Sooo. I brought home a low mile '02 yesterday

From predominantly GM vehicles I am migrating to primarily Toyota.
I began the Toyota journey in the fall of '21 with a nicely kept '07 Prius. We bought it on a whim just to see what they were about! Its been a game changer. Great car. 50 mpg is hard to believe.

Yesterday I brought home a white '02 Tundra AC 4x4 Limited 4.7 with 86,600. I bought it from a buddies 92 yr old father. The truck never sat outdoors overnight and rarely saw the light of day.
This thing looks and drives as new.
Through reading here I understand that I should be looking into timing belt replacement as well as other mechanical concerns etc.
I am located in NE Iowa and would like to source a Toyota mechanic outside of the dealership network if possible. Recommendations? Thanks

I posted most of this in the newbie thread as well

Edit: Will takeoff 2023 Tacoma wheels/tires fit my truck? 265/65/17

 

Timing job is a must. Congrats on the truck.

 

Pics or we don’t believe you! Welcome.

 

Congrats, I’m new here too. Coming from German cars, working on growing a business in a rural area and needed something that can be fixed easier locally or DIY. I too, really respect and like the Prius quite a bit.

Looks like we both have timing belt jobs in our near future!

Hope you enjoy your new truck!

 

Tacoma wheels will "fit", but the backspacing on the rims is different. They tend to tuck further in to the wheel wells than the Tundra wheels do. Some run them with a spacer to fix that issue. The tire size will work fine.

 

Similar background here, i.e. coming from heavily GM family, mostly owned and wrenched on dozens of GM cars and a couple German, couple Hondas until I met my wife, who had an old Camry, and I realized the stories about longevity, low maintenance cost, and reliability of Toyota weren't just marketing bullshit, and I'd been missing out all these years.

I can't recommend a shop in IA, I'm not talking with my ex up there anymore But I can recommend you to read this thread if you haven't already. It'll cover some potential concerns to be aware of. I can't recommend greasing the driveline enough and confirming your 4WD operation, at least engaging 4HI, and being sure to put some miles on it in 4HI, in appropriate conditions of course. 4WD seems like a 'use it or lose it' thing, and even the manually hints/warns at that, recommending 5-10 miles of 4HI engagement per month to keep it working.

 

Check if your lower ball joints were replaced under factory recall!

Nobody wants a bad set of balls and their failure is catastrophic!

 

Thanks for the replies. I did plug in the vin and nothing came up on the site I found to research history. Odd. I'll have to sit down and talk to the PO about where he had any service performed etc. Hoping the timing belt has been addressed but its questionable at best. I have a buddy with a shop and hoist. Thankfully! Ill get over there for a good look soon. Lower balls will be at least examined closely very soon.
The 4-wheel drive test will take place today.
@shifty` did you live/spend time in Iowa? If so, where abouts?

 

Hey hey, what's up twin?!

Truck looks great from the outside. It'll polish up real nice, although someone clearly already took pretty good care of the paint (lucky!)

RE: Iowa... Nope! I dated an IA chick, at the time she was living in Omaha to be closer to the music scene there, had a kid with someone, and we started dating a year or three later. She was a really awesome person, I swore for a long time she was my soulmate. I've been around Omaha plenty as a result, we stayed in touch quite a bit after, she moved back to IA, but we lost touch about 6-8 years ago now. I should probably try to reach out again in the next couple years.

RE: Toyota Owner's website. After you sign in, click on Owners > Safety Recalls & Service Campaigns

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Use the Search feature with your VIN and confirm you're not a robot. You're looking for a result like this, which shows no recalls are pending fulfillment:

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Next, you'll want to click on Owners > Service History :

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From there, you're looking for any recall work that may've been done. I'm highlighting where my original owner went in for the suspension recall back in '08, and the "SSC E04" campaign in 2018 was the Takata airbag recall:

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Sorry in advance if all this was clear, and what you've already done.

 

Thanks for the guidance. I needed it!

 

What's the date code on those Michelins?
Truck looks nice. Good find!

 

Nice truck. I have a friend that has 360k on his and still runs great. You got a deal on that one. If it were me I would do the timing belt tensioner, timing belt and water pump. It's about that time anyway.

 

I have not looked. Surely old!

 

I got a quote from our local Toyota dealer on doing the timing belt and water pump. Reasonable compared to some I have read about here. I did not include the tensioner replacement as they did not recommend it. I'll add that to the list and see what they need to have for that as well. The tech was very aware of the importance of changing these items as well as knowing this truck as it had been serviced there since '06.

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

Where are all these low mileage first gens coming from all of the sudden?? This is the third one I've heard of in 2 weeks.

 

What was their "reasonable quote" if you don't mind sharing

 

Low mile, garage kept 02’….

 

If that's the case, you should be able to pull all the service records via the Toyota Owners website.

And if it's not showing up the Toyota Owner's site under the Service History section I showed above, do yourself a favor: When you take the truck in, talk to the service manager and ask if you can get a copy of any service records they have for the truck so you can attempt to recover its history. Having a running record of its service history will ultimately add to the value of the truck.

Granted, it'll never be as valuable as, say, a well-optioned (loaded) double cab, but some people REALLY geek out on these RCLBs. And to that point, don't forget to add your ride in this gallery! https://www.tundras.com/threads/regular-cab-long-bed-rclb-lets-see-them.17708/

 

I was able to access all the service records from the owners site. My name has now been added.
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't my truck considered the AC version?
I'll get a pic or two loaded eventually for that thread.
I just setup my appointment to have the timing belt/water pump changed. It will be reassuring to have that done.

Anyone have any advice on finding a topper/cap. Used is naturally just fine.
Thanks everyone

 

Shit. Sorry. Yes, I totally got confused, I'm mixing up the other guy who bought the low-mile gold colored RCLB in SFO area from another thread this past week. Oof.

And on caps ... only access cab caps will fit and only year range 2000-2006. Regular cab is too long. Double cab too short. Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, Craigslist are your best bets, but be forewarned 75% of them won't tell you which cab it's for.

EDIT: For language, people call them "topper" "camper" "cap" and "shell" so try all those terms with the word Tundra. On Craigslist I use the following search phrase to pull up caps: tundra (cap|shell|bed|camper|top|topper)

 

Quick trailer wiring harness question. Seems that my truck is equipped with a flat 5? Isn't a flat 4 common? Thinking I've never had/seen a vehicle equipped with a flat 5.

 

For those without tow package, 5 pin harness is correct for our Tundras. Your 5 pin flat should head to a gray 6 pin connector under bumper area....T 6

From 2002 EWD.....

 

Is there a 5 to 4 adapter required or do I need to replace my 5 ?

 

Wow, nice find! Congrats!

 

If your trailer is 4 wire, you do not have reverse/backup, which means you should be able to plug the 4 wire into the trucks 5 wire. If you would post a picture of your trucks 5 wire flat and your trailers 4 wire flat, we can confirm.

Should be able to do this....

 

Ill try it again. My truck plug may just need a good cleaning.