GUYS I GONE DID A THING

Well hey everybuddy. Some of you may have seen me around the last couple weeks. I’m the proud daddyo of a 2018 TRD sport. I know I haven’t done much compared to some of you, but I have no idea what in the hell im doing when it comes to mods and accessories. This morning I “installed” the tuffskinz black decals on my cement colored baby. I think they look great and are not a flimsy product. Any other ideas of where I should go from here? I’ve only added the Tacoma lettering, black steps on the side and a bug guard. Contemplating doing just a small lift with some black wheels to match...just not sure I want to put more money into it so fast.

 

welcome Josh.....

 

Most of what I did at first was cosmetic or interior. I took the truck out on a variety off offroad trails to see how the truck performed stock on the terrain I like to traverse. For what I do, the truck performed okay stock and I put extra money into payments. I decided that I will save the lift and tires for when I need to replace the stock tires.

The first thing I did was that installed a good set of seat covers. I've also got my HAM radio set up with APRS and a WIFI hotspot. I found it more important to protect the inside from the dog and to invest in comms. Your mission profile may differ. Congrats and have fun.

 

Best 'mods' I've done so far aside from the tailgate lettering:

-Redline hood struts
-Matt Gecko LED hood lights
-Matt Gecko LED bed lights
-Factory Toyota bed mat
-Total Chaos bed channel stiffeners

Soon I'll be doing some sliders and exhaust re-route, everything else I want costs too much in shipping (overseas).

 

Pay it off.

 

Logical AF

 

Map or dome led's are cheap on ebay.
Plastidip emblems is also cheap..
Id do small stuff....until i had truck payed off

 

Wait until you find something that adds function because the truck falls short in some area for you.

Don't hold your breath though. Tires (not always bigger, not always on new wheels, not always with lift) are the biggest single performance change you can make for actual off road or snow use.

Make those extra payments and make it yours.

 

Bed Mat
Back up Camera Anytime mod
Remote Start

 

Looks great. Welcome! I started with small cosmetic touches and now I’m to the more expensive mods. I did that for two reasons: one, I didn’t want to dump a ton of money into it right away way; two, I didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on what I thought I wanted at the time and then turn around and have to spend that again because I actually wanted something different. Nothing wrong with taking your time on your mods.

 

They are like any other car dealer. They all play their games so you just have to stand firm and negotiate everything down. I would buy from them again, but they weren’t so amazing that I won’t play the dealerships against each other when the time comes for a new rig.

 

• Get a Pop n Lock if you are interested in keeping your tailgate
• +1 on Redline hood struts
• Stock cargo light is weak, get better ones
• Get a Gasshole!
• +1 on bed mat
• Window tinting

That should get you started, then think of lifts, wheels, etc.

 

Hands down single most important mod I've found which fixes a major problem is the coolant tube fix. The 3rd gen's condensed water runs down to a tube by the front right wheel. Problem is, it drips directly into a weld on your frame. Which causes rust. If you have a new truck, I'd fix this asap. I'm only 12k miles in and just fixing it now and I have rust spots all up and down the weld. I'm taking it into the dealership to see if they will do something about it under warranty.

If you search the forums you'll see a lot of guys with the same issue and a ton of videos of how to fix it on YouTube and the like. Here's a pic of my poor rusty baby do this quickly, esp if you live in a hot/coastal state like Cali to avoid the problem. And while you're down there check to see if there's any rust already there.

 

What in the shit is a pop n lock? Told y’all I was a noob. People be jackin tailgates?

 

That's an aftermarket power tailgate lock. Simple install, and if you wire it to your passenger side lock actuator you can unlock your tailgate with the fob with 2 presses.

Since your rig locks automatically, you'll never forget to lock your tailgate again. Didn't catch where you live, but here in SoCal, land of tweakers, tailgate thefts are depressingly common. Same with spare tire thefts. Ugh.

 

If you value your time, just take a wire brush to those little rust spots and hit it with some paint.

Or spend alot of time at the dealership with the guys making fun of you in the back.

 

Pop n lock is a remote lock/unlock for your tailgate. Costs about $100. It won't prevent people from stealing your tailgate though *edit* if you leave it unlocked*. There's a cheap $5 fix for that. It's super easy to remove the whole tailgate on the Tacoma. It's a blessing and a curse though because people steal them easy and sell them on Craigslist list or eBay. Just get a hose clamp with a lock from Amazon and install it on the right cylinder that connects to your truck. There's also a nicer looking version for around $80 if you check out the marketplace.

 

Yes, some fuckasses steal tailgates.

A pop n lock is a little gizmo that ties your tailgate lock in with the door locks. ie doors locked = tailgate locked, doors unlocked=tailgate unlocked.

 

I love how people with no jobs love to make careers out of stealing shit so the rest of us assholes who actually have jobs need to pay for shit we’ve already bought. Not sure what the crime scene is like up here in SLC for tailgates and stuff but that’s frustrating.