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Show us your best cheap mods!

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Old 04-17-2011, 06:56 PM
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Originally Posted by yota864x4
my third and so far my favorite is unhooking the buzzer when you open the door and dont put seatbelt on haha
I think I did this a week after i first bought my truck. To this day I believe it's the best mod yet.
Old 04-20-2011, 07:13 PM
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Closing in on 6 YEARS and still going! Mods - What's the record?

Ginourmous thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. Keep it up!

Anyway, I bought myself a 2005 Tacoma and have been working my way through tons of cheap mods. Most can be found on YotaTech or elsewhere on the web. The least publicized ones mostly involved lighting, all purchased from Oznium:

3 lights in the bed (one on each side, one in front):

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So you can see what you're about to ruin your tire on while backing:

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I added a couple of the same lights under the hood as well:

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After relocating the trailer harness plug (because it had already been ripped of the stock location once)..:

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...I needed some more light for the license plate. 2 small LEDs stuck to the hitch bolt covers:



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I also added constant 12V power to the bed...:

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...and a few extra tie downs. The major parts were from McMaster-Carr.

Old 04-27-2011, 08:21 PM
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i have a 91 p/u and the best things i ever did was to lincon lock the front diff and detroit ez lock in the back. canopy, extended the diff breather, and am in the process of building a headache rack with a 2,000 lb winch for hauling dead things into the truck. but a good idea for 4runner people without a spare tire carrier is to build a swing away tire carrier to go into the hitch. i am building one for my jeep WJ. pictures for ideas: http://www.tiregate.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1068. i have mine made out of scrap steel. hasnt cost me anything but time, and mig wire.
Old 04-27-2011, 08:31 PM
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oh and because i welded the diff together i got some used hubs from the off road edition and put them on there so i can unlock the hubs to turn so i dont blow anything up
Old 04-28-2011, 06:56 AM
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dual rear window bars -$5


wire shelving for MOLLE / PALS mount (must be 1" wire spacing) - $5 for a 4' shelf


final version with home-made grill for my MOLLE gear - $20
Old 04-28-2011, 07:04 AM
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very nice indeed. i like it
Old 04-28-2011, 12:38 PM
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Corax - now that's a good idea, something I'll have to look into myself. Right now I have my 'cot bag' mounted between the two rear upper seatbelt supports.



Old 04-28-2011, 01:44 PM
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yet another reason i wish i had gotten a 4runner instead of and extra cab o well love the molle web shelf
Old 04-28-2011, 02:05 PM
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Corax - I forgot to ask you, did those $5 window bars come in that length?
Old 04-28-2011, 05:35 PM
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extra roof rack bars for more basket support. Came with one of the stacks of bars I got one of my u-pull-it trips.
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(I have an addiction for roof rack bars for some reason)
Old 04-28-2011, 06:48 PM
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thats what i plan to do cant go to the u pull it till Monday though thanks to the litle government shutdown bs and me being paid once a month i didnt get paid this month at all thanks goverment why would you pay the military aghhhh

anyway looks realy cool hope my u pull it journey bears fruit full this time
Old 04-28-2011, 07:16 PM
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Originally Posted by andrewflores17
thats what i plan to do cant go to the u pull it till Monday though thanks to the litle government shutdown bs and me being paid once a month i didnt get paid this month at all thanks goverment why would you pay the military aghhhh

anyway looks realy cool hope my u pull it journey bears fruit full this time
Hi-Jack...
Your military only gets paid once a month?
Thread back.
Old 04-28-2011, 08:23 PM
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no everyones gets paid twice a month the 1st and 15th

i decided to do once a month the first because it makes it easier to budget my expenes pay mortage insurance grocerys everthing on the first

but do to the fact that i fall into a little gray area no moneys

everyone else got paid a little the first then the rest on the 15th but for me no luck gota wait till the first and get back pay and nexts months oh well i saved up alot on last deployment so i just use that when the goverment does this happens more than once then when i get paid i just put it back into savings



any way back to the thread i built a sleeping platform from junked lumber from dumpster jumping in the construction site behing my house took a month to collect the wood for it but its almost done still need some scrap carpet buddy may have some so other than hinges and screw which was about ten bucks cost free

Last edited by andrewflores17; 04-28-2011 at 08:25 PM.
Old 04-29-2011, 03:04 AM
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Alright here's my cheap mod list I have so far...will post the pics when I get around to taking them.

So far:
-Custom made main wire/fuse. Old fuse blew so I used a 100 amp fuse block found in most stereo amp wiring kits. Everything works as it should and also got to replace some of the crap wire/splicing job from the previous owner.
Fuse block = about $15

-Bent a piece of aluminum I had laying around and riveted it to the fender. Made a switch panel underneath the hood for various things..mostly for diagnostics...possibly a under-the-hood light. Got the idea from the 4crawler website..that guy is awesome!
Switches = $1-$2 (depending on the switch)

-Got rid of the front part of the center console since the boot was all ripped up and ugly, and while I had the tranny out scraped, sanded and painted the metal "boot holder" (don't know the name of it").
Paint = $4

-Added a 3 gauge pod under the radio slot for oil pres, temp, and volt. I don't normally trust the electronic gauges in most cars and didn't want to risk anything shorting out on a fresh build. **Hopefully going to make a full custom dash cluster.
Gauges = $25

-I stole this idea from Corax a few weeks ago. I added a 4 switch panel to the back panel above the passenger speaker. So far it works great! Also I undercoated the back panels since they were really oxidized.
Aluminum sheet = $6
Switches = $1 a piece
U-bolts = $0.75 a piece
Heres some pics!!




Old 04-29-2011, 03:25 AM
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These mode are on my girlfriends Honda..hopefully there wont be too much "bashing"

-A stock 89 Accord only has two or three puny ground wires..one on the valve cover and one on a transmission bolt and not sure about the other. The car wouldn't idle right so I went at it. Went to NAPA and picked up about 5 feet of 6 gauge battery wire and copper terminals and added a few engine grounds of my own. I personally drove the car to work for a few weeks and after I "re grounded" it, it acts a lot better.
Wire = around $2.50 a foot

-I was looking at the stock intake and decided it was a maze for the air to get through the filter. So to add that sporty sound and helping out the gas mileage a bit I found a short 45 degree bend and a auto zone cone filter.
Tube = $10
Filter = maybe $15?

-The wheels on her car are oxidized and ugly so I decided to test out my painting skills. I only got the center caps so far, but I just did those to test out the color match she wanted.
Paint = $3

Here's the pics:
Left is my paint and right is the stock paint.





Old 04-29-2011, 08:44 AM
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Originally Posted by michael1963
Corax - I forgot to ask you, did those $5 window bars come in that length?
They're just 1/2" electrical conduit. About $2 for a 5' length at most hardware stores. Here's the write-up on the window bars

Originally Posted by Bassmastry101
**Hopefully going to make a full custom dash cluster.
If you're interested, give fiberglass a try - the gauge pod on my dash was my first project and probably only cost $50 total
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123...repair-230891/

Last edited by corax; 04-29-2011 at 08:47 AM.
Old 04-29-2011, 04:50 PM
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Corax..you just planned out my weekend once again!!!
Old 04-29-2011, 04:54 PM
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But I also meant that I might ditch the sr5 cluster and make my own. I already started on the center console..I found small cup holder at pull-a-part last weekend. After I move the switches for the back window to up above the radio, cut it right at the small pocket, it looks like it will fit very nicely. Ill post pics when done
Old 05-03-2011, 01:29 PM
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Has nobody fabbed a snorkle for their truck yet??? I really need to get some pics of my rig on here....really really do...
Old 05-03-2011, 02:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Xeo
My cheapest mod is my ISR mod.

Fits perfectly!

Time to chuck this junk >=D
Love those blue wires!


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