Matts Bronze Oxide TRD Off Road

[emerica243]

12/27/24

First Toyota\Tacoma. Purchased an Off Road for $52k. It came with goodies like the Premium package, TRD performance exhaust, Tonneau cover and a few other little knick nacks.

**PLACEHOLDER FOR ORIGINAL PICTURES HERE**

1/4/24

1. Installed Go Rhino Dominator Extreme D6 running boards. 3 brackets for each side that went into the factory rocker panel bolt holes. Torque rating for bolts should be 20ish ftlbs.

**PLACEHOLDER FOR PICTURES HERE**

2. Installed RokBlokz rally size mud guards. 5 oem bolts came out to remove the factory mud guards and then you use the included hardware to install the RokBlokz.

Sponsored

 

[socaltubbs]

Terrific color choice on your truck. Thanks for posting the side by side comparison photos. I expect that the first thing I will do is install some running boards also.

 

[emerica243]

1/7/24

1. Installed AlphaRex Nova Prismatic tails lights. Install was easy, 2 bolts, pull off the OEM light, swap the button (if you have it) put in two screws...BUT WAIT there were no screwed provided. And the screws out of the OEM assembly are a size or two too big to fit in the pre-made plastic holes in the AlphaRex assemblies.

AlphaRex on the left, OEM on the right.

OEM

AlphaRex

OEM

AlphaRex

2. Installed Lasfit switchback LED bulbs. Easy install, reach behind headlight and remove OEM bulb\connector\plug, insert new bulb, reinstall.

Bonus, tiny hitch!

 

[emerica243]

Not of much high importance so will just append these here.


1/8/24

1. Installed a bunch of Amazon accessories for inside the vehicle.

2. 3D printed a drink cover.

 

[emerica243]

1/11/24

1. Some interior lighting goodies have arrived.

1. Installed some interior MESO Customs leds. Didnt get to the MAP lights yet, will do them today and include pics and an overall video later tonight.

 

[emerica243]

2/4/25

Little interior stuff going on today..

 

[emerica243]

Goodies!

 

[emerica243]

Quick late night install of rear pods.

 

[emerica243]

 

[emerica243]

Frosty !

 

[emerica243]

2/8/24

RC molle installed.

 

[Kdbradley85]

Hey Matt, I found your post about the AlphaRex tail lights on another thread which lead me here. Really cool stuff! Anyway, I was curious if you could take some daytime pictures of the tail lights from different angles (specifically from the sides) both on and off? My truck doesn't have the powered tail gate. Does this matter with these lights? They're kind of pricey, but they look awesome when they're running, and I'm possibly interested in buying a set for myself. Their website shows only one very far away photo of them mounted on an actual truck, and no matter which one of the three "colors" you pick, they show the same pictures. Are yours the "Black," "Alpha-Black," or the "Black-Red" versions? Lastly, and most importantly, how are you liking them? Were they worth the money (well made, fitment, quality of materials)? Are they holding up well? Sorry to bombard you with a bunch of demands, but these puppies ain't cheap, and I'd like to make sure I'm a fan of 'em before I go spending a bunch of cash money. Lord knows I've already spent a ton on this truck already! I'd very much appreciate any info you could help to provide. Also, I apologize if you already did all this stuff in another thread, but I haven't found much in the way of information on these things aside from what you've shared here so far. Have a good one!

 

[emerica243]

Hey Matt, I found your post about the AlphaRex tail lights on another thread which lead me here. Really cool stuff! Anyway, I was curious if you could take some daytime pictures of the tail lights from different angles (specifically from the sides) both on and off? My truck doesn't have the powered tail gate. Does this matter with these lights? They're kind of pricey, but they look awesome when they're running, and I'm possibly interested in buying a set for myself. Their website shows only one very far away photo of them mounted on an actual truck, and no matter which one of the three "colors" you pick, they show the same pictures. Are yours the "Black," "Alpha-Black," or the "Black-Red" versions? Lastly, and most importantly, how are you liking them? Were they worth the money (well made, fitment, quality of materials)? Are they holding up well? Sorry to bombard you with a bunch of demands, but these puppies ain't cheap, and I'd like to make sure I'm a fan of 'em before I go spending a bunch of cash money. Lord knows I've already spent a ton on this truck already! I'd very much appreciate any info you could help to provide. Also, I apologize if you already did all this stuff in another thread, but I haven't found much in the way of information on these things aside from what you've shared here so far. Have a good one!

Hopefully this will suffice. I lowered the exposure on some to try to show the true red color and not so much orange the other photos show.

Will answer your other questions after work.

 

[Kdbradley85]

You are the man!!! Thank you

 

[emerica243]

You are the man!!! Thank you

Attempting to answer some of your previous questions.

Having or not having powered tail gate doesnt matter. The lights arrive in the form of your vehicle not having that option. Its just a blank peice of plastic there. If you have the powered tailgate you need to break that piece off and then insert the button in its place from your oem set.

I would say Alpharex has some missing things to be desired. The good news is there hasnt been any moisture, water, leak issues. Which can be common with aftermarket assemblies. When it comes to aftermarket headlight and taillight assemblies specifically its really 3 categories.

OEM quality - OEM brands being the most expensive, thick sturdy material and quality seals and fitment.

Aftermarket good - Morimoto, Alpharex(maybe), FORM(maybe). These arent quite OEM level but much much above the "meh" rating. They have almost or matched OEM parity in the form of optics and modern projector technologies. I say "maybe" for Alpharex because while ive had 2 other sets of their lights on previous vehicles of which they have performed as stated. I dont know how their warranty and support model is since i never had to leverage it. There was also alot to be desired as far as their TERRIBLE ability to provide valuable information on the product your buying and including all the parts with the product. For example, no where on their site do they mentioned around if these work or wouldnt work with a power tailgate like you even questioned. I had to confirm that myself via their email and they still didn't add it to their product listing. Also, it didnt come with screws for if you were swapping your power button over. And the holes for the screws were too small to just use the OEM screws from the OEM tail light. So much to be desired there for a light that totes premium prices. In all honestly alot of their success is their ability to bring the "wow" factors and circuitry to their lights in which the masses cant help but want to have. They have a strong marketing strategy and presence. FORM lighting is relatively new and I have no experience with them but see them being promoted by some other reputable lighting brands.

Aftermarket meh - DEPO, EagleEyes, TYC, Anzo, etc. All your barely $100-$300 ebay available brands. Made with thinnest plastic, cheapest optics, light designs, etc. Likely will have moisture issues, easily crack or brack, etc.

Sponsored