What have you done to your 1st gen Tundra today?

Metal option shows as sold out anyway. I suspect it’s just the handle that’s metal instead of plastic.

 

I don't want to But I am happy to see you posting!

 

i think it’d fit right in

 

My black tailgate handle looks fine to me. Chrome badging not so much. Planning to remove and install black 2.5 Gen Tundra decals. Which would leave just the body side mouldings.

I do like color matched door handles and mirrors though. And I’d consider a white tailgate handle if it were an option. But my hands are usually dirty when I open it. Far more useful would be a dampener so it doesn’t slam open. Sucker is heavy.

 

You could install the tailgate easy lift torque bar.
Go Gear EASYLIFT Tailgate Easylift

$36 Go Gear EASYLIFT Tailgate Easylift

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CMHVJO

 

I have had that sitting and waiting for a couple of years now. Maybe someday. Not great marketing but still one option


However, christian06 on TW made a bracket for 2nd Gen Tacoma to add the 3rd gen dampener. It’s a better way to spend more for Oem parts . Works so well I have to pull down my 2nd gen tailgate to get it open.



I do need a better bumper to hide it since the plastic trim doesn’t fit.

if I ever make it to Sacramento I hope to have him take some measurements and maybe we can get it going for FGT. Only helps slow the open though, whereas the bar solves for close which is nice.

 

Painted my “under engine cover” as the Toyota translators called it. What is a way to get this bolt out of this welded-on nut without welding something on to twist off? Don’t have a welder.

 

You could do a few cycles of heat and penetrant spray(kroil fanboy here) and then one last heat cycle on the weld-nut and use vice grips to thread it out the way it’s headed

 

Apply a generous amount of heat via a torch on the nut (not the bolt) and slowly go back and forth loosening and tightening until you get enough play to unscrew it altogether. Easy peasy.

 

The remaining bolt threads on mine just snapped and twisted off when attempting to remove. I ended up drilling and re-tapping all the holes for new shiny bolts. I still need to redo a couple on the frame, mine was held on with just 4 self tapping screws when I purchased it.

 

This is what imma have to do. Could not get that mf’er off. The 10 different vice grips I have all failed me. Heat, PBlaster’s usually awesome penetrating lube, nothing. I even sawed down into it with a Dremel and tried to turn it out like a screw—broke the tip off a Stanley screwdriver. It’s in this weird little low area that doesn’t let me get good leverage.

 

Speaking of snapped bolts, my milwaukee m12 right angle impact got the 12 mm rusted bolts loose holding the rear bumper bracket to the frame.

Tried using my hand torque wrench on the other side and snapped the head off the middle bolt at 120 ft lbs, so that right angle impact appears to be useful for the smaller bolts. It did heat up a bit and I had to wait 10 seconds for the socket to move with the wrench on the highest torque setting but it appears to work better than putting a 650 ft lb impact on it which is overkill and more of a bolt snapper.

 

Cleaned and painted my battery hold-down bracket. I noticed it was getting slightly corroded where it touches the battery; battery must be off-gassing right around that spot. Posts looked good.

 

I backed into a red oak today. Or maybe a hickory. I don't know. I was pissed at myself after I did it.


At least the damage matches the opposite corner

 

#caplife.

 

easy to forget about a long bed. Tree survive?

 

Opportune time to trim those bed sides.

 

This is why a backup camera is almost necessary with a cap. I can't see shit otherwise.

 

Looks like an excuse to buy a high clearance bumper

 

After I calmed down, I thought the same thing. Funding though....

 

TLDR version: I finally got around to my first real modification to the truck. I put in the head unit and backup camera.

Went back and forth on what to use the money for, but felt like head unit and backup cam would probably improve the day to day more than anything else on the list. Also I have 3 boys under 6 years old, and you never know where the hell they are at any given moment - so it gives me a little peace of mind to have the backup cam installed.

Lurked around a lot on threads for advice. I went with the

$280 alpine ilx-w650 7" double DIN touchscreen digital multimedia receiver with bluetooth, apple carplay and android auto

alpine ilx-w650 head unit and Boyo VTL17IRTJ back up cam. Have an idea to actually mount it inside the hitch in the future since I rarely tow, but I'm gonna give it a shot on the license plate frame for a while. I ordered it all from crutchfield based on all the comments on here. Great call. Everything was super smooth and install was easy once I had a 5 minute phone call with the rep regarding the wiring.

2 items of note during the install.

1. I was super happy when sanding to bare metal on the frame for the ground. The frame where I was working on it was still in ideal shape. Took me some elbow grease to get through the factory frame paint.
2. Below is the picture showing where I went through the floor with the backup cam wire. Shifty has a post on where he did his, but it was for an AC I believe, so I thought I'd share this since I have a DC. May help someone else. Dropped me right out on top of the framerail.

One question - Is there any protection I should put over the ground area since I exposed bare metal? I hated doing it but necessary obviously.

 

I’m about to be projecting like a film projector metaphor:

 

Noice!

 

I’m old, I don’t drive the Tundra much and I’m cheap (more so with 3-5 years left before retirement) but are our headlights with fogs on that bad? I seem to do just fine.

Or is updating the headlights more of a mod checked off the list?

I’m not bashing; just wondering if this is something I should add to the list. With the truck sticking around for another 20 years, hopefully, I don’t want to be swapping out bulbs and housings due to leaks or burnouts.

 

Headlight technology has changed a lot since these trucks were made. Some of us like to update the headlights with LEDs or retrofit the housingings with projectors for HIDs. Some people even run 100w halogen bulbs from Europe with the help of a special wire harness.

 

like @DJenerated said, technology has changed A LOT. Also, laws have changed & lighting that took advantage of the updated laws was rolled out as buy an upgraded packaged $$$ on most vehicles.
if you keep your lenses in good shape & keep in mind bulbs do degrade over time - you'll be fine. But the newer stuff certainly does light up the way better.

We all used to be fine with RWD in the '70's. Then those odd Subaru cars with AWD. Did anyone NEED it? No, but it was tech that made getting there easier when your road surface was muddy, slippery, etc.

Do you really drive that much at night? Do you really drive that fast? Do you have suicidal wild life?
I live in a city & don't drive that much at night - headlight upgrade wouldn't do much for me other than blind oncoming traffic which isn't in my interest.
Someone like @Tundra2 needs every little bit of lighting tech upgrade possible, legal or not. I think his family has hit 7 deer since he joined the list.
I'd guess it's not worth it for you. But you know you better than some mystery poster on the internet does.

 

@abcinv I'm not old and I have wondered the exact same thing. I don't mind my headlights - they seem to work??? I agree its really about the suicidal wildlife : night driving in populated areas ratio. I also think the look of it is a factor in people deciding to upgrade, but to me as long as you keep the OEMs from yellowing or clouding, they look nearly as good. I think it's certainly a to each their own situation.

 

For anyone wondering, passenger airbag swap is possible with minimal dash disassembly. One bolt is rather hard to reach and required my 1/4” sockets and my left index and middle finger at a very awkward angle. Additional dash disassembly likely would help but the other three bolts are very easy so I figured I’d do things the hard way and try to save time.

 

Whatcha gonna launch with it?

 

Two notes for you @TXTundraGuy23 :

1. Black satin Rustoleum over the area you scuffed. The fastener is already in-contact in the places it needs to be, spraying something over it won't hurt.
2. If the goddamn cones Alpine auto-inserts into your backup image annoy you as much as they did me: Tap the bottom-center button with 6 boxes to get in the menu; Tap Setup. Tap Camera. On the page 3 tab, choose 'Turn off Rear Camera Guide'. You can also adjust the damn things so they're actually at the correct level/distance for your truck, but I don't need those big clunky bastards blocking my view.

Hell yeah! Take your time removing the reflector cone, don't leverage against the rim/lip for the bulb's flange. Also, make sure the rubber boots are snug around the neck of the bulb, you'll need to fully tighten the heatsink down and it's not possible unless the boot is OK.

I can say honestly: Tremendous difference. I don't drive a ton at night, but the amount and concentration of light is noteworthy. High beams are just absurdly bright. Compared to my OEM pre-loaded housings that were less than a year or two old, it's ... incomparable.

And I'm a big f'n critic. I should change my username on here to 'criticalMFer' I can be so anal-retentive critical

I would never install the mini projectors in my OEM housings though, CAPA-certified aftermarket housings were under $100/ea for my truck. The biggest investment is time for the average person, and most of the time I invested was in aiming.

@abcinv if you ever decide to take the plunge and want to work on it, gimme a holler. No reason I can't setup or even build the light housings for you. It took me maybe 10-15mins per housing to knock out. If you don't like it, if you save the housing boxes, you could probably resell.

My only gripe is the popular bulb most are using has a tinge of purple/blue at the top of the cutoff. It annoyed me at first, but the improved lighting makes up for it. And no special wiring harnesses, relays, fuses, or other hacks to get it.

Apparently others on here who had the airbag recall found that last fastener wasn't even reinstalled by the stealership during the recall. I guess they also had a PITA time with it