[nglayton]

More pics...I'm not sure why this had a fin in the first place, the whole thing is flat mounted any way.

[nglayton]

Boy is my roof dirty......

[nglayton]

I've been eyeing these tail light mods for a while now and just could never pull the trigger.

I have never liked the giant red becon'ish stop lights on my 2011 TE, then the 2014+ models came out and I didn't really like the look of those either. None of the choices really has the right look. The 3rd brake light light is also pretty bad with a giant white lens and red LED's behind the white lens. Yes, even back in 2011 the third brake light assembly is LED. Then I found this

iJDMToy Smoked 3rd Brake Light

They also sold it on Amazon for $5 cheaper

It looks like both places are sold out now, but searching ebay shows multiple options.

[nglayton]

I couldn't stop with just the 3rd brake light, so I pulled the trigger on these from Unique Style Racing. 4Runner Black Housing Tail lights


To swap out these 3 items took me less than 30 minutes. Probably one of the easiest mods I've ever done. Only 2 screws/4 nuts total (2 for each light) to remove and replace to complete the swaps.

Here's a few before and after pics







I like the new smoked look a lot better than the old look, but there is still a LOT of room for improvement.

The design of the tail light both old and new just bugs the cr@p out of me!!
1) The big bulbish part of the upper section on both new and old lights is just begging to get smashed or busted on stuff the way it sticks out. They should have streamlined it along the same geometry as the body lines.
2) The swooping red reflectors down the side and around the bottom on the newer style are just dumb looking in my opinion.
3) Mostly, I'm a little concerned that the lights are not near as bright as they used to be. I'm sure the look will grow on me, mostly since I only see it with the lights off. But the reduced brightness can't be a safe thing. Smoking the lenses doesn't help this at all.

I did pay to have the tail as turn mod done (or whatever USR calls it(USAM?)) and upgraded the backup lights as well so in reverse this is really bright. It seems more thought was put into that part of the mod than the actual brightness of the LED's for stop and turning.

[nglayton]

In my 87 t4r I had a 23 channel CB Radio – Never used it.
When I traded it in and bought my 99 t4r, I doubled down and installed a 40 channel CB radio – Never used it either.
When I bought the 2011 TE, I decided since I never used the last two, why bother and didn’t install anything.

For over 10 years we have been using the Garmin Rino series of handheld GPS/GMRS Radios in all of our outdoor adventures. These are solid radios that can transmit over 10 miles in most conditions. We use them hunting, camping, backpacking and even on road trips. I actually never leave on a trip without a pair of them, I love these things. Although they never really worked great from car to car, I still never leave home without them.

Then after seeing multiple people install the Midland MXT275 in their t4r’s, I realized that’s the GMRS base station I should’ve had in the car all along. It would certainly make the car to car communication more reliable.

Midland has a lot of great sales all the time and great coupon codes. Do a search before ordering and I bet you can get at least 20% off, if you aren’t in a hurry.

With the Garmin Rino’s they transmit with either ½, 2 or 5 watts depending on the channel you choose and the type of battery. I was surprised that the Midland radios offered a much larger range of transmit wattage. While the 15 watts of the MXT275 would be 3x the Garmin I use, I didn’t like the looks of the Mic, nor did I see the need to “hide” it under or inside anything.

Going with the bigger is always better theory I choose the MXT400 – 40 watts of transmit power. Besides that, the red’ish/orange LCD panel matched the rest of the dash lighting much better than the blue or white displays on the other radios. I paired that up with the MXTA26 6DB Gain Whip Antenna and the MXTA24 Low Profile Cable to hook them all together.

Nothing fancy for the install, I just mounted it to the transmission hump on the passenger side. I had previously installed Victory 4x4 molle panels to help organize the clutter and I just bolted this right to them.








I choose the Caliraisedled low profile ditch light bracket to mount the antenna on.







**Rabbit Hole** After buying the CBI ditch light bracket only to discover the CBI bracket is a piece of SH!T that requires you to cut the windshield cowling so the hood can shut. I am still dumbfound that a company with the reputation of CBI sells that piece of sh!t to 4runner owners and doesn’t warn anyone that you have to cut, bend or modify stuff just to get the hood to close after install. I will go on record saying that is the lamest, most poorly designed item I have ever purchased in my entire life. It’s the first and last product that I will ever buy from CBI. They won’t respond to my email about it and it’s been over 2 full weeks, nor did they post the review I left for it on the website. Quick to sell and ship, but they could give a rats @$$ after the sale. I didn’t even ask to return the piss poorly designed item, I just wanted an explanation of their lack of design skills and apparently they are too scared to talked about it. I mean it's not like there isn't room a 1/2" towards the center to design a perfect fit. Disgusting company in more ways than one. I guess you get what you pay for with CBI. Lowest price = piece of crap. Shame on me, I should have done better research on my part before buying from a company with such a good rep as CBI.


This is the fit and finish for the piece of shit CBI bracket above.

The Caliraisedled version fits perfectly, no mods or cutting and is ½” - ¾” lower, and just as high quality.

[nglayton]

About a year ago I installed and S-tech POD system. While it worked perfectly with no issues, I wasn't really impressed with the POD section in the cab. I had a small write up on it back at post #99 and just figured I would live with it.

Fast forward a year, I added a couple of devices to my switch setup and needed some new stickers to label the switches. This is one of the several things I hated about the POD switch.
1) The labels are IMPOSSIBLE to get on straight with ruining them.
2) The white plastic switch ALWAYS shows through no matter how straight the label is and looks ridiculously lame on a black Dash.
3) POD sticks out way too far to look very professionally installed or OEM'ish.
4) Super loud click to turn off/on
5) Don't get me started on the color lighting scheme.

I discovered they now sell and upgraded set of switches to replace the POD end of my switch system. This basically solved everyone of my misgivings with the old POD switches. (Color of lighting could still use some tweaks, but it's ok)

It looks great now!