Merkoose
3️⃣ Silver
Hello everyone!
First and foremost I want to thank most of you members for being amazing and posting your builds and some of you, build processes for everything and anything. The Tacoma community is one of the coolest I've ever been so happy to become apart of.
I just wanted to share my truck with everyone! I'm pretty much done customizing it to all of my needs and I could not be happier.
I have zero friends in real life that off-road or have tacomas or anything and so I have no one to talk to and it makes me really sad every day. That's why I'm happy to have you guys!
The only thing I am missing now are my 0 degree sliders from Cali Raised LED at this current time.
Also my new custom black license plate from the California DMV so that'll take 3 months or so.
Future plans:
-Bedrack/high rise cross bars for a RTT + misc other stuff
-Roof top tent
-can't justify a roof rack
-CBI gas tank plate
-CBI front skid plate (for just incasies)
-front bumper winch system and possibly a 32" LED light strip depending on how desperately I need light in the future if I do ever off do light off roading at night a little bit.
-Mountain Hatch $240 tail gate insert for cooking and cutting meat on it and stuff. Mainly I want it for the cup holders.
-BPF heavy duty recovery tow hook (so my friends can pull me out when I come into a situation when I get stuck for being a dumbass 2WD Tacoma owner)
*(can't think of my other future mods but I'll update this in the future!)
I want to share some images of my truck, what I've done, and what little problems I came across with certain things, plus, I go in great detail with my LED lights experience with exterior headlights and interior LED lights.
non 4x4 disclaimer:
Oh, and last thing. I know I made a mistake not getting 4x4. I kick my own ass every day for it; at the same time I drive ALOT for work all over southern california, I always told myself if I did off-road, i'd break stuff, or tweak stuff. It was my way of grounding/checking myself when I bought it from the dealership. You know what? My truck is still super capable and I can't wait to take it on some simple to medium trails and have fun. I do not want to go to MOAB and fricken go up hell's gate with my daily driver. Also, gas is $4.00 a gallon here in southern california. I burn through a tank every week and a half at $75 a fill up. I'm not broke and I work very hard but, sheesh man. Getting a lift and 35s would be amazing but I don't know about getting 11mpg and only off roading like 1% of the time I'm actually using my truck.
Without further ado, here's my truck!
Pictured here is Elly, my 2019 TRD Sport with all the packages (named after the number 11) sporting her overly expensive OEM TRD Pro Grille with the OEM Garnish! No problems with the sensor sensing at all. Works great.
Windows are all tinted of course. I tinted the windshield with the lightest tint possible before clear. It cuts 60% of UV heat and I couldn't be happier. My cab stays way cool all the time and it's the best illegal decision I've made. Also helps cut the glare and it's hardly noticeable that there is even tint there.
WHEELS AND TIRES: So I know this will be the biggest question from most of ya as this is the thing that concerns the majority of Tacoma owners; "BRUH WHAT SIZE ARE THOSE TIRES AND WHEELZ?"
Let me share! -- Pretty standard setup, everyone will trash talk that EVERYONE and their mom has this setup.. truth is I haven't seen another tacoma in the wild with this setup. Just... Everyone on the internet has this setup it seems, lol!
Wheels: 4Runner TRD PRO Sema Matte Black Wheels 17"
Tires: KO2 265/70/17R with the C rating for comfort!
NO RUBBING AT ALL. STOCK SUSPENSION.
I did a lot of research, WAY TOO MUCH RESEARCH. I wanted to keep my shiznit as close to stock as I possibly could. Stock rims have a +30mm offset, these have a +4mm offset-- SOMEHOW THAT MAKES THE WHEELS STICK OUT AND STAND WIDER. I don't understand it, I don't get it, but you know what that's how this cookie crumbles and I couldn't be happier about it.
This wheel and tire setup has affected my mpg by about .75 mpg and I have no regrets at all.
Every time I look at my truck or run over a curb I could not be more happy.
Elly Sideview
Hood scoop mod! -- I Vinyl wrapped the hood scoop, super cool easy mod with some 3M Vinyl I got off Amazon.
Warning though: Amazon sucks butt at shipping vinyl wrap. Expect it to come crinkled possibly. I got the 2'x5' roll in order to get this accomplished.
I got extra and my plan was to fully mimic the look of the TRD Pro hood decal to cut out glare, but I decided I didn't want to go too far deep into the TRD Pro poser train. I absolutely love this mod, the scoop is easily removed by 4 10mm nuts and 4 screws and one orange clip under the hood for vinyl wrapping. Super easy to remove.
Just put this decal on today; don't know completely yet if I'm going to take it off in the near future, for now I think it's pretty cool! Especially since 4th of July is around the corner. Here's the link if you're interested in it (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074C55NL5/?tag=tacoma3g-20)
Here is my 67 Designs Cell phone mount! FRICKEN SOLID and pretty bad ass looking to boot. This whole rig? $85. Please don't yell at me or tell me what I could have gotten cheaper because I'm well aware this was an irresponsible purchase, or was it? I don't know. I love it and I have no regrets. Off roaders, whoever, I highly recommend it. This thing is solid.. I got the suction mount with the 7" carbon fiber arm to the aluminum cellphone grip. It's a great setup and I love it. Took a while to get to my doorstep but well worth the wait.
So as a commercial photographer I got myself a Diamondback SE Tonneau cover! SUPER SECURE! I absolutely love it so far. I do have regrets in not getting the HD; I was thinking of welding some strong support beams across the two panels, or bolting them and mimic the HD's construction to reinforce it just a little bit more. I realize it will never be as strong as the HD but I figure it will add more strength and weight to the panels so I can truly sit on my truck bed with a lawn chair and an umbrella possibly someday.. Just because I can. idk. I just want it stronger for whatever is over 500lbs ok? Anyways moving forward~
Oh yeah, that pupperino right there is my dog Oakley, she is not allowed in Chipotle while dad goes and gets his guac bag to return to the truck so I wanted to leave here there so that no one breaks my windows in the California sun.
vvvvvvvv LASTLY! MOST IMPORTANT NON-MOD OF ALL LIFE HACK vvvvvvvvv
BAM. The single most useful piece of information or ideas from this otherwise completely useless post. If you want to spend money, Meso Customs makes the "gas-hole" which is the only fuel cap holder I'd probably get if I didn't discover this 200iQ feature. Otherwise dudes are gluing magnets and stuff and whatever. idk. We're all modding psychos. Yeah you. You reading this..
So that's it guys!
IMPORTANT LED LIGHT INFORMATION THAT I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY (PLS READ):
Alright fellas. Here's the scoop.
I wanted white interior LEDs that were brighter than the stock garbage we get.
Boy oh boy did I get fricken bright LEDs. I paid a whopping $86 for a package from headlight revolution: vanity lights, map lights, and dome light kit. I thought I was making the right choice getting the best of the best. Everything came and boy were they bright. So bright that it nauseated me. Like, I was showing my new truck to friends and it was night time and the lights were so bright it was embarrassing. Seriously. Truth is, the stock lights are dim but they work at night. the 194 LED lights they give you for your main map lights are gigantic and stick down so far that you can see the direct bulb through the light cover and it leaves marks in your eye ball and you're blinded for a few seconds while your eyes re adjust. -- Now let me talk about the dome light. The dome light they gave me was like an LED strip and it didn't even fit in the cover very well. I didn't like it. It was in there alright but if you looked you could see wires and when it was one you could see a gigantic non-romantic fricken heavenly jesus white light bright rectangle emanating from where the dome light is. I just wanted a replacement bulb, I got a replacement strip. If you like bright, if you want some shiznit that the radiation meters from Chernobyl will pick up, get that light setup. -- Don't even get me started on the vanity lights. Bro. That light was so bright you get done looking at your mug in those vanity mirrors, they will hurt your eyes. I think I have permanent damage from how bright those lights were.
I also bought license plate lights. Those were ok. I ended up putting those where the map lights were because they're 194 and that seemed to fix the brightness a little and also were receded a little bit so I didn't see the bare bulb.
I thought to myself, "Okay. I can live like this, this might be okay. I'll go to my tint guy and get some darker tint scraps and I'll handle this the manly way and just fix it to my specifications." WRONG.
I learned the hard way when I tried to unlock and lock my truck. The lights were so bright they fricken caused interference with my key fob. I'm talking losing range beyond 30 feet and spam clicking the lock or unlock button and nothing happening or something finally happening. I was sticking the fob to my head under my chin in my mouth in my butt all of that sh*t and no (consistent) dice.
(no dice is a figure of speech for "no luck" for you gen X'ers... you know who you are.)
I went straight to the internet, found a very small group of forums of people bashing LEDs and how that's a thing that happens that it will affect your FOB/alarm system and I said NUH UH not today like Arya Stark to death and I replaced all of my halogen bulbs and kissed every one of them before I reinserted them.
I AM FINE WITH MY STOCK BULBS... honestly thinking about putting red led vanity bulbs in my driver side vanity cause I think that could be handy if you're trying to be stealthy or something with not too bright of a light as red is not a bright or disruptive color wave of light. Probably won't do that but I'm just sharing my thoughts. Anyways. Sad that I don't have white lights though honestly. But that's fine, the yellow is kind of romantic and somehow the throw on yellow is more than that of white which kind of disappears in a way. I don't get it.
MOVING ONTO EXTERIOR HEAD LED LIGHTS: Alright, a certain company of which I am not naming their name. They wanted to sponsor my truck with all LEDs; I said great! In the exchange of telling them I'd do a video review of their shiz and do commercial photography of their headlights in my shiz they gave me 3 sets of H11 headlights for my low beams, high beams, and fog lights. 2 sets were not so bright mid range set of bulbs $80, and 1 set was their bright cream of the crop $130 price tag lights. They gave them all to me for free in exchange for the eventual review and photographs.
Long story short, here's my whiney bullet points:
-initial installation one of the points of insertion plastic things behind the led bulb broke (they replaced it and gave it back to me.)
-that light ended up flickering on and off when the cable was angled in certain directions. I had to like tape it a certain way so it would stay on. It was like dealing with a faulty cell phone charging cable.
-All of the fans in the LED lights had a unique whizzing sound, like they didn't sound the same. They should all sound the same brand new.
-HEADLIGHTS SHOULD NOT HAVE THEIR OWN COMPUTER FANS THAT ARE EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS/DUST.
-The white light didn't have enough throw; so I went to them for their more powerful model; BOY DID THEY HOOK ME UP. This shiz was so bright I didn't know what to say or what to do. It was so awkward driving behind people in cars, I could tell my beams were so fricken bright and all up in their windows that everyone on the road had to have hated me. It was obnoxiously bright. I don't think brighter is always better when it comes to day to day driving (during night time). Bright is not cool at the sacrifice of every one around you's comfort. That is not cool, that is not safe.
-I decided I was going to switch out the super duper bright ones from my low beams to my high beams, that way when it's time to put the brights on them BAM LET'S FRICKEN LIGHT UP THE MOUNTAINSIDE BABY **That did not happen. I went to grab them and the bulb actually came out of the holster thingy that it was apart of. Like I took the bulb out with the rest of the mechanism still stuck in where the socket is to put the bulb in. It slid off of the part that is supposed to secure the bulb.
It was at that moment of the faulty bulb, the broken piece, the inconsistent sounds, the bulb slipping apart from its own existence, it was way too bright, and exposed fans that I decided that LED headlights were not for me.
LED interior lights are also not for me.
If you want to LED over your stock shiznit then be my guest. I would love to have white light coming out of my low beams and high beams to make everything look way cleaner but personally not at the cost of potentially unreliable lights that will annoy/endanger every driver that you see.
"Merkoose, why don't you just get less bright LED bulbs for your headlights?" Great question, I think white just does not seem to have as much throw as the halogen yellow does. I don't know how to explain it, the dark spots that you can't see are way darker. White light just doesn't cut the way halogen does? I really don't know.
Between the absolute awful build quality of 99% of LED head lights that are mostly from China and the exposed fans for the LEDs that could some day leave you without a headlight is something I no longer want to be apart of. There is a high percentage change your LED headlights will be of sub-par build quality.
Also interior LEDs.. I think if I go back I'll hit up diode dynamics and get some respectable not so bright interior LEDs to figure out my situation. I think there are less bright options that will suit me just fine. Possibly not mess with my key fob reception. I recommend only getting map lights and the dome light. Do not get the cream of the crop vanity lights you will regret it. Too bright is real thing especially when you have to look straight into a mirror with those bright satan/jesus lights right in your fricken pupil hole.
...Oh and don't get me started on how interior LEDs inhibit/effect key FOB distance and reliability. That to me is unacceptable.
(also I heard headlight LEDs can screw with your radio reception? wtf? k I'm done. end rant on LEDS.)
So there you have it guys! You made it!
Thanks so much for reading my thread, my build and allowing me to share with you. I'd like to shout out to bustabeatgeorge for his videos and his inspirations(sport hood vinyl); that Jesse Rizzo guy's YouTube videos are so cool, helped me with my grille install. Also, there's this guy Seekoutbeauty on instagram and he's like famous in this tacoma industry and he talks to me whenever I DM him and that's pretty cool..
Please shoot over your recommendations for upgrades I might need, questions, whatever! I'd love to go to a meet up some day and meet some of you psychos or even go off roading on something easy if someone is willing to pull me out if I get stuck. I'd likely just skip the crazy stuff. Camping sure is fun though!
Thanks again guys! Cheers!
First and foremost I want to thank most of you members for being amazing and posting your builds and some of you, build processes for everything and anything. The Tacoma community is one of the coolest I've ever been so happy to become apart of.
I just wanted to share my truck with everyone! I'm pretty much done customizing it to all of my needs and I could not be happier.
I have zero friends in real life that off-road or have tacomas or anything and so I have no one to talk to and it makes me really sad every day. That's why I'm happy to have you guys!
The only thing I am missing now are my 0 degree sliders from Cali Raised LED at this current time.
Also my new custom black license plate from the California DMV so that'll take 3 months or so.
Future plans:
-Bedrack/high rise cross bars for a RTT + misc other stuff
-Roof top tent
-can't justify a roof rack
-CBI gas tank plate
-CBI front skid plate (for just incasies)
-front bumper winch system and possibly a 32" LED light strip depending on how desperately I need light in the future if I do ever off do light off roading at night a little bit.
-Mountain Hatch $240 tail gate insert for cooking and cutting meat on it and stuff. Mainly I want it for the cup holders.
-BPF heavy duty recovery tow hook (so my friends can pull me out when I come into a situation when I get stuck for being a dumbass 2WD Tacoma owner)
*(can't think of my other future mods but I'll update this in the future!)
I want to share some images of my truck, what I've done, and what little problems I came across with certain things, plus, I go in great detail with my LED lights experience with exterior headlights and interior LED lights.
non 4x4 disclaimer:
Oh, and last thing. I know I made a mistake not getting 4x4. I kick my own ass every day for it; at the same time I drive ALOT for work all over southern california, I always told myself if I did off-road, i'd break stuff, or tweak stuff. It was my way of grounding/checking myself when I bought it from the dealership. You know what? My truck is still super capable and I can't wait to take it on some simple to medium trails and have fun. I do not want to go to MOAB and fricken go up hell's gate with my daily driver. Also, gas is $4.00 a gallon here in southern california. I burn through a tank every week and a half at $75 a fill up. I'm not broke and I work very hard but, sheesh man. Getting a lift and 35s would be amazing but I don't know about getting 11mpg and only off roading like 1% of the time I'm actually using my truck.
Without further ado, here's my truck!
Pictured here is Elly, my 2019 TRD Sport with all the packages (named after the number 11) sporting her overly expensive OEM TRD Pro Grille with the OEM Garnish! No problems with the sensor sensing at all. Works great.
Windows are all tinted of course. I tinted the windshield with the lightest tint possible before clear. It cuts 60% of UV heat and I couldn't be happier. My cab stays way cool all the time and it's the best illegal decision I've made. Also helps cut the glare and it's hardly noticeable that there is even tint there.
WHEELS AND TIRES: So I know this will be the biggest question from most of ya as this is the thing that concerns the majority of Tacoma owners; "BRUH WHAT SIZE ARE THOSE TIRES AND WHEELZ?"
Let me share! -- Pretty standard setup, everyone will trash talk that EVERYONE and their mom has this setup.. truth is I haven't seen another tacoma in the wild with this setup. Just... Everyone on the internet has this setup it seems, lol!
Wheels: 4Runner TRD PRO Sema Matte Black Wheels 17"
Tires: KO2 265/70/17R with the C rating for comfort!
NO RUBBING AT ALL. STOCK SUSPENSION.
I did a lot of research, WAY TOO MUCH RESEARCH. I wanted to keep my shiznit as close to stock as I possibly could. Stock rims have a +30mm offset, these have a +4mm offset-- SOMEHOW THAT MAKES THE WHEELS STICK OUT AND STAND WIDER. I don't understand it, I don't get it, but you know what that's how this cookie crumbles and I couldn't be happier about it.
This wheel and tire setup has affected my mpg by about .75 mpg and I have no regrets at all.
Every time I look at my truck or run over a curb I could not be more happy.
Elly Sideview
Hood scoop mod! -- I Vinyl wrapped the hood scoop, super cool easy mod with some 3M Vinyl I got off Amazon.
Warning though: Amazon sucks butt at shipping vinyl wrap. Expect it to come crinkled possibly. I got the 2'x5' roll in order to get this accomplished.
I got extra and my plan was to fully mimic the look of the TRD Pro hood decal to cut out glare, but I decided I didn't want to go too far deep into the TRD Pro poser train. I absolutely love this mod, the scoop is easily removed by 4 10mm nuts and 4 screws and one orange clip under the hood for vinyl wrapping. Super easy to remove.
Just put this decal on today; don't know completely yet if I'm going to take it off in the near future, for now I think it's pretty cool! Especially since 4th of July is around the corner. Here's the link if you're interested in it (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074C55NL5/?tag=tacoma3g-20)
Here is my 67 Designs Cell phone mount! FRICKEN SOLID and pretty bad ass looking to boot. This whole rig? $85. Please don't yell at me or tell me what I could have gotten cheaper because I'm well aware this was an irresponsible purchase, or was it? I don't know. I love it and I have no regrets. Off roaders, whoever, I highly recommend it. This thing is solid.. I got the suction mount with the 7" carbon fiber arm to the aluminum cellphone grip. It's a great setup and I love it. Took a while to get to my doorstep but well worth the wait.
So as a commercial photographer I got myself a Diamondback SE Tonneau cover! SUPER SECURE! I absolutely love it so far. I do have regrets in not getting the HD; I was thinking of welding some strong support beams across the two panels, or bolting them and mimic the HD's construction to reinforce it just a little bit more. I realize it will never be as strong as the HD but I figure it will add more strength and weight to the panels so I can truly sit on my truck bed with a lawn chair and an umbrella possibly someday.. Just because I can. idk. I just want it stronger for whatever is over 500lbs ok? Anyways moving forward~
Oh yeah, that pupperino right there is my dog Oakley, she is not allowed in Chipotle while dad goes and gets his guac bag to return to the truck so I wanted to leave here there so that no one breaks my windows in the California sun.
vvvvvvvv LASTLY! MOST IMPORTANT NON-MOD OF ALL LIFE HACK vvvvvvvvv
BAM. The single most useful piece of information or ideas from this otherwise completely useless post. If you want to spend money, Meso Customs makes the "gas-hole" which is the only fuel cap holder I'd probably get if I didn't discover this 200iQ feature. Otherwise dudes are gluing magnets and stuff and whatever. idk. We're all modding psychos. Yeah you. You reading this..
So that's it guys!
IMPORTANT LED LIGHT INFORMATION THAT I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY (PLS READ):
Alright fellas. Here's the scoop.
I wanted white interior LEDs that were brighter than the stock garbage we get.
Boy oh boy did I get fricken bright LEDs. I paid a whopping $86 for a package from headlight revolution: vanity lights, map lights, and dome light kit. I thought I was making the right choice getting the best of the best. Everything came and boy were they bright. So bright that it nauseated me. Like, I was showing my new truck to friends and it was night time and the lights were so bright it was embarrassing. Seriously. Truth is, the stock lights are dim but they work at night. the 194 LED lights they give you for your main map lights are gigantic and stick down so far that you can see the direct bulb through the light cover and it leaves marks in your eye ball and you're blinded for a few seconds while your eyes re adjust. -- Now let me talk about the dome light. The dome light they gave me was like an LED strip and it didn't even fit in the cover very well. I didn't like it. It was in there alright but if you looked you could see wires and when it was one you could see a gigantic non-romantic fricken heavenly jesus white light bright rectangle emanating from where the dome light is. I just wanted a replacement bulb, I got a replacement strip. If you like bright, if you want some shiznit that the radiation meters from Chernobyl will pick up, get that light setup. -- Don't even get me started on the vanity lights. Bro. That light was so bright you get done looking at your mug in those vanity mirrors, they will hurt your eyes. I think I have permanent damage from how bright those lights were.
I also bought license plate lights. Those were ok. I ended up putting those where the map lights were because they're 194 and that seemed to fix the brightness a little and also were receded a little bit so I didn't see the bare bulb.
I thought to myself, "Okay. I can live like this, this might be okay. I'll go to my tint guy and get some darker tint scraps and I'll handle this the manly way and just fix it to my specifications." WRONG.
I learned the hard way when I tried to unlock and lock my truck. The lights were so bright they fricken caused interference with my key fob. I'm talking losing range beyond 30 feet and spam clicking the lock or unlock button and nothing happening or something finally happening. I was sticking the fob to my head under my chin in my mouth in my butt all of that sh*t and no (consistent) dice.
(no dice is a figure of speech for "no luck" for you gen X'ers... you know who you are.)
I went straight to the internet, found a very small group of forums of people bashing LEDs and how that's a thing that happens that it will affect your FOB/alarm system and I said NUH UH not today like Arya Stark to death and I replaced all of my halogen bulbs and kissed every one of them before I reinserted them.
I AM FINE WITH MY STOCK BULBS... honestly thinking about putting red led vanity bulbs in my driver side vanity cause I think that could be handy if you're trying to be stealthy or something with not too bright of a light as red is not a bright or disruptive color wave of light. Probably won't do that but I'm just sharing my thoughts. Anyways. Sad that I don't have white lights though honestly. But that's fine, the yellow is kind of romantic and somehow the throw on yellow is more than that of white which kind of disappears in a way. I don't get it.
MOVING ONTO EXTERIOR HEAD LED LIGHTS: Alright, a certain company of which I am not naming their name. They wanted to sponsor my truck with all LEDs; I said great! In the exchange of telling them I'd do a video review of their shiz and do commercial photography of their headlights in my shiz they gave me 3 sets of H11 headlights for my low beams, high beams, and fog lights. 2 sets were not so bright mid range set of bulbs $80, and 1 set was their bright cream of the crop $130 price tag lights. They gave them all to me for free in exchange for the eventual review and photographs.
Long story short, here's my whiney bullet points:
-initial installation one of the points of insertion plastic things behind the led bulb broke (they replaced it and gave it back to me.)
-that light ended up flickering on and off when the cable was angled in certain directions. I had to like tape it a certain way so it would stay on. It was like dealing with a faulty cell phone charging cable.
-All of the fans in the LED lights had a unique whizzing sound, like they didn't sound the same. They should all sound the same brand new.
-HEADLIGHTS SHOULD NOT HAVE THEIR OWN COMPUTER FANS THAT ARE EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS/DUST.
-The white light didn't have enough throw; so I went to them for their more powerful model; BOY DID THEY HOOK ME UP. This shiz was so bright I didn't know what to say or what to do. It was so awkward driving behind people in cars, I could tell my beams were so fricken bright and all up in their windows that everyone on the road had to have hated me. It was obnoxiously bright. I don't think brighter is always better when it comes to day to day driving (during night time). Bright is not cool at the sacrifice of every one around you's comfort. That is not cool, that is not safe.
-I decided I was going to switch out the super duper bright ones from my low beams to my high beams, that way when it's time to put the brights on them BAM LET'S FRICKEN LIGHT UP THE MOUNTAINSIDE BABY **That did not happen. I went to grab them and the bulb actually came out of the holster thingy that it was apart of. Like I took the bulb out with the rest of the mechanism still stuck in where the socket is to put the bulb in. It slid off of the part that is supposed to secure the bulb.
It was at that moment of the faulty bulb, the broken piece, the inconsistent sounds, the bulb slipping apart from its own existence, it was way too bright, and exposed fans that I decided that LED headlights were not for me.
LED interior lights are also not for me.
If you want to LED over your stock shiznit then be my guest. I would love to have white light coming out of my low beams and high beams to make everything look way cleaner but personally not at the cost of potentially unreliable lights that will annoy/endanger every driver that you see.
"Merkoose, why don't you just get less bright LED bulbs for your headlights?" Great question, I think white just does not seem to have as much throw as the halogen yellow does. I don't know how to explain it, the dark spots that you can't see are way darker. White light just doesn't cut the way halogen does? I really don't know.
Between the absolute awful build quality of 99% of LED head lights that are mostly from China and the exposed fans for the LEDs that could some day leave you without a headlight is something I no longer want to be apart of. There is a high percentage change your LED headlights will be of sub-par build quality.
Also interior LEDs.. I think if I go back I'll hit up diode dynamics and get some respectable not so bright interior LEDs to figure out my situation. I think there are less bright options that will suit me just fine. Possibly not mess with my key fob reception. I recommend only getting map lights and the dome light. Do not get the cream of the crop vanity lights you will regret it. Too bright is real thing especially when you have to look straight into a mirror with those bright satan/jesus lights right in your fricken pupil hole.
...Oh and don't get me started on how interior LEDs inhibit/effect key FOB distance and reliability. That to me is unacceptable.
(also I heard headlight LEDs can screw with your radio reception? wtf? k I'm done. end rant on LEDS.)
So there you have it guys! You made it!
Thanks so much for reading my thread, my build and allowing me to share with you. I'd like to shout out to bustabeatgeorge for his videos and his inspirations(sport hood vinyl); that Jesse Rizzo guy's YouTube videos are so cool, helped me with my grille install. Also, there's this guy Seekoutbeauty on instagram and he's like famous in this tacoma industry and he talks to me whenever I DM him and that's pretty cool..
Please shoot over your recommendations for upgrades I might need, questions, whatever! I'd love to go to a meet up some day and meet some of you psychos or even go off roading on something easy if someone is willing to pull me out if I get stuck. I'd likely just skip the crazy stuff. Camping sure is fun though!
Thanks again guys! Cheers!
