Auxbeam light and switch panel question

Riley_monthule · 2025-01-11T21:18:16+00:00

Was washing the truck today and noticed there's already some pretty good frame rust starting. I know it's just surface rust but keep in mind this truck is less than a year old and has 11k miles on it. I love th new boxed frame as it's wayyyy stiffer than the 3rd gen and it's cool they put rust proofing inside the frame from the factory but as you can see they don't do it on the outside haha. This is very odd to me because I don't think it's been long enough for the paint to already been worn away or eaten through and I haven't scraped this area up at all so either it somehow got scraped up or it just didn't come with paint on it. I didn't notice this until after I installed the SXTH element exhaust as the stock muffler was blocking sight to this area. Some things to note. I live in the absolute worse conditions for rust. small mountain town with a bunch of tourists so the town dumps salt on the road. After cleaning my truck I'll literally have piles of salt on my rock sliders once I get home from the car wash it's crazy. Also even when it's not storming the snow is melting meaning on every single drive the underside of the truck gets soaked. It doesn't get much worse so I was expecting rust and to treat it as I go but just didn't expect it to look this bad this fast. Is this surprising to you guys or are the people who live in the rust belt used to a new truck rusting like this after only a couple months? Luckily I just bought a winter beater to commute in so the truck will only be used when i need it and washed all the time lol.

F

FishTaco

New member

Yesterday at 3:18 PM

#1

First: This is my first Tacoma and I know nothing about electrical.
I have a Trailhunter. It has several pre wired auxiliary switches, and from what I read they can handle the load of the Auxbeam ditch lights and light bar lights I got.
Is there any advantage to getting the Auxbeam switch panel?
It seems like I can keep a cleaner look using what I have.
Since I'm new to offroading and learning about overlanding as I go, I am unsure if I should save those for camping alternatives later?

My rig is a daily driver and I'll be using it for off road exploring and camping. I bought it after surviving Helene to build a competent daily driving bail out buggy. I share this so the experts out there understand my goals/needs.

Thanks for any help or insight, it's all new for me.