Protected: Weekly Journal: Late-Winter & Yard Work Resumes

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Nixplay is Awesome!

For those who’ve never heard of Nixplay, it’s cloud-based, WiFi-enable photo-frame sharing system that, for instance, allows us to share photos near real-time with my parents in Pennsylvania…

I “harvest” and “collect” photos of our own, from our kids and other family members and then “share them” on two digital frames I’ve set-up and sync’d to the WiFi at our parent’s home some 770-miles away.

These would be in addition to the five Nixplay digital frames I have set-up at our own home, each with it’s own tailored playlist of photos: Kids & Grandkids in the kitchen right in front of the breakfast table, a “Mark’s Favorite” on the prep-counter top, two in the family room with “Family Select” and “Portraits” and then one upstairs in the bedroom that has all-three playlists. And, as a bonus, I have Halloween and Christmas playlists that continue to be added-to each year that I enable on several of the frames during their respective seasons. Again, it’s an amazing and much-appreciated adaptation of WiFi, Cloud and Digital Image Sharing technologies.

From a practical standpoint, once you have your frames placed and sync’d up with a WiFi router in a home — and, yes, the home has to have an internet connection and WiFi router — it’s up to the “host” to figure out how to share and manage photos on the network of frames.

At present, I’m managing two different accounts — one “master account where all the photos are uploaded, stored and moved in and out of playlists and where I manage the five frames in our home, and a second account with no photos and the two frames at my parents home. Nixplay lets you “share” playlists with other user accounts, so it allows me to manage the playlists for my parents frame on the master account that’s merely “shared” with their account, virtual playslists if you will. In essence, while I have to manage the digital frames on two accounts, I only upload and manage photos on the master account. By doing-so, I’m able to share “new photos” within hours that lets them enjoy what various members of the family have been doing, whether it be a special event, selfies from a night-out or family gathering, etc.

These are just snapshots of the “dashboard” and “archives” I manage that now have collectively 3,110 stored photos, even though only about 110 or so are “live” on average at any one time on my parent’s frames that are set on a time to display from 7:00am until 9:00pm every day. We have some here at home that have multiple playlists and cycle through 300-600 different photos, 10-seconds at a time in random order from 7:00am until 10:00pm every day. The frames are all set-up with motion-activation so unless there are people in the rooms moving around, the frame displays time-out in 10-20 minutes and go dark until someone passes in front of the frame.

As you can tell just from the numbers, I remove quite a few photos within a few days or weeks after I’m fairly sure they’ve been seen during weekly calls with my folks, while others stay up long-term if they’re “epic” or capture a time, place or activity from years ago that’s just too important not to keep in the playlist.

It’s a wonderful use of technology, especially for non-tech-savvy parents who don’t or no-longer use the Internet and a computer to keep-in-touch with family via Email, but enjoy looking at “framed photos” … especially when the pictures in the frames change every 10 – 15 seconds and have captions that tell them what they’re looking-at.

In fact, after installing the first two frames at our home, I was quickly able to “wean” Debbie off of having dozens of framed-photos sitting around the house once she realized that a framed-photo slowly becomes invisible, which is to say, your mind is so used to seeing it that it no longer registers it as something that has “changed” and “warrants your attention.” No, the constantly changing images in the digital frames can hold your attention — in fact, our grandkids get transfixed at they watch their own images show-up, in much the same way that we used to sit and flip-through a fragile, hand-held photo album — for minutes than turn into tens-of-minutes in a way they don’t experience otherwise.

So, if anyone needs a dozens of now empty, unused and lovely photo frames, we have boxes of them.

Protected: Weekly Journal: Hiking, Cycling and a long day at a Swim Meet

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My Other Blog: Getting It Off My Chest

It was back in Mid-January, 15 January to be exact, when I stepped way back from Facebook, “unfriending” some 250 other Facebook Users — including long-time friends whom I met through work, cycling, motorcycling at tandem rallies and pubs — leaving only 8 family members and a handful of VERY long-time friends.

I also did something of a reckoning with some of the things I tended to “link-to” or “post” to Facebook as a way of sharing material that grabbed my attention, above and beyond, the occasional selfie photo of the lovely Miss Debbie and me out “doing something” because, well, that’s what a lot of folks do on Facebook to stay connected and, based on “Likes” alone, that’s what most other Facebook Users appreciate and enjoy.

My weekly updates on things like Covid-19 case rates, the price of oil & gasoline and shared links to articles by journalists about current events and dysfunctional political actions or inactions by “both sides of the isle” might garner a few links from the same handful of “Friends,” even though I could tell quite a few more Facebook users had checked-out what I had on my mind, but didn’t feel compelled to leave any “footprints” in the form of a “Like” or other canned reaction emoticon, and I get that.

After all, everything you do on Facebook, every word you type into a post, comment, every click you make on a reaction emoticon, a video, a photo, etc., is recorded and analyzed by Facebook’s algorhythms, packaged in little boxes of your interests, likes, dislikes and then sold to God knows who for God knows what: I’ve put a partial list of the things that are collected and tracked at right.

Many of the lists of these things allow you to “clear” the list or delete individual items, like comments, reactions if you know where to look and poke around enough. However, I’m fairly confident none of that actually erases your internet history — and Google and most any other revenue-driven internet host of content or services — it just hides it from you while it lives-on across servers and the aforementioned packaged, little boxes of data about you.

So, with that as background, I decided to move the more “meaty” things I’d share on Facebook and then delete after a day to this blog, but quickly realized this blog wasn’t the right place for that kind of content either. So, I renamed and re-purposed a blog I created back in March 2020 and used for just a few months, that’s now the place where I’ll write about things that I’ve got on my mind. I’ve since created some 26 blog entries in 24 days, and most of them are fairly detailed and include photos, graphs and other “snapshots’ I take of things I find on the Internet that I want to capture before they get corrected, updated, replaced or just deleted.

So, for posterity, what appears below is a linked list of those first 26 blog entries at Getting It Off My Chest:

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June 2020: About Those Things Posted Prior To This…

All that follows are things I “got off my chest” between March and May 2020, related to or inspired by news, views and information flowing-around and coming across my computer screen during the on-set of the SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak, aka, the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s been so long since I wrote these 157 entries that remains…More 

Is There Life After Social Media?

[1/16/22] Last night I pulled way back from Facebook. This is actually my third “attempt to check-out,” the first was back in May of 2016, lasted 8 days and was something I addressed in a blog entry where — based on a comment from a friend — I equated Facebook with The Hotel California. What…More 

Rethinking What I Post & Share…

[1/17/22] Over the past 96-hours I’ve somewhat pulled-back from Facebook by maintaining only the eight (8) family members from what were the 250+ “Friends” with whom I used to keep up. Note: I’m one of those “weird” people who feel that if you’ve accepted a “Friend Request” from someone on Facebook, you’ve essentially comitted to…More 

Georgia Covid-19 Breakthrough Report, 18 Jan 2022

[1/20/22] Well, I’m doing a bit of experimentation in my post-Facebook world with regard to publishing weekly snapshots of Georgia Department of Public Health (GaDPH) reports on Covid-19 in Georgia and, in particular, Breakthrough Case Information. Rather than “posting” this type of information directly to Facebook I will, instead, put it here and just link…More 

Virus Data: The Speed of Reporting & Accuracy

[1/21/22] I saw a recent comment about what news reporting in all of its forms has become with regard to the importance of speed vs. accuracy. It really struck me as briliant by drawing an anaology with education, and I’m paraphrasing: ‘Imagine living in a world where the students who can finish taking tests and…More 

Market Corrections: An Inauspicious Start to the New Year

[1/22/22] Let’s just call this an inauspicious start to the new year, possibly fueled by the pandemic. I suspect some of these sell-offs are the movers and shakers in the F.I.R.E. industry (Finance, Insurance & Real Estate) sending a message to the Fed regarding the 3 or 4 interest rate hikes it has foreshadowed for…More 

A Pricey Notebook: Georgia State Parks – Adventure Book

[1/23/22] This is a link to an outstanding, FREE Georgia State Parks Guide you can view on-line; it’s well worth the key-stroke / click needed to access. In it you’ll find all kinds of useful information, far more useful information than the “journal” I’ve just reviewed, below. A Review: The Georgia State Parks – Adventure…More 

Virus Data: Speed & Accuracy – A Follow-Up

[1/24/22] Three days ago I shared some thoughts and data regarding problems that have existed since March 2020 with regard to the accuracy of data during the pandemic where, in our 27/7 world, while real-time reporting of information is possible, it may not always be prudent if the information isn’t or can’t be verified to…More 

Perhaps I Need to Redirect My Writing Energies?

[1/26/22] I’m still not what’s been the driving force behind my desire to chronicle so much about things I do to my bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks and around the house over all of these years, but I have and continue to do so. I honestly feel like I need an intervention or, at least, some…More 

Georgia Covid-19 Breakthrough Report, 26 Jan 2022

[1/26/22] This week’s snapshots of Georgia Department of Public Health (GaDPH) reports on Covid-19 in Georgia and, in particular, Breakthrough Case Information. Note: Feel free to “jump” down to the Breakthrough Case Report data for Georgia that begins about 1/3 of the way through this blog entry. Level-Setting: CDC Data on Overall Trends Given the…More 

Re-Engaging on Facebook: How Goes It…

[1/27/22] I’m going to try-out something new here and use this blog for just some short updates instead of my usual 3,000 – 8,000-word weekly journals on “Riding Two Up” or the aforementioned, audience-specific updates regarding my hobbies and interests. So, here are just a few updates that, instead of posting to Facebook, I’ll just…More 

Are there any objective, Investigative Journalists left?

[1/27/22] Yes, I’ve found at least one: Matt Taibbi I’ve been following Matt Taibbi since June 2020 and have been given no need to question my decision to stick with he and his brand of writing that, while sometimes flavored by his biases, and he clearly has several. However, by the time I’ve finished his…More 

Oil & Gas Prices: 28 Jan 2022

[1/28/22] I thought I’d start off with Energy & Natural Gas, well-up from where they were last year at a time — winter — when we use a lot more of it than we do Gasoline. If there is a bright-side, and based on the following Dept of Bureau of Labor Statistics Graph from the…More 

Who Pays for Free Covid Testing?

[1/28/22] Many Americans have requested At-Home Covid Test Kits. Why? Well, in part it’s probably because they’re free. But, to be honest, they’re not free, they’ve merely been offered at no direct cost. It’s not as though they were ‘donated’ or packaged, shipped and delivered without cost, they were paid for using federal revenue, the…More 

Free Testing & Home Test Kits: Unintended Consequences?

[1/28/22] I almost changed the title of this blog to “Down the Rabbit Hole of At Home Testing.” The more dug-into it and the more I learned, the more questions and doubts I had as to it’s value, but that led right back to the unintended consequences theme. There are clearly issues that come with…More 

My Very Slow Return to Facebook: An Update

[2/1/22] I’ve taken a very slow approach to reaching back-out to “Friends” I had on Facebook when I made my somewhat drastic pull-back on 15 January. While I’ve successfully added-back 10 or so family members and a few friends, I’ve decided to hold-off on sending-out any further “Friend Requests” and see what develops on its…More 

Georgia Covid-19 Breakthrough Report, 2 February 2022

[2/2/22] This week’s snapshots of Georgia Department of Public Health (GaDPH) reports on Covid-19 in Georgia and, in particular, Breakthrough Case Information. Note: These charts are best viewed on a computer, not a Smart Phone. On a computer and using a pointing device, your cursor should “change” into a finger-pointing icon that will allow you…More 

A Quick Check of Commodity Indexes

[2/3/22] I just finished reading Matt Taibbi’s non-fiction novel “Griftopia” published back in 2010 that highlights the cause / effect relationship of the various “bubbles” that have been created by short-sided business practices and U.S. government actions or inaction and burst over the past half-century. It was his chapter on the commodities bubble burst in…More 

Oil & Gas Prices: 4 February

[2/4/22] At present, U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil is trading at $92bbl, with the average U.S. price of a gallon of regular gasoline up $0.82/gal from pre-pandemic, January 2020 level of $2.61/gal to $3.43/gal as of the start of business on 4 Feb 2022. However, careful selection of local fuel retailers as well as…More 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: NASCAR

[2/4/22] I needed a break from a series of non-fiction, political and financial history novels I’d been reading and “chance” stepped-in. More specifically, I was offered a book I would have likely not searched-out nor even picked-out for myself that has, as the vastly popular and successful book series is aptly named, served-up Chicken Soup…More 

Are State Motor Vehicle & Traffic Laws Becoming Irrelevant?

[2/5/22] This appears to be an issue that bridges all demograhics, as people of every age group, gender, race, ethnicity, income level and background from what I’ve seen and, after witnessing a recent “near-miss,” the more I thought about motorist behavior, the more I began to wonder if the average motorist is: (a) Unaware they’re…More 

Russell Brand Talks with Matt Taibbi

Brilliant stuff from Russell Brand and Matt Taibbi that sheds so much light on the current plight of journalism in general, and in particular how we ended-up with such an adversarial relationship based on partisanship fueled by class systems. The zoom video conversation between Russell Brand and Matt Taibbi is an amazing exchange that captures…More 

Georgia Covid-19 Breakthrough Report, 9 February 2022

[2/9/22] This week’s snapshots of Georgia Department of Public Health (GaDPH) reports on Covid-19 in Georgia and, in particular, Breakthrough Case Information. Note: These charts are best viewed on a computer, not a Smart Phone. On a computer and using a pointing device, your cursor should “change” into a finger-pointing icon that will allow you…More 

January Consumer Price Index (CPI)

[2/10/22] From Yahoo News: “U.S. inflation accelerated in January, with prices across a wide range of goods and services soaring further amid lingering shortages and supply chain disruptions. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Thursday morning registered a 7.5% annual gain in January. Consensus economists were looking for…More 

The Three Most-Ignored Road Signs at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

[2/11/22] Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE having the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in “our backyard.” In addition to being a wonderful source of information regarding Civil War history we’ve thoroughly explored and read about, we routinely take advantage of the trails and Kennesaw Mountain Drive for hikes, walks and even the occasional bicycle…More 

Oil & Gas Prices, 11 February

[2/11/22] While earlier this week news that a nuclear deal with Iran was imminent that drove oil prices down were erased by OPEC underproduction issues and the news today that an invasion of the Ukraine by Russia was imminent, sending oil prices soaring and stock markets down. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil was bouncing…More 

Protected: Weekly Journal: My Apologies for Being a Columnist

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Protected: Weekly Journal: Signing-Up for Tandem Rallies, Snow & Other Stuff

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Protected: A Look Back At 2021

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Tacoma Update: Compendium of Updates

The following is a summary of posts made to our “Riding Two-Up” blog regarding changes and modifications to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma. I guess these would actually fall into the catetory of “Driving Two-Up?” Cest la vie.

The first two entries are compendiums, in and of themselves, of the changes and modifications made in a list format, the first one being the “Short Version” with just a list of the 69 “things” I’ve done to the Tacoma and some photos of the truck following each major phase of the change. The second, “Detailed Version” adds a short summary, photo and links to other blog entries where the changes, modifications or fixes are described at length.

Short Version: Changes to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma, Nov 27, 2021

Detailed Version: Changes to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma, Nov 27, 2021

The links that follow will take you to the original blog entries where the more significant changes and modifications are described with supporting photos, as appropriate, listed in order from the oldest to the most recent. Most of these are also linked from the ‘Detailed Version” of the full list of changes we’ve made to our 2017 Tacoma.

• It Was Time to Replace the Tundra, But With What?, Nov 27, 2021
• Our New-To-Us, 2017 Toyota Tacoma 4WD – TRD Sport, Dec 4, 2018
• Tacoma Update: Looking More Like “Our” Truck, Dec 8, 2018
• Tacoma Update: Aligning the Bed with the Cab, Dec 9, 2018
• Tacoma Update: 1st Month of Ownership, Dec 26, 2018
• Tacoma Update: Leather Seat Cover Installation, Dec 27, 2018
• Tacoma Update: Getting A Few Warranty Items Addressed, Jan 6, 2019
• Tacoma Update: 15k Mile Service & Warranty Repairs, Jan 10, 2019
• Tacoma Update: A.R.E. Z-Series Shell Installation, Jan 10, 2019
• Tacoma Update: Tweaking the Sound System & Lighting, Jan 14, 2019
• Tacoma Update: OBDII Reader, Interior LEDs and Pop & Lock Installation, Jan 17, 2019
• Tacoma Update: Sound Insulation Installation, Jan 24, 2019
• Tacoma Update: The Front “Sport Spoiler” Modification, Jan 30, 2019
• Tacoma Update: Head, Tail, Turn & Fog Lights, Mar 1, 2019
• Tacoma Update: First Impressions – A.R.E. Z-Series Shell, Mar 2, 2019
• Tacoma Update: Redline Leather Goods: Shifter, Brake Lever & Armrest Covers, Mar 4, 2019
• Tacoma Update: Blacked-Out Switchback Mirror Signals, Mar 11, 2019
• Tacoma Update: A.R.E. Z-Series Rear Door Leaks Resolved?, Mar 28, 2019
• Tacoma Updates: Wheels, Tires & Drivetrain Vibration, Dec 15, 2019
• Tacoma Updates: Learning to Live with Imperfection, Jan 14, 2020
• Tacoma Update: Compendium of Updates, Nov 28, 2021 (That would be this one)

It Was Time to Replace the Tundra, But With What?

Our 2006 Tundra Double-Cab when new

This is a summary of the issues and subsequent repairs we dealt with during the last 12-months we owned our 2006 Toyota Tundra 2WD Double Cab truck. It was a good truck in many respects, but it had an inherent weakness: the front suspension.

2006 Tacoma Double-Cab Long Bed

It bears mentioning, the 1st generation Tundra — as well as its Seqoia SUV sister — was more-or-less a larger truck body with larger displacement power trains that used the smaller Tacoma’s frame with an upsized, wider front suspension and rear axle to accommodate the wider Tundra bodies prior to the introduction of the clean-sheet-of-paper 2007 full-size Tundra. Using the Tacoma chassis limited the load, towing and other typical “full-size” truck capabilities of the 7/8ths-size Tundra and apparently pushed the smaller chassis and suspenion to their limits. One of the weakest links was the front suspension on the 2WD models and their lower ball joints that were failing in record numbers and required a massive recall.

How our 2006 Tundra Double-Cab looked by 2014

Our Tundra was included in that recall that was, as we learned over the life of the vehicle, a band aid to stop the bleeding instead of a true fix. I likely exacerbated the problem when I fitted non-OEM wheel and tires in 2014 that clearly increased the loads that were already at the limit of the stock, narrow off-set OEM-spec. wheels and tires fitted to the Tundra. This lead to premature wear and multiple failures of multiple front-suspension components during the 12-years we owned the truck.

Our 1998 Toyota truck on left, and 1995 Toyota 4-Runner on right

And, with that as an introduction, what follows is a recap of the last year of issues and repairs that finally made me realize I was not going to get 250,000-miles out of this Toyota truck the way I did with my 1989 pre-Tacoma/Tundra Toyota truck over 10-years, nor even the 190,000-miles we got out of our 1985 Toyota 4-Runner over 10 years.

December 2017: Another Failed Ball-Joint & Worn-Out Tie Rods

On Tuesday, 26 December 2017, we headed off on our 770 mile drive from Atlanta to my folks place up near Reading, Pa.  We ran into two heavy traffic back-ups, one of which required us to exit the interstate and take back roads to circumvent the back-up.  Sadly, as we slowed to a crawl and began to make lane changes to exit we heard an awful metal-on-metal grinding sound from the front end of the truck, adding an element of drama to our drive.  My sense was, the noise seemed to be coming from the rack and pinion / steering system so, after pulling into a gas station and visually/physically checking to see if there was clearly something amiss — and there wasn’t –– it was a tense 110 miles to my folks house. After all, you don’t want your rack or the tie rods to “go” while you’re driving along at 70mph and, thankfully, we made it to my folks home safely and without incident.

On Wednesday, 27 December 2017, I dropping off the Tundra at the local Toyota dealer’s service center to have the front end noise evaluated. Later in the day, the dealer’s service advisor called to give me their diagnosis: the purported problem was associated with the six-month old Camburg upper control arm and bearings that had been recently installed by a professional off-road vehicle shop back home in Georgia. That caught me by surprise but, when faced with the prospect of having our return trip to Georgia delayed or having a more serious problem on the drive home, I was inclined to have them “take care of it” whatever “it” was, but I had my doubts that it had anything to do with the Camburg upper control arms since those were some of the best-quality parts on the front-end of the truck at this point.

It was around 7:30am on Thursday, 28 Dec 2017, when I went down to the Toyota dealer to talk with the service technicians who diagnosed the problem to be sure replacing the parts was necessary as something just didn’t seem quite right with their diagnosis.  After talking with the two techs I decided to leave well-enough alone and deal with the creaky-sounding front end until I got home, as the binding ball joints was not deemed a safety issue by the technicians for the 750-mile drive back to Georgia. My assumption was, if there was anything else seriously amiss they’d have caught that. So, I told them to write-up the work they’d done and I’d be back to collect the truck later in the afternoon, which I did.

At 8:30am on Friday, 29 December 2017, we headed home and, much to my surprise, the front end of the truck sounded and felt much worse than it had been on the drive up. I’m not sure what had been done, but there was a lot more steering instability and vibration around 72mph than before I’d taken to Toyota. Again, after stopping and inspecting for obvious signs of a critical problem, we pushed through what was a nerve-racking drive and made it home safely by 8:15pm.

On Saturday, 30 December 2017, I was up early headed over to the off-road vehicle shop that did the front-end work in Georgia to talk about the front end issues on my truck.  My service advisor at the shop had one of the techs look at the truck while I walked to lunch and a short time later called to let me know they’d found the Tundra’s left-hand tie rods were worn-out.  The upper control arms and ball joints were deemed fine, so good thing I decided to hold off on following the Toyota tech’s recommendations so spend $1,100 replacing those in PA.  I went ahead and scheduled the truck for the tie rod replacement as well as the installation of new tires on 11 Jan: The tires were in need of replacement before the front end issue surfaced.

On Thursday, 11 January 2018, the Tundra went in to the off-road vehicle shop for the new set of tires and a left-hand tie-rod replacement based on what the shop’s techs said they identified as the problem. After getting the truck back with the new tires and tie-rods installed, I found it had not resolve the noise and vibration we’d been experiencing for the last 1,700 miles. 

On Friday, 12 January 2018, since the off-road vehicle shop since had not been able to fix the issue, I decided to take the truck to my regular, independent general maintenance shop to see if they couldn’t identify the source of the problem.  As suspected, they confirmed on Saturday the lower-left ball joint appeared to be the problem so it would get replaced on Monday, followed by yet another front end alignment to see if that wouldn’t solve the noise and handling issues.

It was Tuesday after, 16 Jan 2018, when my local independent shop called to let me know the truck was ready for pick-up, which was a good thing since we had a winter storm coming through overnight. Thankfully, they’d correctly diagnosed the source of the metal-on-metal binding as the lower control arm / ball joint and, after replacing that and giving the truck another front-end alignment, most of the handling issues were also resolved.

To recap, the Toyota technicians back in PA had recommended replacing both of the upper control arms ($1100 not done) to resolve the issue and the off-road vehicle shop’s technician’s thought it was the worn tie-rod ends ($200 was done) which did need to be replaced. But how the Toyota Techs in PA missed the worn-out ball joint is beyond me and the truck wasn’t actually safe to drive given the condition of the worn-out tie rods and ball joints that were replaced. And, no; I don’t know how the off-road shop tech’s could have missed the ball joint either.

By Friday, 19 January 2018, all of these recent issues, coupled with a history of front-end component replacements that began when the Tundra was brand new with a factory recall / replacment of undersized ball-joints, I was definitely thinking it was time to sell and replace it with a newer or new truck. And, based on some research, the newer Toyota Tundra trucks still seem like a better fit for us vs. Ford, GM/Chevrolet, RAM, Honda or Nissan, if it will fit through our garage door, that is.

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January 2018: A Short Excursion into the Used Truck Market

On Saturday, 20 January 2018, I followed through on my thoughts about making a vehicle change and headed off to look at four or five different, lightly-used but newer-model year Toyota Tundra four-wheel drive trucks.  I thought I almost found “the truck” on our first stop.  It was a 2015 Tundra Limited with 35,000 miles and on first glance / first drive it seemed really nice.

Our sales consultant worked up the numbers for a trade-in of our 2006 Tundra DoubleCab with 144,500 miles and I was looking at a $31,500 drive-out-the-door number.  As we did on the somewhat recent purchase of Debbie’s Honda Accord shopping trip in November 2016, we told our sale consultant we’d need to go talk about it over lunch… but we’d be back either way.  The sales consultant, being concerned we’d not come back, volunteered the use of the 2015 Tundra for our lunch trip: sure, why not!  Well, that turned out to be pretty fortuitous as the extra time with the truck in a more relaxed environment allowed me to really give it a good look-over and to think about the entire deal. The bottom line was, the $7000 I was offered for the trade-in value of our 2006 Tundra was low and the 2015 Tundra was cosmetically tired with only 35,000 miles so we walked away from the deal.    

We did, however, stop in to look at a used, top-of-the-line Tundra “1794” model and son-of-a-gun if Debbie didn’t like that a lot!  She was ready for us to make a deal, even though that particular truck had nearly 50,000 miles and was way over-priced.  But, yes… it did look really nice.

Once we made it home, I started searching a bit more on-line and also decided I’d do much better selling our truck outright vs. trading it in.  In the past I’ve always found the “new vehicle first” and then put the old one up for sale to guard against giving away that additional 25% of it’s resale value to the dealer.  We’ve been left holding onto the extra cars and motorcycles longer than hoped a couple of times, but it’s never really “hurt us” as we eventually sold them all, even if it took a week weeks or months.

That same Saturday afternoon I went ahead and listed the Tundra on Craigslist for what I thought was a very reasonable price of $10,500. The NADA book for a “clean” truck like ours was around $12,000, so $10,500 seemed fair for our somewhat less-than-perfect but very well taken-care-of and well-optioned truck.

I felt confident we’d be able to sell the truck for at least $10,000 if not $10,500 and having it up for sale would create a forcing-function for getting off the dime and getting the older Tundra replaced with a newer truck that wouldn’t threaten to leave us stranded on a long trip the way our recent episode over Christmas almost did.

On Sunday, 21 January 2018, I’d received 7 Emails and had three folks who wanted to come and take a look at the truck.  However, as I continued my search for replacement trucks I began to have some doubts about the new, bigger Toyota Tundra:

• Would it really fit in our garage?  Could Debbie even get it out if need be?
• Was it really the right truck for our needs?  It just needs to be able to tow a small trailer with a motorcycle now and again.
• Did I want to pay $40k+ for a used truck?  I think I paid $26k for the 2006 Tundra and the replacement would need $3,000 in accessories, e.g., camper shell, liner & step rails.
• Is there a better choice in the ¾ ton truck class?  The Toyota Tundra is the lowest-rated in its class due to low-power/poor towing capacity.
• Would a smaller truck like a Toyota Tacoma or Honda Ridgeline be a better choice?  At best, we need a “big truck” about one day a year, on average.

These thoughts were running through my head as I was making appointments and getting the truck ready to be seen by prospective buyers and then it really hit me: how the heck am I going to get around in the middle of January with 3-4 medical appointments per week (I was still undergoing physical therapy following a motorcycle accident back in November) until such time as I find a replacement truck?   To make a long story short, I reconsidered my strategy, took the truck off the market and cancelled the appointments I’d already made.  Whew….

I definitely did not think-through the decision to list my truck as well as I should have. Yes, a lot of that was shaped by the recent worn-out ball joint episode and my perceived need for a four-wheel drive truck to deal with our more frequent snowy winters.  While I really liked the big Tundra for reasons I can’t explain, I was leaning more towards the four-wheel drive / four door Toyota Tacoma and Honda Ridgelines. For our “needs” the smaller trucks might be a better fit, both in terms of practicality and their physical size.

In regard to the latter, I sometimes forgot our ‘06 Toyota Tundra was only a 7/8^ths scale truck, not a true full-size model.  And, while the wheelbase, width and height is the same as the CrewMax Tundra, the newer Tundra’s mirrors when not stowed make the truck 96” wide, which is about 5” wider than our garage door opening!  The high-end Tundra’s have mirrors that will fold-in with the flip of a switch, but even then we’re talking about having very little room for error in terms of brushing the garage upon backing out or pulling in. 

And, to say that the Tundra would fill up that garage is an understatement. So, we’ll see.  I definitely expect we’ll need to go for a test ride in the Tacoma and Ridgeline trucks, and perhaps even one of the smaller GM trucks.  In fact, if we delay this vehicle acquisition long enough I believe GM will have a smaller pick-up with a small diesel motor and Ford is bringing their smaller Ranger model back as well.  Yes, these smaller trucks are definitely an emerging market and I can now see why: the big trucks have just gotten too big with price tags to match!  But, I digress…

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May 2018: The Beginning of the End, As Needed-Repairs Continue

On 28 May 2018, our mostly-trusty 2006 Toyota Tundra survived another service visit without breaking the bank.  Oh, there were some opportunities, but thankfully one of the issues — a leaky right rear axle seal — was a previous repair that failed again under warranty. So, it’s now the 2nd time our regular, independent repair shop picked up the tab on replacing the bearing and contaminated brakes. There was also a recommendation to have the valve cover gaskets replace for $600 which I declined to have done.  I figure I’d first try re-torquing the valve cover bolts and if they’re still leaking, then I’d just replace them myself. 

It’s probably fair to ask at this point, whatever happened to my January 2018 quest to replace the ’06 Tundra with a newer model?  While we liked the newer trucks, for most of what I use the Tundra for it seemed more than adequate so long as I stayed ahead of the maintenance issues.  And, so long as I’m wasn’t spending more than $3000 a year on repairs, it was still far-less-expensive than buying a newer vehicle given the cost of money, etc.  And, sure enough, within a few years the newer vehicle will also need routine service which will be at least as expensive as repairs to the old truck.  So, at least for the time being, we’ll decided to stick with the Tundra, notwithstanding any more major issues.

The next issue turned-out to be a minor one when, on 15 July 2018, after sitting at an airport parking lot for a week, the Tundra threw a Check Engine code and was running horribly as we started to drive home.  I pulled to the shoulder of the road and used the ScanGuage I had installed in the Tundra to check the codes: there were 20 or more and they made no sense at all.  However, after simply clearing the codes the truck seemed to be running fine and the Check Engine light remained off for the drive home and for a few weeks thereafter: it pays to have an OBD-II reader handy.

However, following this recent, minor-seeming event, on 19 July 2018 I resumed research on newer, Toyota Tundra trucks as I was really losing confidence in our 12-year old Tundra. In fact, it was at that point I decided we’d take Debbie’s Honda Accord on an upcoming trip to Pennsylvania instead of the truck for our future trips, as I didn’t want to temp fate with the aging Tundra.

It wasn’t until 31 July 2018 after we’d returned from Pennsylvania when I finally shared emails and texts with a Nissan dealer on a 2018 Titan 4X4 SV Crew Cab that caught my eye.  Beyond the Nissan, the only other trucks that seem to appeal to me at the moment are the RAM 1500 4×4 Laramie Crew Cabs. I was still diagnosing the Check Engine Light / Code-Throwing / Misfiring issue that surfaced on our drive home from the airport two weeks ago, as it was likely whatever caused it would cause it again: it was just a matter of time.

While waiting for better weather, on 2 August 2018 the Tundra once again had the same check-engine, code-throwing, engine misfire issue crop-up and I was pretty sure what I was seeing had something minor to do with the emission control system. I just need to do a little more research to figure out what it is.  In the interim, and as I did back on 16 July, when the truck threw the check engine light codes and started to run poorly, I was able to clear the Check Engine Light & Codes using the Scan Gauge II OBD-II scanner and as soon as I’d clear the codes the truck engine resumed normal operation.

It was the next day, on 3 August 2018, when I diagnosed my truck’s Check Engine light issue as most likely being tied to a dirty Mass Air Fuel Sensor (MAFS), which is known to cause the same Check Engine Light Codes to be thrown as a failing MAFS. The following day I picked-up a $9.00 can of CRC’s MAFS cleaner, removed the MAFS from the intake and then gave it a very generous cleaning and at least for the near-term, it solved the problem with recurring Check Engine lights.

It was on 14 September 2018 when the Tundra went in to our local independent shop for its 150,000 mile service and to have a front tire balance issue resolved before we took the truck on a 1,200-mile round trip to Florida in early October, and was otherwise uneventful and without surprise repairs being needed. At this point I remained bound and determined to squeeze another few years out of our 12-year old Toyota Tundra. 

However, by 9 October 2018, I had to take the Tundra back to the shop as there was clearly something amiss with the suspension and tires again. It was now the right-front tie-rod and ball-joint that were shot, and these would be the 3rd time they’d been replaced in 150,000 miles. With that repaired and a four-wheel alignment, the truck was handling like new again, as the front-end shimmy was gone and the truck just felt really solid.

Once I got the truck home later that afternoon I found the $110.00 new/rebuilt Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor I’d ordered on Sunday arrived, as the cleaning the MAF valve only yielded 6 weeks of problem-free driving without OBI-II code tripping the Check Engine Light condition that had been cropping up ever since we returned from Cancun in mid-July. Replacing the sensor was all of a 10-minute job, at the most.

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Thanksgiving 2018: It’s Now time for a New Truck

On Monday, 19 November 2018, as we headed from dinner home the Tundra was suddenly making a very expensive-sounding whirring noise that was tied to the engine RPM.  It stayed with us for about 5 miles and then disappeared as quickly as it appeared.  I knew the truck was approaching the point at which it would need a timing belt and water pump replacement, but this sounded more like a bad alternator diode. So, the question became, do I want to put another $2,400 into our 12-year old Toyota Tundra with 152,000 miles or is it time to get serious about replacing the truck, especially with yet another 1,800-mile round trip drive to Pennsylvania coming-up in early December? 

Upon arriving home, I began my homework on the used truck market again and I was also of a mind to just trade-in the truck vs. selling it outright. The following morning I shared my used truck research results with Debbie; she was Ok with what I’d found.  The price of these things is staggering to me; new trucks that have creature comforts on par with Debbie’s mid-range Honda Accord Sport are in the mid-$40k range, with Suburbans and the higher-end trucks like the ones the kids drive at $80k.

Not wanting to absorb the depreciation hit, I looked at second-hand vehicles as it was unlikely I’d find a new one for similar money and zero percent financing even though I was not looking to take on debt after being debt-free for several years. However, but our investment folks still believed assets would do better in the market given where the loan rates are, so I’d be better off getting a low-interest rate loan than pulling money out of the market.

On Tuesday, 20 November 2018, we drove to the local Honda dealership to look at the mid-size Honda Ridgeline “truck” as a possible replacement for the Tundra. 

From the outside, it was definitely a smaller vehicle than the full-size trucks it was parked next to, more like a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) or mini-van in ride height.  In fact, the Ridgeline is built on the same chassis as the Honda Pilot and Odyssey and uses a unibody instead of being a more conventional truck with a separate cab and bed.  The smallish bed would be a tight fit for our tandem, so much so I’d need to remove both the front & rear wheels the way I did “back in the day” when we had our 1998 Toyota 4WD pickup. But the Honda more than made up for the loss of bed capacity with a huge, under floor storage area, so that was nice.  The interior was every bit as spacious as our Tundra and was more-or-less very similar to Debbie’s Honda Accord.  I think I’d have been OK with it, but I could tell that Debbie was not enthusiastic.  What was appealing to me was the 18/25 mpg fuel economy, smaller size, time-proven all-wheel-drive system and Honda reliability / longevity.   Anyway, this was just the first vehicle we looked at and I had about 3 weeks to do something before we headed back to Pennsylvania and really didn’t want to take the Accord again.

On Wednesday, 21 November 2018, I laid-out out markings on the garage floor to approximate the bed sizes of the different trucks we’re looking at.

The key here was making sure whatever we buy woudl be able to accommodate our tandem bicycles, even if both both wheels had to be removed to allow it to fit. It was interesting to see how different the bed sizes were, but at the end of the day it looked like I could fit the tandem into just about any of the truck’s beds.

On Thursday, 22 November 2018, I continued to do more research on used trucks, adding the smaller Toyota Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed to my list as another option.  After all, it was Thanksgiving Day and we’d spent the better part of the day with family and the dealershiops were closed so there wasn’t much else I could accomplish.

On Friday, 23 November 2018, I reviewed the trucks I’d singled-out the previous night and also added the dimensions for the Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed to my layout on the garage floor.  I found it interesting that the Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed ended up having about the same capacity as the Tundra Crew Cab‘s standard size bed.  As to how well our tandem would fit in either of these trucks, we still needed to investigate that: perhaps over the weekend. 

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On Saturday, 24 November 2018, I headed out to run some errands and also stopped to look at a brown Tundra Double Cab at a used car local dealership. Unfortunately, when I arrived I was told the truck had already been sold and driven away by the new owner.  On the bright side, I was able to confirm just how wide the newer 3rd generation Tundras were, mirror-to-mirror, as compared to our 2006 2nd generation model.  Turns out, they were really wide: 101.5″ from side mirror to side mirror compared to 88″ for our ’06 Tundra.  That was a problem because our garage door is only 94″ wide.  On the two higher-end models, the mirrors could be folded-in with the touch of a button that reduced the overall width of the mirrors to 87″ which would fit.  The underlying message here was, it sure seemed like the newer Tundras were just too darn big so I was now leaning heavily towards a 4WD Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed.

On Monday, 26 November 2018, I scheduled an appointment to go and look at a lightly used, red 2017 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed in Cumming, Georgia, around 11:00am on Tuesday. I should note, in the background I’d also securing a pre-approved loan from our local Credit Union and that was coming-along without any issues as we could pay cash for just about any of the used or even new vehicles we were considering if we wanted.

On Tuesday, 27 November 2018, we headed off to look at the red Toyota Tacoma Long Bed truck in Cumming, Georgia, about an hours drive away.  It was being sold as a “Toyota Certified Pre-Owned” vehicle with came with several perqs, to include a 7-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

Tacoma Long Beds, it turned-out, were hard to find and this one was something of a unicorn in that it was a long bed with an equally rare combination of the Premium Package & Technology Package that provided all of the options we were interested in. 

This being the first time I’d actually looked closely and touched one of these, it turned out to look smaller than our Tundra but not by a huge amount: mostly cab height and volume as well as bed width and height.  It was cozy-feeling, but comfortable and drove well enough although feeling under-powered compared to the Tundra. We’d brought along our Calfee road tandem to make sure it fit in the long bed truck without removing the rear wheel. As to whether it would still fit with a camper shell, that was hard to know… but there are other options for that.  After our test drive they provided us with their asking price and we told them we’d let them know one way or the other by the end of the day Wednesday. 

Back at home, I decided to get our ‘06 Tundra washed, cleaned-up and removed nearly all of our personal items “just in case” we decided to buy something and offer up our truck for a trade-in as part of the deal.  I had a strong business case for trading it in as a way to avoid a the not-too-far-off $1,500 timing belt & water pump replacement it would need as well as reducing the sales tax on the new vehicle.

On Wednesday, 28 November 2018, we drove over to used vehiicle dealership in Norcross, Georgia, to look at and drive what seemed like a reasonably-priced, 2016 Toyota Tundra 1794 edition.  This truck turned-out to be a basket-case so I declined to give them offer after our test drive but, more importantly, driving it after driving the Tacoma Double Cab the previous day and our own Tundra Double Cab confirmed it was bigger than we wanted or needed… at least at the moment. No, the Tacoma “felt right” for us, whereas the Tundra while luxurious, quiet and powerful, felt too big.

Before even leaving the Norcross used vehicle dealer’s parking lot I called the sales manager at the Toyota dealership in Cumming and gave him a counter-offer on the 2017 Tacoma over the phone, which included the trade-in our of ’06 Tundra. I let him know we were only 40 minutes away so, if it would be acceptable, we’d just drive over in our Tundra so they could do the appraisal and then we could negotiate the purchase. They ended-up accepting my offer, and after finishing up with the business manager and signing all of the paperwork, I removed our few remaining personal items out of the Tundra and, by 3:00pm, we were on our way on our hour-long drive home in our new-to-us Toyota Tacoma, during which we confirmed we’d made a good choice.  I still needed to give them a check for the balance of the sales price, but I’d do that the following day.

The Tacoma felt very much like our familiar and comfortable-to-us Tundra, both in terms of ride comfort and the feel of the cabin sizing.  However, it was much-more truck-like and not a luxury vehicle like the newer Tundras. And, that was fine.  All of the new-technology features were a huge plus as was the massive increase in fuel economy.  On a good day I might see 17 mpg highway on our Tundra.  Mixed driving usually delivered something closer to 15.5 mpg.  The Tacoma was getting 22.6 mpg on the drive home.

I won’t go into the nitty-gritty details on all the changes I’ve made to the Tacoma that followed, as they’re listed in another blog I wrote back on 4 December 2018, Our New-To-Us, 2017 Toyota Tacoma 4WD – TRD Sport, and there is also an insanely detailed blog entry on the changes you can fine here: Detailed Version: Changes to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma. But, the following outlines what I did during the first 10 days after bringing the truck home.

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The First 10 Days of Ownership Was a Busy One

• Wednesday, 29 Nov:
  • Deep cleaned the interior, to include shampooing with Bissell upholstery cleaner
  • Porter Cable Machine-polished / detailed the exterior finish

• Thursday, 30 Nov:
  • Replaced the Tundra with the Tacoma on auto insurance
  • Moved personal items into the Tacoma that I’d taken out of the Tundra
  • Deleted prior owner data from, and paired my smart phone to the Entune system
  • Picked up check from credit union, drove to Cumming and dropped it off at Toyota
  • While at dealer, picked-up manuals, floormats & ordered 2nd key fob
  • Installed my Georgia Veteran license plates from the Tundra on Tacoma
  • Corrected tire pressures to manual spec; some were too high others too low
  • Removed the warning decals from sun visors
  • Ordered BedRug bed liner
  • Ordered door sill protectors
  • Submitted requests for quotes on A.R.E. Z-Series Bed Toppers from two local dealers
  • Began shopping for interior leather, the cloth seat covers had to go

• Friday, 31 Nov:
  • Stopped at local Toyota dealer body shop for look at clear-coat: it was etching caused by pine sap
  • Removed the chrome “V6” badge and dealer branding from the tailgate, the de-badging begins
  • Touched up chipped paint around the driver’s door sill
  • Finished reading-through the massive stack of owners manuals for the truck
    • Figured-out how to perform hands-free phone calling
    • Figured-out how the ‘qi’ wireless charging system worked
    • Discovered I could add an inexpensive qi adapter to my phone
  • Adjusted the parking stops in the garage; the Tacoma was nearly as long as the Tundra
  • Removed the OEM “Stealth” running boards and listed for sale on Craigslist

• Saturday, 1 Dec:
  • Ordered a set of Toyota OEM mudguards
  • Met buyers at the house who purchased the Stealth running boards I’d listed the previous night

• Sunday, 2 Dec:
  • Ordered a set of black leather seat covers with perforated center panels from LeatherSeats.com
  • Follow-on, interior cleaning of the Tacoma now that the seat covers and carpet were dry
  • Finalized my iPod installation under the radio/above the qi charger shelf
  • Installed a “temporary” Scosche magnetic phone holder to better-position my phone on the dash
    • I added a wireless, magnetic holder after adding wireless charging adapters to our phones
  • Replaced the batteries in the tonneau cover’s lights to bring them back to life
  • Removed the chrome “T A C O M A” name badges from the driver and passenger doors

• Monday, 3 Dec:
  • Removed the TRD 4×4 Sport edition decals from the sides of the truck bed
  • Removed the tonneau cover from the truck & deep-cleaned the truck bed
  • Spent the evening researching aftermarket tire/wheel options; most likely are:
    • Toyota OEM 17″ x 7″ TRD Pro SEMA finished in the gunmetal grey
    • Nitto Grappler G2’s in size 265/65R17
    • The front-suspension leveled with a set of Bilstein 5100 ride height adjustable shocks
  • Created a new ledger in Excel to keep a running tally of the Tacoma changes & expenses

• Tuesday, 4 Dec:
  • Ordered a set of the Toyota TRD Pro SEMA original equipment rims in gunmetal grey
  • Ordered Nitto Grappler G2 tires, Bilstein 5100 shocks and scheduled install for Friday
  • Scheduled truck for front window tinting later in the day
    • The windows were tinted by 5:00pm
  • Researched running boards and step rails; Nfab Predator step rails were at the top of the list
    • Found a used set on Craigslist later in the day and would pick them up on Wednesday
  • The BedRug ordered last Thursday arrived and was installed after dinner

• Wednesday, 5 Dec:
  • Ordered a TRD Pro replacement grille for the Tacoma
  • Made a 110-mile round trip to pick-up the Nfab Predator step rails in Hoganville, GA
    • Installed a bit later in the day after getting home and having lunch
  • Toyota OEM mudguards delivered and installed in the late afternoon
  • 3M Stone Guard material on rear wheel fender flares replaced

• Thursday, 6 Dec:
  • Re-stocked and updated my “emergency bag” that I carry in the bed of my trucks
  • Toyota OEM TRD Pro SEMA wheels were delivered, as scheduled

• Friday, 7 Dec:
  • New TRD Pro SEMA wheels, Nitto tires and Bilstein 5100 shocks were installed
  • The OEM TRD Sport wheels and the Toyo Open Country AT2 tires were listed on Craigslist
  • The vinyl door sill protection strips arrived and were installed
  • I discovered the truck’s bed was not centered on the frame and cab; a problem I later fixed

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So, that was what I did to the truck or had in-work during the first 10 days. As you might be able to tell from the two photos at right, it was a somewhat different-looking truck 10-days after driving it home from the Toyota dealership. There were a lot of things still in work: these had been just the first 17 of 68 changes I made to our Tacoma since bringing it home.

It’s well on it’s way to becoming “our truck” but there were a few things I’d changed I liked but didn’t quite “rock my world” the way I thought they might. For example, as much as I liked the way the TRD Pro SEMA wheels in gunmetal grey looked, they almost looked too stock to me once they were on our Tacoma, likely because they were, in fact, the stock wheels on the TRD Pro 4-Runners and there are quite a few of those on the road. And, there other things I needed to get sorted-out to get the interior comfort where I wanted it: the leather seat covers were on order and I knew I still needed to decide if I was really committed to pulling the interior apart to install sound insulation to made the cab more quiet.

And, most important of all, was the A.R.E Z-Series shell that would finally give us the utility we needed, never mind the most dramatic change in how the truck looked. The picture here was my “photoshopped” image of the Tacoma where I overlayed a generic A.R.E. Z-Series-looking shell on top of the bed to get an idea of how it might change the look of the truck.

So, yes…. I’d gotten a lot accomplished in the first 10-days, but it still had a long way to go.

Short Version: Changes to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma

As we reached it’s 3-year anniversary with us it dawned on me I never took time to catalog the changes I’ve made to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma.   We bought it as a Toyota Certified Pre-Owned Program” vehicle from Beaver Toyota in Cumming Georgia back on 28 November 2018, lightly used with 10,687 miles, purchased new in June 2017.  I documented a lot of the changes, but they are spread across 18 different blog entries such that, there isn’t a single place where everything I changed to make it look, feel and perform the way it does today is captured.

The detailed, long version can be found at THIS LINK

For those who aren’t equipment junkies, truck afficianados or have better things to do but who are stil curious, there’s this photo summary of before & after, the phases, the replacement and even the inspiration for what all I did to this truck, followed by a list of the changed just for “impact”.

Exterior – Before & After:

The Different Phases:

Phase 1:  Creating a Clean Sheet of Paper to Work From

Phase 2: Leveling & a More Aggressive Stance & Appearance

Phase 3: More Comforts, Quiet & Secure, Dry Cargo Space

Phase 4: A More TRD Pro Appearance

Phase 5: What I Had in My Mind’s Eye When I Started

The Truck it Replaced:

The Inspiration & Outcome:

 

The Individual Changes Made in Chronological Order

1. Deep cleaning & discovery of sap etching in clear coat, 28 Nov ’18
2. Picked-up missing floor mats and manuals at Beaver Toyota, 29 Nov ’18
3. New iPod & out-of-view installation, 30 Nov ’18
4. Scosche Smartphone mag/wired mount installed and wired into fuse-box, 1 Dec ’18
5. “Stealth” running boards removed, 1 Dec ’18
6. Chromed emblems removed from truck, 1 Dec ’18
7. TRD Sport graphics removed from the left and right rear bed corners, 3 Dec ’18
8. “Legal” 32% tint applied to the front side windows by “The Tint Guy,” 4 Dec ’18
9. BedRug ordered on 30 Nov delivered and installed, 4 Dec ’18
10. Pre-Owned Nfab Predator step rails installed, 5 Dec ’18
11. Toyota OEM mud flaps installed, 5 Dec ’18
12. 3M Stone Guard applied to the lower front edge of both rear fender flares, 5 Dec ’18
13. Warning labels removed from visors, 6 Nov ’18
14. Stock front shocks replaced with Bilstein 5100 / adjustable height front shocks, 7 Dec ’18
15. Stock wheels & tires replaced with TRD Pro SEMA wheels & Nitto Grappler G2 Tires, 7 Dec ’18
16. Door sill protectors added to all four door sills, 8 Dec ’18
17. Truck bed out of alignment with cab and re-aligned, 8 Dec ’18
18. TRD Pro grille ordered on 6 Dec delivered and installed, 11 Dec ’18
19. Picked-up missing Toyota Key FOB at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet in Buford, 11 Dec ’18
20. Four 1/2″ stack-ups of spacers installed under rear seat bolts to adjust seat angle, 12 Dec ’18
21. Kobalt 240 piece tool kit and softcase bought at Lowe’s to keep in  truck bed, 12  Dec ’18
22. 1st Road Trip to Pennsylvania, 13-19 December… the catalyst for buying the new truck
23. Center console organizer ordered 3 Dec arrived and installed, 20 Dec ’18
24. LeatherSeats.com interior ordered on 5 Dec arrived and installed, 20 & 21 Dec ’18
25. Scosche Smartphone mag/wireless charger mount installed and wired into fuse-box, 23 Dec ’18
26. Baselined interior soundlevels before installing sound insulation inside the cab, 30 Dec ’18
27. Kicker Tweeters ordered 3 Jan delivered and installed/replaced OEM tweeters, 7 Jan ’19
28. Kicker speakers for front & rear doors ordered 4 Jan installed/replaced OEM speakers, 8 Jan ’19
29. Weather-sealant applied to top of truck bed ahead of A.R.E. bed topper installation, 7&8 Jan ’19
30. A.R.E Z-Series bed topper ordered 30 Nov delivered to and installed by Custom Campers, 9 Jan ’19
31. Fabricated “Transportation Fixture” for our Calfee tandem for truck bed, 13 Jan ’19
32. UltraGauge scan tool ordered on 5 Jan paired to Samsung Smartphone, 14 Jan ’19
33. LED interior light bulbs ordered on 7 Jan arrived and installed, 14 Jan ’19
34. LED back-up tailights ordered on 10 Jan arrived and installed, 17 Jan ’19
35. Pop ‘n Lock installed for rear tailgate & A.R.E. wiring reworked, 14&15 Jan ’19
36. Rear tailgate sound insulated to attenuate the Pop ‘n Lock selenoid sound, 15 Jan ’19
37. Sound Insulation installed on cab doors, floor, ceiling & rear wall, 19-21 Jan ’19
38. Installation of “Cubby Caps” on rear bed storage bins, 21 Jan ’19
39. Replacing 1/2″ stacks of washers with billet aluminum seat spacers, 21 Jan ’19
40. Emergency Kit Bag” replaced, 22 Jan ’19
41. “Add-a-Fuse” installed through OEM fuse box cover for phone charger, 23 Jan ’19
42. Modification of the front valance, i.e., making it into a sport spoiler, 25 Jan ’19
43. Deep clean, clay bar and Zaino treatment of the truck & bed topper, 26 Jan ’19
44. OEM flat black metal “4×4 & TRD” emblems added to tailgate, 7 Feb ’19
45. Swap-out of OEM headlights for black TRD Pro headlights, 13 Feb ’19
46. Replacement of window tint by “The Tint Guy” due to issues, 15 Feb ’19
47. “Surgical Replacement” of coin holder in center arm rest organizer, 16 Feb ’19
48. Swap-out of OEM taillights for OEM TRD Pro Tailights, 16 Feb ’19
49. 25% “Limo” tint applied to A.R.E bed topper windows, 19 Feb ’19
50. Headlight bulb replacement with “better and brighter” European bulbs, 20 Feb ’19
51. Installing Redline leather shifter/ brake boots and center arm rest cover, 20 Feb ’19
52. Replacement of driver’s door switch cover, 5 Mar ’19
53. Blacked-out Unique Style Racing “Switchback” mirror turn signal lights installed, 11 Mar ’19
54. Yakima Tower/Rack & “Sea Sucker” rear wheel mount make Tacoma Triplet Ready, 12 Mar ’19
55. A.R.E. Rear Door Finally Weather-Tight after weeks of rework & multiple seals, 22 Mar ’19
56. Applying black TRD lettering over TRD Pro SEMA wheel caps, 20 May ’19
57. Pro Comp 1″ lift-kit installed on rear axle to level truck, 28 May ’19
58. Falken Wildpeak tires installed by Discount Tire, 17 Jun ’19
59. License plate light housings replaced, 27 Jun ’19
60. Harley Badge for rear bumper added, Aug 12
61. 61. Fuel Nitro 17″ wheels with too-much off-set / temporary install, 8 July ’19 & 25 Sep:
62. Second set of used OEM TRD Off-Road wheels & tires acquired, 16 Oct ’19
63. Black-out vinyl transfers installed on TRD Off-Road wheels, 28 Oct ’19
64. Second set of mudflaps acquired for “stock set-up,”28 Oct ’19
65. 65. Fuel Nitro 17″ wheels with correct off-set / permanent install, 7 Nov ’19:
66. Second set of TPMS Sensors & Autel TS508 service tool, 9 Nov ’19
67. Test Driving a 2020 Toyota Tacoma Long Bed TRD Sport 4×4 in a last ditch effort, 12 Dec ’19:
68. A.R.E. rear door lock housing cracked, lock failed & replaced, 3 Jun ’21
69. Add-on LuxPro LP-172 LED Glove Box light, 8 Jan ’22

Detailed Version: Changes to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma

WARNING: This detailed version is 12,075 words long. There is also a short version with just 221 words, serveral photos and then a list of the changes that can be found at THIS LINK.

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As we reached it’s 3-year anniversary with us it dawned on me I never took time to catalog the changes I’ve made to our 2017 Toyota Tacoma.   We bought it as a Toyota Certified Pre-Owned Program” vehicle from Beaver Toyota in Cumming Georgia back on 28 November 2018, lightly used with 10,687 miles, purchased new in June 2017.  I documented a lot of the changes, but they are spread across 18 different blog entries such that, there isn’t a single place where everything I changed to make it look, feel and perform the way it does today is captured.

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Why A New Truck:

As for why I thought it was time for a new truck, ever since our also personalized Tundra was new it had a series of front-end suspension problems, including far too many lower-ball joint failures, and in early October 2018 we experienced yet another one.  So, despite several unproductive and half-hearted efforts to acquire a new truck earlier in the year, I decided it was time to act and get a new truck before our next road trip to Pennsylvania in December.  I narrowed my search down to either a Honda Ridgeline or Toyota Tacoma as the newer Tundras were now too big to fit through our garage doors, which was true of the other full-size trucks. What makes that somewhat surprising is I had no problem putting our 1997 and 2002 Suburbans in the garage by merely pulling-in the driver’s side mirror. 

The Suburbans came during a 9-year hiatus from Toyota trucks as they made it easier to haul-around our tandem bicycles.  I say easier, as our previous two “trucks” were my 1989 Toyota SR5 X-Cab 4WD V-6 truck from back-in-the-day when there was just one Toyota truck model so it didn’t need a model name like T-100, Tacoma or Tundra, and our 1995 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4WD V-6.  I put 250,000 miles on the 1989 truck before selling and replacing it with the 1997 Suburban in 1989, and the 1995 Toyota was sold in 2005 at 10 years old with 200,000 miles after it developed a valve head leak that I didn’t want to deal with.

It was right at Thanksgiving 2018 when I finally found a couple of the very rare, previously-owned Toyota Tacoma crew-cab, long-bed trucks with the right options and made an appointment to go and look at the Toyota Certified Pre-Owned Program” vehicle with lower mileage.  It was a Barcelona Red 4WD TRD Sport model located at Beaver Toyota in Cumming, Georgia, about an hours drive away.

The 4×4 Toyota Racing Development (TRD) Sport Edition:

In terms of differences from the near base model SR5, the Tacoma 4X4 TRD Sport edition adds 17″ alloy sport wheels with 265/65R17 Toyo Open Country A30 mud and snow tires, color-keyed front and rear bumpers, a chrome grille, color-keyed fender flares, a faux hood scoop and the TRD Sport graphic on the left and right rear bed corners.  Southeast Toyota also added a stainless steel “Stealth” running board to the package. Inside the cab are upgraded cloth seat covers as well as the Toyota Entune Audio Plus infotainment system with a 6.1-inch touchscreen display, integrated hands-free bluetooth device connectivity, and Connected Navigation technology based on the Scout® GPS Link Application.  However, this particular truck came with a Premium Package that added a moon roof, leather-trimmed interior accents, and the Toyota Entune Premium Audio with a seven-inch touchscreen display.  On top of that, it also came with the Technology Package that added an integrated Qi wireless charging system and the Toyota Smart Key with push button start.

I should note, if Toyota offered their Tacoma TRD Pro model in a long bed version, that’s what I would have bought, even if it had to be a new truck.  However, the top-of-the-line Tacoma TRD Pro is an off-road, 4×4 model offered only in a short-bed, which is odd as they do offer the TRD Off-Road models in a long-bed, but they were/are very rare, more rare than the model we ended up buying pre-owned.  Regardless, there were certain features on the TRD Pro I added to our TRD Sport to make it a quasi-TRD Pro-looking long-bed.

The Transaction:

To make a long story short, we made the 43-mile, hour-long drive over to Beaver Toyota on Tuesday morning, November 27th, took a look and test drove the truck.  It was something of a unicorn in that it was a hard-to-find long bed with an even-more rare combination of the Premium Package & Technology Package that provided all of the options I was interested in.  The truck was smaller than our Tundra, but not by a much except in vehicle height.  More importantly, our tandem bicycle would fit in the bed without removing the rear wheel. As to whether it would still fit with a bed topper, that was hard to know… but there are other options for that.  They provided us with their asking price and we told them we’d let them know one way or the other by the end of the day Wednesday: I wanted to sleep on the decision.  After sleeping on it, I told them we’d do the deal and on November 28th drove over in the Tundra that we traded-in on the Tacoma versus trying to sell out-right, which played a big part in making this a good deal for us.

 

It was around 3:00pm when we left Beaver Toyota with our new-to-us Tacoma and our hour-long drive home confirmed we’d made a good choice, at least for the time being.  The Tacoma felt a lot like our very familiar and comfortable-to-us Tundra both in terms of ride comfort and the feel of the cabin sizing.  It felt more truck-like than a newish and very luxurious Tundra we’d test driven earlier in the year and that was OK for the time being.  All of the new-technology features like hands-free phone calling was a huge plus that took me a bit of time to learn and fully appreciate but, the immediate ah-hah was the increase in fuel economy.  On a good day I might see 17 mpg highway on our Tundra.  Mixed driving usually delivered something closer to 15.5 mpg and 14.5 around town.  The Tacoma was getting 22.6 mpg on the drive home and, it looked good too.

Beginning the Personalization Process: 

Like the Tundra, the Tacoma would need to be “personalized” to better suit my preferences and our needs, the back-end expense that would likely add 25% to the cost of the truck: hey, personalizing and working on vehicles IS also a bit of a hobby for me.  First up would be the biggest expense, getting it fitted with a color-matched A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper, carpet kit and possibly leather seat covers.  I would also likely change the wheels and tires.  And, yes… these are all the things I changed on our Tundra: I’m very much a creature of habit and there are just certain things that appeal to me / us.  Yes, Debbie was all-in for the same changes. And, in fact, after having dinner at home that very night, I headed out to the garage to begin the process of making the used Tacoma our truck.

For quck reference, the upper photo is how the truck looked when I first drove it home on Nov 28th with the stock TRD Sport wheels and tires, the poorly designed chrome running boards that made getting in and out of the truck harder than it needed to be, and a tonneu cover that leaked like a sieve. Never mind it sounded like a tin can when you closed the door and transmitted most of the road noise to the cabin with it’s “Tron” patterned cloth seat covers.  The lower photo is how it looks today with all of that changed, and then some.

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The Changes:

The following is a basic list of the more noteworthy things I did to our Tacoma, in chronological order.  It is followed by a a detailed summary of each change usually with photos, again in chronological order.

Chronological Order

1. Deep cleaning & discovery of sap etching in clear coat, 28 Nov ’18
2. Picked-up missing floor mats and manuals at Beaver Toyota, 29 Nov ’18
3. New iPod & out-of-view installation, 30 Nov ’18
4. Scosche Smartphone mag/wired mount installed and wired into fuse-box, 1 Dec ’18
5. “Stealth” running boards removed, 1 Dec ’18
6. Chromed emblems removed from truck, 1 Dec ’18
7. TRD Sport graphics removed from the left and right rear bed corners, 3 Dec ’18
8. “Legal” 32% tint applied to the front side windows by “The Tint Guy,” 4 Dec ’18
9. BedRug ordered on 30 Nov delivered and installed, 4 Dec ’18
10. Pre-Owned Nfab Predator step rails installed, 5 Dec ’18
11. Toyota OEM mud flaps installed, 5 Dec ’18
12. 3M Stone Guard applied to the lower front edge of both rear fender flares, 5 Dec ’18
13. Warning labels removed from visors, 6 Nov ’18
14. Stock front shocks replaced with Bilstein 5100 / adjustable height front shocks, 7 Dec ’18
15. Stock wheels & tires replaced with TRD Pro SEMA wheels & Nitto Grappler G2 Tires, 7 Dec ’18
16. Door sill protectors added to all four door sills, 8 Dec ’18
17. Truck bed out of alignment with cab and re-aligned, 8 Dec ’18
18. TRD Pro grille ordered on 6 Dec delivered and installed, 11 Dec ’18
19. Picked-up missing Toyota Key FOB at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet in Buford, 11 Dec ’18
20. Four 1/2″ stack-ups of spacers installed under rear seat bolts to adjust seat angle, 12 Dec ’18
21. Kobalt 240 piece tool kit and softcase bought at Lowe’s to keep in  truck bed, 12  Dec ’18
22. 1st Road Trip to Pennsylvania, 13-19 December… the catalyst for buying the new truck
23. Center console organizer ordered 3 Dec arrived and installed, 20 Dec ’18
24. LeatherSeats.com interior ordered on 5 Dec arrived and installed, 20 & 21 Dec ’18
25. Scosche Smartphone mag/wireless charger mount installed and wired into fuse-box, 23 Dec ’18
26. Baselined interior soundlevels before installing sound insulation inside the cab, 30 Dec ’18
27. Kicker Tweeters ordered 3 Jan delivered and installed/replaced OEM tweeters, 7 Jan ’19
28. Kicker speakers for front & rear doors ordered 4 Jan installed/replaced OEM speakers, 8 Jan ’19
29. Weather-sealant applied to top of truck bed ahead of A.R.E. bed topper installation, 7&8 Jan ’19
30. A.R.E Z-Series bed topper ordered 30 Nov delivered to and installed by Custom Campers, 9 Jan ’19
31. Fabricated “Transportation Fixture” for our Calfee tandem for truck bed, 13 Jan ’19
32. UltraGauge scan tool ordered on 5 Jan paired to Samsung Smartphone, 14 Jan ’19
33. LED interior light bulbs ordered on 7 Jan arrived and installed, 14 Jan ’19
34. LED back-up tailights ordered on 10 Jan arrived and installed, 17 Jan ’19
35. Pop ‘n Lock installed for rear tailgate & A.R.E. wiring reworked, 14&15 Jan ’19
36. Rear tailgate sound insulated to attenuate the Pop ‘n Lock selenoid sound, 15 Jan ’19
37. Sound Insulation installed on cab doors, floor, ceiling & rear wall, 19-21 Jan ’19
38. Installation of “Cubby Caps” on rear bed storage bins, 21 Jan ’19
39. Replacing 1/2″ stacks of washers with billet aluminum seat spacers, 21 Jan ’19
40. Emergency Kit Bag” replaced, 22 Jan ’19
41. “Add-a-Fuse” installed through OEM fuse box cover for phone charger, 23 Jan ’19
42. Modification of the front valance, i.e., making it into a sport spoiler, 25 Jan ’19
43. Deep clean, clay bar and Zaino treatment of the truck & bed topper, 26 Jan ’19
44. OEM flat black metal “4×4 & TRD” emblems added to tailgate, 7 Feb ’19
45. Swap-out of OEM headlights for black TRD Pro headlights, 13 Feb ’19
46. Replacement of window tint by “The Tint Guy” due to issues, 15 Feb ’19
47. “Surgical Replacement” of coin holder in center arm rest organizer, 16 Feb ’19
48. Swap-out of OEM taillights for OEM TRD Pro Tailights, 16 Feb ’19
49. 25% “Limo” tint applied to A.R.E bed topper windows, 19 Feb ’19
50. Headlight bulb replacement with “better and brighter” European bulbs, 20 Feb ’19
51. Installing Redline leather shifter/ brake boots and center arm rest cover, 20 Feb ’19
52. Replacement of driver’s door switch cover, 5 Mar ’19
53. Blacked-out Unique Style Racing “Switchback” mirror turn signal lights installed, 11 Mar ’19
54. Yakima Tower/Rack & “Sea Sucker” rear wheel mount make Tacoma Triplet Ready, 12 Mar ’19
55. A.R.E. Rear Door Finally Weather-Tight after weeks of rework & multiple seals, 22 Mar ’19
56. Applying black TRD lettering over TRD Pro SEMA wheel caps, 20 May ’19
57. Pro Comp 1″ lift-kit installed on rear axle to level truck, 28 May ’19
58. Falken Wildpeak tires installed by Discount Tire, 17 Jun ’19
59. License plate light housings replaced, 27 Jun ’19
60. Harley Badge for rear bumper added, Aug 12
61. 61. Fuel Nitro 17″ wheels with too-much off-set / temporary install, 8 July ’19 & 25 Sep:
62. Second set of used OEM TRD Off-Road wheels & tires acquired, 16 Oct ’19
63. Black-out vinyl transfers installed on TRD Off-Road wheels, 28 Oct ’19
64. Second set of mudflaps acquired for “stock set-up,”28 Oct ’19
65. 65. Fuel Nitro 17″ wheels with correct off-set / permanent install, 7 Nov ’19:
66. Second set of TPMS Sensors & Autel TS508 service tool, 9 Nov ’19
67. Test Driving a 2020 Toyota Tacoma Long Bed TRD Sport 4×4 in a last ditch effort, 12 Dec ’19:
68. A.R.E. rear door lock housing cracked, lock failed & replaced, 3 Jun ’21
69. Add-on LuxPro LP-172 LED Glove Box light, 8 Jan ’22

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DETAILED SUMMARY

1. Deep cleaning & discovery of sap etching in clear coat, 28 Nov ’18: On the Thursday night I brought the truck home I began the process of cleaning the inside and outside of the vehicle.  As I worked over the paint I discovered a few small places where the clear coat around the rear window of the truck appeared to have been permanently marred.  I stopped by our local Toyota dealer’s body shop the next day to have them take a look and the body shop manager’s assessment was the previous owner had parked the truck outside, under pine trees and sap collected around the rear window gasket that etched the clear coat, but wasn’t bad enough to create future corrosion problems for the underlying paint and sheet metal.

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2. Picked-up missing floor mats and manuals at Beaver Toyota, 29 Nov ’18:  When the truck was delivered, it did not have the floor mats or manuals, which are two of the things “Toyota Certified Pre-Owned Program” vehicles are to have.  I had to remind the dealer of this and what they ended up providing likely came from another Tacoma TRD on the lot as the mats were still filthy instead of either being cleaned or factory sealed. Thankfully, few owners crack the manuals, so they were in good shape but likely pulled out of another vehicle on the lot as well.

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3. New iPod & out-of-view installation, 30 Nov ’18: The Tacoma’s sound system could use an iPod via Bluetooth or USB as the source for digital music files and playlists, so I opted to affix an iPod to the underside of the dash — just above the Qi charger compartment and below the radio’s USB input jack –– using velcro.  It’s nearly an unnoticed installation from your seated position vs. what you see in the photo taken at shifter-level that keeps the USB cable neatly tucked away.

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4. Scosche Smartphone mag/wired mount installed and wired into fuse-box, 1 Dec ’18: As an interim smartphone holder, I installed a Scosche magnetic phone mount on the dask of the truck with a USB Type C charging cable tied into an USB/Cigarette power adapter under the dash of the truck hard-wired into the fuse block. My goal is to convert our Smartphones to wireless charging and will change the Scosche mount when I do that.

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5. “Stealth” running boards removed, 1 Dec ’18:  While I knew the truck needed a step rail, the “Stealth” running boards fitted to the truck by Southeast Toyota when we bought it were more or less useless and in the way instead of being useful: you actually had to step-over them.  So, the “Stealth” running boards came off on Day #3 of ownership and were sold for $100 via Craigslist just 12 hours after being listed.

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6. Chromed emblems removed from truck, 1 Dec ’18: The original graphics package for the truck included “chromed” badges that reflected the model name, e.g., TACOMA on the driver and passenger doors, as well as the 4×4 and V-6 drivetrain features on the Tailgate.  As I did on the Tundra, one of the first things to go were these “badges” from the truck.  This is also known as “de-badging” a vehicle and, while I understand why bright colored vehicles may need some contrasting badges, black would have been a better color for the Barcelona Red truck. But, then again, it was the TRD Sport model, not the TRD Pro model so bright trim was everywhere.

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7. TRD Sport graphics removed from the left and right rear bed corners, 3 Dec ’18: In addition to the chromed badges, the truck also included a TRD Sport graphic on both the left and right rear bed corners of the truck. These were large decals I removed with a heat gun and then cleaned-up the adhesive residue using Goof-Off solvent.  I should note, I had a brand new black 1989 Toyota truck (pre-T100, pre-Tacoma, Pre-Tundra) that came with full-body silver graphic decals I removed within 4 hours of taking the truck home. The dealer didn’t even recognize the truck when I returned the following day for some follow-up paperwork.

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Phase 1:  Creating a Clean Sheet of Paper to Work From

As of 3 Dec ’18, this is what the truck looked like after removal of the running boards, badges and decals. Next up was front window tint, new step rails, Bilstein 5100 front shocks to lift the front suspension 1″ taller to be level with the rear as well as new “all terrain” specific wheels and tires over the next week.

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8. “Legal” 32% tint applied to the front dooor windows by “The Tint Guy,” 4 Dec ’18:  The front door windows on Toyota vehicles are not given the same “stock” window tint by the factory. So, like our Tundra, the front door windows on the Tacoma needed to be tinting to, (a) provide us with some sun screening and (b) give the front and back door windows a more uniform appearance (see photo of Phase 2, below).

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9. BedRug ordered on 30 Nov delivered and installed, 4 Dec ’18: Once we purchased the truck, the first item I ordered for it was the A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper, followed by the BedRug bedliner.  We’d had the same BedRug product in our 2006 Tundra for 12 problem-free years that gave us an SUV-like quality space in the truck bed under the bed topper, which is how we use our truck. Initially, it was installed when we still had the tonneu cover on the truck which leaked like a sieve. Thankfully, the BedRug is not carpet, per se, it’s a plastic material that feels like indoor/outdoor carpet but handles moisture and other contaminants just fine.  The A.R.E. Z-Series bed toppers also happen to use the same material in the same color to line their toppers so, as already noted, it creates an SUV-like quality space for hauling luggage, groceries and bicycles and, with the additional of a tarp, plants, pine bar, yard waste, etc.

 

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10. Pre-Owned Nfab Predator step rails installed, 5 Dec ’18: On Wednesday the 5th I drove down to middle Georgia where I purchased a set of lightly used Nfab Predator step rails (MSRP of $500) for $325 from a private seller off of Craigslist, a net cost of $225.   I installed them soon after arriving home and they’ve proven to be a very good step rail that’s out of the way and useful.  Debbie’s never had a problem with them, even in her most fashionable shoes. More Details Here.

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11. Toyota OEM mud flaps installed, 5 Dec ’18: While not everyone agrees, I believe mud flaps on a truck are a necessity as they reduce paint nicks and the build up of road film on the truck’s painted finish and underside. Moreover, on our truck they helped make the Nfab Predator step rails look a bit better balanced and also made the long-bed truck look a little less lengthy.  More Details Here.

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12. 3M Stone Guard applied to the lower front edge of both rear fender flares, 5 Dec ’18: The OEM clear film applied to the lower front edge of both rear fender flares was showing some unusual discoloration around the edges, most likely from the aforementioned pine sap.  Since I had some 3M Stone Guard material on hand, I removed the origial ones and made a template for the new pieces of film, cut-out then cleaned/prepped the fender flares and applied the 3M Stone Guard pieces which contine to be nearly invisible and protect the vehicle’s finish.  More Details Here.

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13. Warning labels removed from visors, 6 Nov ’18: It doesn’t seem like a big thing, but (a) I don’t need these types of warnings as I’m well aware of these things, and (b) they are just eye sores inside any vehicle. Thankfully, I learned long ago how to use Goof-Off solvent, a cotton T-shirt, paper towels and a steam iron  to remove these, that is so long as they’ve not been there too long.

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14. Stock front shocks replaced with Bilstein 5100 / adjustable height shocks, 7 Dec ’18:  When I took the truck in to have the tires and wheels changed-out, I also arranged to have the stock front shocks replaced with a set of Bilstein 5100 adjustable height shocks that allow for four different height settings, noting I wanted to add about an 1″ of clearance to the front wheels to level the front & rear fender openings.  The Bilstein’s did just that without the need to use a spacer kit or other, less than optimum options for adjusting the front suspension height. When done, the front and rear wheel openings were both sitting at 36″ from the ground to the top of the wheel well openings.

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15. Stock wheels & tires replaced with TRD Pro SEMA wheels & Nitto G2 Tires, 7 Dec ’18: One of the changes I wanted to make early-on was the replacement of the black and polished aluminum five-spoke, OEM Toyota TRD Sport 17″ x 6″ wheels with an ET+30 off-set, for a darker alloy wheel with a little wide stance and wider rim to support an all-terrain tire for better traction in the snow and off-road. I opted to have a set of OEM Toyota 17″ x 7″ TRD Pro SEMA wheels with an ET-4 off-set in a gunmetal grey finish fitted with a set of Nitto Grappler G2 tires in size 265/65R17, the same size tire as the original Toyo Open Country A30 tires. Photo’s below, same truck, morning and afternoon of 7 Dec ’18.

However, this change caused an increase in road noise from the more aggressive and slightly heavier all-terrain tires and that exacerbated an inherent Tacoma design problem that generates a lot of road noise in the first place.  I struggled with this for over a year before accepting it as a “normal noise” for the Tacoma. While the change added 4lbs of rotating weight for the 4 Nitto G2 tires vs the 4 Toyo A30 tires, that was neglible: it was the more aggressive AT tread design that likely had the negative impact on MPG performance. The rim weight change was also neglible as was the increase in off-set and wider stance going from ET+30 to ET-4.

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16. Door sill protectors added to all four door sills, 8 Dec ’18:  I installed a set of vinyl protective strips to cover the painted surface on the truck’s four door sills. I’d used these same strips on the Tundra and used a more decorative, stainless steel version on Debbie’s Honda Accord to keep the paint from getting scuffed and scratched up as people climb in and out of the vehicles, typically kicking the door sills with their shoe soles and marring the paint.

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17. Truck bed out of alignment with cab and re-aligned, 8 Dec ’18:  Right after having the wheels and tires changed I realized the truck bed was not centered on the truck’s cab, as an extra 1/2″ of rear tire was extending past the right side fender flare opening of the truck while the left was lined-up with the edge of the fender flare, and the same was true with how the bed walls lined up with the cab walls. It turns out this was a common production flaw but it could be corrected.  It was not a complicated procedure, but I had to partially remove the BedRug I’d just installed last Wednesday.  Regardless, my efforts were successful and the bed was now centered on the cab, something that would be very important when the A.R.E. bed topper was installed. More Details Here.

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Phase 2: Leveling & a More Aggressive Stance & Appearance

As of 7 Dec ‘18, this is what the truck looked like with the front window tinted, new step rails, Bilstein 5100 front shocks to make the front wheel well openings level with the rear as well as new Toyota TRD Pro SEMA wheels and Nitto Grappler G2 all-terrain tires.   Next up would be the new TRD Pro front grille and, in early January, the A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper.

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18. TRD Pro grille ordered on 6 Dec delivered and installed, 11 Dec ’18: The TRD package also included a chrome grille treatment that reminded me of a Remington electric razor shaving head, never mind having the tri-oval Toyota Logo I’ve never liked.  After looking at all of the various replacement grille options, I opted to go with the retro-look grille design used on the Tacoma TRD Pro model trucks that was more reminisant of the 1980’s and 1990’s trucks with the brand name spelled out across the grille.  I purchased an aftermarket model that needed a little “fine tuning” before installation, but it has proven to be a good-quality product that is standing the test of time after some 45,000 miles of use. The OEM grille was sold via Craigslist locally.

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18. Picked-up missing Toyota Key FOB at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet in Buford, 11 Dec ’18: In addition to not providing the floor mats or manuals at the time I purchased the Tacoma, Beaver Toyota also only provided me with one Toyota Key FOB for the vehicle. Upon my request, they had a vendor create one; however, I had to travel an hour each way to the Rick Hendrick Chevrolet dealership where the mobile vendor was currently working to obtain the FOB, having left the Beaver Toyota dealership 8-miles away earlier in the day and not being made aware I was making a 2-hour, 86-mile round trip to get a FOB programmed and key made.

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20. 1/2″ nylon spacers installed under rear seat bolts to adjust seat angle, 12 Dec ’18: One of the common complaints with the Tacoma’s is driver and passenger comfort, noting the Tacoma has a very low roof line and, to accommodate taller occupants, the seats are installed very low to the floor and with a steep seat cushion angle that can’t be adjusted. The latter creates a pressure point behind the knees that can be quite uncomfortable, especially on longer drives, something we personally experienced on the 11-hour drives to and from Pennsylvania. To compensate for this, like other owners, I installed spacers under the rear seat mounting brackets to raise the rear seat brackets and reduce the angle of the seat cushions.  I opted to use four inexpensive nylon bushings and ta few flat washers under each bracket to test-out the spacer “fix” at different heights before ordering at set of machined aluminum spacers in the appropriate height for us, noting we’re 5’8″ tall and 5’2″ tall, respectively.

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21. Kobalt 240 piece tool kit and softcase bought at Lowe’s to keep in  truck bed, 12 Dec ’18: Before heading to visit my folks in Pennsylvania I decided to pick-up a “tool bag” to take along to Pennsylvania so I’d have a complete and dedicated set of tools in the truck at all times.  I found a nearly complete, “Kobalt 230-Piece Household Tool Set with Soft Case” at Lowe’s on sale for about 40% off and supplemented it with a set of Metric & SAE open-end wrenches.

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22. 1st Road Trip to Pennsylvania, 13-19 December… the catalyst for buying the new truck: Even though we did not yet have the A.R.E Z-Series bed topper, that proved to be a good thing during this trip as I had to replace a dishwasher for my folks and it was very easy to bring home in the open bed of the truck.  What was not so nice was discovering the tonneau cover leaked profusely, even after I’d applied extra seals to the bed caps and header before making the trip. This is something I’ll need to sort-out before the A.R.E Z-Series bed topper is installed as I suspect it’s the bed cap design on this truck that’s the real problem when it comes to water penetration.

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23. Center console organizer ordered 3 Dec arrived and installed, 18 Dec ’18: The center console in the Tacoma was a single, large compartment that needed some “help” to keep the contents organized.  I found a two-level organizer on-line that worked out well, dividing the lower part of the comparment into six smaller compartments, topped by a two section tray with a coin organizer.  Sadly, the coin organizer didn’t actaully hold the coins in place, so I eventually modified it: see change #47, below.

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24. LeatherSeats.com interior ordered on 5 Dec arrived and installed, 20 & 21 Dec ’18: Perhaps one of the weakest features of the Tacoma was the interior: it was not sound insulated and the seat covers were sub-standard in both quality and design.  I decided almost immediately that, like our 2006 Tundra, I’d need to replace the seat covers with an aftermarket leather kit and ordered one from LeatherSeat.com that I self-installed.  Like the Tundra’s aftermarket kit, the quality of the leather was far superior to even the Toyota factory leather and the kit I ordered was perforated leather, which makes it even more comfortable. It made a huge difference in the comfort and appearance of the truck’s interior. The OEM interior seat covers were discarded.  Full Details Here. 

   

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25. Scosche Smartphone mag/wireless charger mount installed and wired into fuse-box, 23 Dec ’18: By the end of December I had successfully added wireless charging adapters to our old Samsung J3 Smartphones and upgraded the Scosche magnetic mount I’d installed earlier in the month to one with a wireless charger. The only challenge with this installation was fabricating a metal mounting bracket to “hang” on the plastic dash fascia that gave the mount a firm attachment point without having to put holes in that fascia piece, a 3M double-sided, heavy-duty adhesive would not work due to the heat that routinely builds up on the dash when the truck sits out in the sun,

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26. Baselined interior sound levels before installing sound insulation inside the cab, 30 Dec ’18: In order to ensure I actually achieved the desired sound level reduction I was looking for in the Tacoma, I purchased an inexpensive sound level meter to measure the vehicles interior sound levels before and after the installation of the sound insulation, see change #37, below.  Based on the reading, I was able to achieve a 25% reduction to the dynamic sound pressure levels in the cab, which is significant remembering how much glass there is that can’t be treated as it is one of the greatest sources of noise in a vehicle.

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27. Kicker Tweeters ordered 3 Jan delivered and installed/replaced OEM tweeters, 7 Jan ’19: While the sound system in the Tacoma was very good given the poor quality of the 2 ohm speakers, it was clear it could easily be improved with better 4 ohm speakers, with or without an amplifier. The weakest of the speakers were the tweeters mounted in the dash and, via the Tacoma on-line forum, I learned the relatively cost-effective Kicker brand of tweeters produced for Subaru’s vehicles were a direct replacement, so that’s what I ordered and installed.

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28. Kicker speakers for front & rear doors ordered 4 Jan installed/replaced OEM speakers, 8 Jan ’19: I also opted to replace the OEM door 2 ohm door speakers with a matched set of 4 ohm Kicker speakers that were of far better quality.  I would be adding sound insulation to the entire truck cab which would also enhance the quality of the sound without the need to add an amplifier.

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29. Weather-sealant applied to top of truck bed ahead of A.R.E. bed topper installation, 7&8 Jan ’19: Based on what I’d learned about water penetration with the tonneau cover, two days before the A.R.E. bed topper was to be installed I took it upon myself to seal all of the cracks and gaps around the truck bed, to include applying silicone weather-sealant to the full perimeter of the plastic bed cap that sat on top of the composite truck bed, something that was easily a source for water penetration. The worst of it was at the front of the bed where a combination of sealant and additional gasketing materials were needed.  However, 3-years later, the bed and bedliner have remained dry at the front and sides of the bed.  Unfortunately, the A.R.E. Z-Series door and Toyota tailgate designs created a whole new series of water penetration issue I had to resolve. Full details are here

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30.  A.R.E Z-Series bed topper ordered 30 Nov delivered to and installed by Custom Campers, 9 Jan ’19:  The A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper arrived at Custom Campers in Lake City, Georgia, on 3 January and I had to wait until 9 January before I could make the 42-mile, hour-long drive down and have it installed as I had minor surgery scheduled on 8 January.  The bed topper was in much better shape than the one I bought for our Tundra in 2006, the installation didn’t take long and it looked exactly as I’d expected: in-fact, above is the “Photoshop” study image I created back on 5 December where I superimposed the TRD Pro SEMA wheels and Nitto Grappler G2 tires with the truck leveled and with a psuedo-A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper to evaluate those possible changes before ordering the bed topper: it’s not a photo of the actual truck. 

However, there were two problems: (1) water leaks at the rear door and tailgate were significant and caused by both A.R.E. and Toyota design issue, and (2) the wiring installation turned-out to be incorrect and poorly done.  However, they were both things I would eventually resolve as outlined in change #35 and change #55, respectively. The only down sides to the bed topper are the added 200lbs of weight and its impact to MPG performance even when you factor in the reduced drag vs. driving with an open bed, as well as the relative challenge that would come from trying to remove the top temporarily for hauling outsize cargo.Full details are here.

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31. Fabricated “Transportation Fixture” for our Calfee tandem for truck bed, 13 Jan ’19: With the bed topper now installed it was clear I’d need to make a fixture to hold our small-size road tandem upright in the back of the Tacoma without it’s wheels attached.  I had two fixtures I’d previously made for two other small-size tandems that would allow both of them to be stowed side-by-side in our 2006 Tundra that also had an A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper. However, the Tundra had a much higher roof line which gave the equally taller bed topper a lot more headroom, making both of those fixtures unuseable for the lower height of the A.R.E. topper on the Tacoma, so a new design was needed.  This fixture remains in use for the road tandem, but I had to fabricate a second one for our taller off-road tandem to position that bike even lower than the original one for our road tandem so it can fit under the rear door.

32. UltraGauge scan tool ordered on 5 Jan paired to Samsung Smartphone, 14 Jan ’19: One of the accessories I added to our Tundra that proved to be very useful was a ScanGauge OBDII tool with a digital display /control head that plugged into the OBDII port via a cable that provided me with a variety of vehicle data and also read codes if and when there was a troublecode thrown by the on-board diagnostics, e.g., check engine light.  The ability to quickly read a code has saved me many trips to the dealer or an auto shop as well as the cost of unneeded repairs.  The technology in the Tacoma required a new device — the UltraGauge Scan Tool –– which is a wireless reader plugged into the OBDII port that links to Smartphones where the software program is hosted via Bluetooth technology.

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33. LED interior light bulbs ordered on 7 Jan arrived and installed, 14 Jan ’19: Another weakness in Toyota’s vehicles was the continued use of filament-based light bulbs which produce a yellow hue, low-level of light.  I replaced the dome, map and vanity light bults with LED bulbs which dramatically improved the quality and useability of light in the truck’s cab.

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34. LED back-up tailights ordered on 10 Jan arrived and installed, 17 Jan ’19: Similar to the interior lighting, the back-up lights on the Tacoma are also filament type bulbs that don’t produce much useful light. They were both replaced with LED bulbs which aleviated the need to install auxiliary back-up lights on our truck, they throw-off that much light.

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35. Pop ‘n Lock installed for rear tailgate & A.R.E. wiring reworked, 14&15 Jan ’19:  For some strange reason, Toyota did not integrate a locking tailgate latch into the vehicle’s electronic lock system. Thankfully, Pop ‘n Lock sells an aftermarket version that works well. Moreover, I had the optional, integrated rear door lock added to our A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper which WAS tied into the vehicle’s electronic lock system. This “should” have made wiring the Pop ‘n Lock that much-more straight forward as both locks would be actuated by the same signal wire that was tied into the vehicle locking system.  So, when you locked or unlocked the truck’s doors with the key FOB or the door lock switches, the tailgate lock and the A.R.E. bed topper door lock are simultaneiously locked or unlocked.

Sadly, when I did the initial Pop ‘n Lock installation and went to use the Custom Campers installed wiring for the A.R.E. rear door lock & lighting I realized they’d wired it to the driver’s side fuse panel / door lock instead of the passenger side, never mind being a poorly routed and secured installation. I ended up removing their wiring installation and re-doing it the way it should have been done — and as outlined in the Pop ‘n Lock instructions for the Tacoma — so that the rear tailgate and door locks would only be activated on the second button press of the key FOB (unlock all doors) instead of the first (driver’s door only) or when grabbing the driver’s exterior door handle and activating the keyless entry driver’s door lock release which was causing the rear door and tailgate selenoids and locks to cycle every time the truck was locked or unlocked, easily far more often by a magnitude of 10x or greater than if it was only unlocked when needed or when travelling with passengers.

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36. Rear tailgate sound insulated to attenuate the Pop ‘n Lock selenoid sound, 15 Jan ’19:  The only complaint most folks have about the Pop ‘n Lock is the very loud sound it makes when the selenoid cycles the mechanism connected to the truck’s tailgate locking system.  This was made all that much worse by the un-insulated, thin metal used on the Tacoma’s tailgate.  To reduce the noise, I applied  NOICO Constrained Layer Damper (CLD) sound insulating material to the Pop ‘n’ Lock itself, as well several CLD tiles to the sheet metal in the tailgate.  This greatly reduced the noise to an acceptable level.

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37. Sound Insulation installed on cab doors, floor, ceiling & rear wall, 19-21 Jan ’19: With regard to the sound levels in the truck’s cab, one of the things I regretted not doing to our Tundra was installing sound insulation in the cab.  The Tacoma was far less sound-sealed than the Tundra, so it was a given it would need a great deal of material added.  I used a combined total of 100 lbs of NOICO Constrained Layer Damper (CLD) and Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) sepearate by a Neoprene decoupler was installed in the doors, pillars, back wall and floor, wtih CLD and acoustic foam installed above the headliner and Butyl rope used in tight gaps at the doors and rear wall of the truck. The net result achieved a 25% reduction to the dynamic sound pressure levels in the cab. And, yes, I essentially “gutted” the interior of the truck to facilitate the installation.

The photo at upper right is the interior stripped down to the bare metal,  In the lower photos, from left to right: the silver aluminum-foil backed NOICO CLD tiles are applied to 25% of the exposed metal, then sheets of MLV bonded to Neoprene are installed on top of that — it’s the MLV that provides the greatest amount of sound attentuation — and then the orignal factory carpet padding goes back in. The same was done for every panel in the truck, except the roof where only the CLD tiles and a sheet of foam sound insulating material was used. The downsize of the sound insulation was the added 100lbs of weight which does impact MPG performance and the complexity that would be added to any future work that requires the removal of door, roof, or the back wall panels.  Full Details Here.

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Phase 3: More Comforts, Quiet & Secure, Dry Cargo Space

As of 9 Jan ’19, this is what the truck looked like with the addion of the A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper as well as the changes you can’t see: the addition of perforated leather seating, improved audio and a sound insulated cabin. Phase 4 will be adding blacked-out TRD Pro head, tail and turn light assemblies which, in addition to the TRD Pro grille, will give it the more TRD Pro appearance I preferred but could not get in a long-bed Tacoma model.

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38. Installation of “Cubby Caps” on rear bed storage bins, 21 Jan ’19: The early 3rd Generation Tacoma’s have two nifty little storage boxes built into the inside, rear corners of the rear bed; however, they were anything but dust and water tight which would be fine if you didn’t “dry-in” your truck bed with a bed topper.  To seal-off the plastic hinge and drain holes a gentleman and Tacoma owner came up with a set of molded plastic “Cubby Caps” and plugs he made and sold on via advertising on the Tacoma World discussion forum website. I ordered a set and they were exactly what I needed.  The storage boxes have remained water and dust protected from the underside of the truck ever since, although I did find I needed to “double-secure” the caps with strips of Gorilla duck tape.

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39. Replacing 1/2″ nylon bushings with billet aluminum seat spacers, 21 Jan ’19: As noted earlier, once I confirmed the level of added height we’d benefit from using inexpensive bushings, I ordered a set of four-machined, billet aluminum 1/2″ tall spacers for the permanant adjustment of our front seat angles from another gentleman and Tacoma owner who made and sold them via advertising on Tacoma World discussion forum website. We experimented with different height nylon spaces and washers before deciding the 1/2″ height was the best-fit for us.

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40. Emergency Kit Bag” replaced, 22 Jan ’19:  One of the things I’ve always kept in the rear or bed of my trucks is an “emergency kit bag” that holds things like tow-straps, flares, gloves, a fire extinquisher, etc. that are too big to fit inside the truck’s cab storage spaces.  The one I’d used since 1997 finally wore-out so I replaced it with a new one that has an UnderArmor logo.  It stacks up nicely in the corner on top of my tool bag.

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41. “Add-a-Fuse” installed through OEM fuse box cover for phone charger, 23 Jan ’19: As mentioned, I had previously connected a USB adapter under the dash for the Scosche phone charger. However, I opted to “clean up” the installation by adding a fuse expander. The latter necessitated cutting a square “window” in the plastic fuse cover where it plugged into the fuse connector that supported the truck’s accessory plugs that the Scosche charger would have otherwise been plugged into.

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42. Modification of the front valance, i.e., making it into a sport spoiler, 25 Jan ’19: One of the other odd-looking features on the front-end of the Tacoma base, SR-5, Sport and Limited models was what looked to be an oversized lower air deflector / chin spoiler that was not found on the TRD Off-Road or TRD Pro models.  Rather than simply removing it and leaving the front frame structure exposed as it is in the TRD Off-Road and TRD Pro models, I removed aprox. 1.5″ of the plastic spoiler with a jigsaw and top-coated it with black bed liner paint which allowed me to retain a “sport sized” chin spoiler that still channeled air around and blocked the view of the front frame structure.  However, I do believe the larger, original front valance/air deflector did help with highway MPG performance, albeit by a little not a lot. More details Here.

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43. Deep clean, clay bar and Zaino treatment of the truck & bed topper, 26 Jan ’19: Even though the A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper was new, the paint had lots of imperfections from post-production, shipping, handling and storage. So, after getting it home it received my 8-step cleaning, polishing and wax/sealing process to bring the finish of it’s paint up to the same level that I’d given the truck’s finish.  It’s a long and labor-intentive process of washing, clay-bar, re-washing, compounding & cleaning, polishing with dark glaze & cleaning, the detailing to remove all the polish residue before another wash and then sealing and wax. Thankfully, it only needs to be done once a year. More Details Here.  

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44. OEM flat black metal “4×4 & TRD” emblems added to tailgate, 7 Feb ’19:  After searching for the right “look” since 1 Dec ’18 when I de-badged the truck, I settled on a set of Toyota OEM flat black metal “4×4” and “TRD” badges for the tailgate of the truck, installed in the exact same place as the original chrome “4×4” and “V-6” badges.  These are now the only two badges on the truck, with just the “TOYOTA” brand name on the TRD Pro grille and the OEM steel-stamped rear tailgate “TACOMA” model name.

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45. Swap-out of OEM headlights for black TRD Pro headlights, 13 Feb ’19:  In my quest to remove as much of the chrome from the truck as possible, it was inevitable I would need to swap-out the headlights & tailights with their chrome assemblies that come on all Tacoma models other than the TRD Pro for the black TRD Pro headlight and tailight assemblies that are exclusive to the TRD Pro model trucks. My initial inclination was to do a “Black Headlight Modification or BLHM” with the existing lights on the truck, but after doing a successful prototype with a salvage headlight I opted to go with the well-regarded DEPO aftermarket version, and remain happy I did as they have proven to be of excellent quality. Both of the OEM headlights were eventually sold via ebay to defray some of the DEPO headlight cost. Futher Details Here.

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46. Replacement of window tint by “The Tint Guy” due to issues, 15 Feb ’19: Two months after the window tint was installed, I noted there were some “issues” with the driver’s side window’s tint.  When I took the truck back to have it looked at they not only replaced the driver’s side tint, but also the passenger side tint as the original material had a defect that their technician detected on both applications.

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47. “Surgical Replacement” of coin holder in center arm rest organizer, 16 Feb ’19: As mentioned, I installed an aftermarket center console organizer that had a poorly designed coin caddy.  I found a Toyota OEM coin caddy that was identical to the one in our Tundra for sale on ebay, purchased it and then cut-out the molded-in one from the organizer I’d purchased and bonded-in its place the OEM model that has proven to be far better.

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48. Swap-out of OEM taillights for OEM TRD Pro Tailights, 16 Feb ’19: Similar to the headlights, the OEM chrome taillight assemblies were also swapped-out for a set of OEM TRD Pro black taillight assemblies.  I originally purchased a set of DEPO aftermarket TRD Pro taillight assemblies at a lower cost, but the quality was well-off from that of their headlight assemblies. In fact, even one of the OEM taillight assemblies had to be exchanged due to quality issues.  Regardless, the black bezel assemblies gave our TRD Sport the TRD Pro-look I was looking for to tie everything together, with one remaining exception: the side, rear view mirror turn-signal assemblies.

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49. 25% “Limo” tint applied to A.R.E bed topper windows, 19 Feb ’19:  As I did on the previous A.R.E. Z-Series shell, I installed 35% light blocking “Limo” tint to the side windows on the bed topper and 32% tint to the rear door window which effectively “blacks-out” the contents of the truck bed to prying eyes.

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50. Headlight bulb replacement with “better and brighter” European bulbs, 20 Feb ’19:  I ordered a set of higher-quality, OSRAM 55W halogen bulbs for the low beam lights in the truck as the stock bulbs while long-lasting just don’t have the right color for normal conditions. The truck has fog lights which, when fitted a yellow, legal 55W / 2500k halogen bulb, more than compensate for having a “driving light bulb” in the low-beams that’s not sub-optimized for foul weather.  Futher Details Here.

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51. Installing Redline leather shifter/ brake boots and center arm rest cover, 20 Feb ’19: After upgrading the truck’s seat covers to real leather, I went ahead and replaced vinyl boots on the shifter, emergency brake level and the faux leather cover on the essentially unpadded center armrest/storage compartment with leather covers and boots. After doing some research, I ordered the leather replacements from Redline Goods in Poland. While not a perfect match, they all complimented the new leather seats and I used my motorcycle saddle rebuilding skills to add padding and recover the center console cover vs. how Redline’s instructions described the recovering process.   Full Details Here.

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52. Replacement of driver’s door switch cover, 11 Mar ’19:  Back on 5 March I ordered a new, Toyota OEM driver’s door switch housing to replace the one I’d marred with too much heat from a heat gun while trying to hide some scratches in the black plastic trim pieces that came with the truck. Using a heat gun is something of a  risky proposition as it can either hide the scratches on certain color and finish plastic parts or discolor the matt finish plastic trim pieces that tend to “gloss up” when high heat is applied.  Thankfully, it wasn’t an expensive part and it took all of 15 minutes to remove the old one, swap the switches over to the new one and then re-install it in the truck.

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53. Blacked-out Unique Style Racing “Switchback” mirror turn signal lights installed, 11 Mar: Similar to the head and taillight assemblies, the TRD models had turn signal indicator assemblies integrated into the left and right side review mirrors that also had a chrome bezel. I opted to go with a new aftermarket replacement assembly from Unique Style Racing which completed the de-chroming process of the vehicle’s light assemblies.  Further Details Here and Here.

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Phase 4: A More TRD Pro Appearance

As of 12 Mar ’19, the truck now had a more TRD Pro-like appearance by swapping out the standard TRD model grille, headlights, taillights and mirror turn-signal lights with TRD Pro, blacked-out components.  Again, as noted in my TRD Sport model description above, had Toyota offered a long-bed version of the TRD Pro, that’s what I would have bought instead of the TRD Sport long-bed. Although there was no Phase 5 envisioned at this time, I made an additional change to the wheels and tires in November 2019 that became Phase 5, the Final Phase.

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54. Yakima Tower/Rack & “Sea Sucker” rear wheel mount make Tacoma Triplet Ready, 12 Mar ’19: One of the reasons we need a long-bed truck with a bed topper is so we can carry our 3-seat tandem (aka, a triplet) bicycle on the roof. To do this required me to figure out which Yakima tower adapters we’d need to position the towers in-between the normal mounting position for a single-bike Yakima dual-tower mount configuration (the nanny state strikes again, making this much harder than you’d imagine). The Yakima tower and cross bar are used to hold the front fork of the 10′ long, 45lb bicycle, while the rear wheel is held by a pair of “Sea Sucker” suction cup mounts with an old Yakima wheel holder mount.  The triplet has now travelled securely on the roof of the Tacoma throughout the Southeast U.S. and is easily installed and removed.

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55. A.R.E. Rear Door Finally Weather-Tight after weeks of rework & multiple seals, 22 Mar ’19:  To make a long story short, it took the addition of various weather seals on both the truck’s tailgate, tailgate opening in the bed, on the A.R.E. Z-Series glass rear door and even carving channels into the tailgate’s plastic top edge cap to finally channel the water away from the rear door and tailgate and keep it water and dust tight.  Full Detail are Here.

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56. Applying black TRD lettering over TRD Pro SEMA wheel caps, 20 May ’19: When I originally bought the TRD Pro SEMA wheels I thought I had lucked-out in that the center caps TRD logo used red lettering.  However, over time I changed my mind and in an effort to “like” the wheels better than I was by this point I bought a set of vinyl decals that would allow me to recolor the TRD logos on the Tacoma’s center hub covers from red to matte black. It was a better look a short time later I swapped out the chrome lugnuts for black which also helped, see change #58 for that photo. However, I knew I’d end up replacing the wheels and tires at least one more time, as it still wasn’t the TRD Pro look I had in my mind’s eye. 

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57. Pro Comp 1″ lift-kit installed on rear axle to level truck, 28 May ’19: After exhausting my efforts to have the harmonics issue with the Tacoma creating an out-of-balance wheel / worn bearing sound that changed pitch and volume with the road surface via the Toyota warranty channels at the 20,000 mile service, I decided there was no longer a reason to delay installing a 1″ lift kit on the rear axle of the truck.  The first kit I bought on-line via ebay from Street Rays came with the wrong length U-bolts, something I only discovered once I had the truck jacked-up and the axle half-way removed. Thankfully, I was able to ride my Harley over to 4-Wheel Parts where they had a Pro Comp kit in stock — albeit 3x the cost of the Street Ray kit but with 3x the quality — returned home and easily made the installation.  Once done, I could easily see I’d gotten the exact amount of rear ride height adjustment I’d been looking for: just enough to re-level the truck to compensate for the sag of the 200lb A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper. Note: This photo was taken after the Falken Wildpeak tires replaced the Nitto G2’s in June.

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58. Falken Wildpeak tires installed by Discount Tire, 17 Jun ’19:  It was mid-June when I gave in to vanity and began the process of changing-out the tires and wheels on the Tacoma, beginning with the replacement of the 265/65R17 Nitto Grappler G2  tires with a 1″ taller, true all-terrain tire: the 265/70R17 Falken Wildpeak AT3.  No, not even the black center cap lettering or black lugnuts did the trick for the wheels.

There were three negatives with this tire change, but many positives.  The negatives were, (1) I made an impulsive decision to order a new set of wheels while I was at the dealer, (2) I had to have the tires rotated and Road Force Balanced 5 times before the one slightly out of round tire was identified and replaced, and (2) they weighed an additional 9 lbs per tire, but that actually reduced the road noise / harmonics issue.  The positives were, (1) I was able to sell the Nitto G2’s which greatly reduced my out-of-pocket cost for the tire change, (2) the Falken Wildpeak AT3’s looked more appropriate on the truck in both size and stance and (3) I gained a great, local tire dealer: Discount Tire. Honestly, they went over and above on every encounter and weren’t satisfied until I was satisfied.

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59. License plate light housings replaced, 27 Jun ’19: I had to replace the OEM housings that inadvertently got “cooked” when I put the wrong size bulbs back in after the LED license plate lights that came with the interior LED replacement bulbs began to flicker and were just too bright. I inadvertently put the wrong bulbs back in those housings and the larger bulbs ended up sitting against the lenses and caused them to deform and discolor. These were aftermarket housings, but given where they’re used my sense was they’d be fine and $5.50/ea is a lot better than $22/ea from Toyota. However, a few months after they were installed I noted water had collected in one of the housings. I removed both and double-sealed the seams and bulb socket with clear silicone and they’ve been moisture-free ever since.

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60. Harley Badge for rear bumper added, Aug 12: The only “vanity” branding I have on the Tacoma is a 3D, Harley-Davidson plastic applique on the rear bumper of the truck.  It started-off life as a chrome and black emblem, but once I’d de-chromed the truck I felt it needed to follow suit. I sanded and hand-painted it to match the H-D Bar & Shield emblem and it actually turned out pretty well.  So, while I still refuse to put any stickers or decals on the truck, so long as we own a Harley-Davidson I feel compelled to keep some type of brand acknowledgement on the truck and this one’s fairly subtle and not a sticker or a decal, so I’m OK with that. 

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61. Fuel Nitro 17″ wheels with too-much off-set / temporary install, 8 July ’19 & 25 Sep: As for that impulsive decision mentioned at change #58, above, I decided to cancel the order for set of  Fuel Nitro D667 17″ x 9″ ET-12 17″ wheels on 8 July. I just wasn’t sure I was ready to jump-in with both feet on yet another set of tires AND wheels, especially wheels sight unseen and with an even larger off-set than the Toyota TRD Pro SEMA wheels. Thankfully, Discount Tire has an amazing customer satisfaction policy and they had no problem with cancelling the order. 

However, two months later when I took the truck back into Discount Tire on 25 Sep for its 5,000 mile tire rotation the associate I’d been working with on the tires and wheels back in July said, “Hey, your wheels are still here!” in reference to the Fuel Nitro D667 17″ x 9″ ET-12 17″ wheels I placed on order then cancelled after having second thoughts. Apparently, the Fuel wheel distributor’s customer satisfaction policy with retailers isn’t as good as Discount Tires.  They looked as good as I thought and my associate offered to sell them to me at cost.  After mulling it over and having the shop team do a test installation of a single wheel and tire I gave in to vanity and had the them installed even though I was once again having doubts about the agressive ET-12 off-set and wide stance; but, they really looked good on the truck, even with the excess off-set.  It took me two-weeks before I decided the wheels just weren’t going to work: see change #65, below.

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62. Second set of used OEM TRD Off-Road wheels & tires acquired, 16 Oct ’19:  Having decided I’d made a bad decision for the second time with the Fuel Nitro D667 17″ x 9″ ET-12  wheels — and regretted selling the OEM TRD Sport wheels and tires back in Decmber 2018 as it would have been very useful to have a set of OEM wheels at my disposal for a couple reasons — I decided to pick-up a set of previously-owned OEM TRD Off-Road ET+25 16″ wheels with OEM-spec 265/70R16 Goodyear Wrangler Adventure AT tires on 16 Oct.  Thankfully, we’d been away on a Caribbean cruise and off at a motorcycle rally for two of the three weeks since I’d had the Fuel Nitro wheels installed so they had very little use. I swapped them out for the OEM TRD Off-Road tires and wheels the next morning on 17 Oct to save wear & tear on the Fuel Nitro wheels that I’d likely be returning or selling in the not too distant future.

The difference in the Fuel’s ET-12 and the TRD Off-Road ET+25 off-sets was substantial, as shown in these comparison photos taken on 17 Oct.  The Fuel wheels and tires went into storage while I worked with my associate at Discount Tire to come up with a solution for how to procede with the Fuel wheels on 18 Oct, and that solution was to order another set of the Fuel Nitro D667 wheels but with a less aggressive, ET+1 off-set.  It would take them a few weeks to be delivered, and in the mean time the Fuel Nitro wheels and Wildpeak tires would be in storage while I drove the truck on the TRD Off-Road wheels and tires.

In the interim, I was able to pursue one of my other objectives of obtaining the second set of OEM TRD Off-Road wheels and tires and took it in to Toyota to demonstrate the Tacoma’s hamonics / road noise would be present on an OEM set of tires and wheels just as it was with the other two sets of wheels and two sets of all-terrain tires that were “cited as the cause” of the road noise.   Sure enough, the harmonics / road noise was there and this time Toyota came back with the “official” engineering assessment that yes, even with stock wheels and tires the road noise generated by the truck is a “normal operating condition” which can even been found present on newer 2018, 2019 and 2020 models, which a test drive would confirm.  

The secondary purpose in picking up this set of wheels and tires was so I could swap them out with the Fuel Nitro/Wildpeak wheelset before we took our semi-annual 2,000-mile round trip interstate trips to Pennsylvania to save wear & tear while possibly getting better fuel economy.  I could also elect to do the swap-out before taking the truck in for service or warranty issues to preclude the aftermarket wheels and tires from once again becoming “the cause” when, in fact, they weren’t as was the case with the harmonics / road noise.

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63. Black-out vinyl transfers installed on TRD Off-Road wheels, 28 Oct ’19: While I liked having the second set of  OEM spec TRD Off-Road 16″ wheels & tires, I just didn’t want to go back to a two-tone wheel: the photo of the truck with and without the black vinyl decals is a Photoshop study I did before deciding to black-out the wheels.  Thankfully, there was a gentleman who produced and sold a set of black vinyl decals on the Tacoma World discussion forum that could be easily used to “black-out” the brushed aluminum portions of the wheel, so I ordered and installed those.  While they weren’t as good-looking at the Fuel Nitro wheels, they were still a good look in all-black with a black TRD decal that replaced the chromed-plastic Toyota Tri-Oval logo.

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64. Second set of mudflaps acquired for “stock set-up,”28 Oct ’19:  When I switched out the 265/65R17 Nitto Grappler G2  tires with a 1″ taller, true all-terrain tire, the 265/70R17 Falken Wildpeak AT3 tires back in June, I’d already removed the mud-guards before the taller tires were installed as I knew they would cause clearance issue, and they did when I re-installed the mudflaps back at home after having the new tires installed.  However, the interference was only with the mudflaps, and not any part of the truck’s bodywork, frame or suspension.  I was able to do some aggressive trimming on the OEM Toyota Tacoma molded mudflaps that, along with black Gorilla tape, eliminated the tire-rub: photo at right.  However, now that I had the second set of OEM TRD Off-Road wheels and tires it seemed logical to have a second set of mudflaps to use when they were mounted instead of the aftermarket Fuel wheels with larger tires.

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65. Fuel Nitro 17″ wheels with correct off-set / permanent install, 7 Nov ’19:  It was on 6 Nov I loaded the Fuel Nitro D667 17″ x 9″ ET-12 wheels mounted to the Falken Wildpeak AT3 tires that had been in storage and the boxes the Fuel rims came in in the back of the Tacoma.  I should note, these tires and wheels weigh in at 74lbs each, something I took for granted until I  put all 300lbs worth of the pricey wheels and tires in the back of the truck and remembered why I opted to install the 1″ suspension lift to compensate for the 200lb lockable bed topper.

The next morning I had my appointment at Discount Tires where there were two jobs they’d need to work on.  First up was swapping out the Fuel Nitro D667 rims wit the ET-12 off-set that were in the back of the truck for the just-delivered and nearly identical Fuel Nitro D667 rims with the less aggressive, ET+1 off-set that would then be balanced and installed on our truck.   The second job was installing Tire Pressure Management System (TPMS) sensors to the Toyota TRD Off-Road wheels and tires we’d driven-in on that that we’d be using as our “interstate trip” tires and wheels.

I think we were all set at this point as far as tires and wheels go, and the Fuel Nitro wheels with the ET+1, reduced off-set and less-aggressive stance looked just right.  The tire tread is now back under the fender flares and mudflaps where it was with the TRD Pro SEMA wheels instead of sticking out nearly a 1/2″ past the fender flares and mudflaps on each side of the truck.  Speaking of the TRD Pro SEMA wheels, those were sold via an ad on Craigslist to a gentleman from East Alabama with an older Lexus 470 which covered 1/2 of the cost of the new Fuel wheels.

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66. Second set of TPMS Sensors & Autel TS508 service tool, 9 Nov ’19:  As noted in the last change regarding the tire and wheels, a set of Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) sensors were installed on the OEM TRD Off-Road wheelset on 7 November, so we now have two different sets of wheels with two different sets of TPMS sensors. Unfortunately, the Tacoma’s CPU can only have four sensors programmed into the memory, so any time the wheelsets are swapped, the truck’s CPU needs to be updated with the “current set” of sensors.  While Discount Tire’s associate said it would be no problem to bring the truck in to have that done at no cost whenever I swapped wheels, I opted to go ahead and buy an Autel TS508 service tool that lets me do it myself instead of bothering them.  The Autel TS508 has a lot of other features as well such as the ability to read trouble codes the way our UltraGauge scan tool does, but my reason for buying it was to allow me to make easier wheel swaps at home whenever I want to swap wheelsets, such as when we head off on a long, interstate road trip or when I take the truck in for service.

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Phase 5: What I Had in My Mind’s Eye When I Started

As of 26 Sep ’19, this is what our Tacoma TRD Sport now looked like and the “personalization” was now complete.  The switch to the Fuel Nitro D667 black wheels gave the truck the “look” I had in my mind’s eye back when we first bought it.  However, I thought I’d found a somewhat unique look with the gunmetal grey Toyota TRD Pro SEMA wheels only to realize it reminded me to much of a Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro instead which along with the Toyota FJ were what the TRD pro SEMA wheels were spec’d for.  I should note that I was never a fan for the two-tone TRD Pro color schemes where the body color was off-set by black fender flares, front bumper cover, and faux hood scoop. No, I’d done yet another Photoshop study of our Tacoma TRD Sport with all of those elements blacked-out and really preferred the color-matched body panels with just the contrasting compoments I’d already addressed.  

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67. Test Driving a 2020 Toyota Tacoma Long Bed TRD Sport 4×4 in a last ditch effort, 12 Dec ’19:  Before deciding to accept the harmonics / road noise in our 2017 Tacoma was something I’d also experience in a brand new Tacoma, I decided to test drive a brand new, 2020 Tacoma Double Cab TRD Sport Long Bed with 4WD as well as the same Premium and Technology Packages as our 2017 Tacoma.  Sure enough, it exhibited the very same persistent, wheel-speed related vibration as our 2017 Tacoma.  While it was a bit more subdued, I suspect it had more to do with having new Toyo Open Country A30 tires and would be the same as our truck, perhaps louder since the Tacoma’s still are sound insulated, if it were fitted with a heavier all-terrain tire. 

I should note, I had to make a 160-mile round trip to Anniston, Alabama, to find the closest, nearly identical, 2020 Tacoma Double Cab TRD Sport Long Bed to test drive as the DC long beds were still truly rare beasts.  In fact, I’d swapped-out the tires and wheels on our Tacoma, removed several items including the step-rails and had the truck essentially cleaned-out and ready to trade-in with title-in-hand if the 2020 model didn’t have the same harmonics / road noise as our 2017 Tacoma.  In hindsight, I’m glad it didn’t work-out as I’ve really grown to like our Tacoma just as it is now that I’ve accepted that one design flaw and, well, the low-torque engine that keeps us from towing a travel trailer.

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68. A.R.E. rear door lock housing cracked, lock failed & replaced, 3 Jun ’21:  In November 2020, I did have one somewhat noteworthy component failure I never would have expected: the A.R.E. Z-Series bed topper’s rear glass door’s, integrated locking mechanism’s plastic housing developed a crack that, by May 2021, likely led to the failure of the electronic lock. 

My sense was, it was a stress crack that should have been covered by warranty as I can’t imagine how anything could have struck the plastic housing to cause it to crack, but I couldn’t be sure someone working on the truck who needed to open the rear door and tailgate attempted to open it while it was locked and caused the crack: nothing had ever been mentioned and it certainly wasn’t something I’d checked before or after service visits…. but will now. 

I’m confident if it was a common occurance my A.R.E. dealer who I’ve known since 2006 and trust would have said so.  Regardless, the locking mechanism cost $200 to replace –– about the cost of the original option — and I had to make the two-hour, 84-mile round trip drive for the 30-minute replacement job.  However, having a working lock on a bed topper is essential and the part is only available through authorized A.R.E. dealers, so my options were somewhat limited.

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69. Add-on LuxPro LP-172 LED Glove Box light, 8 Jan ’22: I added a small, battery-operated, micro-LED light puck light to the glovebox door of the truck so we’d have a lighted glovebox so the passenger can now more easily find things. I’d thought about hard-wiring a plunger-activated light, but it didn’t seem to be worth the time and effort.

And, while there are motion-activated, battery-operated lights, they’re all a bit too large for what’s needed. The only change I had to make to the small LP-172 light was replacing the cheap, pre-applied paper-based double-sided adhesive for the stronger, 3M mounting tape as the cheap stuff releases when it gets too cold. Now, what to do with the other four LP-172 lights that came in the 5-pack?

 

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Before & After:

The Different Phases:

Phase 1:  Creating a Clean Sheet of Paper to Work From

Phase 2: Leveling & a More Aggressive Stance & Appearance

Phase 3: More Comforts, Quiet & Secure, Dry Cargo Space

Phase 4: A More TRD Pro Appearance

Phase 5: What I Had in My Mind’s Eye When I Started

The Truck it Replaced:

The Inspiration & Outcome:

 

 

Protected: Weekly Journal: Bike Rides, Yard Work & Healthcare

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Protected: Weekly Journal: Seven for Seven Nights at Guston’s

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Protected: Weekly Journal: Covid Boosters & The Braves Win The World Series!!

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Follow-up On “Protected” Content at Riding Two Up

As noted in my previous blog entry, I decided to move my “Weekly Journal” entries to a “Protected” status where a password is required to view the content. As mentioned, regular readers are more than welcome to request the password — it’s the same one for all of the protected entries — so they can continue to read the Weekly Journals, just send me an email: mark@werlivingood.com or, if you’re on Facebook, a PM via Messenger.

Note that, WordPress won’t tell me who is actually reading which entry… it doesn’t come close to that even with subscribers: it just gives me piece of mind to know who could “potentially” access the blogs based on having been given the password.

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I decided to apply password protection to the 208 “Weekly Journals” I’ve published since October 2017 at RidingTwoUp and to another, smaller collection of weekly journal-like entries on another WordPress site I maintain, The Tandem Geek’s Blog.. The rest of the content and articles I’ve published on both of these blogs are still viewable without the use of a password.

As mentioned, if regular readers would like to keep reading my journals, they’re more than welcome to do so. I’m not concerned about family, friends, acquaintances or even people with common interests knowing what we’ve done over the past weeks, etc., it’s the potential misuse of these weekly updates that someone with ulterior motives might be able to achieve by using algorithms to harvest information from blogs like mine, especially when the information spans so many years and with so many different interactions and interests.

Notice: Changes to my Blog Accessibility

If you are a regular reader / follower of any one of the three blogs I publish you may have noticed some changes over the past 24 hours. In summary:

The Tandem Geek’s Blog

• This blog remained unchanged for the most part and remains a blog I publish for folks who are tandem cycling enthusiasts. If you have been able to find and access its content, you will continue to be able to do so.
• Background:
  • Prior to 5 October 2011 when I created the blog “RidingTwoUp”, “The Tandem Geek’s Blog” began to contain a mix of tandem cycling, motorcycling and ‘life in general’ content.
  • I subsequently moved the motorcycling and ‘life in general’ content to “RidingTwoUp” so I could return “The Tandem Geek’s Blog” to purely tandem cycling related content.

RidingTwoUp

• The blog I created on 5 October 2011, is where most of the changes have taken place.
• Last evening I decided to move all of the Weekly Journal entries to a “Protected” status where a password is required. If anyone truly has an interest in reading the Weekly Journals they are welcome to send me a request for the password to the series.
• Background:
  • Early-on, “RidingTwoUp” was more-or-less a motorcycling version of “The Tandem Geek’s Blog” where I shared information I thought might be of interest to motorcycling enthusiasts, e.g., motorcycle modifications, maintenance, trips and the like.
  • However, by 2013 it began to take on a somewhat different purpose and, in October 2017, I began to publish a weekly summary, i.e., the “Weekly Journal” of our day-to-day activities as more-or-less a personal diary. It served two purposes:
    • (1) it provided me with a ready reference for looking-back in time to see things I’d fixed or acquired as well as what we’d done where and with whom, and
    • (2) I would print it out and mail a hardcopy to my non-tech savvy parents then in their mid-80’s, so they could keep abreast of what we were doing and see photos in far greater detail than we could cover in our weekly, 20-minute phone calls.
  • Regular readers may have noticed how, from time-to-time, I would make “RidingTwoUp” private, such that no-one could access it unless they requested it. This was done as I became somewhat more sensitive to potential misuse that can occur with having so much personal information sitting on the Internet without any control over who could access it.
  • However, in that there is still a lot of content in this blog that was intended for wider audiences, e.g., motorcycle modifications and maintenance that I linked to from discussion forums for the benefit of enthusiasts, it was not a one-size fits all solution.
  • Note: WordPress won’t tell me who is actually reading which entry… it doesn’t come close to that even with subscribers: it just gives me piece of mind to know who could “potentially” access the blogs based on having been given the password.

Mark & Debbie’s Travel Journal

• My third blog has only undergone a minor change which will most likely go unnoticed by the vast majority of anyone who has visited the blog and that has no impact on how the blog functions.
• Background:
  • Since COVID curtailed most of the travel that created the need to have more photo storage capacity than I had available on “RidingTwoUp” I decided to migrate several motorcycle trips to rallies in Florida to the site since that had become the extent of our COVID-period travels.
  • This past July I moved those entries to Private Status as they really weren’t in keeping with the purpose of the blog.
  • With the changes I’ve now made to “RidingTwoUp” I decided to migrate those motorcycle trip reports back to “RidingTwoUp” since that’s more in keeping with the purpose of that blog and accessible to anyone.