All Entries in the "Toyota Tundra Accessories" Category

Five Great Gift Ideas For Truck Owners

It’s that time of year again when every website tosses out a gift guide, and we’re going to add to the fray by offering up some gift ideas for Tundra owners and truck owners in general.

First, here’s a list of the coolest gifts you can get your favorite truck owner. This isn’t a list of cheap gifts for truck owners, and it’s not a list of the most popular accessories for the Tundra, but it IS a list of accessories a lot of pickup truck owners would love to have.

Tonneau covers are a very popular to add "trunk space" to your truck.

1) A Tonneau Cover. Most tonneaus cover and protect the contents of the truck bed while also streamlining the truck’s appearance. Since tonneau covers often come with a locking mechanism, they’re a decent way to add a whole lot of “trunk space” to a pickup truck. While there are too many tonneau options to list, some of the most popular tonneau covers include:

Amazon.com Portable GPS Black Friday DEALS

GPS deals from Amazon.com

Amazon.com is having a huge “Black Friday” sale on electronics of all kinds, including portable GPS units.

If you’re considering a portable GPS, be sure to check out our 2-part Portable GPS Buyer’s Guide…then head over to Amazon.com for a Black Friday deal.

Quick Tips:

1. Remember that a lot of traffic features aren’t available nationwide and that some of them cost money.

2. Get a portable GPS that talks – they’re much safer for driving and the feature isn’t that expensive.

3. You can get a nice GPS for $100-$150 – the Garmin Nuvi 260 is our top pick at $120 and shipping is free.

2009 GPS Unit Buyers Guide Part Two – Top Portable GPS Units

If there is one characteristic that all of the best-selling portable GPS devices share, it is uniformity. In terms of shape and size, most GPS units look very, very similar, and as discussed in the first part of this two-part portable GPS buying guide, all of these portable GPS units offer very similar functionality.

The portable GPS industry is dominated by two companies: Garmin and TomTom. In fact, of the devices we examined, all but one were produced by Garmin. As such, we’ll analyze Garmin’s offerings first, arranged in descending order by price.

2009 Portable GPS Unit Buyer’s Guide – Part One

Back in the old days – a.k.a. the days before GPS – when you needed to go somewhere you’d never been before there was a process you had to follow. First, you’d ask whoever it was that you were meeting for directions. Next, you’d consult a road atlas or a map. Finally, just in case you got lost, you’d be sure to write down a phone number.

How *did* we survive? 🙂

Garmin's nuvi 885 is a great example of the top-of-the line in portable GPS units.

OK OK, you don’t need GPS…but it sure is nice. GPS navigation systems save time and trouble, and more and more they can be found in cars, computers, and cell phones. While GPS enabled cell-phones are growing dramatically, the most popular GPS navigation option is a portable, dedicated unit. Ranging from $100 to $400, dedicated portable GPS units are a nice accessory for vehicles and a popular holiday gift.

Thus, our buyer’s guide. In part one of this two-part guide, we’ll break down the key features offered on most GPS portable units. In part two, we’ll evaluate some specific models that are popular right now and offer some recommendations. Here we go…

SofTopper Convertible Truck Bed Shell

Truck bed toppers (also known as camper shells or “truck caps”) are popular because they allow truck owners to haul tools, gear, and even dogs in the truck bed while keeping them dry. At first glance, toppers seem like a really smart accessory. Why wouldn’t you want to turn your pickup bed into a really big cargo area? The answer is that toppers need to be removed sometimes in order to haul tall or bulky “stuff,” and that removal can be a real pain…so a lot of truck owners don’t like them.

ARE (among others) makes dozens of varieties of truck toppers for personal and commercial use.

The primary style of topper is a full-on cab extension that meets or exceeds the height of the truck’s roof and is made of fiberglass , composite material, or aluminum. Depending on the material and features, toppers can be range from cheap ($300-$500 buys a cheap and ugly work-truck topper) to expensive ($2500 can buy a painted-t0-match topper with a door that replaces the tailgate). Most toppers come with a rudimentary lock and are installed using good old C-clamps, only some are high-tech affairs with comprehensive security features and bolt-on attachment.

The typical topper is too heavy for one person to remove safely, and unless you’ve got some sort of nifty topper storage system in your garage, toppers are a pain to store when not in use. Obviously, someone has come up with a solution that is easy to remove and easy to store…