• Welcome to Tacoma3G.com, a free resource for 2016-2023 Toyota Tacoma owners!

    This website is the passion-project of a USMC veteran/mechanic, @Tyler. I created Tacoma3G.com to share my knowledge of this subject with others and to provide like-minded folks with a comfortable space to ask questions and create 'build threads' within our Tacoma Forums. Now, if the format of this website is confusing to navigate for you, or if you're interested in my full mission and T3G's history, check out the Help and About pages.

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Tyler

🔟 Mythical
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Volunteer T3G Editor
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Apr 12, 2018
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Age
32
Location
Long Island, NY
Website
tacoma3g.com
2017 TRD OR DCLB Auto
Quicksand

{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our July "Rig of the Month" photo contest is open for submissions, and to give you some other community updates.

Rig of the Month
If you haven't heard, as of January 2020, we run a monthly contest on our forum: RotM. To enter, simply post your favorite photo of your truck to this submission thread. After the submitting phase closes, the voting phase opens and all forum members will have a few days to vote for their favorite photos. The photo with the most votes at the end of the voting phase will earn "Rig of the Month" and some rad gear.

July's RotM is powered by @Accessorides. The rig of July will get one of their Tacoma remote start kits, a T3G patch and sticker, your photo in the homepage of the forum until next month, a special RotM forum username and badge, and a nice shoutout on the ol' Instagram.

*The submission phase was supposed to end on July 15, but because I was late to open the contest due to an unforeseen medical issue, I'm going to let submissions come in until midday July 16.

We finally joined the dark side...
Ready? Tacoma3G.com finally has a dark forum design!

It only took a few years, but hey. Our dark theme is looking killer and members who have already seen it are digging it. You should be able to see it by default, but if you don't see it, use the style chooser bar at the top right or bottom left of the forum to select it (black box with the tan border):

darkselect.png

The dark theme is still being tweaked a bit. It should eventually have an option to automatically switch between light or dark depending on whether your phone or computer is using a light or dark mode (if you want it to). There will also be dark versions of all the other color schemes after the Quicksand one is fully polished. Let me know if what you think and of any bugs you might find, in this thread.

Tacoma3G is getting an overhaul.
I won't go too in depth with this today, but I'm working on what I'd consider to be T3G 2.0. Hmm, T3G2G? I like that. Some of the many things on my list for this are:
  • A full overhaul of tacoma3g.com/merch/, which is where our stickers and patches are currently purchased from. The interface with the current system is ugly and not user-friendly. Our "store" will end up looking at operating like an actual online store, complete with order numbers and all that fancy stuff. On that note, there will be new merch designs and types to go with it. This is partially driven by popular demand (because merch has never really been my thing), and partially because it really does help me make T3G better when you guys donate by buying the stuff. I use that money to do the things that I'm bringing up in this email, amongst other backend nerdy website management tasks.
  • A better way to view "what's hot" within the forum posts.
  • A better way to find useful tutorials that you would normally just Google search. (Can anyone actually remember how to reset their maintenance light without checking Google?)
  • A better marketplace system for buying and selling your truck parts.
  • A Rig of the Month calendar for 2021.
  • A better system for interacting with our official vendors.
  • Fancier user profile pages.
  • A bunch of other stuff that I can't remember without looking at the list. ;)
You've got mail!
The last thing I want to hit has to do with this email. I'm using an entirely new system to email T3G members, and it was surprisingly complicated to set up. Actually, this email would have went sooner but I ended up spending about three days trying to get it right. And I still don't know if it's gonna work as intended.

The idea is to have a monthly email go out that looks pretty, is somewhat interesting, and actually manages to reach the user (that's the hard part). If you don't mind, please reply to this email just to help me get some sending/receiving testing in. Hopefully some of you see this because if you don't, well... I guess America Online won this time.

If you do get this, but you don't want to get this, you can't give it back, sorry. You can, however, click the unsubscribe link at the bottom to have yourself removed from the mailing list. You won't need to log into your forum account to do so; it will remove you automatically after a confirmation.

Thanks for reading!


Tyler,
Founder and Operator
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
tyler@tacoma3g.com

Lead how you want to be led.

 

{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here, back with an update to some of the things mentioned in the recent email I sent out.

If you do not wish to read this email at all, please at least read the "You've got mail!" section below as it has information on how to never get another email like this.


You've got mail! (Important update)
If you never want another email like this
, use the "unsubscribe from mailing list" link at the very bottom of this email. By clicking this, you will open a page at tacoma3g.com that will allow you to remove your email address from these emails. You will not have to log in to your forum account to do so.

Now, some of you tried to use this link in the previous email but the link did not work. That was entirely my fault as this is a new system I am using and I set the unsubscribe link incorrectly. I apologize for that; it is not my intention to make it difficult for anyone to unsubscribe. Also, some of you replied back and asked me to remove your email from the list. I did what I could to manually remove you, but you might get this one anyway. If so, it will work best if you use the link at the bottom of this email so the database removes your email directly.

If you were someone who replied to the last email because I asked for replies for testing, thank you! I got many replies and a lot of encouraging words about the email style itself. I'm glad a bunch of you are digging it.


Rig of the Month (Voting is open!)
FYI, the RotM submission phase has ended and the first voting phase has started. Vote for all of your favorite photos in the voting thread here!


Tacoma3G is still getting an overhaul, but I have enabled donations...

I mentioned some extensive plans I have for the future of our website in the last email. Those are still happening. I'm working on stuff everyday; it's essentially a full-time job and I really enjoy doing it.

In light of what I would consider to be T3G 2.0, I have decided to finally enable a standard donation system alongside the sticker and patches donations.

Why?

Well, I want to preface by saying it's not so I can benefit from it by buying myself truck parts, or because I'm now unable to run T3G out of pocket. As I always mentioned with the sticker and patch sales, money from those sit in an account dedicated to T3G upkeep and development.

Upkeep entails: the monthly server cost, the yearly domain renewal, and the yearly license renewal for the software that powers the forum behind the scenes. Development, by my own definition, includes things like: paying professionals to accomplish some things that I can't on my own (such as setting up this new emailing system, the initial styling of what the website looks like, etc), future logo designs, future merch designs, licenses for some of the special features and functions of the forum, Google advertising to bring in new Tacoma owners, and most important to me, the ability to create respectable giveaways for certain milestones, as well as the Rig of the Month prizes during the months that they aren't sponsored.

Phew. That sounds like a lot, and maybe it is, but I really don't mind it. And I never want to stop molding T3G into something better than it is. I don't want it to become stagnate.

With that all being said, I have decided to set the "monthly goal" to about half of the monthly cost of keeping the forum online, which is $40. Whether we make the goal, don't make the goal, or make more than the goal, it is what it is, and everything I have planned for T3G will still happen. You account name will turn blue if it isn't already, and you will have my utmost appreciation for supporting our community.

You should see the donation bar on the side of the forum in desktop view or near the bottom of the forum if you are on your phone. It will open a pop-up window and allow you to send whatever you'd like via PayPal.

1595179648767.png


We finally joined the dark side. (Update: All colors usable!)
In the last email I mentioned the release of our first dark forum style. At the time, it was only useable in the Quicksand variation. You can now use the dark style in your color of choice. At the moment, switch colors can be a little confusing. I'm working on figuring out a more intuitive system for this.

1595179797824.png

See that lightbulb icon to the right of the notification bell? It will turn your style dark if you're using light, or light if you're using dark. If you want to switch the color, first click the box next to "T3G VINYLS:" that you would like to use. This will give you that color, but in the light style. Once there, click the lightbulb and it will make it dark, keeping your color selection. I'm working on getting special logos for each color that will have their border in the color of your selection (you can see this with the Quicksand version).

If you are on mobile, the lightbulb can be found in a slightly different area. In the top left of the website, next to the logo, there are three horizontal lines. Click them, and you will see the lightbulb at the bottom of that list.

I hope you guys dig these dark variations as much as I do!


Thanks for reading!

-----
Tyler,
Founder and Operator
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
tyler@tacoma3g.com

Lead how you want to be led.
 

{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our August "Rig of the Month" photo contest is open for submissions, and to give you some other community updates.


Rig of the Month: August 2020
As of January 2020, we run a monthly contest on our forum: Rig of the Month (RotM).

To enter, simply post a photo of your truck to this submission thread.

The photo with the most votes at the end of the voting phase will earn the "Rig of the Month" perks and some rad gear from T3G and $250 to this month's sponsoring vendor, @DECKEDUSA!

1597255886884.png

This month also has a specific photo theme that we've dubbed 'THICC TACO'. This theme requires all submitted photos to be taken from a rear angle of your truck, similar to the photo above. Let's see them Tacoma booty photos!

For full details on the contest and its submission and voting phases, please see the August RotM thread.


The Nobodies & T3G 2.0 (T3G2G? -- is that a thing? I think it's a thing.)
If you read last month's newsletter and have a better memory than I do (mine is slightly stronger than a goldfish memory), you might remember I hinted at a big overhaul to the T3G website: T3G 2.0, or T3G2G if we're feeling clever.

I've been turning internet wrenches round-the-clock to chip away at the overwhelmingly long to-do list I have for this overhaul. I mentioned a better online store, better interactions with our forum vendors, improvements to functionality for navigating to important tutorial / reference threads, easier-to-find new and hot forum posts, a juicy website homepage that isn't the forum, etc.

I'm extremely excited to develop these new features and improvements for the community. However, they will take a lot of time to fully test, polish, and eventually release, and some of them are areas that I am not fully equipped to dive into on my own.

Enter: The Nobodies

1597258000651.png

Despite him not being anybody, you may have heard of Mr. Nobody from around the 3rd gen. Tacoma community.

Andy and his wife Nicole, aka The Nobodies, have been very active within our community over the last few years. You've probably seen their rig at our SoCal T3G meets, on various Instagram pages, websites, and in YouTube videos. Or maybe you know Andy as a former moderator and very active member of our forum.

They share the same enduring passion for the Tacoma3G and overland scene as my wife Paige and have. They have strengths where I have weaknesses regarding building a brand and online network within this industry. They couldn't be a better pair to team up with for the future of T3G and beyond.

Welcome to the team, guys.

On that note, there is obviously a lot going on behind the scenes for T3G. I just wanted to touch on some of our visions for the community and give an informal introduction to our new four-man team. As we progress, more info and live features will start popping up around the website and social media pages. If you are interested in tracking our updates directly, you are invited to keep your eye on the T3G 2.0 forum thread.



Thanks for reading! Please feel free to reach if you have any questions or suggestions regarding anything T3G!
-----
Tyler,
Founder and Operator
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
tyler@tacoma3g.com

Lead how you want to be led.
 

{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our August "Rig of the Month" photo contest is open for submissions, and to give you some other community updates.


Rig of the Month: August 2020
As of January 2020, we run a monthly contest on our forum: Rig of the Month (RotM).

To enter, simply post a photo of your truck to this submission thread.

The photo with the most votes at the end of the voting phase will earn the "Rig of the Month" perks and some rad gear from T3G and $250 to this month's sponsoring vendor, @DECKEDUSA!

rotmdecked.jpg

This month also has a specific photo theme that we've dubbed 'THICC TACO'. This theme requires all submitted photos to be taken from a rear angle of your truck, similar to the photo above. Let's see them Tacoma booty photos!

For full details on the contest and its submission and voting phases, please see the August RotM thread.


The Nobodys & T3G 2.0 (T3G2G? -- is that a thing? I think it's a thing.)
If you read last month's newsletter and have a better memory than I do (mine is slightly stronger than a goldfish memory), you might remember I hinted at a big overhaul to the T3G website: T3G 2.0, or T3G2G if we're feeling clever.

I've been turning internet wrenches round-the-clock to chip away at the overwhelmingly long to-do list I have for this overhaul. I mentioned a better online store, better interactions with our forum vendors, improvements to functionality for navigating to important tutorial / reference threads, easier-to-find new and hot forum posts, a juicy website homepage that isn't the forum, etc.

I'm extremely excited to develop these new features and improvements for the community. However, they will take a lot of time to fully test, polish, and eventually release, and some of them are areas that I am not fully equipped to dive into on my own.

Enter: The Nobodys

rotmnobodys.png

Despite him not being anybody, you may have heard of Mr. Nobody from around the 3rd gen. Tacoma community.

Andy and his wife Nicole, aka The Nobodys, have been very active within our community over the last few years. You've probably seen their rig at our SoCal T3G meets, on various Instagram pages, websites, and in YouTube videos. Or maybe you know Andy as a former moderator and very active member of our forum.

They share the same enduring passion for the Tacoma3G and overland scene as my wife Paige I and have. They have strengths where I have weaknesses regarding building a brand and online network within this industry. They couldn't be a better pair to team up with for the future of T3G and beyond.

Welcome to the team, guys.

On that note, there is obviously a lot going on behind the scenes for T3G. I just wanted to touch on some of our visions for the community and give an informal introduction to our new four-man team. As we progress, more info and live features will start popping up around the website and social media pages. If you are interested in tracking our updates directly, you are invited to keep your eye on the T3G 2.0 forum thread.


Thanks for reading! Please feel free to reach if you have any questions or suggestions regarding anything T3G!

-----
Tyler,
Founder and Operator
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
tyler@tacoma3g.com

Lead how you want to be led.
-----
 
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{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm to reaching out to inform you of an upcoming forum giveaway (separate from RotM), Instagram giveaway, an update to the future of our Rig of the Month contest and, if you read far enough, there will be a little T3G-2G teaser at the end (the T3G 2.0 overhaul).


Upcoming Forum Giveaway
Roughly around sometime near next week or so (ha), I'm going to host a forum posting contest. What does that mean? You simply use the forum as you normally would, and if you happen to be the member that posted the most during the declared timeframe, you'll win something sweet. Screw it -- so will the runner-up.

Why will there be a contest based off of forum posts? Well, because:

At its core, T3G is a community-driven community (that does make sense; I checked). T3G is fueled by members engaging with other members on the forum. It would essentially be a ghost town with no valuable information if not for the user-generated content (forum posts). And... I actually just enjoy seeing the free giveaway stuff on your trucks.

For those interested in participating, you'll be informed of the exact dates and prizes soon (open to suggestions though).


Instagram Giveaway
Not much to hit on this one. The T3G Instagram page is creeping up on 60k followers, so why not a giveaway? This one will be separate from the forum and run on Instagram itself. You'll need an IG account to participate.

Keep an eye on the T3G Instagram page as this will go live very soon.


Rig of the Month
As you know, we run a monthly contest on our forum: Rig of the Month (RotM). This contest has turned into one of my favorite community events on the forum and it seems like every month has been slightly tweaked to make it better (based off your suggestions).

There are two new ways I'm going to expand on this.

Upon earning RotM, you will be offered to have your truck featured on the new website homepage in the form of a blog-style interview (about you and your truck's story). A new homepage is coming with T3G 2.0 and this is one of many ways it will be rich with content. You can opt-out of the interview if you'd like. If you do, the photo of your truck and a small blurb from me will take its place.

Secondly, this isn't even RotM's final form. That's right; it evolves, just like a Pokéman! After December's RotM is declared, the contest will evolve into Rig of the Year. This will include a special calendar with all of the RotM photos from 2020, one of which will also be RotY. And since earning the RotY vote sounds pretty impressive to me, the prize for that should probably also be pretty impressive, yeah? Only 4 months to go!

August RotM Update
This month's contest is in its final voting phase. If you haven't already, go check out the 3 finalist photos and vote for the ones you dig the most!


T3G 2.0 Teaser (T3G2G)
I was going to embed this into the email but instead you'll have to work for it. If you want to see the first preview of the T3G overhaul, specifically a small part of the website redesign, check out this thread on the forum. I'll be posting more teasers of the website design, new features, online store, etc, as I have them, so watch that thread if you're interested.


-----
Tyler W.
Founder & Managing Partner
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community


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september

-rotm
-forum posting
-monthly donations


hate5six.com is an ad-free entity focused on delivering high-quality live footage of hardcore bands free of charge. Since 2007, nearly 4,000 live sets have been documented and shared in full--including the entirety of numerous fests and spanning the gamut from small band's first shows to highly anticipated reunion sets and the unearthing of "lost" VHS recordings. All shows are freely available for download and can be easily burned to DVDs for viewing on any television. This project is extremely expensive to run, maintain, and expand. It is funded entirely through my personal savings and through your support. If you are able and willing, please consider making a donation. Small contributions go a long way. I am sincerely grateful for your consideration and support. Please contact me if you would like to make a donation but are unable to given the following means.
 
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expeditionessentials.png
rotm-september-logo.png
{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here, back again with some goodies for the T3G community!

This month's main updates are our 50,000 forum post milestone giveaway, Rig of the Month: September, and a small mention of T3G2G.


Giving away $250 credit to ExpeditionEssentials.com for 50k forum posts!
We have a pretty cool milestone coming up and if you've been in the community for a while, you've probably seen that I like to pair contest giveaways with significant milestones when possible (and if you're new, now ya' know). In terms of numbers that we commonly consider significant, 50k forum posts is one of those, so I want to give something back to the community in as "big" of a way that I can afford for now.

All you need to do to participate in the 50k contest is, well, use the forum as you normally would. The first and second top posting members will earn $150 and $50 credit (respectively) to the ExpeditionEssentials catalog!

...to continue reading and for more information about this contest and the other small goodies up you'll receive, view the this thread on the forum.


Rig of the Month: September -- "WASH ME"
Rig of the Month is back once again and September has a theme we haven't used yet: "WASH ME" The submissions for this theme should be of your truck's dirtiest paint job.

The most-voted photo will earn $100 credit to Amazon.com along with some of the other usual goodies.

The contest will be open for submissions until September 13. Submissions will then close and the first round of voting will commence.

Good luck, have fun, and tell your friends!

...for more information about this Rig of the Month and the other small goodies you'll receive, view this thread on the forum.


T3G 2.0 (T3G2G)
The changes and improvements to our website and entire T3G community are big. We're really trying to go all-in and take it to the next level and then some. With that being said, some of what is going on behind the scenes comes with a price. I'm all about putting out quality over taking the economically friendly route, so I'm very much willing to fund my own projects. However, when you guys do offer and hand by making donations, it definitely makes a differenc

If you would like to make a contribution to a portion of this month's routine costs, look for the donation block on the homepage of the forum.

Your support never goes unnoticed and always goes right back into the community!


-----
Tyler W.
Founder & Managing Partner
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community


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expeditionessentials.png
rotm-september-logo.png
{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here! I want to bring up an important topic regarding mental health and also give you a quick update on the two contests we're running right now on the forum.


Mental Health and the State of the World
Before I get into some of the exciting things going on at the T3G forum right now, I want to bring up a topic much more important than our little corner of the internet.

The world and more specifically, our country, is obviously in a state of gloom right now. Bringing this up in an email coming from a Tacoma website might seem odd at first, but I don't think it actually is.

We have a forum thread about mental health and it has been receiving some extra traffic lately; a double-edged sword in a way. We have a handful of members that have been directly affected by the pandemic, wildfires, and unusual work circumstances. The toll it's clearly taking on our members' (and the whole country's) mental health is clearly significant.

I know this method of coping and/or venting is not for everyone, but I invite you to read through and consider sharing your situations in this thread. I think opening up within our little community can give some sense of comfort for some. We've even been sharing advice on how to potentially overcome or at least diminish some of these real-life issues.

Lastly, as someone with years of relentless mental health issues and plenty of failed and successful attempts at resolving them, I think I have a lot to offer if you'd like to have a personal discussion with me, or just vent and have someone listen. If that's something you're open to, you can either message me on the forum or email me back and I'll give you my phone number if you'd prefer to text/call.

I understand that our country is a bit chaotic right now and the last thing you might have time for is T3G. But, if you like to use T3G as a bit of a break from reality, there are some cool contest prizes up for grabs right now (with plenty more coming in the very near future). Continue reading for the lighter stuff!


There is still time to earn $200 credit to ExpeditionEssentials.com!
We're running a "forum posting" contest to celebrate our 50,000 total forum posts milestone (which we've since blown away; thanks guys!).

All you need to do to participate in the 50k contest is, well, use the forum as you normally would. The contest is live until September and there is still plenty of time for anyone to take the lead. I'm not going to mention numbers, but the lead is changing multiple times a day, and if you haven't started at all yet, you could easily move to the top in just a few hours of back-to-back posting.

The first and second top posting members will earn $150 and $50 credit (respectively) to the ExpeditionEssentials catalog!

...to continue reading and for more information about this contest and the other small goodies up you'll receive, view the this thread on the forum.


Rig of the Month: September -- Voting Open
Rig of the Month has moved into the voting phase. If you haven't taken a moment to hit some 'likes' on your favorite photos, please do so. Let's make sure the dirtiest Tacoma takes the win!

The most-voted photo will earn $100 credit to Amazon.com along with some of the other usual goodies.

The contest will be open for voting until September 20.

...to view the photos and place your votes, view this thread on the forum.


-----
Tyler W.
Founder & Managing Partner
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community


-----
 
You posting there now is perfect as it allows me to mimic the style already in use.
 
You can click the button to edit my post. Once there, click the little cogwheel. It will show you the raw code. Copy the raw code into a new post. Click the cogwheel again and it will show you the pretty version and you can adjust it as needed.
 
{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here, back to let you know about October's RotM contest.

*If you are receiving this email despite previously unsubscribing to these emails, sorry about that. It's an error on my part -- the email server changed and the those that unsubscribed didn't all follow over. There is a link to unsubscribe at the bottom of this message.


Rig of the Month: October -- "SPOOKY"
rotm-2020-october-banner.png


Rig of the Month is back once again and October's theme is... you guessed it... Sp0oky photos. Submissions are encouraged to show spooky scenery or scary moments while wheeling, but all photos will be accepted.

The most upvoted photo will earn a TRAILGATE from this month's sponsor, BARE Outfitters Co. and an entry into our Rig of the Year contest!

The contest will be open for submissions until October 15. Submissions will then close voting will commence.

Good luck, have fun, and tell your friends!

To submit your photo and for more information about the other small goodies you'll receive, view this thread on the forum.


T3G2G (Tacoma3G 2.0)
I only have a tiny lil' T3G2G update to share this month, but fear not -- I've been working like crazy to get our website's overhaul ready to be launched.

Behind the scenes, a lot is going on. I have a full website redesign, new logo (teased in the RotM photo above), an online store with Tacoma parts from your favorite vendors, a real homepage with articles and reviews and interviews, and many other additional website features, all being developed and polished to eventually make Tacoma3G 2.0 come to life.

If you're interested in previewing some of these changes as I work on them, keep an eye on this thread.


Thanks for reading!
-----
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community


-----
 
{name},


Tacoma3G on YouTube
Creating useful content on YouTube for the Tacoma3G community is something that I have wanted to do for a few years. But I'm very particular with how I present content under the T3G name on the website and social media and I also have a lot of pet peeves with the way popular YouTube channels are presenting their content nowadays. So I put YouTube on the back burner for a while.

Now that T3G is more seasoned, and because I've been dabbling into the YouTube scene with my personal road-life content, I think it's time we get T3G and its community on camera. That is, as long as the content is free of the fake YouTuber personality bullshit, useless 5 minute intros, clickbait thumbnails/titles, and biased opinions due to sponsorships.

Our content will be honest, informative, funny, and to the point... without the YouTuber fluff. The topics covered will be whatever you guys are asking for at the time and not manipulated by what YouTube's algorithm expects. I would also love to get you, the community, directly involved with and included in most of the videos. This could even mean creating your own video to be uploaded on our channel, representing T3G and your personal alias at the same time.

With that all being said, I have a few questions for you guys...
  • What type of broad topics would you be interested in? (e.g. trail footage, truck tours, tutorials, reviews, etc)
  • Any specific topics? (e.g. specific trails, specific members' trucks, specific tutorials, specific products?)
  • Is there anyone already interested in creating content to be shown on the T3G channel?

Lastly, as I'm new to being in front of the camera and editing videos (it feels WEIRD talking to a camera), I'd love to hear your honest feedback on the tour video I just made of my truck's camper. Where can it be improved, do you think it's suitable to be a T3G channel, etc. I would really appreciate your suggestions so T3G's content is presentable.


Original link: https://youtu.be/LFiL7V6AiSw


I hope T3G videos are something you guys will be interested in and I really look forward to the potential content we can create as a group.



-----
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community


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{name},

Hey guys! Tyler here with some Rig of the Month/Year updates and a little gift from Rago Fabrication!


15% off Rago Fabrication catalog for Tacoma3G members
Rago Fabrication were kind enough to offer all Tacoma3G.com members a 15% discount on their products during the week of Black Friday. To receive the discount, simply enter T3G as the discount code during checkout!

You can also view their entire Black Friday catalog to see other deals that don't require a code.

Rago Fabrication is a veteran family owned off-road product manufacturer. They design and fabricate quality off-road products in the USA. I have personally met the owners and can't say enough about their passion and dedication to our hobby. More information about Rago Fabrication is available in our forum announcement.

rago.png




Rig of the Month: December | What a long, strange trip it's been!
I can't believe we are almost at the end already! RotM was an idea I had at the end of 2019 and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I would be consistent enough to keep up with it. But here we are, just two more contests to go. I have really enjoyed doing this and seeing you guys participate over and over.

To thank you guys for participating, using the forum in general, and being patient with me when I'm around less due to real life issues, we, Tyler and Paige, want to self-sponsor this one out of pocket under our The Wandering Winterfields alias. Instead of an Amazon gift card which is the normal prize when RotM isn't sponsored, I want to spice things up a bit.

The prize for December will be a $150 purchase of any Tacoma or camping item(s) you want, from any vendor you want. The only stipulation is that the item(s) should be for your own truck and I would love to see photos of what you got posted here on the forum! If you want to go a little over $150 you can just pay me the difference. Happy Holidays!

The photo theme for December is "Fun in the Sun". For more info and to submit your photo, go to the submission thread on the forum.






Rig of the Year 2020 and Tacoma3G's 2021 Calendar
Rig of the Year will be the final contest for 2020. It will occur shortly after December's RotM ends. The 2020 Rig of the Month winning photos will be the 12 entires, automatically submitted by me. The voting phase will work as it usually does and one truck will become Rig of the Year!

The RotY winner will receive something extra special (perhaps a Jeep Gladiator) and will be the cover photo on the calendar.

The calendar will use the 12 RotM winning photos for their respective months. Those 12 members will receive the calendar for free and all other members will be able to purchase one if they want one (pricing and purchasing process TBD).

More info on RotY and the calendar coming later in the year.

If you would like to view the 11 trucks that we already know will be part of the calendar, you can check out our list of 2020 winners on the forum.



-----
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community

-----
 
{name},

Hey guys! Tyler here with a quick Rig of the Year and Tacoma3G 2021 calendar update.


Tacoma3G's first Rig of the YEAR! This is it.
Rig of the Year 2020 is sponsored by Tyler & Paige of The Wandering Winterfields

This is it, guys. Our last 2020 contest and our first Rig of the Year contest. I can't believe we're here already. Hell, I kinda can't believe we all stuck to it and its popularity didn't dwindle.

Rig of the Year is as new to me as it is to you. With RotM having happened 12 times now, I learned a lot about its structure. Thanks to your suggestions, RotM was slightly refined almost every month. However, RotY hasn't been seasoned yet. That being said, I'm going to run our first RotY as simply as possible. The "how it works" will be explained below, as usual. Basically, the 12 RotM winning photos will be automatically submitted to this thread and then regular voting will commence.

The prize for Rig of the Year is, well, a surprize. I want to spice things up a bit for RotY and keep you wondering. Hint: It will be better than a regular RotM prize.

To vote for your favorite photos in our Rig of the Year contest, please go to this thread on the forum.

There will be a Tacoma3G Rig of the Month/Year calendar coming for 2021. More details on the calendar will be posted on the forum very soon, if you'd like one.


______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 

{name},
Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our first 2021 Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions, and to give you some other community updates.



Rig of the Month
If you haven't heard, as of January last year, we run a monthly contest on our forum: RotM.

January's RotM is powered by TheYotaGarage. The rig of January will receive a $100 gift card to their catalog and a few other T3G perks.

To enter, simply post your favorite photo of your truck to the submission thread found here. You can also find more information about the contest in that thread.



Tacoma3G.com in 2020 and its future in 2021...
So, Tacoma3G in 2020... how was it? I saw my Google Analytics last night and I was honestly surprised by the numbers. Not that I thought the numbers would be bad, but I didn't realize they were this much better than 2019.

We had 194,000 total unique visitors in 2020, wow! What does that mean? Unique visitors are different people that visited the site at least one time (including unregistered visitors and us members). That is an 86.5% increase over 2019, which is insane. (The solid line is 2020 and the dotted line is 2019.)

In December 2020 we had 21.1k unique visitors, up 29% from November.

You guys created 25,000 new posts and 2,800 new members joined in 2020. Those stats are pretty good. The new registrations count in particular is well above the average of other forums of a similar size.

Of course, these are just numbers and the important part is quality over quantity, something we do very well here. We have good people making good discussions and almost zero trolling, so thank you for that!

To continue reading my thoughts on Tacoma3G in 2020 and its future going forward, see this thread.



______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions! You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.



February RotM is sponsored by The Wandering Winterfields

rotm-2021-feb-banner.png


The photo theme this month is "Like a Rock". Photos should feature your truck working. That could mean: hauling items in its bed, pulling a trailer, or doing something else that shows it working as a truck!


The prize for this month will be a $100 gift card to Amazon.com, along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned in the submission thread.

You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.


______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions! You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.



March RotM is sponsored by TheYotaGarage

Back to another RotM! March will have no theme; any photo of your truck that fits the contest terms is fine.


The prize for this month will be a $100 gift card to TheYotaGarage.com, along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned in the submission thread.

You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.


______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions! You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.



April RotM is sponsored by The Wandering Winterfields

Back to another RotM! This month will have no theme; any photo of your truck that fits the contest terms is fine.


The prize for this month will be a $100 gift card to Amazon.com, along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned in the submission thread.

You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.


______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions! You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.



This month's RotM is sponsored by The Wandering Winterfields

21-rotm-may-banner.jpeg


Back to another RotM! This month's theme is Spring Cleaning. Submit your sparkliest photos -- no mud or dirt this time! ✨


The prize for this month will be a $50 gift card to Amazon.com, along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned in the submission thread.

You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.


______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions! You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.



This month's RotM is sponsored by The Wandering Winterfields

Back to another RotM! This month will have no theme; any photo of your truck that fits the contest terms is fine.


The prize for this month will be a $50 gift card to Amazon.com along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned in the submission thread.

You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.


______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know that our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions!



This month's RotM is sponsored by ARCHIVE GARAGE.

Back to another RotM! This month's theme will be "FLEXY"; submit a photo of your truck doing its best flex!

This month's prize will be a TACOMA SHOCK RELOCATION KIT (TRAIL SERIES 2.0) from ARCHIVE GARAGE (https://archivegarage.com/explore-archive/ols/products/tacoma-shock-relocation-trail-2), along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned below.

You can submit your photo in this thread on the forum.



______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
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email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know:

  • Our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions!
  • We are currently hosting a 'Group Buy' for $400 off a set of Tacoma Rock Sliders



ww-icon.png
This month's RotM is sponsored by The Wandering Winterfields
(The Wandering Winterfields)​

Back to another RotM! This month will not have a theme; submit any photo of your truck.

This month's prize will be a $50 gift card to Amazon.com along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned in the thread.



1628524270963.png
Trail Tacoma + Relations Race Wheels Rock Sliders
Trail Tacoma are hosting a 'Group Buy' on our forum to celebrate the launch of Relations Race Wheels' new 3rd Gen Tacoma Rock Sliders.

If you need sliders, and a $400 discount with reasonable lead times sounds good to you, check out this thread on our forum.


1628524470779.png


______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know:
  • Our Rig of the Month photo contest is open for submissions
  • We are currently hosting a 'Group Buy' for $400 off a set of Tacoma Rock Sliders




This month's RotM is sponsored by The Wandering Winterfields
(The Wandering Winterfields)​

Back to another RotM! This month will not have a theme; submit any photo of your truck.

This month's prize will be a $50 gift card to Amazon along with a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into Rig of the Year, and the other flare mentioned in the thread.

Enter this forum thread to submit your photo.




Trail Tacoma + Relations Race Wheels Rock Sliders
Trail Tacoma are hosting a 'Group Buy' on our forum to celebrate the launch of Relations Race Wheels' new 3rd Gen Tacoma Rock Sliders.

If you need sliders, and a $400 discount with reasonable lead times sounds good to you, check out this thread on our forum.



______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
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email3g.png
{name},

Tyler from Tacoma3G here!

I'm reaching out to let you know:
  • Our Tacoma3G 2022 calendar is now available for purchase
  • Our 2021 Rig of the Year contest is currently open for voting
  • Our January Rig of the Month contest is currently open for voting
  • A quick overview of other thoughts for the Tacoma3G community in 2022



🎆 Tacoma3G's 2022 calendar is now available!

You guys have asked for this for a few years and we're finally able to do it. Each month will have the photo that won that month's Rig of the Month in 2021. The cover photo will have 2021's Rig of the Year photo.

All calendar purchases support the site by helping pay for the server costs, merchandise costs, and Rig of the Month goodies.

If you would like a calendar, you can grab one here: https://tacoma3g.com/account/upgrades



❤️‍🔥 Rig of the Year 2021 is open for voting!

Our 2nd annual Rig of the Year contest is open and we need your votes!

Please visit the voting thread to vote for your favorite photos if you haven't yet: RIG OF THE YEAR - Tacoma3G's Rig of the YEAR: 2021! (https://tacoma3g.com/threads/tacoma3gs-rig-of-the-year-2021.12767/))



🧡 January's Rig of the Month is also open for voting!

Our first Rig of the Month contest of 2022 is open for voting, and again-- we need your votes!

Please visit this separate voting thread to vote for your favorite photos if you haven't yet: VOTING - Rig of the Month, January 2022: Vote for your favorites here! (https://tacoma3g.com/threads/rig-of-the-month-january-2022-vote-for-your-favorites-here.12781/)


1642636607209.png

Both Rig of the Month and Rig of the Year are sponsored by Victory 4x4. The winner of each contest will receive a $150 gift card to Victory 4x4, as well as: your photo on the homepage of the website for the remainder of the month, your photo in the 2022 Tacoma3G calendar, a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into our Rig of the Year contest, an orange username, and a "Rig of the Month" badge under your username.



📢 Tacoma3G Community in 2022

I have some neat things planned for the Tacoma3G forum in 2022 and beyond.

They include, but are not limited to: creating pages with commonly requested information (torque specs, etc.), implementing better communication routes between forum members and our authorized vendors and their products, the rollout of my "T3G 2.0" website resign.

More information and future updates can be read in this thread: T3G - An announcement to let you know that I'll be posting an announcement soon... (https://tacoma3g.com/threads/an-announcement-to-let-you-know-that-ill-be-posting-an-announcement-soon.12732/)



Happy New Year and thank you for using my website!

______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community
 
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Hi {user},

This message is being sent to multiple members of T3G so I can make a decision based on the community's feedback. I understand some people prefer to keep their choices on this subject private, which is why this is a private message between you and I only.



I have been asked a few times about how people can make multiple or larger donations to T3G without needing to buy a sticker at the sticker's set dollar amounts.



This has been something on my mind for a while. I didn't create T3G to profit from it. And it definitely wasn't my plan to monetize the by putting ads all over it like a lot of websites do nowadays. Ads on my websites will never happen. Locking website features behind a paywall will also never happen.

T3G was created in May 2018 and ever since, I have funded the site and a handful of the site's giveaways out of pocket with the help of funds made from sticker sales and vendors sponsoring some giveaways. Our monthly Rig of the Month contest is the same; it's about a 50/50 split between funding the winnings out of pocket and various vendors sponsoring. I am thankful to all of the vendors that help with that stuff, and all of the members that have a blue username!

However, I recently spent a large sum of savings for some unexpected family stuff. 2020 was rough on all of us, 2021 wasn't much better, and unfortunately Paige and I are on a rollercoaster in 2022 so far.

Now, I can and will continue to pay for T3G myself. But, as uncomfortable as I am to put this out there, I think I should.

Just to reiterate, I will continue to pay for T3G myself. I have turned down a couple offers and will not sell T3G to some forum-buying corporation which is common in the online forum niche. And it almost always ends in an immediate death to the community that once was.



With that being said, if you don't mind, please help me collect an idea of what the majority of T3G members' opinions are on this.

In your opinion, what would be a reasonable
  • amount for someone to choose to pay monthly?
  • large amount for someone to send when they feel like it?
    • I say "large" because the highest option for buying stickers is $25. "Large" would mean more than that
  • amount to set as a goal for a "monthly donation drive" where any member can contribute?
    • i.e., if it costs me about $110 a month to run the forum, do I set the goal to half? 2/3? Full amount?
  • thing to give in return to the members who choose to send funds more than once?
  • a good way to put the money back into the forum if there is extra money?
    • i.e., I used to do a lot of giveaway contests that weren't part of Rig of the Month. Sometimes larger forum features cost money because I can't code them myself. With extra money, there could potentially be bigger features on the site. Ads on Google for more traffic to the site so the forum conversations are more active (not sure if this is a concern to the community or not)

Any other suggestions?
 
email3g.png
{name},

I'm reaching out about:
  • How you can help me develop our community as a T3G Supporter
  • What's to come for the Tacoma3G.com community in 2022
  • Our March Rig of the Month contest is open for entries



⚠️ Funding Tacoma3G.com (Update)

Last month I messaged you and many Tacoma3G members for advice about something I was hesitant to bring up: asking for donations to help me maintain our website. I received an overwhelming amount of feedback and wrote down all suggestions and concerns, then analyzed them against each other to find a reasonable approach to this.

A new "T3G Supporter" system has since been implemented based members' input. To reiterate on why I decided to ask for larger donations and/or recurring subscriptions, here is my "pitch" that I wrote to hopefully be as transparent as possible to the community:

Tacoma3G.com is operated by one person: @Tyler. My mission is to provide a friendly and resourceful website for Tacoma enthusiasts, free to use for everyone. I created T3G in May 2018. Ever since, I have personally funded the site and a handful of giveaways with assistance from sticker sales and vendors sponsorships.

I'm thankful to all vendors that help with giveaways, and to all members that have purchased a sticker. However, I still spend quite a bit out of pocket for T3G, and maintaining and improving our community has become nearly a full-time job!

Over the years, I've been asked many times if members can make larger or recurring donations. I've always been hesitant to accept that type of contribution because I didn't create our community for profit. But — despite being initially uncomfortable with it — I'm ready to accept larger donations and/or recurring subscriptions for the purpose of assisting myself in maintaining and bettering our community.

I want to be clear that I will always continue to pay for T3G myself, because I chose this way when I created it. So T3G isn't going anywhere. And I want to be extra clear that the website and forums will always be free for anyone to read and use. There will be no paywalls or expectations for members and guests to donate.

With that being said, the system allows a member to donate any dollar amount either once, multiple times, or automatically recurring intervals. After any type of donation, your account will immediately receive an array of perks. Just to be clear, Tacoma3G.com is a free resource community made by me, for you. Donations are not expected, nor are they required to view the information on the website or post in the forums.

Some of my favorite perks that were suggested multiple times are: custom build thread URLs, private classifieds with other trusted members, ability to use new website features early, ability to change website colors, access to the new instant chat box, and the built-in bookmarking system.

There are a lot of other little perks on top of those, which can be seen in the comparison chart on the donations page: Donations (https://tacoma3g.com/donations/).

Of course, the real incentive for donating is that you are directly supporting our awesome community by expanding my resources to continue to make it better. I put all funds back into the site via monthly server costs, giveaways, and new website features. More on that in the next section...



💻 Tacoma3G.com website & community in 2022

I have some neat things planned for us in 2022 and beyond.

Some of my neat things in the works are:
  • Communication between vendors and members will be overhauled in a few ways. Vendors' products, discounts, and purchase links will have a more prominent presence in the forums, for example.
  • Tacoma newbie/frequently asked questions and technical data pages (torque specs, etc.) are coming
  • A whole new home page (instead of it being the list of forums) with the most useful information, links, etc.
    • There will also be featured articles and interviews with our members and vendors, YouTuber spotlights, 4th gen Tacoma news, etc.
  • Buying and selling products will see an overhaul to make it work more like a marketplace with up-to-date listings
  • Some juicy giveaways that are not related to Rig of the Month
...and a lot more. It's time consuming!

If you're interested in this stuff, you can occasionally preview and test new website features here: Top-Secret Supporter Lounge.



🗓️ Rig of the Month is open for March!


This month's photo theme is "Marvelous Members of March"; submit a photo of your truck with you in the photo! If you're feeling extra marvelous, include your family/pets!

This month's main prize will be a $150 gift card to Victory 4x4, as well as: your photo on the homepage of the website for the remainder of the month, your photo in the 2022 Tacoma3G calendar, a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into our Rig of the Year contest, an orange username, and a "Rig of the Month" badge under your username.

To enter, simply post one photo of your truck (fitting the theme) in this thread:



Thank you for taking the time to read my nonsense! As always, I encourage sharing your suggestions and concerns regarding our community. If you have something, you can reply to this private message-- or preferably, reply in this forum thread: T3G - Funding Tacoma3G.com -- Update (https://tacoma3g.com/threads/funding-tacoma3g-com-update.12941/).
 
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{name},

Time for this month's Tacoma3G Community Updates! I'm reaching out regarding:
  • Rig of the Month for May 2022
  • Tacoma3G.com's improved website search features
  • Relations Race Wheels (RRW) Group Buy - up to 30% off



🏆 Rig of the Month is open for May!

This month's photo theme is "Spring Cleaning"; submit your sparkliest photos -- no mud or dirt this time!

This month's main prize will be a $150 gift card to @Victory4x4, as well as: your photo on the homepage of the website for the remainder of the month, your photo in the 2023 Tacoma3G calendar, a Tacoma3G sticker, an entry into our Rig of the Year contest, an orange username, and a "Rig of the Month" badge under your username.

To enter, simply post one photo of your truck (fitting the theme) in this thread:



💻 Forum search function and other related improvements

As you may know, I've been working on a "2.0" version of the website for a while. The entire revision is time consuming so I occasionally try to launch some of its smaller features early, such as this one.

We now have:
  • Improved search results
  • No more search limitations; searching will operate similar to Google
  • Searching small keywords such as "trd" or "oil" will now return accurate results
  • When you begin to create a new thread, the forum will show you a small list of related discussions
  • When you are reading through a thread, you will notice a new box at the bottom of each page, showing similar threads to the one you are reading

If you're interested in this stuff, you read about the improvements in more detail here:



🛒 Relations Race Wheels (RRW) "Group Buy" - Last Chance!


1652399900086.png


Our friends at @Trail Tacoma are hosting a "Group Buy" to help you save up to 30% on Relations Race Wheels RR6s & RR7s. Their offer is expiring very soon -- as in, later today (May 12). This is the last call!

Go directly to the catalog page:

Or, view more information in the forum thread:



Thank you for taking the time to read my nonsense! As always, I encourage sharing your suggestions and concerns regarding our community by creating a thread or contacting me privately.

______
Tyler W.
Founder & Webmaster
Tacoma3G.com
3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma Community

Tacoma3G is operated by one person (me!), as a hobby, and I love doing this for our community. With that being said, it costs time (a lot) and money (some) to regularly improve and maintain the website. While not necessary to use the website, contributing to the monthly donation drive is awesome for a lot of reasons!


 
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