What have you done to your 1st gen Tundra today?

The method caps would likely work, just hate to be a poser with them on my non-method wheels. But some cool options

 

What I was trying to say, worded better
If you run spacers w/o a matching centric ridge on them couldn't you basically mount wheels with no bore?
I know the diff between hub and lug centric. I think someone here has run something lug centric with no issues.

 

Exactly, but there’s no way @shifty` is running a set of wheel spacers. Hence my puzzlement.

 

I just noticed rocktrix has 18’s, interesting…

Still not free but the non black is relatively affordable.

 

@455h0le_dachshund these would probably work, but the whole poser thing...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2761464436...9kqHkpdT23Eeykzp394EtykZU=|tkp:Bk9SR8SX-KfcZA

really any of the method 108mm push-through style caps should work. There are some options. None are blank and flat. All have raised lettering with Method branding on them.

 

Hub bore is 106mm on the back side, then about 1/2" - 3/4" into the wheel, it tapers off to make for a smaller outer hole. Why they did this, I have NFC. Aesthetics or rigidity are my best guesses. But yeah, trying to find a spacer to fit a ~77mm opening was a PITFA. I really wanted a cap with the ovular Toyota logo. And I could potentially use the bulbous Rocktrix caps, remove their puffy clear bubble sticker off, then replace with a Toyota bubble sticker (you can buy them online), but I don't like their cap sticks out so far.

 

Hey @khooiii,

The lighting set up is looking dialed. Have you been able to take it out to any local trails to test out the lighting package?

Best,
Bill

Bill Sonevongxay | Forum Sales & Support 
Email: Bill@bajadesigns.com Phone: (760)560-2252

 

I've never had any lasting luck with any kits "clearcoat". Apply some PPF on them you won't have to worry about it as much. These lights are pretty flat so its easy to apply.

 

I've had lasting results using a Meguiar's Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit. But I think part of the reason is that our vehicles are garaged.

 

I had a nightmare experience with a neighbor’s car I was refinishing this week. I’d already sanded out (600/1200/2000/3000) polished, and sealed their headlights once in 2022. They were starting to haze, their car sits in the sun all day long. So I decided this time I was going to use clear instead of a sealer.

I have a few packs of the 3M wipe-on clear, so I decide to start with those.

I cleaned really well, then used Duplicolor Paint Prep spray on them. BIG FUCKING MISTAKE. That shit melts polycarbonate lenses, apparently, similar to what DEET spray does.

So I resand, 1200/2000/3000 again to get down to good plastic. Clean with IPA. Let it sit up for a bit. Use the 3M wipes. Never had this happen with them before, but I get streaks. Wtf. Do the 2nd coat. Still streaks. Aaarggg.

Wait ‘til the next day for the clear to harden. Resand again, same 3 grits. IPA to prep, let the lenses totally dry out. Then pull out the remainder of my can of AutomotiveTouchup.com clear, which had enough in it to do both lenses 4-5 coats,10min interval per directions. Lay three mist coats. All seems ok. Plan to lay two medium coats. Lay the first, about 10 mins in I see one small spot cracking. FUCK. Wait still, it doesn’t get worse, so I lay the last medium coat. More cracking. Maybe it’s not plastic compatible? Wtf? Want to correct on the fly, not sure how but have acetone and lacquer thinner. For shits n giggles I tried one on each, little bit better, but hazed the paint elsewhere. Shit.

Next day it’s hardened off, try to wet sand buff it out, but it’s useless. No dice, cracks obvious. So I did all the same shit from my last paragraph but went 600/1200/2000/3000. Let the lenses dry overnight this time, after cleaning with IPA. Take a brand new can of Duplicolor clear Lacquer that is definitely plastic compatible. Lay down one mist coat. Start to lay down the second within interval time. On the third, after 5 minutes THE SHIT IS CRACKING AGAIN. I was PISSED.

I had to give the car back the next day so I said screwit and stopped.

Next day I wake up at 6:30AM and start sanding, 600/1200/2000/3000…… AGAIN. Dammit.

When I got to the end of sanding I polished with Novus 2 & 3, then finished with their sealer, twice, and gave the damn car back.

I still have no gd clue why in the hell the clear kept cracking every time I laid down multiple coats on these lenses. They were 15yo factory originals. I told them they should buy new housings (again, I told them last time I polished but they were paying, and I need money, so…)

Hopefully turns into another $100 for labor on a housing swap but we’ll see.

 

No trails yet, but I’ve blinded a couple people for fun haha.

 

Dang! Even the Meguiars "Heavy Duty" kit just comes with 1000/3000 plus the PlastX polish. You earned every dime of that labor charge. I'm guessing your 4-step process yields incredible results, but the Meguiars kit has always been satisfactory for me. I love Novus polish! I discovered it when cleaning up one of the old MacBooks with the white plastic case.

 

They look nice, Like

 

Hey man some people need to learn the hard way that you can't drive with your high beams on 24/7 lol

 

OH, I thought it was just some random person...
F yeah by all means carry on with the retinal scorching!

 

oh no I’m not an asshole. Haha

 

I'm not a trendy asshole, do what I want, I do what I feel like
I'm not a trendy asshole, don't give a fuck if it's good enough for you…​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlkcRLkyVsw​

 

I'm a prep junkie when it comes to refinishing. I can't help it. But, yeah, probably about 4 hours into those things. If time was money, I definitely lost money on the job, but I couldn't send that off with all the clear craquelure, knowing their kid may be driving the car at night.

Novus is great! I use it to refinish acrylics, found it when I was pretty deep into restoring vintage turntables, used it lots to restore lids. Stuff is awesome! Weld-on 3 or 4 for any cracks, then buff and polish any haze and residuals (and scratches) out w/Novus, 3-step kit.

The 3M headlight kits also come with just a 1000 and 3000 hook and loop disc, and their clearcoat wipes. I've used those wipes with pretty good results in the past, not perfect, not glossy like it came from the factory and I've never seen it haze, nor have I seen clears crackup like this, although I found a bunch of pics of similar online, clearly other people have had this problem.

Honestly, knowing time is money, I don't know if I'll ever polish another set of headlights as long as I live. With how inexpensive it is to get new decent, CAPA-certified housings, it's almost stupid to bother, unless you have a super rare car, or you need to tear off the entire front end to swap out the housings.

 

One day I looked over and my neighbor had the entire front bumper cover off his Malibu, and I was like Jerry, what the hell are you doing?? Headlight bulbs....

I mean it's no "starter under the intake" but come the fuck on man.

@shifty` way to persist on those housings... better luck next time (if there is one)

 

"Parts overlap" is an agenda driven by planned in obsolescence. If it costs too much to repair, buying new appears more attractive.

 

I owned a 2008 Lexus LS460 and the only way to change the headlight bulbs was to 1) remove the plastic fender liner in each front wheel well OR 2) remove the front bumper. Insane! Fortunately, I only had to do that once in the 10 years I owned the car. I loved that HID headlight projector system, but what a pain for simple maintenance.

 

Found the keywords! It's all about appearances

That's why I drive an older truck, and it looks f'n cool. Just sucks a lot of the parts are starting to go NLA, aftermarket only. That means I've gotta figure out what I need during the next 20 years, buy it and hold onto it, until these become "classics" and places like Brothers and LMC start carrying parts.

I feel like that's a lot of cars these days. The 3rd Gen CR-V I was dealing with recently. My FIL's 4th or 5th gen CR-V. At least a couple of the smaller Toyotas, like the Yaris, a Scion or two. Piss poor design. I really do miss glass housings.

But yeah, I'd like to own a 2008 Lexus LS460...

 

I've been thinking about the exact same thing. I have 2 FGT's and plan to be still driving one of them when I'm ready to take my dirt nap. My white 2004 RCLB only has 148K miles on it, new paint and no rust. Whatever trials and tribulations we experience in trying to drive them another 20 years is probably going to be less painful than replacing them with a new truck that has gobs of excess electronics, emissions junk, water based paint etc..etc..

 

Not having a fun time getting my vehicle through inspection. Garage I normally goto is saying my truck shouldn’t move with the e-brake on up to 1500 rpms although the guy says he’ll pass me at 1300. Anyone ever hear about that? First time I ever had to get my e-brake that tight.

Still worried I’m going to get them locked up and dragging with me frustrated for the rest of the day getting them to back off a bit.

 

Back in the late 60s/early 70s, for instance, some mid size Buicks required you to remove the rear bumper and taillight assembly in order to simply change a taillight bulb. Camaros of the same era required removing the RF fender in order to change the heater blower motor because it was the only way to access the bottom bolt. Of course the fender held the hood up and the front bumper wrapped around the fender so it involved lots more than that. Once the car was out of warranty I showed customers an option of using a hole saw and cutting a 2" hole in the inner fender panel to access the bolt then covering the hole with black tape. No customer ever turned down that option since it saved about 3 hours of labor costs. Misguided engineering is nothing new.

 

BS

The “emergency brake” is actually just a “parking brake” and should be able to hold the vehicle on an incline when parked. Not meant to be used to keep you from driving off with it engaged.

 

Exactly! I think I’m going to another place my father goes with his 95 Ranger. Shame. I never had an issue with this garage before.

 

Only in Masshole state:

540 CMR, § 4.04 - Procedures for Inspection of Non-commercial Motor Vehicles

The inspector shall operate the vehicle to test the parking and service brake. The parking brake on all vehicles will be tested by accelerating the motor to approximately 1,200 to 1,300 RPMs with the vehicle in the lowest forward gear against the brake in the applied position. The vehicle will be rejected if the parking brake will not hold. The service brakes will be tested at a speed of between four and eight MPH. Service brakes must be reasonably equalized so that the vehicle does not pull to either side when applied. A test with the brake meter shall be made at a speed of 15 to 25 MPH in all questionable cases.

 

Couple things that helped me. Had to practice where to release the arm to back them off a bit.