Tacoma Limited : Blackout Progress

[Gurvy522]

Grill:
I like love the idea of the Grill/light bar combo as part of the blackout transition. Any info on tips or lessons learned is appreciated. Are the grills pretty much interchangeable (attach points, etc) or is there more serious work to be done there? And the lights...guessing that power/harness was all new?

Correct, all the grills are interchangeable. Toyota does have an OE lightbar that connects into the highbeam circuit, but I'm not sure it's even available. I made my own brackets for Heretic bar as well as the front-facing camera. Yes to the harness, had to get a new one. I have a couple other threads discussing the installation of those parts.

Handles:
The purist in me wants to replace them...but I hate tearing into a new door even more. So I am thinking about wrapping them (anyone done that)? I have applied Scotchcal protective film on lots of fun surfaces...so it seems plausible. The plastic covers are intriguing because of the simplicity....are they bulky or lose fitting? They seem popular but I don't want to negatively affect the feel of such a practical feature of the truck (i.e getting in).

Same boat, been there, just get the handle overlays. The ones I got were like $26 bucks or so shipped and I think they look perfectly fine. You can try wrapping but the keyhole will definitely be a bit tricky.

Wheels/Tires (specifically for bumping up from stock 265/65R18 to 265/70R18)
Lots of options there, but I was curious about Gurvy522 opting to move the tires out 22mm (offset change from stock). When you factor in the wheel width change (from 7.5 stock to 8.0), I think you end up picking up 17mm of clearance on the inside and push the outside of the tire out 29mm (a little over an inch). Was there a method to the madness...like need clearance or does the 265/70R18 fit without the offset/width changes? How is the "poke"...I did not seem much if any from the images...but the math says they should have moved out a bit at least. Looks great btw...just curious if it was intentional to get clearance for some reason.

265/70R18 will fit without any modifications. It's actually the stock size for the hybrids with 18s. I originally wanted +38s as I too did not want that much poke. But I found these +32s from a guy in Japan that were "old-new" stock, I guess a special order for someone that cancelled. Was definitely a pain as I had a bit of an issue with customs getting them in, but nevertheless, was really happy with the fitment with the 265 section tires.

Bonus points if anyone has knowledge around the widest 265/70R18 (32.6 dia) that has been successful on stock LIMITED wheel (18' dia, 7.5" wide, 55mm offset)

285/65R18 is the largest width you can go on stock suspension and wheels. Lot of OR guys are running 285/70R17 on their 17s. I considered 285s, but do a lot of towing and decided on the narrower tires for slightly better economy - as well as better performance in the snow.

Speed/Odometer Cal
What is the consensus on recalibrating the speed/odometer after bumping up to bigger tire diameter(s)?

I dug heavily into TIS to see if there was some calibration process - there is not, surprisingly. They do list a margin of error for speedometer differences (I think it was 4% or so), and on the 33s I noticed the speedo was reading approximately 1-2MPH slow at 63MPH compared to GPS. It's really not a huge deal and I wouldn't worry about it too much.

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[Baltimore]

Re: wheels and speedometer

Has anyone tried or checked whether recalibrating your tpms adjusts your speedometer for larger wheels?
Given they specifically list changing tires or tire pressure as a reason to recalibrate, and that you have to drive above a certain speed for a set amount of time, it would seem plausible that it's within that procedure.

Pages 504-511 in the hybrid manual

 

[Nic24ifmltd]

I am new to the forum and a bit ahead of myself since I am still looking for my truck . I have been been following the 'blackout" activity since I am likely going down that same path. Thanks in advance to Gurvy522...looks like quality work.

Grill:
I like love the idea of the Grill/light bar combo as part of the blackout transition. Any info on tips or lessons learned is appreciated. Are the grills pretty much interchangeable (attach points, etc) or is there more serious work to be done there? And the lights...guessing that power/harness was all new?

Handles:
The purist in me wants to replace them...but I hate tearing into a new door even more. So I am thinking about wrapping them (anyone done that)? I have applied Scotchcal protective film on lots of fun surfaces...so it seems plausible. The plastic covers are intriguing because of the simplicity....are they bulky or lose fitting? They seem popular but I don't want to negatively affect the feel of such a practical feature of the truck (i.e getting in).

Wheels/Tires (specifically for bumping up from stock 265/65R18 to 265/70R18)
Lots of options there, but I was curious about Gurvy522 opting to move the tires out 22mm (offset change from stock). When you factor in the wheel width change (from 7.5 stock to 8.0), I think you end up picking up 17mm of clearance on the inside and push the outside of the tire out 29mm (a little over an inch). Was there a method to the madness...like need clearance or does the 265/70R18 fit without the offset/width changes? How is the "poke"...I did not seem much if any from the images...but the math says they should have moved out a bit at least. Looks great btw...just curious if it was intentional to get clearance for some reason.

Bonus points if anyone has knowledge around the widest 265/70R18 (32.6 dia) that has been successful on stock LIMITED wheel (18' dia, 7.5" wide, 55mm offset)

mrgooden....there may be another set of chromes for you in TX

Speed/Odometer Cal
What is the consensus on recalibrating the speed/odometer after bumping up to bigger tire diameter(s)?

And thanks for the knowledge sharing that has allowed me to start planning in advance.

I’m going to post a detailed progression soon, but I hav been blacking out my limited and I did wrap door and tailgate handles. Im super happy with it and it doesn’t impact the touch feature. I also put 265/70R18s on.

 

[Gurvy522]

Re: wheels and speedometer

Has anyone tried or checked whether recalibrating your tpms adjusts your speedometer for larger wheels?
Given they specifically list changing tires or tire pressure as a reason to recalibrate, and that you have to drive above a certain speed for a set amount of time, it would seem plausible that it's within that procedure.

Pages 504-511 in the hybrid manual

Interesting - didn't think about that possibility, would make a lot of sense. I have a friend that runs a tire shop, I just picked up the universal autel sensors and had him clone my OE ones.

 

[Gurvy522]

Got around to finally getting the tailgate done. I originally had vinyl wrapped my tailgate handle but was not pleased with the result - it was really hard to get the vinyl to stick into the letter indentations.

So for now, I just figured I'd plasti-dip it. Honestly looks better than expected and was super easy to do since the handle garnish comes off the tailgate so easily, so I sprayed it with 4 coats while it was off the truck.

I will eventually replace the part with the OEM black garnish, but apparently it's backordered for a while.

For the tailgate letters, I removed the chrome lettering with a heatgun and replaced it EyeCatcher "Pro" series lettering. The old letters come off pretty easily with minimal residue, but took a little elbow grease to clean off some of the adhesive that remained.

It's a little bit pricier but I really love the quality of the beveling on their letters. Highly recommend EyeCatcher if you're looking for a step up from OEM. Made in the US as well.

 

[diablo2112]

+1 on the plastidip coating. In my case, I used Rustoleum Peel Coat (same thing, basically). Thin, light coats are the key. I did about 10, turned out perfect. First pic is just after the last coat. Still wet, it turns matte black when dry.

 

[Gurvy522]

+1 on the plastidip coating. In my case, I used Rustoleum Peel Coat (same thing, basically). Thin, light coats are the key. I did about 10, turned out perfect. First pic is just after the last coat. Still wet, it turns matte black when dry.

Ah that looks nice. Not as much as a gritty texture as the Plasti-dip. I'm always worried about the longevity of these solutions but I guess if push comes to shove we can always respray the part.

 

[Delta1Seven]

285/65R18 is the largest width you can go on stock suspension and wheels. Lot of OR guys are running 285/70R17 on their 17s. I considered 285s, but do a lot of towing and decided on the narrower tires for slightly better economy - as well as better performance in the snow.

I have a Limited with AVS. Do you know if my truck can fit the same wheels/tires as a TRD OR?

I was looking at the 285/70R17, just need to figure out what offset I want.

 

[Gurvy522]

I have a Limited with AVS. Do you know if my truck can fit the same wheels/tires as a TRD OR?

I was looking at the 285/70R17, just need to figure out what offset I want.

Yeah, they'll definitely fit. I wouldn't go past +25 unless you're looking for intentional poke.

 

[Delta1Seven]

Yeah, they'll definitely fit. I wouldn't go past +25 unless you're looking for intentional poke.

thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I don't want much poke. I found this photo on google, and this is the fitment I would prefer. (Tread is flush with fender, and the sidewall pokes just a smidge)

I just need to figure out what offset this is...

 

[Gurvy522]

thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I don't want much poke. A positive number tucks my wheels into my fenders right? I see you are +32, and others are about -(negative)30ish which seems like a huge difference. If anything, I would like it either flush or just a TAD bit of poke.

-30 maybe on previous gens but I don't think I've seen anyone with that aggressive of an offset on a 4G.

+32 sits maybe just about flush for me with 265 section tires but keep in mind I only have 8" wheels. If you ran a +25 on an 8.5J it would stick out another half an inch or so compared to my setup, just an ever-so-slight amount of poke.

Only thing that will be tricky is just finding something you like in the right sizing, if you want to do skinnier 33s on 18s. A lot of the options from your typical suspects are gonna be a lot wider, most of Methods 18s are 9" wide. Unless you wanna go the JDM route. There was another guy that ran the off-road TEs and they look great on a 4G.

 

[jregues]

Where were you able to find a OE lower bumper trim that worked with the camera system?

 

[Gurvy522]

Where were you able to find a OE lower bumper trim that worked with the camera system?

Lower bumper trim doesn't have any cameras or affect the camera system at all. The camera is in the grille itself.

 

[jregues]

Lower bumper trim doesn't have any cameras or affect the camera system at all. The camera is in the grille itself.

Oh ok!

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