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2021 Toyota Tacoma: modifications and milestones

  1. License plate: Truck Norris 

    April 7th, 2025

    I was driving my son Will to practice a little while ago and he asked me if I had a nickname for the Tacoma. Huh, no, I don’t. We then tried to come up with a nickname and eventually landed on Truck Norris … which is absolutely amazing and was made official with new license plates:

    The front of my Tacoma; I’m bending down so the headlights are at eye-level, and the fog lights are a standard clear color.

  2. Fog light covers 

    March 14th, 2025

    I was curious what the Tacoma would look like with yellow fog lights, so I ordered LAMIN-X’s yellow fog light covers for an easy $20 as an affordable way to find out.

    I intend to replace these fog lights eventually, and now I know that I’ll order them in yellow.

    Added on April 7, 2025: now that I’ve posted my new license plates photo above, I realize having my plates covered in the photos below is kind of useless. Oh well.

    The front of my Tacoma; I’m bending down so the headlights are at eye-level, and the fog lights are a standard clear color.
    The front of my Tacoma; I’m bending down so the headlights are at eye-level, and the fog lights now have a yellow tint to them.

  3. Front camera 

    July 1st, 2023

    I added the Anytime Front Camera Kit, purchased from Trail Grid Pro, which made parking quite a bit easier. The install was at the upper-limit of my skill and comfort level, but it worked out and I’m very happy with it.

    The entire kit laid out on my work bench; it’s twenty or so wires connected to each other in various ways, terminated with different connectors at all ends.
    The Tacoma's dashboard from the perspective of being in the driver’s seat. The plastic bezel that surrounds the stereo is removed.
    A zoomed-in view of the plastic grille on the front of the Tacoma; a tiny hole drilled into it will accept the camera.
    A zoomed-in view of the back of the plastic grille; it reveals why the tiny camera hole had to be off-center: because of two obstructions that are back there.
    A zoomed-in view of the plastic grille, from the front, and I’ve partially inserted the camera into the tiny hole.
    Another view of the partially inserted camera, but viewed from the back of the plastic grille.
    Inside the Tacoma, down by the left foot, I’ve removed the plastic cover which exposed a lot of factory wires and connectors and other important stuff.
    Inside the Tacoma, down by the left foot, I’ve pulled back the carpet to gain better access to the rubber grommet in the firewall.
    Inside the Tacoma, down by the left foot, I’ve gently pushed a very long screwdriver through the rubber grommet in the firewall.
    Under the hood, focusing on the area in the firewall where the rubber grommet is, I’ve put my thumb on the tip of the long screwdriver I pushed through from the interior.
    Under the hood, focusing on the area in the firewall where the rubber grommet is, I’ve now pulled through the two wires that need to connect to the camera in the grille.
    Inside the Tacoma, I’ve pulled off more of the plastic trim around and below the stereo in order to give myself access to the wires that eventually need to find their way up to the back of it.
    In the interior of the Tacoma, I’ve gently inserted a very long screwdriver just below the stereo and through the dashboard and aimed it towards the lower left corner.
    I pulled all of the kit’s wires from the driver’s footwell, up behind the dashboard, and am now holding them in my hand. On my lap is the uninstalled stereo.
    The kit’s wires, resting on top of the uninstalled stereo, and in the background is an open dashboard that seems a bit daunting.
    Under the hood, I’ve started to wrap the kit’s wires in a black plastic loom.
    Under the hood and at the top of the grille, I highlight the location of the kit’s wires via a drawn-on yellow line.
    Under the hood and at the driver’s side fender area, I highlight the location of the kit’s wires via a drawn-on yellow line.
    Under the hood and down behind the plastic grille, I highlight the location of the kit’s wires via a drawn-on yellow line.
    In the Tacoma with the dashboard put back togther, the kit’s front/rear camera switch—a three-way toggle—is installed next to the other factory switches.
    It’s now easy to see the rocks at the end of this parking space.

  4. Glove box organizer 

    January 24th, 2023

    I was tired of hearing the owner’s manuals slide around in the glove box every time I took a turn, so I bought this simple glove box organizer. Its fitment isn’t perfect, but it did the trick.

    The interor of the Tacoma’s glove box without the organizer in place; the owner’s manuals have a lot of room to slide around.
    The glove box organizer assembled in my hand; it will divide the globe box area into five smaller sections.
    The glove box organizer, now inside my glove box, with the owner’s manuals tucked into one space that is just a little larger than the manuals themselves.

  5. Bed mat 

    June 14th, 2022

    I heard great things about bed mats—most importantly: nothing slides around—so while I was at the Toyota dealership getting an inspection sticker, I figured I’d get one.

    A large rubber bed mat in the bed of the Tacoma. It’s shaped to fit between the wheel wells and has the word Tacoma stamped into it in its center.

  6. First full year 

    May 24th, 2022

    3,583 miles on the odometer and some thoughts: the Tacoma’s nearly perfect, but if I had to nit-pick I’d say that the interior plastic was selected by an idiot (because it scratches far too easily), and the tune I had done back in December is an absolute requirement; whatever was done to the ones and zeros in there should’ve been done at the factory.

  7. Garmin Mini 2 dash cam 

    April 6th, 2022

    I added a Garmin Mini 2 dash cam and used a Dongar Technologies adapter to power it from the factory rear-view mirror harness, which keeps everything discrete and tidy; it’s practically invisible from the driver’s point-of-view (see the fifth photo below).

    Behind the rear-view mirror, with its factory harness unplugged.
    Behind the rear-view mirror, with the Dongar Technologies adapter between the mirror and its factory harness.
    Behind the rear-view mirror, with the dash cam plugged into the Dongar Technologies adapter.
    Behind the rear-view mirror, with everything buttoned up and the dash cam stuck to the windshield.
    A view from the driver’s position that shows just how hidden the dash cam is behind the rear-view mirror.
    A side-profile photo of the dash cam and the adapter after finishing the installation.
    A minute of day footage.
    A minute of night footage.

  8. A/C drain tube extension 

    March 27th, 2022

    The air conditioning drain tube drips water right onto the Tacoma’s frame, so I bought a handy extension kit sold by a fellow on tacomaworld.com.

    Here’s what it looks like before the extension is added, as seen from above.
    Here’s what it looks like after the extension is added, as seen from above.
    Here’s an under-the-truck view

    I’m pretty sure those white zip-ties won’t last more than a year or two, but they’re all I had on-hand; I’ll replace them at some point.

  9. Low-beam bulb upgrade 

    March 1st, 2022

    I swapped the stock Osram H11 low-beam bulbs for Philips H9 bulbs. The H9 bulbs are intended for high-beam use, but with a small modification they fit perfectly in the low-beam halogen projector.

    Learn more in this exhaustive lighting thread on Tacoma World.

  10. Third utility rail 

    January 1st, 2022

    I added a third utility rail at the front of the bed, right beneath the rear window. I have no particular use for it at the moment, but I like that it’s there to match the two side rails.

    The inside-front of the Tacoma’s bed, with arrows that point to the newly installed third utility rail.

  11. Tuned 

    December 11th, 2021

    I got the KDMax-Pro tune which, in a manual gearbox, primarily improves accelleration. Read my initial questions about this as well as my short review after it was done.

  12. Bike mounts 

    November 1st, 2021

    I added two pairs of INNO RT202 truck bed bike mounts, which attach directly to the bed utility rails. I like these because they don’t require removal of the bike’s front wheel and there’s still plenty of space when two two bikes are secured.

  13. Bed extender 

    October 2nd, 2021

    I installed an AMP Research bed extender for two reasons: it creates a small, contained area when the tailgate is closed, and it extends the bed space when the tailgate is open.

  14. Fluid Film 

    July 27th, 2021

    I had New Meadows Auto Repair apply Fluid Film to the Tacoma’s underside, then set an annual reminder to get it reapplied every fall.

    A zoomed in photo of a rear wheel well, showing the recent application of Fluid Film on the Tacoma’s frame.

  15. All-black TRD bed stickers 

    June 20th, 2021

    I wasn’t happy with the color of the factory bed stickers—too much red—so I replaced them with an all-black version from somebody on Etsy.

    A zoomed in view of an all-black sticker that says TRD 4X4 Off Road on the driver’s side bed of the Tacoma.
    A zoomed out view of an all-black sticker that says TRD 4X4 Off Road on the driver’s side bed of the Tacoma.

  16. Center console organizer 

    June 9th, 2021

    The center console is just a large open container which isn’t as useful as it could be, so I added this handy center console organizer.

    The center console organizer in place; it divides the space into top and bottom areas, and the top has a few shallow sections and rubberized flooring.

  17. Neoprene seat covers 

    June 2nd, 2021

    I installed these black EKR brand neoprene seat covers, front and rear.

    The rear seats with black neoprene seat covers installed.
    The front seats with black neoprene seat covers installed.

  18. Silly sticker 

    May 31st, 2021

    I added this silly manual gearbox preservation society sticker to the rear window.

    A white sticker on the Tacoma’s rear window that has a six-gear shift pattern and the words The Manual Gearbox Preservation Society circling it.

  19. Tint 

    May 26th, 2021

    I brought it to Darker Visions to get the front windows tinted to match the rear windows.

    A side-profile photo of the Tacoma with tint on the front window that matches the factory-supplied rear window tint.
    A zoomed in side-profile photo of the Tacoma with tint on the front window that matches the factory-supplied rear window tint.

  20. Purchase 

    May 24th, 2021

    I purchased it from Ira Toyota right as the vehicle market was starting to skyrocket. In hindsight, I was somewhat lucky to get it at sticker-price: about $41,000.

    The Tacoma, parked outside of the Toyota dealership.
    The Tacoma’s first time in our driveway, front three-quarter view.
    The Tacoma’s first time in our driveway, rear three-quarter view.