Author Archive for Jason Lancaster

Black Friday Shopping Deals

OK – you’ve had your turkey. Now it’s time to shop for deals:

Amazon.com – Amazon is easily the biggest retailer on the internet. Just like Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer in the world, Amazon has quite a few loss leaders available beginning today. Even if you’re not going to buy any truck accessories for your Tundra, you owe it to yourself to check this link.

AutoAnything.com – They offer quite a few truck accessories on their site, and they often include free shipping. Here are their deals for the 3 biggest shopping days of the year (and the discount codes you need to get them):

Gift Ideas and Information For Truck Owners

Do you know someone that owns a truck?

Do you have any idea about what gift you want to give them for the holidays?

Do you need some help figuring it out?

Here’s a list of gift ideas for truck owners, each with a link to an article we’ve done that you can use to help you figure out exactly what to buy.

Truck owners need a cool exhaust system. Seriously. You can’t enjoy a big truck engine if you can’t hear it growl. Here’s some good after-market exhaust system information. FYI, a gift certificate goes a long way here.

Truck owners probably wouldn’t mind some cool lights for their rig – here’s some information about the most popular truck lighting accessories.

While you’re at it, why not get some sweet chrome truck accessories for your favorite truck owner?

People that own pickups could always use more power. Cold air intake kits and performance air filters provide extra power they NEED for towing.

If your truck owner drives a big truck, you NEED to be higher than everyone else. So why not get them a lift kit? Here’s a breakdown of lift-kit basics.

Do you know what a “bull bar” is? Your favorite truck owner knows, and he or she would probably love to have one. Check out our Bull Bar Buyer’s Guide for more information.

Tires. Everyone who owns a truck will need tires at some point. You can either buy them a set of tires (expensive and hard to buy), or you can get them a Tire Rack gift certificate and give them something to do one Saturday to get them out of the house.

Finally, if you’re on a budget, check out our list of 7 good truck gifts for less than $25.

Happy holidays and good luck.

Kelly Blue Book Declares Tundra Has Best Full-Size Truck Resale Value

Despite the “perfect storm of economic issues” cited by Eric Ibara, director, market valuation for Kelley Blue Book, the Toyota Tundra was declared to be have the best resale value of any full-size truck model for 2009.

If you were looking for one more reason to buy a 2009 Tundra (in addition to a great engine, spectacular tow rating, safety, top-rated reliability, and Toyota quality, there you have it.

Read all about 2009’s best resale value awards on KBB.com.

5 Gifts Most Truck Owners Will Like and Why

In our effort to help our readers get ready for the holiday season, we decided to make a list of gifts every truck owner can appreciate. Since “appreciation” is a little different than hearing “AWESOME! I can’t wait to put this on the truck!,” we also included some notes about what type of truck owner would appreciate the gift and why.

1. Husky Liners. This one is sort of a no-brainer, especially now that we’re about to officially enter the winter months. Husky Liners are big, thick, rubber floor mats that hold a lot of dirt, muck, and gunk and keep it from getting on your vehicle’s carpet. They’re pretty inexpensive too – pricing starts at $50 per set.

Who will like them: Type-A neat and tidy truck owners, anyone that works out of their truck for a living, and outdoor types.

What they’ll like about them: They keep the truck clean, they hold lots of dirt and mud, and they say “Husky” on them. What more could you want?

Who won’t like them: We don’t know. We haven’t every met anyone that didn’t like them.

NOTE: There’s another brand of super-heavy duty floor mats made by WeatherTech that are just a little bit more money, but they hold more gunk. You might want to get these for the really dirty truck owner.

2. Tie-Down Ratchet Straps. This is another simple gift that truck owners almost universally appreciate. They can hold plenty of weight (some hold more than 10,000 lbs per strap), and they ratchet down tighter than any bungy cord. Amazon.com has a good selection and free shipping on orders over $25 – check em out. Just make sure to buy a set with at least 1,000 lbs breaking strength (more is better).

Who will like them: Anyone who might haul something with their truck.

What they’ll like about them: The fact that they can hold everything from a simple piece of furniture to a new motorcycle.

Who won’t like them: Someone that already has a good cargo management solution…but they’ll appreciate the thought for sure.

Toyota Makes Massive Public Relations Error

TorrentFreak.com recently reported that lawyers representing Toyota motor company have contacted DesktopNexus.com (a site that offers free desktop wallpapers) and requested that they remove any and all images of Toyota products from their website. This request has struck a nerve (understandly so) in the internet community.

While we’re not privy to the details, it seems as if Toyota is trying to protect their image, their logo, and their product image with this action. We’ve certainly seen unscrupulous companies and individuals use Toyota’s stock product images of Toyota vehicles, slap their own name on the image, and claim it as their own. This practice is illegal and unacceptable, and Toyota has every right to put it to a stop.

Unfortunately, this request has a huge (hopefully unintended) consequence. Individual Toyota owners, who have uploaded images of their personal vehicles to this website, will also have to remove their desktop photos from the site. This is wrong. Individual owners who are proud of their Toyotas’ should have every right to upload an image of their vehicle to whatever site they choose.

We hope that Toyota will correct this oversight as soon as possible, and we hope that Toyota continues to embrace the internet community that projects it’s image and honors it’s products so well (including this website).