What I want to show you today is an upgrade that I have wanted in my truck for a while. It involves the cup holder in our trucks in front of the shifter. While it’s a nice place to put a drink, it’s too small to fit larger containers like a standard Nalgene bottle. That’s no longer an issue with the Z Precision Center Console Cup Holder.
My fiancé and I always carry around a large water bottle. Like most Tacoma owners, I enjoy taking my truck off-road. Not being able to place those bottles securely proves disastrous. After a few minor bumps, the water bottles fall over and onto the floorboard. The bottles would end up going in the back seat, which can be a pain when you want a drink.
Find It Online
- 3rd Gen (2016+) Tacoma Cup Holder: Check Price
Table Of Contents
Simple Install
The guys over at Z Precision have created a larger cup holder upgrade for the 3rd Gen Tacoma. This upgrade isn’t just an adapter you put in to make a more oversized drink fit. Also, it doesn’t require any drilling or modification to your truck. You just need to pull a few clips and turn some screws.
Tools Needed
- Philips head screwdriver
Step 1. Remove Center Console
The first thing you need to do is remove your shift knob. Begin doing this by pulling down on the shift boot where it meets the knob. Pull down, and the boot will slide down. Then, you can grab your shift knob and twist it counterclockwise to unscrew the shift knob to remove it.
With the shift knob off, you want to pull up your e-brake lever and lock it upright. You will understand why the e-brake needs to be applied soon.
Next, open your center console lid to remove the upper center console trim piece. Grab onto that plastic lip where the center console lid closes and latches, and gently pull up until the upper center console trim separates from the lower half.
After you get the upper console trim to separate from the lower half, stop right there. Don’t try and pull up on that piece until you do the next step.
There is a wire harness you must unclip on the passenger side before you can completely pull the upper console trim off.
Pull the upper half of the center console up about 3” – 6” and look inside the console. On the passenger side, where the shifter is located, you will see a white wire harness clip that needs to be unclipped.
Now that the wire harness for the shift bezel is unclipped, you can move to the last step of removing the upper center console trim.
Pull up on the upper half of the center console trim as far as you can get it. You will see the e-brake boot is still sitting tightly around the e-brake. Wiggle the boot and pull up on it to get it to slide off the e-brake handle. Once you get this boot free and off the e-brake, you will have successfully removed the upper part of the center console.
Step 2. Install Z Precision Cup Holder
With your upper center console removed, flip it over, and you will see six screws on the underside of the OEM one. Using a Phillips screwdriver, remove all six of those screws. Once the screws are removed, the factory one will easily pull out.
Grab your new Z Precision cup holder and place it in the same spot you just pulled the factory holder out of. The design of the Z Precision is so foolproof you can only install it one way. With the cup holder in and aligned correctly, install the six screws you removed earlier.
Step 3. Reassemble Center Console
Just follow the same steps above but reverse to get your console back installed.
Don’t forget about the wire harness that we had to unplug, or you won’t see any shifter indicator lights for your shifter on the center console.
After the harness is plugged in, you can start pulling the center console back down. While bringing it down into the correct place, you might have to grab the shift boot and guide the shifter up through the shift boot.
The upper and lower center console come together utilizing the red plastic clips attached to the upper console piece. While aligning the upper console, ensure all the red clips are aligned with the holes they go into before pushing down on anything to avoid breaking any of the clips.
Starting towards the front of the console, push down on the upper piece and slowly make your way back. Confirm that you get each clip in securely with a slight snap noise.
Now that the upper console is installed and back in place, check your e-brake boot and pull it down if it needs to be adjusted.
Locate your shifter and screw it back on clockwise until it’s tight. Don’t over-tighten the shifter, or you could risk damaging the internal threads of the shifter.
After the shift knob is tight, grab onto the shift boot and pull up until it snaps back into place with the shift knob.
Now go find yourself a large bottle if you didn’t grab one already, and place that large bottle into your new cup holder.
Final Thoughts
Am I going to sit here and make you go out and buy this right now? No. However, I will tell you that every Tacoma owner that I know would love this upgrade as I do.
Now, my truck has a convenient place to put not only mine but also my fiancé’s large water bottle. This cup holder is not only wide enough to fit the large bottles but is made to be deeper. That keeps them secure on or off-road.
The build quality of this product is hands down top-notch. When you see it in person, you will see and feel the difference in quality compared to the OEM one. The Z Precision feels to have been designed with a more sturdy build. I can only assume more material was used to account for the extra weight of the bigger bottles.
After getting everything installed, I noticed that it was designed to not only fit larger bottles but also not interfere with the dash components. The bottom has a slight tilt back towards the shifter and center console. This is so the larger bottle you now place in there will not be in the way of your dash. That includes all buttons and the small storage compartment right in front of the cup holder.
