What is the single best improvement you've made to your 3rd gen that makes your life easier?

same here. the jackers pushed my knees into the dash so i returned them. i had an upholstery shop custom contour the seat bottom, and it is ZOMG comfortable.

 

Thanks. I made it. I didn't find one I really liked without paying $5k. So I made it myself.
Zim

 

The Seat jackers. Makes trips a lot more comfortable.

 

Didn't return mine put them on the passenger side with some 1/2" spacers I machined for the rear mounts and the wife likes sitting a little taller. She was disappointed it didn't come with power passenger seat.

 

Close tie for me between my in-bed tool box (which ~40 years ago was mounted in my Dad's work truck) and my front receiver.

Adding the toolbox means the tool bag I carry when I leave town no longer takes-up space in my rear seat. Day-to-day it carries things like rope, work gloves and a set of jumper cables; all things I like to have with me but don't necessarily want to dedicate space for in the cab. Bonus that I bolted it down in such a way that I can remove it in less than five minutes if/when I want to. Nine months in and I've yet to need to do that, but it's an option.

The front receiver I added (no picture, sorry) has been a game-changer for moving my trailers (one travel, one utility and one car trailer) into and out of the comically tight spot I have for all of them next to my house. Add-in loose gravel and a slight incline and there is no way I could do it with just the rear hitch. It's made my Taco way more useful to me.

 

There are many improvements I did to my 2017, so it would be pretty hard to point out the "single best" one. That being said, one of the best recent improvements I can think of is KDMax tune. I would definitely recommend it to anyone complaining about shifting, power and responsiveness of stock, or modded 3rd gen.

 

Honestly the one addition that’s made my life the easiest is this $30 phone mount I found while browsing the internet the night I bought the truck lol…I’ve had it for about 7 months and it’s the best phone mount I’ve ever had in any vehicle. Hands down.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/631496947/3rd-gen-tacoma-3d-printed-magnetic-phone

The actual “mod” to the truck that’s made my life easiest has been the Bakflip MX4, like others have said. I ran Bakflip’s G2 on my Ram 1500 for 8 years and that thing was tougher than the truck itself. It went through numerous big weather events while keeping all my gear/luggage dry. I literally drove though a hurricane with it one year and everything in the bed stayed bone dry.

I actually ordered the MX4 for my Taco the night I got home from the dealership with the truck.

My favorite mod at the moment is my Grabber ATXs on the Black Rhino Stadiums. I may be biased but I absolutely love the way they look and it took me months of research to land on that wheel/tire combination.

I’m doing the KDMax tune soon and I suspect that will become my new most life-changing mod based on what everyone is saying.

 

T-SB-0092-20 is definitely the best improvement to be made on a 3rd gen V6AT. Just had it done on monday, the difference isn't as mind blowing as some make it sound or as a tune might be, but it is definitely much better between 0-30MPH. the best way I can describe it is a compromise between the stock ECM programming and ECT mode. So far I haven't found myself reaching for the ECT button at all.

 

My single best mod that made my life easier is the AMP research powerstep running boards (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/electric-sliders.662076/).

 

Thanks for sharing! I plan to get that too!
Curious how long did it take you to install 1 seat?

 

Hard one....I'll stack rank mine
1. Toyota tailgate lock actuator kit (never have to worry about leaving it unlocked with my tonneau cover)
2. Access entry door handles to the rear door of my double cab (it sounds stupid, but I've spent 12 years going straight to the rear door to open the car when I have my hands full of crap)
3. big brake kit (just couldn't stand the stock brakes coming from a vehicle with really good ones - always felt like it wasn't going to stop)
4. 4.88 gears (helped huge with towing)
5. shocks & air bags (much better ride & towing)
6. bed rails to strap my coolers and gear to for camping, snowboard rack, etc.

I always like this truck, but now I've built it into something I truly love to use.

 

About 15mins. Easy one-person job.

 

May I ask where you got the brake kit??

 

i recommend the Wilwood BBK. i have this one, but check if you have a newer model. 13" rotors for 17" wheels, 14" rotors for 18" wheels and larger. just imagine dropping 34lbs unsprung weight off the front... it's amazing. for me at least.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B9LC1KP?ie=UTF8

 

Well shit, I was just inquiring on another thread about these. How do you like them? I’ve considered them mainly to drop some weight but I’m honestly a little concerned about their durability. Not that wilwood makes bad products, but more in terms of how the two piece will holdup under extreme off roading and the added weight of 35s.

 

i like them. the braking performance is better than stock but not extreme. the modulation is better for sure. i run E tires and drive them hard, but i don't run big ones, just 31.5". the best benefit for me is the lightness. losing the unsprung weight has been like magic for my truck and how it drive it, which is pretty damn aggressive. the front end is so much better regarding steering input and suspension performance.

 

Yeah the weight loss is what got me interested. Gonna keep doing some research, thank you!

 

Delay wipers on my SR

 

to my surprise, my 2021 SR came with intermittent wipers.

 

how are you liking the hikari led lights? I have a pair sitting in my Amazon cart