Grampa's 16 to 12 to 08

Recently added an Atoto 7" head unit and trashed the old stinker of a stock radio. Sounds awesome with the Kicker 6 x 9 and Subaru/Kicker door speakers. I even get great sound from the stock rear speakers the, honestly, I never noticed. The included 2 usb cables are long enough that, instead of removing the dash to install a dual usb port, I just used the lighter black heat shield with a grommet to pass thru the existing hole. I added a rear camera and a bluetooth obd2 adapter to send vehicle info to the basic Torque app. At some point I will buy the $5 Torque Pro for more options like tranny temp. The head unit is only 2 gb ram/32 gb mem but is fast enough for my needs. I love the wifi that I can connect via my home or use with my phone hotspot. Unit came loaded with Pandora, Android audio, maps and youtube. I can now use gps and watch youtube videos. Extremely happy with the stereo.

 

I bought a lean spacer and 3rd gen Off Road struts, coils and shocks. Have not installed yet. I also have hood struts that need to be installed.

 

Added Meso dual color maps. Got tired of waiting for the plain white Meso dome so I bought cheap bulbs for the dome that put out plenty of light.

 

Fog light anytime mod. I love this.

 

Did a quickie plastidip on my engine cover. By quickie I mean I ripped the tape off and pulled off some plastidip. It's ok for now.

 

As months went by my hood became more weather damaged.

The roof turned more white and the clearcoat felt like sandpaper.

So I bit the bullet and paid $980 to get the hood and roof repainted. Also installed new drip mouldings.



Now waiting for a couple of cooler days to install my 3rd gen suspension. After paint cures I will install my hood struts. Then will ceramic coat the new paint. Nice that now all the body paint looks good minus a few small scratches. It is a 14 year old truck. After those are all done I think I will sell my low mileage suv and use that money for some delayed home improvements. Nice that the truck is nearly complete to my liking. With all of the mods I now feel it has the things I do miss about my 3rd gen with more confidence in the 2nd gen powertrain. The only thing that I may add is a Gibson exhaust like I had on my 3rd gen. Loved that growl.

 

Installed the Spiker hood struts

 

Thanks. The only thing I would recommend to others is to use the Scosche brand dash kit instead of Metra. The Metra is not tight on the top 2 pins. I had read that in reviews but went with Metra for budget reasons. For the price I am very happy with the whole audio setup.

 

Finally installed the 3rd gen struts, 2nd set with 200 miles and sold 1st set with 27k miles, and springs with a 1/4" driver lean spacer. Spacer made both sides equal. Strut assemblies added 1-3/8" height after settling. Now it is level.

 

Added a remote start