Interesting. I’ve not had huge luck with aftermarket light sticks. They are bright but not aimed well in my experience. Had one on an FJ that was bumper mounted but it really was not that awesome. Retrofitted my 2013’s light to 55W HID before I updated it and those HID are sick bright, no need for additional help. The same upgrade could be done to the 14-17 headlights. They’d replace the factory HID with an element that is both high and low so that the OEM DRLs still work and the factory look is retained. That mount job on yours looks nice though. Love that winch.

ran it through the car wash with the sun roof ajar...again. damprid and desiccant packets everywhere, fingers crossed.

also replace wiper arm cap, snapped it off during the winter while being to aggressive with the brush.

Brought mine home last week. Came with a tacky grille, bumper fitment issues, and left headlight without a working low beam with lots of condensation on the inside of the lens.



Narrowed down the headlight issue to a ballast issue. Purchased a new ballast and decided to swap it out when the grille arrived. Pulled the headlight and noticed some thing a bit odd at the bottom of the lens...



Mmm, chocolate milk in the bottom of the headlight.



Poured it out, pulled all the bulbs and motors and in the process of removing the motor, I cracked one of the tabs that kept it in place. Since one of the mounting tabs was already damaged, I decided to just use this temporarily and look for a replacement from an auto salvage yard whenever one comes up. With that in mind, I decided to just dry the inside out without opening it all up, then sealing the edges up with urethane sealer.



Threw everything back together and kinda sorted out the bumper fitment issue. I'll nab some more pics when I get a chance.

I had put the OEM grill back on my 13 before I update it. If you plasti-dip the wheels and grill, you’ll really change the look of the GX. Top pic is how it was when I bought it and middle is with the plasti dip on the wheels and grill with Toyo badge on it. I had aftermarket HID projectors installed in these lights - they are life changing. Enjoy your GX.

when swapping ballasts, did you break off the plastic piece that prevents the ballast harness from moving around? if not how did you persuade it out?

So the cable that goes from the ballast to the bulb is a flat cable with some kinda fiber sheathing. If you pull the sheathing taut, you can see which dimension the cable is flat and with the sheathing pulled against the cable, it's very easy to pull it from that tab without breaking them.

That said, I think the ballast that I purchased isn't the OE. Labels are correct, but the molding and stamping on the bulb connector are ever so slightly different. There are also lots of odd differences here and there in other spots. May be from a different run, but they did flicker a bit upon install. Not too hopeful these will last that long.




Tossed the bike rack on and went for a ride. It handles as expected from a truck on twisty mountain roads.

Did some trimming and recovery points.

Looks so much better! Even the wife commented on how good it look with the fronts done. I'm not sure the ceramic will help too much with Texas summers due to the rest of the windows not having it but still, I'm very happy. Up next is rear pads and rotors (have), shocks front and back, a few drain&fills on the transmission, and a water pump (preventative due to mileage).

youre referring to the tabs on the headlight assembling correct?

I'm referring to the tabs on the inside of the headlight housing. When you pull the ballast off, there a thin retaining bit that keeps the cable between the ballast and bulb from tangling in anything inside while AFS is working.

If you're referring to the tab that keeps the AFS motor in place, I broke that one lol. Notched the remaining tab and wired the tab on the motor to it. Am going to find a new headlight so I'm not too worried about keeping this one in all too good condition.

Installed the Beatsonic SP26 throttle controller.

I couldn’t stand how slow and lumbering this truck felt with its stock throttle mapping. With the SP26 in sport mode it feels like a totally new truck. By virtue of “tricking” the TPS into thinking the throttle is pressed down further and quicker, the transmission also shifts better.

All around, I couldn’t be happier. This is a must-buy, IMO. And at $219, much cheaper than the Pedal Commander.

Awesome. Don't know if this will affect the truck long time. Will this increase the RPM every time when you press the gas, compared to the original press, to remove the lag? Will this affect the Automatic transmission in the long run?
Will it help for towing?

Our GX has been in the garage staying warm & dry all winter, today I installed the Talons Garage catalytic converter anti-theft plate, the summer tire, and completed Service #1 (not worth taking it to the dealership for that service).

Talons Garage plate ready to install

Installation complete

Long term, not worried. It’s not like I’m chirping the tires off the line every time, I just have to press the pedal ever so slightly less to get the same intended acceleration.
It won’t “help” for towing per say, but it will make it seem slightly easier since again, the pedal doesn’t have to be pushed down as much for every time you want to accelerate.

It will not increase the RPM, it is managing the ration of how response to the panel travel speed and how quick you press down the panel. In fact, it recalculates and manages the effectiveness based on traveling speed as well. My experiences with that is: you will have noticeable quick response when you from stop to go, then on highway speed, the response of panel is very much as usual.