Valuing the Tundra Aftermarket

While sipping on a glass of bourbon to maintain courage, I went through my 9-month spend history on aftermarket purchases for my Tundra, who is trying to be a PreLander when she grows up.

A little history here first for dramatic effect. Last year, I was on the fence betwixt an F-150 and a Tundra. I had advice from my Ford-loyal family to stick with THE ONE AND ONLY BRAND. I had the additional advice from family to package the truck in a way from the dealer where little or no aftermarket mods were required.

Well, as you can see from my profile, I heeded none of that advice and, in fact went in the complete opposite direction. I decided that, to get the truck I wanted, I’d have to get a lot from the aftermarket regardless and the trim levels and packages just seemed to have other pricey and unnecessary things for my narrow purposes. No offense to you guys who bought these trims and packages - many of them hold a lot of appeal for many, I’m just too utilitarian, old and by-God grumpy to fully enjoy them.

So, now at the 9-month mark, I decided to run the numbers. I have mods classified into “Functional”, “Recreational”, “Comfort” and “Convenience”. “Functional” are things that give the truck capability it did not come with (sway bars, fog lights, winch, nerf bars, etc.). “Recreational” are things that facilitate building the truck toward a specific purpose (bed rack, rack-mounted tent, etc.). “Comfort” are things like leather seat covers, replacement radio head unit. “Convenience” are things that make the truck easier to use - bed slide, additional lighting, etc.

Interestingly, the spend thus far breaks down as:
50% “Functional”
25% “Recreational”
25% “Comfort & Convenience”

Anybody else actively running a prioritized budget for your builds and wondering if your numbers resemble this or how you may track costs? I’m curious to see at the end if I really made the right choice or if starting at a trim/package level above an SR5 would have ultimately served me better.

 

Phuk no…if I built a list it could be used against me in a court of law by my wife.

Never look back. Just forward to the next mod

 

I'm generally a function over aesthetics guy (except for my TRD Pro shift knob - that thing is pretty and I like it) and I do a similar breakdown in my head.

My categories are more along the lines of:

1. Capability - this enables my Tundra to do something better or new compared to stock, either directly in the case of suspension, canopy or a tent rack, or indirectly to ensure that I more likely to make it home without breaking something.
2. Usability - this makes the truck easier to live with and/or use. This includes lots of little things like a cell phone holder, ODB scanner, LED lighting, floor mats, leather, seat covers, etc.
3. Experience - these are the things that just make you feel good and can include everything from changing the power on screen image on the radio to the little mountain decals around the badges. Oh, and the TRD Pro shift knob.

My dollar value breakdown is probably close to 60/30/10. But lots of people spend a lot of dollars on category 3 with de-chroming so I may be slightly unique.

Generally I am happy I stuck with an SR5 and not a Limited. It gave me a capable platform to start from.