By Tony and Eric
There are a lot of things you can do to your rig that don’t cost a lot of money or time. Plain and simple good ideas that are usually cheap or free. And some of them can make a huge difference in how you wheel. And still others are just plain fun.
First and foremost is the Eric Throttle (written up elsewhere on the site). After installing this you will wonder how you ever got along without it. The 2lo mod is another cheap one. For the cost of a hacksaw blade you can give your rig the abilily to shift into 2lo. Toyota prevents us from doing this by adding a little tab to the transfer case shift support. That little tab doesn’t allow the t-case shifter to move from 2hi to 2lo. Cut that part off and you are good to go. My tranny cover had room to allow this, be sure to check yours.
As we all know there is no such thing as a cup holder in a 60 (other than the two by the drivers butt) An easy way to add them comes from a marine supply. I put these collapsible nylon ones on each door. Kids are grateful for them, no more drinks in the lap. Handy that they fold up and out of the way when not in use.
Spray paint finds a lot of use around my rig. First thing I ever painted was the mirrors on my 62. I always hated the chrome! Still holding up several years later as well. Always liked Eric’s blacked out hood, just changed it by using Olive Drab instead of Black. It goes with the khaki paint on my wagon. Which by the way also came from a spray can. My son Caleb had a blast painting my wagon. Recently painted my door handles and I am surprised how well it’s holding up considering how often they get grabbed. Even dragged them over a few trees as of late. And that is not the end of the spray can. Eric painted one of his rims for a sample and before the day was over we bought out the hardware store of flat khaki paint. They have held up really well but it’s probably time to repaint 
them more than a year later. Not bad considering all I did for prep on the chrome was wipe them down with thinner. Lest I forget, blacked out the grill several years ago.
Cutting out the tailgate is a great idea, lots of space that previously was unavailable. Most of my spares actually fit into it.
Hinging the console gained ready access to wiring I added to it. Wire some of the accessories direct to power (with a fuse) so they don’t turn off when you turn off the key. This stops the need to constantly restart my GPS and get the signal back. You can never have enough DC outlets, I have added about 5 of them to my rig, they run everything from battery chargers to my fridge.
Interior winch controls only involve some wire and a couple of toggles.
One of the fun changes I made was to get a friend who is a rock hound to make up a new t-case shift knob. Its appropriate in more ways than one. Firstly, it’s a rock so it makes sense to shift for the rocks with a rock and secondly it’s a chunk of petrified wood. Which fits as that is how I pay the bills, I am a cabinetmaker and yacht carpenter.
The list could be endless, the only limit is your imagination and creativity.
