What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Added the RAV4 blind spot mirrors, which are actually more useful than I thought they’d be and got some German made Phillips H9’s which I need to mod to replace the H11 headlights. Also ordered some fluids in preparation for the 60k service.

Been doing a lot of small things to try and make myself hold off on new suspension until I really need to do it.

 

Spent a bit of time doing this the past couple days. Not an awful lot of salt up in the mountains by me, but I’m also prepping for rust treatment that I plan on doing in the near future.

Living in SoCal, rust proofing is probably overkill but I have noticed some small rust spots here and there on some seams on the frame/cross members. Planning on keeping the truck for a long time so I might as well set it up for longevity.

As tedious and annoying as it is to clean/wipe down the underside, it’s satisfying in a sort of masochistic way.

 

At $70, I just couldn't justify the cost of OEM tails, haven't seen any fogging yet and if they get bashed on a trail I won't be that upset.



Also got a significant gift card for Amazon from work to make the cost of the only heated steering wheel option worth it. Finished up the

$160 MXT275 MicroMobile GMRS 2-Way Radio

MXT275 install as well.

 

Slapped on the rears. I was able to use 100% Ti hardware. Drilled and tapped the frame instead of using the chinesium self tappers provided for the reservoir brackets. The difference between good hardware and cheap hardware is huge. Going to replace all the hardware on the leaf packs with 316 stainless. Ti is a bit pricey for an M10x1.25x90mm bolt.

 

A lot of shaking. I grabbed the front bumper bar and shook the front end up and down until it recreated the squeak, this let me hear that it was mostly coming from the passenger side. Then grabbed the passenger wheel well and again started rocking the truck side to side and listening. Had my wife rock the truck from the passenger wheel well also and was able to tell it was coming from forward of the suspension so that removed all of that from the suspects. Started looking up others with a similar squeak in similar place and found a video that had my exact sound. They replaced the bushing and fixed their squeak so I made the determination that would be my fix. I guess it wasn't a definite thing, but worth the money/ time to test.

 

In case anyone is interested. The MESO stealth pro shifter is finally back in stock. It has been out of stock for a year plus.

https://mesocustoms.com/collections/toyota-tacoma-3rd-gen/products/stealth-pro-shift-knob

 

Getting your moneys worth outta that tread

 

I think that you are running a little too much tire pressure there.

 

Calm down guys, they’re racing slicks

 

Got the H9’s put in (shoutout to @crashnburn80 for his super informative thread) and just had to remove the green tabs from the headlight connectors. Also went ahead and took the air dam off (again) and gonna see how the mpg looks after a few weeks. I’ve got an Amazon TRD skid that I’ll put on if I can deal with the MPG decrease. I also think I’m gonna take off the badge overlay and try a piece of tint on it instead to darken it and not make it look so chrome.

 

90k mile oil change, lube driveline. Going to get a mini-detail soon which it is in desperate need of.

 

haha yep. I've been "procrastinating" for a full year on installing the lift. Actually, my honey do list was like a San Francisco phone book. I wanted to get the lift on and alignment before I bought tires. Plus, I am still on the fence about getting some JDM wheels for the truck and going bigger diameter and aggressive offset. Knowing me, I'll throw some OEM tires back on. They are cheap. Then save up for the bro setup.

 

Yeah, inflated in the dark with no glasses on. Ain't care. News ones on in a few.

 

I live my life a quarter mile at a time...

 

in this case, 1 vote for the air dam!

 

*may pops

 

GMRS antenna on roof top. Finally pulled the trigger drilling the roof. Been using the magnetic mount but I can see it’s starting to damage the clear coat a bit due to the stock antenna is rusting. Don’t want any more damage, might as well drill it. It’s done, only waiting for the antenna to arrive to mount it.




Pry with something thin to remove cover.

Pull both tab (red circle) with finger. Pull down light, the other two corner, pull down with a little force & light will come off. Measure 1.5” & use 1/8” drill bit drilling from the headliner up to roof (I did this step last in case I can’t fish the cable thru. Making the hole less visible by pushing the drill bit thru the headliner without running the drill. As soon as it hit the roof, start the drill thru the roof. Exit vehicle & from the rooftop, use a step drill bit, drill 3/8” diameter)

Pull weather strip & run fish cable from here to the dome light. It will take a few try but can be done without help. (After finish fishing the cable, start drilling)

Antenna is center of roof.

 

Heated steeling wheel? Tell me more.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/heated-steering-wheel.823138/

https://cartrimhome.com/Heated-Stee...XlG4r7y7yGJS1z8PFUL4ho3ejj9k5w51QlgTnFbwhJkTW

 

You think it looks better on the truck than without or just for mpg?