First truck. Welcome any wisdom and inspiration

Wisdom welcomed...

Just picked up my first truck and first 4x4 yesterday. A single-owner, 2000 4x4 Tundra in home-sprayed military green bedliner. She ain't showroom, but I like her a lot.

I'm looking for any wisdom on valuable accessories and items I want to make sure I have or pickup early on.

Also, what are some worthwhile, affordable upgrades I can look towards to increase the capability as both a workhorse and a basic outdoors rig? I'm looking firmly in the bang-for-buck category, budget-wise. For context, the truck will be equal parts tool/lumber hauler, daily driver, and occasional offroad/camping platform.

Feel free to explain it like I'm a bit of an idiot. I was Motor T (3531), but I was an operator. I can drive, but I'm just learning how to work on. I'd rather be told something I know than miss something I don't know to ask about.

Happy to finally have a truck.

 

Welcome from Colorado. Semper Fi

 

Welcome and I love this attitude.

Truck looks sharp. I normally would mindlessly say paint it black but I happen to like olive.

Take the time to browse our "first gen builds" section. You'll find what a lot of us have done, what worked, what failed. The great part is you'll see different flavors in there. Some are off road only, some are made to camp in, others are basically restorations with mild and tasteful upgrades mixed in.

These trucks are mostly bullet proof, but they do have a few weaknesses. If you didn't already, crawl under it with a screw driver and look for rust. If you see rust, or questionable paint over blotchy areas, poke it. See what happens. Hopefully your frame is okay.

First thing I would recommend is to look over the condition of what you have. Check all the fluids, if they look old or discolored then replace them. Try to find out when the timing belt and water pump job was last done. That's a big one but it is important to do. Also have a look at your front suspension and maybe replace the lower ball joints, preferably with Toyota ones. Timing belt/water pump job and lower ball joints are usually the best preventative maintenance you can do for these trucks.

 

Semper Fi

 

Congrats and welcome.

 

Thank you very much on all points. I've been able to nail down a good mechanic here in Austin, so I'm also having it gone over tip to tail next week. I mentioned alignment and just messaged him about the front suspension and ball joints. I mentioned the brakes as well. I'm probably just spoiled by the lightness and surprisingly good brakes on the little Ford Escape I had, but it's never bad to upgrade brakes. I was able to check out the fluids and such before I bought it, and the dealership had cleaned those out nicely and washed the engine.

 

Welcome, Welcome and Welcome from Alabama... You're gonna love this place. Your truck looks Awesome!! Very, Very Nice!!!

 

that's sweet looking

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)! Toyota ought to include that as one of their OEM color/coatings!

 

Best part is the paint color probably saved me a chunk of money because people didn’t want the color. I say it got me a truck because it was just waiting for someone with taste.

 

Welcome from NY.
Looks good.

 

Welcome from Nevada

 

I like it!!! Good score!!! You can do all sorts of things to these trucks and have fun doing it or having it done!!!

 

Welcome. So much info in this forum! Get familiar with the search function. Click on more in the search and you can search specific 1st Gen threads too.

 

And that you like her is all what matters

 

Welcome from SoCal. Make sure like @Darkness said - timing belt on the short list.

 

What is the timing belt mod? And is that something a normal mechanic shop could do? I’ve got a shop that’s taken amazing care of me in the past. I don’t know any aftermarket places yet, and I can’t do too much work on my own where I’m living.

 

It's not a mod, it needs replacing every 80-100K miles so your engine doesn't blow up. Water pump and pulleys at the same time.

 

Oh, gotcha. Thank you.

 

Welcome from Ohio