4GTD Build - Underground TRD Off-Road

[4GTD]

My first Tacoma - a 2013 Tacoma TRD TX Baja with a third pedal and a TRD supercharger. One of my favorite vehicles I've owned (and I've owned too many to count) but as a daily driver, it just wasn't everything I wanted it to be... no one in the family could drive it, let alone move it around in the driveway because no one knew how to drive a manual - to the fact that it took 93 was making the truck more of an occasion to drive rather than the "daily" I needed. I was craving something I could just get in and drive while still being capable of hauling my mountain bikes and motorcycles to track days.

Then they finally teased the 4th gen trucks online and i knew right away I wanted one.
So I sold the 2.5 gen a couple years before the official roll out of the 4th gen trucks while I could still get premium dollar for the old truck.

After a lot of test drives at local dealerships, I drove 8 hours round-trip to pick up a premium package off-road with the sway bar disconnect (at the time the combination was impossible to find within a 500 mile radius).

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[4GTD]

10k miles later and it's time to change things up a bit:

• SXTH Element Axle Dump Exhaust Tip
• Peak Suspension 2 piece trail kit w/ 1" rear spacer
• NYTOP Carbon Fender Flares
• Aspire Auto "Heritage" grille (no light bar cutout)
• Nitto Recon Grappler 285/75
• Fifteen52 Traverse HD 17x8.5 +0

 

[4GTD]

ARK Splash Guards

Living in a state that gets a good amount of snow in the winter months, the wider wheel & tire package slings an ungodly amount of road grime all over the side of the truck.
ARK full size mudflaps for the 4th gen trucks are almost perfect for a 285 section width tire and a 8.5" +0 wheel.

With the ARK mudflaps and NYTOP flares, there is a noticeable decrease in the visible road grime slung on the sides of the truck.

Will it fully prevent paint chipping on the lower parts of the doors and bed sides? No. But if it'll help minimize the chances of it happening, then I'm all for it.

Stock USDM mudflaps:

ARK full sized mudflaps:

 

[4GTD]

Lamin-X Fog Light Film

Ill be honest, this was one of those, "I think these will just look better" type of mods. Not really for function at all.
I was skeptical at first because I wasn't sure how durable the film would be, but the film is actually quite thick and still pliable which helped with the install.

1. Wipe the fog light lens' with isopropyl alcohol and let dry
2. Heat the lens and film with a heat gun (it was 20°F at the time of install)
3. Apply film holding the alignment tabs
4. Press from the center outward
5. Cut the access film/alignment tabs

It was extremely simple to install (probably 5min to do both lights). No bubbles even with the "dry" application method.

As for the light output, it really didn't diminish the stock fog light output, its just yellow lol

 

[4GTD]

Tin Cup ORV Trail

Took the truck to a local ORV route here in Michigan and the truck was great (mostly).

Getting to go through trails with a heated steering wheel and heated seats was definitely something I didn't think I'd need prior to having this truck, it was a pleasant luxury to have!

The biggest issue I had with the truck was the transmission temperatures.
Moving throughout the trail, I was moving between 10-15mph. There was enough snow and mud to require 4WD, but I wasn't going slow enough to require 4L. Keeping the truck in 4H, the trucks transmission temps we're starting to climb after a stretch, and I was forced to stop in the middle of the trail, and shift into 4L to cool the temps.
But driving at certain speeds in 4L, it made the truck obviously very tricky to drive smoothly with the higher rpm as the transmission tries to maintain as much low end torque as possible. The only thing I didn't try was to manually shift up gears using the gear selector. I definitely missed the 2.5gen 6spd I had during these moments.

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