My Daily Driver: 2019 Off-Road Cavalry Blue

Bought a new Jeep Renegade in 2018, had it's engine replaced this summer (under warranty) at 40k miles. It was then I decided I had to get away from the Jeep before the warranty was over as I needed something reliable (I actually liked my little Jeep - put Method 701s with some Wildpeak AT3W's and it looked good). My plan was to buy a new Sport in January, but found a good deal on a Off-Road so pulled the trigger.

2019 Off-Road with both premium and tech package (love leather seats and a sun roof), Alpine Halo9 Head unit, NFab Steps, TRD Pro Grill with 17k miles for $36k. Bought it on November 13th, delivered to me on November 21st.

Audio/Visual
JVC KW-Z1000W
Wireless Charger Mount (replaces factory)
Garmin Mini Dash Cam
KTJO4x4 Heads Up Display

Exterior
Toyoda Hitch Cover w/lock
Undercover Swing Case
OEM TRD Skid Plate - Raptor Lined Black
OEM Auto Tailgate Lock
OEM Predator Steps
OEM Roof Rack
OEM Black Exhaust Tip
OEM Tacoma Bed Mat
OEM TRD Radiator Cap
OEM TRD Sport Hood w/Scoop
Sly Brackets No-Drill License Plate Bracket
Sokietech Hood Struts
NAPA Legend Battery
TufSkinz TRD Pro Skid Plate Letter Inserts - Cavalry Blue
TufSkinz Toyota Grill Lettering - Cavalry Blue
Meso Customs The Gasshole
TruXedo Pro X15 Tonneau Cover
Woolwax undercoating
Tailgate decal
Tailgate letters
TRD 3rd Brake Light Decal
TRD Grill Insert - Cavalry Blue
SSO Slimline Tube Bumper

Interior
Katzkin Leather Seats - Custom Tekstich
Custom Billet Shift Knob
Meso Customs Door Handle Covers - Black
Meso Customs Climate Control Rings - Cavalry Blue
Meso Customs Vent Ring Kit - Cavalry Blue
Meso Customs Key Fob x2 - Cavalry Blue
Meso Customs Dechrome Kit - Cavalry Blue
Meso Customs Steering Wheel Cover - Cavalry Blue
Husky Liners X-act Front & Back Floor Liners
TRD Aluminum Push-Start Button
TRD Coin Holder - Cavalry Blue
TufSkinz Glove Box Letter Inserts - Cavalry Blue

Lighting - Exterior
Morimoto XB LED Headlights
Morimoto/Meso Tail Lights
OEM TRD Pro Tail Lights
Meso Customs Ultimate Turn Signals
Diode Dynamics SS3 LED Fog Light Kit - Sport
Raptor LED Light Kit from Cali Raised LED
Baja Design S8 30" Bumper Light Bar

Lighting - Interior
Meso Customs Ultimate Map Lights
Meso Customs Ultimate Dome Light - Duel Brightness
VLEDS Footwell Lights

Suspension
Eibach Pro Lift Kit
Icon 1.5" AAL
ECGS Bushing

Wheels/Tires
SCS Ray 10, Matte Dark Bronze 17x8.5 -10mm
Nitto Ridge Grappler 285/70/17
CMC

*Waiting to receive/install


Thoughts as of 11/27/2020: Holy crap I've spent a lot of money on this truck for not even having it a week yet. But I'm loving the truck, plan on having it for many many years so this is all happy spending.

First Pictures

Here are some pictures from the truck sitting on the lot at the dealership. I sent my co-worker the auto trader link to it saying "Talk me out of buying this" his response was to buy it. So I bought it.







It delivered to me on a Saturday, that same day I had an appointment with Discount tire to get new wheels and tires on it. So within 4 hours of taking position this is how she looked.

 

Nice build so far, FYI those are not the OEM predator steps, I'd consider some sort of sliders before you sink any money into refinishing what ya got now unless you need steps, in that case I bet you could find a set of the OEM predator steps for $200-300 local. Cav blue is awesome!

 

Damn. MESO had a good day haha

 

No? They came on the truck so I figured the original owner spec'd them when they bought it. I haven't even reached out to get quotes on yet the Line-X, would OEM steps last longer than a year before rusting? If so I might go that route depending on how much it would be to Line-X them.

Yeah I had to go to a few different sites to find everything I wanted in stock, but yeah...lots of Meso. He makes cool stuff!

 

Yep, OEM are slightly different in design. I had them on my 17, they held up through a NJ winter fine, but kept hitting my knee on them and sold them. Ya check out your local FB marketplace, CL, bet you can find a set.

 

Thanks, I'll check that out as well.

 

Thats almost everything Meso has in stock on his site. Would have been scary if Meso had all the other stuff in stock also!

 

Nice ride! By far my favorite color! Wish they continued it to 21.

 

Love the bronze wheels! I've been thinking about getting something like that for my truck.

 

Check out the bronze wheel thread, you can see them on every color of Taco out there. I wasn't so sure about going bronze before I went through that thread, glad I did.

 

Thanks for the tip! I checked it out and thought the bronze wheels looked okay with my metallic gray paint.

 

New loot that came in today - SS3 fog lights, Black exhaust tip and a grill decal (not 100% if I'll put this on or not).

 

Another decal came in.



And some of the things I have left to do...

 

Tail lights are in, broke a few tabs getting them out.

Before = Top
After = Bottom





Subtle change and some might call me foolish for wasting a few hundred on it, but I really like getting rid of all red on the stock tail lights.

 

Oh bought a hitch cover from Etsy. I liked it so much I bought a locking hitch pin for it. I went with black as I wasn't sure how the other colors would go with the Cavalry Blue. Once I get my plates I have a black license plate frame to use.

 

Alright, got some work done on Monday. Headlights, Tail Lights, Fog Lights, Side Mirror Lights, Taco Lights and Tonnaeu Cover have been installed! Also I washed my truck prior to doing the work on Monday, drove it about 15 miles from the car wash to the garage and this is how much salt it picked up on that short drive over. Minnesota winters, whatchagonnado.

In an attempt to cut down on the picture spam, I'll put the before and afters in spoilers.

Spoiler: Tail Light Before & After

Before



After

I know this is a minor difference between the two, the TRD Pros just look better overall IMO. WAY less red and black trimming throughout the light. Small change, but I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Spoiler: Headlights, Fog Lights, Taco Lights - Before & After

Before





After

To say I love these headlights is an understatement, they completely transformed the entire look of my truck. Don't get me wrong, love me some Taco Lights and the new fogs, but the headlights are what I'm still swooning over.



Looking back at this picture it was actually easier then I was expecting to get everything off. Very happy I had some help because I would have missed a few tabs (SO MANY TABS!)



Everything just laying on some cardboard waiting. Was using the Jetski's as a table for the new headlights though.





The Tonneau Cover is the Truxedo X15 Pro and it went on very smoothly. The guy that was helping me had put on a couple covers before in the past and he was ranting and raving about how nice the mounting hardware was on this one. I went with this one because it had great reviews and I really wanted something that was slim and laid pretty much flat against the bed rails. So far I'm very happy with how easy this went on, the quality of the product and how great it looks.



Meso Ultimate Turn Signals - smaller mod but looks so much better. I didn't realize how much more I liked these until I had the white/chrome ones off.

Took about 5 hours to get everything done, so it was dark by the time we were leaving. I have horrible camera skills so these could have turned out better.





Next to a 4th gen 4Runner V8. The 4Runner has the SS3 Pros where as the amazing looking Taco has the SS3 Sport. I'm extremely happy with how the lighting looks. And now just a few more shots the next day because I can.





So that's it for now. I have a handful of other things to do, mostly interior stuff - Meso chrome delete kits and the like. I may get a new head unit if I can't get this in call volume thing figured out (I drive too much to not be able to take phone calls in the truck). But yeah, overall I'm extremely pleased. I'm still on the Taco High of loving this truck, figured after a month this would have faded some but it hasn't. Still has excited since the first day I got it.

 

I'm behind on adding things to this thread. Got a lift and finished off my interior with pretty much everything that Meso has.



To install everything it took about 2 hours, so not all that bad as all the Meso Chrome delete kits were installed at the same time along with the interior lighting.



Excuse the dirty interior, should have wiped everything down after having it all torn apart. Just was excited to get a picture.



Absolutely loving the shift knob. I got a TRD boot with the knob and didn't use the Meso one in Cav Blu. If I kept the stock knob I would have used Meso's.



I absolutely love this picture below. This was right after I got my lift, put on the DRLs to get a flex pic of the lift.



Totally out of order pictures (as you can see from the snow) but got a TRD Off-Road hood decal. Cuts down on glare and looks fantastic.



I liked the hood decal so much that I went back to the same place (Wrap City in Minnesota) to get the tailgate done.

 

That wrap shop in Hopkins? Looks great. Been thinking of doing my roof black on my white truck

 

Yup, they do a great job.

 

Sweet. Good to know