New 06 Tundra (to me) & New Member + 1st mods?

Hey all, Will here, I recently bought an 06 Tundra DC 4wd w/ 172k and, although a Chevy man at heart (hence the username), I've always had a thing for 1st Gen Tundras. So after being without a vehicle for 8 years (I sold my tricked-out 00' Silvy before moving to NYC) and now needing a daily driver after moving to Arkansas, I took this chance to get into the Tundra world. I was a long-time chevy truck forum member so I really appreciate truck forums and have already found tundras.com to be a huge help both before buying the truck and even now as I look ahead to bringing this truck back to life, it could use some love. Apologies for the long post but I'm glad to be here, excited to meet everyone and looking forward to learning about 1st gen Tundras.

Now on to the fun stuff: The PO did a good amount of recent mods/maintenance - alternator, front brakes, lower ball joints, spacer lift kit, 33's and wheels - so I'm gonna finish where they left off. I'm willing to put in the money if it means peace-of-mind and durability/longevity and elbow grease if it means saving a few bucks.

This weekend I detailed the interior and up next is timing belt (taking it to a dealer) and front suspension (might do this myself), upper ball joints are shot. Any suggestions on front suspension while I'm attacking the BJ's?

The struts need replacing so figure I can take care of some other components while it's apart. Any good recs on combination of parts OEM/aftermarket? All aftermarket? All bushings?

Thanks!

 

Welcome from NY.

Now you need to add some of these to the rear window.

https://www.toyomafia.com/shop?page=2







@ToyoMafia

 

Welcome from NC!

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

Welcome to the group. We've got a good community here.

OEM is the best for ball joints. For shocks I prefer Bilstein. Bunch of our members also run King or Fox. I run OEM bushings but I'm sure other members here can chime in on aftermarket.

There are some sticky threads at the top of the forum for most info and vendor list. Search function is also handy.

With your '06 there are a few power adders, when you get to that point. Stock style paper air filter is the best for performance/filtration, cat-back exhausts give minimal gains except sound, biggest non supercharger gain is headers, and finally chips are out there but few of them actually make power. Unlike the OHV Chevy engines, cams for our V8's are prohibitively expensive and designed for turbo/supercharging.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome from NJ, looks like you need some new headlights so you can see alot better you'll be surprised. First I would start with what time of suspension do you want long travel, spacers, stock suspension or 1" - 2.5" lift or more. I personally I'm just redoing all my suspension components. I'm switching from Rancho quick lift to 5100 and 2885 coils.

Best option is do a little digging around then ask questions if your confused or would like suggestions.

Mod on

PS. I'm a chevy guy also

 

Ditch the spacers and get some bilstein 5100s. You can restore those headlights pretty easy; plenty of videos on YouTube. @shifty` prefers the chrisfix videos.

 

Agree with above . . . restore those headlights . . . I just did 3 sets (1 was mine, and 2 for friends) they came out killer and are holding up perfectly.
I used the wet sanding method and the '2K Clear' from Spray-Max . . . that's the key is using the 2K Clear . . . tough as nails and lays down really nicely.

 

Love to see another uh... well-used 1st gen double cab. Mine's white too!

 

This sounds like it'll be a case of the "while I'm in there I might as well replace this". I just went through it.

I went pretty basic with Bilstein 5100s all around and new Old Man Emu coil springs since the originals were pretty saggy. OEM ball joints are always good but you should consider aftermarket upper control arms if you end up with much lift. I put in SPC UCAs with greaseable ball joints. Lot more travel and peace of mind.

 

I’d say tie rod ends, steering rack bushings and sway bar links are nearing end of life.

 

Thanks for the reply's!

I got the timing belt/water pump and cam seals done this week. The shop gave me a nice list of other repairs too but I'll handle those myself. Some of which I already knew

upper ball joints
sway bar end link bushings
front strut bushings (will probably just replace the whole strut with 5100's)
LR axle seal and bearing
LF cv boots torn (recommended replacing the axle)
RF axle seal
steering rack leaking (recommended replacing but keep power steering fluid full to hold off the repair)

I'll probably do 5100's and extended sway bar end links I found on suspensionmaxx.com. Then OEM for the other stuff to get it back in good running condition.

I'm good with the 2-3" lift I have. And I like the idea of SPC UCA's but they'll will have to wait until I can get my wife on-board with dropping $800 on them! hahaha

 

The struggle is real! I actually got mine from Rock Auto. They were under the "Mevotech" brand but all the parts were 100% SPC. Saved a few hundred dollars.

 

Did you go to Toyota of Fayetteville and mind sharing what ya paid for the timing belt and cam seal work? I got a quote for 3600 on mine from another dealer

 

Sorry for the late post, I didnt see an alert that you posted. Anyway, as a matter of fact I DID go to toyota of fayetteville. Out the door I paid $2,200 for the tb, water pump and cam seals. The original quote for just timing belt and water pump was $875 but once they got in there they saw the cam seals leaking, so basically another $1k for that. I was pissed for how much labor cost but it comes with 1yr warranty on parts and labor.