What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Yup! They are Chevy 63" leafs. They work pretty well (get ~13" of vertical travel, and max out my 16" shocks during flex) but I'm actually 3 linking the rear of the truck here soon.

 

nice work!

 

You did a great job!

 

Thanks! It definitely took longer to prep/mask everything off than it even did to paint, but I’m thrilled with how it turned out.

 

Finished helping a buddy build out his truck bed this weekend. He was looking at a Goose Gear set-up, and I said we could make something customized and better for less money. Three weekends later, here we are. He's still touching up some paint I know how he drives , so we took extra care in trying to make this thing bomb-proof. Because he was looking at like $6k for everything from Goose Gear, his budget was basically anything under that amount. So, we built an airplane. I offered to do everything out of plywood to save a ton of money, but he opted to go with 8020 aluminum extrusions for the weight savings and strength. Not cheap, though.

There's a 3/4" plywood bottom plate attached to the truck using the factory bed mount bolts. A 1/4" piece of steel flat stock bolts to these, and the plywood is bolted to the flat stock. The frame for the drawers and deck is all 8020, and is attached to the bottom plate using nutserts and bolts. Rubber diamond plate on top of the top deck, which is 1/2" plywood to save weight. In the back driver's side corner are his dual jerry can mount and jack mount. And there's a propane mount behind his fridge slide-out.

Going to use the experience, and the scrap plywood and 8020 extrusions and parts to make a rear-seat delete for my 2nd Gen sometime this fall.

 

It's usually the delivery company not the shipper that charges those fees. Fedex and DHL are the worst. They always charge GST, an import fee and an arbitrary customs fee. They don't always if ever forward those fees to the Govt agency. Usually 10% or more. There are shippers like USPS who don't do that.

 

Purchased truck February 2022. Finally hit the 10K service...great experience with local Toyota dealership. Oil changed/tires rotated....all good. I could watch also as it was at the edge of bay while they did the work. *Bonus they do a video under the truck and give you a play by play on how everything looks...

 

LEDs are getting closer every year but until their emitters are the diameter/shape of the pencil lead sized halogen filament that the projectors are specifically designed for, their focus and throw won’t be better than an h9.
They are really good at lighting up the area immediately in front of the vehicle though, and that’s all people in urban settings with complete streetlight saturation want

 

I bought mine used so brought it to a more local Toyota dealership for service so wasn’t sure how they would accept me and they have been great and oil changes are only $80 CDN. I like the idea of watching too and their service bays are wide open so watching is easy haha

 

I think we have all dropped our phone/wallet/keys down the Taco black abyss….has anyone used these I’m tempted because I literally keep my phone plugged in so if it falls I have a life line..

 

You don't have to unclip the wires, you slide off the cables that hold the tailgate up, and then lift the tailgate off with the assistance of someone, and slide on a very big washer or thick o-ring and go for it, perhaps adding bed stiffeners would help too.

 

I purchased those off Amazon, so much cheaper and they are exactly the same thing, work wonders helping you stop dropping phones or french fries down the side of the seat.

 

To the original poster. UPS is the worst!!!
Request items to be shipped through US mail if at all possible.

 

lol french fries and stir sticks lol good suggestion for Amazon I’ve noticed a few things on Lifestyle that seem a bit pricey

 

I was wrong they driver to Canada

 

Correct, but having a rigid brace supporting the weakest part of the bed (the corner) helps immensely to keep it from cracking there when the frame does flex under normal circumstances and also ties multiple points together to increase the overall strength of the rear of the bed, keeping everything aligned. They certainly do more than just brace a corner as the ride quality and stiffness improved in my truck after installing them. Not everyone will need them and they're not just to prevent the crack issue, but they're really cheap insurance for preventing it and have multiple benefits. Regardless of reasoning, I think we can all agree the truck is better with them installed.

 

Should have done this sooner.

 

Finally got around installing new wheels and tires and the morimoto LED Fogs lights.

 

I picked up a pair of the pillow gap fillers like you have pictured and a pair of these:

$21 JDM Middli Car Seat Gap Filler Pad PU Leather Console Side Pocket Organizer Set of 2 for Cup Holder Cellphone Wallet Coin Key

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL2F4WKM .
Lots of the 'pillow' type option available; the one you have pictured has a hole for the seat belt so you will seal the gap around it and behind. The cheaper ones aren't quite as fancy (mine just have an indentation around the seat belt, even cheaper ones stop before then). Just decide how much you need and want to spend. The black blends in nicely with the seats.
On the passenger side I used the one with the pocket to give me more space to put small stuff. It won't work well on the driver side because of the parking brake, and I have seat jackers on my drivers seat so it is up higher than the console.
I'll use the other part of each pair for another car. And yes, I'm wondering why I didn't invent these after years of retrieving keys, coins, snacks, and parts of toys. Not essential at all, yet very convenient at the same time.

 

had one, it leaked through the passenger window somehow. Then traded it for a snugtop, which I sold and bought a bed rack.