NinjaxBart

I figured I'd start a slow n steady build thread to document my progress. This is my 2020 Double cab short box off-road Tacoma, in my favorite color, Cement Grey. This is my first truck so the progress will be slow as I learn new things and make this truck my own, and to fit my needs (and adventures!) We have lots of nice areas and trails to explore here in Alberta where I live!

The day I picked up the Tacoma.. we shot a commercial for the dealership here! I've done one photo campaign for Toyota Canada shooting a 2020' Tacoma prior to this!

You Tube

First week of owning the Taco we took a trip into Banff and Yoho Parks here in Alberta/ British Columbia..

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

The Garage (19ft) just barely fits, but it works! Here's a shot the day before the new owner came and picked up my Subaru that I sold. The bike is my 2019 MT-09.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Pretty messy roads along the way.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

A stop at Morant's Curve in Banff

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

To catch the train some folks travel and wait hours for it to come. There's no set schedule, it's just pure luck. Then when the train comes, you either have a nice cargo train with (Canadian Tire / CP carts, nice red and green etc.) OR you get a super ugly brown freight train haha. This was our last time seeing it.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Surprisingly cheaper than my previous Subaru WRX was to fill on gas!!

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Okay I figure these grill lights resemble the Raptor' but eh, it's my first truck, and I love that wide aggressive front end look these add!!

Slight dremel down the edge because I wanted to fit them in the middle row. Went with 4 to be just.. a little.. different, haha!

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Classic Canada, it was sunny, and then 10cm of snow came that night! Made for some good shots!!
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Out exploring a trail called Ya Ha Tinda here in Alberta with some friends (who played a role influencing me into the Tacoma!!)

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

NinjaxBart

Now I'm a pretty big lighting nerd, so next up was a nice foglight upgrade! I did some photo work and marketing for Diode Dynamics in the past, so ofcourse I went with the popular SS3 Foglights (Sports) Wide SAE Amber lenses!

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


Got the front end PPF's with Suntek self-headling film.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


Door handle cups... a must!!

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


MORE SNOW! Went out with the guys for some fun...

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


My twin

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Then... wheels arrived!! I went with the Stealth Custom BR6's, Specs: 16 x 8, + 12mm, dark bronze and white spoke decal, black lugnuts..

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Just a little dirty

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Next, Diode Dynamics SL1 LED's in the low-beams projectors for headlights! Pretty much a nice white crisp color change from the yellow halogen, same cut-off line in my opinion but the overall color temp. feels and appears more reflective ahead, on the road, lines, signs, fence posts, etc.! I am often out in the back-country on dark roads driving so these were a good upgrade.


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


Comparison (OEM LEFT vs. SL1 RIGHT)

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


MORE SNOW... When will it end.. It's Spring, right??

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Diode Dynamics

These are so awesome! The SS3 LED Fog Light Kit and SL1 LED Bulbs compliment each other perfectly on this truck!

jakey poo

Great color choice!

NinjaxBart

The new wheels + tires are installed and I'm sooo stoked!! They look so awesome, the truck actually drivers smoother (turning almost feels a bit more linear to me if that makes sense) and they look so much more aggressive. Even stock height / suspension, the 265 / 75/ 16's fill up nicely (pretty snug actually). I get a little bit of rub slow speed parking lot turning, just on the corner of the inside mudflap. They said a custom alignment adjustment would be able to get rid of that so I think that's next on the to-do list!

If you guys have a few minutes to check it and leave a comment on my video I'd be super thankful for that!! I just reached 10K Subscribers on my YouTube which is really so crazy to me, 4 years in the making doing videos every single week!!

NinjaxBart

A little bit of an update, short vlog talking about my initial impressions driving on the new tires, fuel mileage, and road noise!

Would love to hear your guys thoughts or experiences on AT/X's with tire noise, and running more aggressive tires related to fuel mileage.

NinjaxBart

So no mudflaps for 1 month now and I don't have any chips or dings around the lower fender area. I think the fenders themselves actually do most of the work, because I do have significant amount of chips on the plastic black fenders, even with the mudflaps though, so I think most rocks are hitting up in that spot.

With that said, the plan is to put the mudflaps back on soon once I get a chance to dremel them down and find a way to make them fit better without rubbing. My dremel crapped out 2 weeks ago so I'm kinda waiting for a decent sale to buy a new one.

Upgraded the reverse lights to some Prolightz PL1 T15 bulbs, I really like these ones...


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Some recent shots...

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

I also got a new dashcam unit sent to me in the mail, this time from a new company to me called Vantrue, they sent me out their N4 Model to do some reviews / marketing photos for them. It's a 3 channel dashcam which is really cool, geared more towards uber / taxi's to record inside the vehicle. The unit itself is pretty cool though with one of the widest FOV's I've seen on a dashcam, 1440p, and 1080 interior + 1080 rear. I'll have some example footage in a week or so of this! by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

NinjaxBart

Got out into the mountains this past weekend and really enjoyed taking the Taco' down some of those gravel roads down behind Canmore (Spray Lakes) etc. and I realize comparing it to the WRX is like apples to oranges but the truck just handles those gravel roads so nicely, especially since getting the new tires. It's still bumpy, but it's alot less 'jolting' if that makes sense and I don't feel like I'm about to break or damage something haha... (has anyone beat my record on 4 front lips ripped off yet??)

We hiked a spot that we had attempted last Summer and had to turn back on because of downpour rains once we got about half way up (which when you're determined to climb a mountain, is such a defeated feeling, it really sucks turning back after so much determination) so I'm really stoked on completing this one!!


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

NinjaxBart

Installed the new Diode Dynamics kit for the SS3 Ditch Lights. Same lights are the foglights but they came out with a nice simple and low profile bracket that mounts to the hood for bottom pillar lights. I spent probably close to 10 hours on this one and I think it's my most favorite editing sequence to date. I basically uninstalled the old video software I was using so that I could really force myself to learn Premiere Pro and now I'm saying to myself what I think everyone does who makes the switch.."Why didn't I do this years ago!!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUskv93L7Nw by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

NinjaxBart

It's been a busy past week!! Here's a short video I filmed and edited of our weekend trip out to Waiparous! Had alot of fun for the first time taking this Taco' out!! If you've got a sec. and wanna help my support my channel and leave a comment I'd appreciate that very much.


Also installed a RA Motorsports custom made panel for the rear bed! Super stoked on this! (We've been having backyard fires so much lately, love it)

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Also picked up the RA Motorsports bed rack...

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Tossed some recovery boards on, haha.. I'll probably have these on more in the Winter time for helping people out when they're stuck in snow.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

Then drove up to Edmonton, to get some PPF work done, and install some new headlights...

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

NinjaxBart

New video of the Morimoto Headlights! A little bit different format in the way I voiced-over this one and was able to film in a different style! Really happy with how this one turned out. I've been spending so many hours lately on my editing and composition of videos and hope to keep the momentum going and growing my YT Channel.


A few recent clicks...



by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr



by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr



by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr



by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr



by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

NinjaxBart

I hate when tires get that sort of dried-out look and begin turning brown/ grey.. I know people sometimes just slap a tire dressing over top but then I find that all will sling off right away.. looks bad. So I made some sort of really cinematic DIY on how I clean (scrub) the rubber treads on the tires and then use tire dressing.. sticks and lasts way longer, looks so much better, and really no downside! Nice Sunday afternoon while doing some jobs out in the Garage!

If you haven't seen or used CarPro's HydrO2 stuff before, it's seriously awesome stuff (especially for wheels).


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/kijho66/, on Flickr