My Little Redhead

If you're reading this I appreciate you stopping by. But be forewarned, this build thread will be no where near as cool as all the others here. It will not be updated as often either as a Sheriffs Deputy in my county doesn't make much. So, all that said welcome...now let's get started.


Here she is. My one owner (now two) 2007 Radiant Red DCSB Taco Sport. Purchased about 10 days ago.



***I prematurely hit the "Publish Thread" button. Bare with me as I get us caught up here***

So, first ting I ordered was a new head unit. The old pioneer did not have bluetooth and the USB didn't recognize my iPhone X, so we cant have that.



I went back and forth with whether or not to spend the extra coin and get a double din unit with a backup camera, but didn't want to spend the extra coin so I decided on a Kenwood with Bluetooth and soon as it arrived got it installed. Still have to go back and run the bluetooth wires but I was anxious to get this in so I didn't wait the day it arrived. Even got the color matched with the interior color (well pretty close anyway). And a magnetic phone mount and some double sided 3M tape and that was easy. Also have the black radio surround in route from *********.

Today, I finally got around to picking up some other items:


The Steel Wool and RainX is for the oxidation on the windows. The soldering iron is for the temp gauge fix, and the box with the rear view mirror is a back up camera.

First thing I tackled was the temperature gauge fix, unfortunately I am one of the unlucky ones that even after soldering the 510 circuit back down it still did not work. Gotta do a little more research, but more than likely I'm gonna need a new one. Although that's not at the top of the list. Next, I tackled the condensation in the front headlight.
Hairdryer and long spout funnel and I let that work while I started rubbing windows. Well, to be honest, I did not anticipate how long it was going to take with just elbow grease to get the hard water stains off the windows and I ran out of time. Although I did get the moisture out of the light and re-sealed, but after a date night out it doesn't look like it took.

Oh, and the rear view mirror camera, probably not staying either.


So, long and short of it, I didn't really get anything done today. But I did learn a few things one of which being that I'm probably gonna go back and order a good double din stereo with a backup camera rather than spending the extra money on a separate back up camera.

 

Also got this sweet shot of her today, so at least wasn't a total bust.

 

Well today I finally got around to installing the metra kit from ********* and running the mic for Bluetooth calling (placed just in front of the steering wheel below the speedo but not pictured). Once I figured out how to properly put it together it was pretty straight forward.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


So as far as the metra and the finish, I love it. I love the look of the black and the kit seems to be good to go. I'm glad they included clips as the previous owner lost all the old ones. But the radio faceplate and the dash faceplate are two separate pieces. At first I didn't like this but once I secured the radio in place with the dash screws then clipped the dash plate in over it it all seemed to come together well. My only real complaint is how deeper the actual head unit sits compared to the old way. I liked that the radio sit forward more in the previous configuration. But otherwise I'm pleased so far.

 

Looking good! Keep posting those pics!

 

Beautiful truck! I also picked up a one owner 07 trd sport 4x4 double cab in the end of 2017. Absolutely in love with the truck. I liked my 1st gen but gotta say i like the 2nd gen more! Now my little bro will be rocking a built 1st gen as his 1st truck in high school next year haha

 

Hahah. That's pretty awesome of you. And yes I feel the same about mine. I'm loving this thing man. Just gotta make it mine now.

 

Went ahead and got outside tonight and installed the new Orsam 35w light bulbs recommended from this thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...s-high-power-leds.474996/page-9#post-17159399

The previous owner installed LED lights pretty much everywhere you could install LEDs except the low beams, and while they look good, for the most part they kinda suck. At least IMO so this was a change that was needed. Pics are the before and after as well as the old lights and the new.

BEFORE: I laid my hat there to show a little bit better idea of the difference in the two.


Here are pics of the two different bulbs as well as the bend placed in the bulbs using the needle nose pliers as suggested. For those of you who decided to do this just be careful. I cracked the glass housing around the prongs, but I inspected it and couldn't see where it would affect the application so went ahead and installed them anyway. The new bulb is still in the bag because I was careful not to handle the glass portion too much with bare hands.


AFTER: You can see the difference in the two lights.

 

Cause Taco Tuesday......man I cant wait to get rid of those wheels.

 

Spent a little quality time with the taco yesterday.

First install was one I hadn't seen on here but already can tell it's very handy. I carry a gun everywhere, but sometimes when I'm in the truck I prefer to take it off. Eseocially if I'm gonna be in there a while so I put my firearm in the center console, but I hate clutter so I wanted a way for my gun to sit out of the way. I've used these little magnets before but never on the outside of the console. Should I get into an accident I don't want it to come dislodged and go flying so I put it the console. Works perfectly for what I carry.


The magnet is placed on the rear wall of the console.

Here it is with the pistol and holster...


I also worked on getting the hard water spots off the windows. The tent makes them show up terribly and while it worked great on the door windows the rear glass has so much on it the buffing wheel didn't have quite enough power to really get it off so I'm gonna have to go back later with something stronger.



The Maguiars works great. And really helped the passenger windows. But even with steel wool the back has too much on it. But we'll get there. One day at a time.

 

Good looking truck, don't mind the wheels with that color. Looks really clean!

 

Thanks man. I'm just not a fan. If they weren't 20s they wouldn't bother me as much. But that's my biggest issue, but I'm not a fan of the style either. So they gotta go.

 

Well the black rims look good as a contrast to the sweet color of your truck. 20's are to big for me as well.

 

Yea man. I'm gonna stick with the black. I think it works best with the red as well...
Thanks for the kudos though. Stay tuned!!

 

Today is a good day. I'm in Asheville, NC sitting outside Sunny Pointe Cafe which in and of itself is good enough. But, on the way here I was commenting to my girl friend how I wish my compass and thermostat worked.
Remember I did the fix mod on it a few weeks ago and it didn't work. So as I'm explaining to her how I tried to fix it a few weeks ago and eventually I'm gonna buy a replacement, she does something that I know I never tried and it starts working...

She hit the button on/off/change button.

Boy I felt dumb, but I was immediately excited and started giving her a high five while also trying to navigate Asheville.

So, the mod works, my thermostat works, my girlfriend saved me $115 and once again showed that she's smarter than me.


New tires and wheels tomorrow!!

Picking up a set of 4 Rotiform Six's already wrapped in 285/70R17 BFG Ko2s. I can't wait. More pics to come.

 

Finally...

 

Nice, I would think the resale of your old ones would be pretty fast.

 

gonna look so much better without the cockstar wheels.

 

Yea I got a buddy who I think is gonna go ahead and get em soon as I get em off.

Couldn't agree more!!

 

They're dirty, but man, sooooo much better!!

Before:

After:

 

So the new tires and wheels are installed. And they look great! But, one thing I've learned already, is that I wish these weren't the Matte Black wheels. The matte is great but they don't look as clean as the gloss probably would. Also, the previous owner said they hold water, and let me tell you, they hold water. After washing it off today water was sitting in the bottom of the wheels so I figured I'd run em up the road to get the water out. Well it didn't work, may have gotten rid of a little bit but there's still a little still there. As you can see below.

But they still look good though.

Edit: @blackohio if you're not too busy and can hit me up I have a couple questions for ya regarding these wheels.