Army Green thread: let’s keep it green!

Finally got around to installing the OEM Tail gate lock. Pretty intimidating when I got it, but ended up being a pretty straight forward install. Now the tailgate closes with the doors and the key fob. love it. Also installed my Rough Country LED light bar in my bumper. Another straight forward install, except getting the wire through the damn firewall. Was just about ready to give up, then finally got it through and sealed up. Still have to install the switch, and figure out how to properly wire up the amber DRLs it comes with, but i'll save that for another day.

 

I ordered mine last September received it in the middle of November at that time it was the only Access cab allotted for my region in Army green and a Off Road trim.

 

Beautiful truck! Can't wait till my sport AG access Cab gets here!

 

Sweet!! Your Tacoma is looking awesome!

 

Congrats on getting a gorgeous truck! Welcome to Team Army Green!!!

 

Alright. Fedex almost dropped the ball big time on this mod today. Was suppose to have these Rigid 360 fog lights yesterday. Fedex did get them to me today though. Sorry for not having pics of in-process install, was in a rush to get this mod done before the wife came home and starts asking questions.... LOL So glad I went with the Amber! It goes so well with the AG! First side was the toughest to install. Took me around 35 minutes or so to complete.

 

Did you disconnect the battery as directions say for bed lights?
I'd like to install but don't see why that is recommended?

 

I didn't get any directions with the kit, which is kind of odd. So I did not disconnect the battery as they don't think it makes a differences, since you plug the lights into each tail light.

 

now you need the easiest and best mod of all, a bed mat

 

NICE!! I called SLC and Denver dealers and they all were like "yeah good luck" Now that i look back I'm lucky mine was only 7 hours from me and I got about 8% off MSRP
The only other one was Philly and they never got back to me.

Where are in NEPA? I'm originally from White Haven

 

grill and skid plate match the color scheme for the rest of the truck now

 

Traded in my '19 MGM OR DCSB for this '21 AG OR DCSB a little over a week ago! Got a great deal on trade in and got the new one under MSRP. Two other people tried to buy mine while I was picking it up (one guy tried in the middle of signing his paperwork on another taco) hahaha

Mods I'll be knocking out in the next few weeks:
- Leer shell (take off from trade in, currently being painted)
- New TRD lift w/ Deaver AAL
- 33's with 4runner pro wheels
- Black badging
- DIY ceramic coat
- MESO total tail stage 1 (take off)
- MESO puddle (take off)
- MESO turns (take off)

Some backstory:
When I purchased my '19 back in Dec. 2018 I had mentioned several times to my wife and salesman that I really wanted a Tacoma in green after seeing some photoshops online but obviously they weren't made in that color. Well, just about a month later, Toyota announced Army Green as the new Pro color and I was really feeling the buyers remorse lol. My wife and I have since joked about it constantly and even semi-seriously discussed painting the MGM. A couple weeks ago my dealer reached out to see if I was interested in trading or selling my Taco and I initially said no but my wife told me to see if they had an AG. So after they asked again I said I'd only be interested in this AG OR with LED + Premium and to my luck they said they had only 1 AG currently in freight and it had exactly my specs! Maybe not the smartest decision but it feels good!



Previous:

 

Looks awesome!! Congrats and welcome to Team Army Green!!!

 

Tell me more about the DIY ceramic coat. All the places around here charge an arm and a leg. I dont mind the work if I can get a professional outcome. Thanks.

 

Curious of the process you used to paint the skid plate. I dig the way it looks in black.

 

Let me answer that for you, The only reason people get rid of these stock tires is because they look out of place on a truck like this.

 

Disclaimer: I've never done it before but it seems pretty straightforward.

From what I've read/watched, all the magic is in the prep work so you need to clean it really well first. This is going to be the basic path I'll follow:
- Foam spray
- Rinse
- Hand wash (2 bucket method)
- Rinse
- Iron Remover

Then you have a couple optionals:
- Clay bar: Depending on how new the truck is you may or may not want to do this. Claying can actually add some minor swirling meaning you'll potentially need to do more paint prep. Best way to tell is run your hand in a plastic bag across the truck when it is still wet to feel for any bumps or imperfections. If you feel a decent amount, go ahead and clay.

- Paint prep: Again, if the truck is brand new and you don't care about it being 100% perfect then you may be able to get away without this step. But you're probably going to want to pickup a dual action random orbit polisher and fix any problems in the clear coat across the truck. Key is to inspect the paint to make this decision. Just because its brand new and has less than 10 miles on it doesn't mean you shouldn't prep it. Transportation, dealer washing, and mishandling can cause minor marks and swirls that you'll want to remove.

After those steps you're going to want to hit it with a pre-coating spray to remove any polishing oils/residue.

I ordered these two items from Autogeek and used coupon STIMULUS25 to get 25% off: - supposed to last for 5 years and is "beginner" friendly All in, you're probably looking at $200-300 and a full day's work to get it done. Not cheap but a bargain compared to $1500ish having someone else do it.

 

Nope I'm purchasing the Deaver AAL separately from Headstrong. The standard lift package is around $1100 and comes with spacers for the rear plus a bunch of other stuff you don't need. But If you're interested in the lift only you can purchase the front/rear shocks on their own for ~$330, part number is PTR13-35210. Add on whatever leaf you want and DIY install and you've got a very decent 2" lift for ~$500. However, if you want to go that route I would do so soon since starting in April that entire lift kit (shocks, grille, garnish, etc.) is going to one part number which might mean you can't order the shocks separately. Idk. See this thread: Toyota TRD OEM Lift

See post 3752 for ceramic info.

Most places around me were asking $800 to paint the shell but I found a guy around me that would do it for $500. He actually already repainted it from black to MGM for me last summer cause I bought it used so I hit him up again since I know he does good work.

 

removed the letters and did a base layer of a flat black paint & primer

then did a top layer of an underbody spray and put the letters back