More dogs AND garage spaces...

 

Small little update, waiting for better weather to paint, and weather is not cooperating whatsoever. The stock license plate screws were RUSTY, yes RUSTY! And they were rusting all over my license plate, so I had to do something about it. Here's the stock screws



Since I had the plate off I cleaned all the rust smears, and also did a small mod that I have on my Ack that I've always wanted to do to this plate and threw a strip of Dynomat on it. I don't have any rattles with the plate, even with the sub, but when I shut the tailgate I do get a bit of vibration so I figured I'd throw some on.



Here are the new black anodized screws that I used, much better and no more rust

 

From the looks of it, you should order a replacement plate as well. That thing looks beat to hell.

 

It is... It was on my 03 and my 08 4Runners

 

Plus, now no one can steal your plate :thief:

 

If it isn't a DARE plate then you should upgrade. Man those PA DARE plates were awesome.

 

They're white now

 

Where'd you get those screws?

 

I used to throw a little double sided tape to keep it from the trunk close rattle.
Looks good though, details matter.
If you're into plate frames...these are the SHIT...I have them on 4 vehicles now...

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

My plate is kind of bent/flexing. Would this help that at all?

 

doesn't add structural rigidity but you can flatten it back out and put the rubber thing on it.

 

 

I know the new ones are but still know people that had the old one and are rocking them. Didn't know if you had one.

 

Small update, but a LOT of work to get it done. After about 2 years of searching I finally was able to source the stock JBL speaker cover for my retrofitted JL sub that I installed a year and a half ago. It's been sitting in my office for months waiting for me to get a warm day to rip the whole back out of my truck. I started out yesterday removing the rear deck lid, the third row seat and all the trim panels. Here's a little before, I am still loving the hell out of the new tail lights!



And here is after I removed the third row seat, in order to get to the screws holding in the trim panel.



And here's a quick before of the JL speaker and how I've been rocking it for the last year and a half. Excuse the seat belt hanging in the middle I already unbolted it.



And here at long last is the stock panel, this is a before. This piece cannot be ordered separately (I had the same issue with my 4th gen speaker panel. The whole panel piece is $700 and you have to order the whole side not just this piece)



Probably overkill, but I wanted to trim all the excess plastic ring to ensure that it wouldn't touch or mess with my JL speaker.



And here's an after with all the trim cut out



And here's the ring and all the plastic that I removed



I had to drill out and widen the holes in the trim piece in order for it to sit flush (no big deal and was expected). After I got it sitting flush I took some RTV Silicone and glued all the holes. I was going to use superglue but I figured silicone would be easier to remove if/when I ever go back to stock and reinstall the pocket that goes there. I used some 5 lb weights to hold the panel on it's mounts.



I had originally intended to Dynamat the back side of this panel, but once I saw how rigid it was and how difficult it would be I decided against it. I have zero rattles with this setup so it just seemed like overkill.

 

Cool!

How long did this take you, dude?

 

Most of the silicone dried within the first hour, but a couple still weren't dry so I ended up pulling the truck into the garage overnight and putting the panel on the trunk of the Acura with the weights to let it dry and cure overnight. Here is the finished product today. The silicone held up super well and the panel does not flex or move whatsoever, I'm very happy with the outcome.



And here is the first test fit with the new trim piece. I was able to stick my hand up underneath and make sure that there were no clearance issues with the sub, and even with the JL dust cap grille cover that I had on, so I decided to leave it as an extra layer of protection.



And here's a wider look at the test fit. I was fighting glare the entire time, so I did my best.



And here's the panel all installed and ready for the third row seat to be put back in.



And here's the final result once the seat and all the trim panels are back in place.



And a wider shot, trying to avoid the sun glare.



And here's with the CanvasBack liners reinstalled.



And the storage panel remounted and installed.



I'm really happy with the look and I feel like it completes the interior and the back of the truck. I didn't mind the speaker being exposed because with the grille cover it almost looked like it belonged there, but this is SO much cleaner. I hate that it has the orange JBL logo on it, but my rear Husky Trunk liner actually covers that, bonus!

 

Probably about 3 hours yesterday removing everything, trimming and modifying the panel and gluing it down. Another 2 hours or so today putting everything back together and bolting everything up. I also took my time and vacuumed dog hair along the way, definitely could have gone quicker if I was just bolting pieces back in. Overall though, definitely worth the effort. I'm super happy with the outcome. I also took a quick spin around the neighborhood to ensure no rattles

 

All that work and effort just to make my custom job look like it came that way from the factory

 

Great update.

 

Thanks d00d

 

Well, definitely great to have this hobby now that we're more or less relegated to house arrest.

 

Mrs. Ack would disagree lol

But nah it was nice to get outside in the driveway and turn wrenches on the truck the last 2 days, definitely a bit of stress relief

 

But, yeah...the wife has to understand that you gotta find a way to relax too because listening/watching the news is stressful and well, we can't go nowhere and/or meet up with anyone...what else is there right?

 

Great work! I wish they made taillights for the Tundra, really like your lights.

 

Two words...










 

Thanks man, these just came out so hopefully they'll be making something for the Tundras. Shit the 5th gen has been out 10 years and they just made these lol

 

Dude, I give you a lot of shit but I respect your attention to detail and to doing things right the first time, very much.

 

Thanks my dude

 

Well done dude!

The storage panel looks awesome. It might not seem like much at first, but I can appreciate having all that stuff at the ready with its own proper place. Organized, yet easy to access instead of just tucked away inside of some container.

I'm really bad with following build threads, but everything you've done looks really nice, and also functional. Love that.

One thing I don't like is that tow hitch step - only because my clumsy ass has bashed my knees and shins against far too many of them.

 

Nice job on speaker panel.

 

Thanks man.

I wasn't crazy about the tow hitch step at first, but after almost getting rear ended a few times I installed it more for other asshole drivers than as an actual step. I'm 6'5" and can reach my roof pretty well, it's more so if someone rearends me they fuck up their car and not mine

 

Finally got a good weather day, can't wait to finish this project...

 

So honest.... That made my day!


I can't figure out what that is but it looks good!

 

Looking forward to seeing it on the truck, sir.

 

It's the truth

Chrome headlight trims painted satin black

 

Yes! Hail Satin!!!

 

That's gonna look good!

 

You know something weird, I found plastidip was so good for bezels in heads/tails because of how flat it levels out...how even the finish it...how resistant it is to uv and
heat...and how forgiving it was when putting shit back together where you had to touch and make contact with the housing.

Gonna look tits, Chris.
Then I'll suck em.

 

Have barely driven the truck in the last month and a half, just to Sams Club a couple times, and have been hovering at 22,9xx for like 2 months, but I ran some wine and beer over to my parents' house on Saturday so they'd have something for Easter and I finally cracked 23K miles on the ride home.



Haven't had much time to work on her lately, been working on the Honey Do list, but hoping to get some garage time soon.

 

Sorcery!: Hovering around 29,9xx & rolled over to 23k

I think I've put more miles on the motorcycle than the C over the last 3 weeks.