same price with the dumb dealership add ons like glass protection and rust protection… leather protection… some dumb dealership fees that weren’t really required. Ah well! You can’t win ‘em all.

I’m planning a moderate build… I drive a lot of gravel for work and pull off the road a fair bit, I live in Canada so we get a fair bit of snow… my winter driving is far less than summer driving, but I’m not really interested in wheeling per se. So a mild lift, some tires, some protection, and mostly aesthetic mods is my plan. The truck also came with the TRD air box already installed which I didn’t care for but it’s there anyways.

I’ve ordered some parts so far:
- Toyo Open Country AT3’s in 255/80r17 (skinnies!!)
- bilstein 5100’s front and rear. Plan to go 2” up front.
- icon AAL’s 1.5” for the rear
- TRD Pro rims (I think they might be knock-offs.. Replika? Brand?) I tried to get the local yota dealer to order some and one said they couldn’t get any and the other the kid behind the parts counter on multiple visits was useless).
- AVS window vent visor/rain guards (I’ve had some sort of rain guards on a couple previous trucks and I like that they keep dripping stuff from washing your windshield or rain etc from splashing in to a slightly open window… also helps a bit with bad sun angles.
-TRD Pro grille.

I hope it’s not too frowned upon to add TRD pro related/style stuff to a non-pro truck. I see it enough. Everyone and their dog has a knock-off TRD Pro grille it seems (not everyone… obviously. But you know what I mean).

Currently my only mod is window tint (some sort of ceramic high heat rejection… you can still see my face in the front mostly). Helps with sitting in open prairie sun all summer, trying to use a laptop in the truck.
also have the TRD Pro air box from the dealer I guess, which I actually wish wasn’t there. I’d rather hear LESS engine noise.

Planned are:
- TRD skid plate
- new running boards or rock sliders (can’t decide between predator side steps or rock sliders… I’ll never do any rock slider Esque wheeling but I want to protect in case I catch a log, or also rocks hitting the rocker panels from gravel roads etc). If any one has any input please jump in. I don’t like my existing running boards for looks but they do offer some protection against flying debris for the lower door panel/rocker.
- Prinsu or similar roof rack
- low profile front lower bumper protection (would like to minimize cutting for now). Considering the hiline model that you can add wings to later if desired. Don’t need to winch.
- have some misc work lights/fog lights to add that I already own for roof rack and front end.
- seat risers for the front of the seats that need to be installed.
- custom phone holders and laptop work station for inside the cab?
- light switches in the OEM slots left of the steering wheel
- maybe air cooled seats up front at some point.

 

Welcome, nice truck! Do you have to worry about rust proofing in Alberta?

 

Hey CanadianCabber,

they sure throw down the salt here. The dealer I dealt with claims they sprayed some rust proofing stuff in an around the metal panels… inside the doors and fenders and stuff. Whether they actually did I don’t know for sure. They did undercoat a fair amount of the truck and it has some sort of warranty.

 

Picked up the new wheels today. Test-fitted at the shop. Very minor contact at the front air dam and at the mud flap. I’m going to be replacing the mud flaps and removing the dam anyways so fairly minor to correct. No rubbing anywhere else (at least not when parked), so 255/80r17 was a reasonable choice I think (lighter and better for winter anyways).

The lift parts are due in on Wednesday. I’ll likely disassemble some stuff on the truck tomorrow and leave it cued up for install till then.

currently looking for mudflaps. Leaning toward the rally armor for looks and coverage. I want something that hangs low, isn’t just a flap of plastic (like the rokblokz are). If anyone has any thoughts on those (or again on the “coverage” of various side steps). Please chime in.

 

Both photos are deceptive. Looks huge in this one and small in the one above. The truth is somewhere in between lol.

 

Welp… I ordered some rally armor mudflaps. Hopefully that wasn’t a dumb choice.

Edit/update: (turns out they are two separate flaps of plastic, and nylon hardware between the upper and lower flap). They don’t look cheap though. The fit is good. So far debris doesn’t stick to them which is great… will see if that changes as they take some abuse and become pitted or otherwise.

 

Well, I did a few things.

- bilstein 5100’s in (front and rear, with the 2” front lift)
- icon AAL’s 1.5” rear
- Toyo open-country AT3’s - 33” skinnies! - 255/85r17 on Replika TRD pro rims
- rally armor large size mudflaps.
- aftermarket TRD-pro style grille (no issues with pre-collision/radar system yet after grille and lift)
- Sherpa Grand Teton roof rack
- air horn with small on-demand compressor (momentary switch on dash). Later when I get a proper compressor for air bags, I’ll run an electronic valve off a tank instead.
- 32” el-cheapo light bar in lower grille. Honestly not great. Wired to headlight highbeams with switch in dash, so it can only be used with the high beams on and can be used selectively.
- Dynamic Diodes SS3 Pro SAE fogs in selective yellow (chosen from the SAE Fog light thread). Wow they are great
- auxbeam 8 switch panel installed in cab left of steering column. Does not interfere with the factory switch panel which was mostly full.
- Pro Comp ditch flood lights (these are not as good as I had hoped). I’ve had them for years but never installed on anything.
- 2 6” amber light bars on roof rack, will be wired to strobe (if working on a road or construction site) or always on (seperate switch) if snowy and white light not as useful.
- 30” rough-country black-series light bar ordered for roof rack.
- window vent visors added (not in-channel because I have seen these scratch other people’s windows).
- Tacoma seat front lift blocks (lifts from of seat 1-1.5”). I really like this addition. Gives a bit more vertical leg room.

 

Skinny tires alignment.

 

- Re-fabricated the auxbeam mount to fit the two open bolt holes at back driver side of engine bay.

- Amazon LED light bar switch to fit a factory tall blank. I wired this to a relay with the switch power off a fuse tap on high-beam circuit.

- And the horn add-in is pictured. I ordered a Farbin momentary switch on Amazon cause I could tuck it behind steering column and surface mount it with sticky tape in case of later changes

 

I plan to get (probably) green lane off-road rock slider/with steps, and probably a green lane low profile/stump bumper, which has option for high-clearance wings added layer. There is a hiline bumper that has similar features I’ve considered but I prefer the light bar in the grille not the bumper and might as well match slider and bumper brands. Also green lane product is aluminum so good for weight and no rusting.

Other things to do:
- always on AC interior plug
- update the volume/skip switch on steering wheel to correct the volume top to bottom and skip left to right
- need a headache rack of sorts at the back of the cab. Might lean toward something a bit more like the new TrailHunter bar. Probably will build my own?
- additional rear/side lights on roof rack (I have rear mini flood cubes and rough-country rock lights for the side).
- rear amber strobes as well (I have some hideaway lights I might install inside the tails?).
- TRD aluminum skid plate
- compressor and airbags (probably Firestone?). I’ll have a quad in the box regularly.
- DECKED toolbox or custom build, not sure yet.
- rear box step?
- rear armoured bumper at some point… needs BSM compatibility.
- 3M wrap from and lower sides of the truck to protect from a bunch of future gravel driving and driving in heavy bugs.
- darker tail lights at some point..
- smoked mirror turn signals
- low-profile NON in-channel vent visors over windows.
- phone/laptop mounts in truck
- remove rear dual seat and place platform (for dog) with storage space underneath

 

Added an Amazon gas cap holder. Works great. Cheap.
Also photo of lift parts/mud flaps

 

Well, a few things on this list materialized and are now complete, but it also took a sharp turn and ended, ha. I’ll post why after this.

Got my 44” ExtremeLED X6S light bar which turned out to be the only single row I could find that fits neatly BELOW the upper flat surface of the Sherpa Grand Teton (I made my own mounting brackets).
I wired the amber lights to a flasher unit so I could either run them steady on or as amber strobes (i am occasionally on roadways for work).

I did a bit of work to my wife’s 4 runner limited (Mild spacer lift to keep XREAS functional for on-road handling, since that is most of her driving), chrome delete, running board delete, some fog lights from the Tacoma, sequential smoked mirror signal lights, and I took the skinny 33’s off my truck and put them on her vehicle. Turned out they fit pretty well. Only minor rubbing and I corrected that with some adjustments to the inner fender liners.

I plan to add a prinsu or similar roof rack for her vehicle, i really like the flatter roof racks for mounting versatility.

Got 285/70r17 Falken Wildpeak AT4W for my truck, on the same rims again, so the vehicles matched which was fun.

 

Took the truck to work a lot and to other various places (I haul and use a quad for work).
Made a bed rack to support my 6 foot long quad with 5 foot bed. Removable section outside the box was supported both by sliding in to the in-bed segment and by a support in the hitch receiver.
I dont have a completed photo of it and did more work after. It’s intended to hold a drawer but I never did finish it yet cause I had other plans… see next post.

 

I returned the truck to stock (mostly) last weekend and got a new toy!

 

Re: 4th gen/trailhunter:
- I paid MSRP for the truck, no add on crap (I ordered matte black door side mouldings and rear tailgate insert)
- i added ECP Platinum to 72 months/200 000 km. (My peace of mind).
- The 4th gen is so much nicer to drive (I test drove a gas job sport before buying this also, and both engine configurations are great).
- This truck is quieter and more comfortable, more modern, a ton of new features (and features they should have had sooner).
- I have no regrets… it’s what I wanted in the first place (as I initially commented in this thread, the 3G was a panic buy, but I did love the truck).

I spend a lot of time sitting in or driving the truck for work and something more enjoyable to drive was important to me. This fills that need and keeps me in a Tacoma, and included a lot of the things I would have liked to keep in the first place.
I plan to do some additional, mostly non-mechanical mods over time, but not in a huge hurry.
First step i did was PPF on some front portions of the truck; I think I will ultimately wrap about 80% of the truck as I have wound up with scratches on all my other trucks before, and am looking forward to a white truck with fewer scratches showing and better protection. I use my truck as a truck quite a lot and end up on a lot of gravel or shitty paved roads and the ppf will help with protection.

 

Congratulations, Nice truck!

 

Extended warranty is a good move. I'd do the same thing if I purchased a 4th gen as well being an all new platform. For your use, paint protection seems like a high priority for sure. Look at proper undercoating as well unless you don't keep your trucks very long. Are you self employed and able to write your truck off at tax time?