Looking for advice on nice modifications for my first truck!

Good Morning/afternoon/evening! I just recently got my license and to celebrate it, my dad passed on his old 2011 Tacoma TRD 4WD. I love the truck and it is awesome, and I look forward to driving it every day. I am very interested in adding some modifications to it to improve its visual appearance and also one day its possibility for offroading. I have done a fair amount of research but wanted to consult the experts to see what is tasteful or not. So far it has a nice Apple carplay Sony head unit and some strobe lights inside the brake and headlight fixtures. It has stock suspension, stock rims, and a back cap. I appreciate any advice! Have a great day!

 

Welcome to TW. Congrats on the good looking truck! Modifications are a personal choice, just make sure that you have done all the routine maintenance that it needs.

Being a new driver, just spend some time getting used to how it drives. Remember keep eyes forward at all times. Too many distractions these days.

Treat that truck well and it can last you a very long time.

 

Thank you! Yes I love it. I took my drivers test in it and aced the parrallel parking, despite it being a double cab 6ft bed! It is so fun to drive and the suspension handles the bumpy Maine roads with ease, its awesome. I don't want to do anything crazy, just want to make it more of my own! Thanks for your response

 

Take your time, and don’t spend money that makes no sense to do so.

You can find everything you want second hand, either from here or on Marketplace.

Ask yourself what do you want to do with this truck?

You’re gonna need the basics and learn how to use them. A bag that stays in the truck with jumper cables, and make sure you/father change a tire so you know the safe way to do so.

I am the kind of person who starts in the cab first. You can get a lot of cheaper things inside that help make the truck more personal.

Starting making list of things you like when you see them. Certain manufacturers have specific styles that may help you lean one way or the other.

I would stay: Stereo, a proper Phone charger/Holder, rubber floor mats if ya get dirty.

The truck looks really nice as it sits. I would be cautious about throwing lots of money at it too soon. It’s easy to do, and a lot of times it more of an impulse buy then a needed thing.

 

Congrats.

Your next step is to learn how to wrench on it. Keep it's maintenance schedule and change those fluids!

As far as off roadin' goes, baby step into that one. It's very easy to break expensive parts if one has a little too much fun out there. Make sure you're confident that you can fix the things you break before you go. That said, the truck will be highly nimble as it sits now. Learn it, enjoy it, let the truck tell you what it needs.

 

I will say one thing I bought that I use a lot is a bed divider. I got the OEM one from Toyota. You can find them used places, and it really helped me keep things organized and kept things from sliding all over the place.

After thinking about it, that was the one upgrade I made quickly that really help me out.

 

But like Lobster mentioned. Get to know it, save some money and keep it aside for maintenance.
Owning anything costs money to keep up, it’s best to have it ready when needed vs having a built rig and not enough money to maintain it properly.

 

As for what I want to do with it, I definitely want to keep it reliable and a good driver. As a teenager, however, I want it to look cool and have a nice sound to it (via some tasteful exhaust mods no fart cans here).
As for what you and Lobster mentioned with turning wrenches I wholeheartedly agree. Thanks to my job (I work at a vintage car dealership/repair shop/museum) I have learned a fair bit about maintenance and vehicles in general, as well as lots of reading and learning. So far I have replaced the alternator and the serpentine belt on my truck myself, which was a great feeling! The only mechanical issue on the truck that I cannot figure out is that whenever I accelerate to 40mph and a little over, the truck makes a strange noise which I can only best describe as a "nyung nyung nyung nyung" which goes away at about 43mph. If I let off the gas mid-noise it goes away immediately which confuses me even more.

I agree with you, the interior does matter and I am very thankful my dad installed a nice subwoofer and head unit, it makes all the difference having good music from my phone on shuffle!

I appreciate all your advice and am very glad I made this forum post as I likely was about to make some impulse buys out of my excitement.

 

Welcome to TW!

Do you got a vid of the strobes you described? Sounds cool, I wanna see!

Did you guys replace the door speakers? Show us your sub!

Have you been watching SEMA video's?

Every Mod that's ever been is on display, I've def been enjoying seeing what people do to their rigs every year via youtube. Steal ideas from the street cars and do a version of it on your truck!

 

This and a bed mat.

 

You living in Maine before any mods Fluid Film the whole frame.

 

I will take a video of the strobes for you tomorrow morning!! They are pretty cool but I don't use them while driving out of the respect for other drivers and a worry they may be not allowed (and make me get pulled over). They are very bright so do not want to annoy my neighbors at this hour.

The subwoofer sounds great and actually gives nice bass. It is behind the passenger seat and is a little janky as it isn't bracketed in but rather held in place by a toilet paper roll and some dreams.

What is SEMA?

I love street cars and actually was going to get a lexus sc400 (1994) but my dad cautioned me to be smart and offered the truck instead. Thanks for your reply!!

 

What's a good brand for a bed mat? I see mostly Boomerang and Rough country from a quick google search.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. I planned to wire brush some of the minimal surface rust off myself but my mechanic neighbor said it wasn't worth the hassle and He and I are looking for a good spot to get it fluid filmed. Thank you for your advice

 

I have a Toyota bed mat, pretty heavy-duty, I think I paid fifty bucks for it on craigslist. I don't know about the quality of the other manufactures.

 

Free mod… debadge! Looks good too, just did my tailgate and think the clean look looks better.

 

You mentioned sub but didn’t say speakers. If you still have the stock ones, anything you put in is going to be an upgrade. Yeah they’re that bad.

You mentioned Maine which means you should get of top of and stay on top of rust prevention.

A phone holder. I was plugging it in and sticking it in the cubby forward of the shifter. It overheats in there due to a coolant pipe. I’ve owned several. Offroam and Ram are the only ones I can say do what they’re supposed to do. Then there’s the thing. Technically, at least in my area, they can give you a ticket for not having it in a holder. But it appears to me that they’ve surrendered and don’t care if some idiot is holding their phone while driving. PLEASE don’t be one of the idiots. Just imagine how you would feel if you hit a small child carelessly crossing the street.

If you don’t already have it, backup camera. Mine didn’t, it’s an extremely helpful upgrade.

Lift kit & big tires aren’t my thing but you’ll find plenty of help here.

Young people are going to do what they do, I did. Still I suggest to keep it reasonable. You don’t need limo tint, blinding headlights, neon under glow, and tail lights spray painted black so dark that you’ll get rear ended.

 

You could start a new thread on this. Describe in detail. Too much information is better than not enough. You could upload a video to YouTube and post the sound. Include what engine, transmission, trim package.

 

It's a car show basically but in Las Vegas....They actually have a open space for drifting on site....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0kxqFnbKI&t=1253s

Here is a quick walk through video of the Toyota stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Ck_T5gcc8&t=2160s

 

Agree with debadge - other than that just drive and enjoy - save your money