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

New wheels. After 7 years in Austin, the steel rims were rusted to hell.

 

Nice, lookin good. My truck is the same color and it makes wheel shopping difficult.

 

We needed tires. Wife said, "Look at my tires. They have a funny pattern on the tread." "Honey, those are wear bars. You need new tires." We were leaving for MT in 5 days. We ordered tires and set up appointment for following morning. Before she headed out, I texted her to ask the guy if they had any standard rims. The website had lots of expensive wheels to choose from.

She forwarded a photo of something they had for $99 each (AB Legacy). I texted back to say, "Put them on too." Looks like a totally different truck now.

 

Was doing some electrical work for our HOA and broke the handle trying to open my tailgate. Local dealer wanted to bend me over to the tune of $267 for just the part. Got one from Napa made by Dorman for $100. Guess I should have checked the Rock first as their's is $62.

 

May not be much to some, but it’s huge for us… We’re in our 70’s, and we are just not as flexible as we used to be. Heck it took us 10 days to change the alternator in our Acadia…! Yep that’s us, all right!

Anyway we bought the 02 Tundra about two weeks ago, and this has been our first project… The truck already had an aftermarket touch screen head unit, that we were not sure that we were going to keep. Turns out it’s not all that bad after all…

so, based on this guy’s recommendation, we bought a backup camera and installed it. Well, our son dropped by and ran the wire from the tailgate up to the cab area for us. See we simply cannot get down on the ground very easily anymore…

Huge shoutout to “Shifty” for all of his advice and friendship n getting this done! Literally could not have done it with out his help! No kidding, you roc, SIR!

so, here’s the inspiration video…
https://youtu.be/OCyjZMTydXM

And here’s the camera part…
NATIKA Front View Camera,IP69K Waterproof Great Night Vision HD and Super Wide Angle Metal OEM Style Reverse Rear View Backup Camera for Cars Pickup Trucks SUVs RVs Vans (Black)

$40 NATIKA Backup/Front View Camera,IP69K Waterproof Great Night Vision HD and Super Wide Angle Metal OEM Style Reverse Rear View Backup Camera for Cars Pickup Trucks SUVs RVs Vans (Black)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H852D49

 

And… btw…

While we were back at the taillight end, we installed these…
Limited-time deal: Alla Lighting 912 921 LED Bulbs for Back-up Reverse Lights, 6000K Xenon White CAN-BUS 4014 30-SMD T10 T15 906 W16W 921K 922, 360° Light Backup, Cargo Lights Replacement, Extremely Super Bright

$13 Alla Lighting 912 921 LED Bulbs for Back-up Reverse Lights, 6000K Xenon White CAN-BUS 4014 30-SMD T10 T15 906 W16W 921K 922, 360° Light Backup, Cargo Lights Replacement, Extremely Super Bright

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072FHNZKW

OMG! Super bright! Pictures later, but only “after” shots, because we didn’t take any before the change out! Sorry!

Here’s our inspiration video for this project…
https://youtu.be/tO-vFzCaABM

 

I have my original one too, if you can send yours back. Works fine. Black plastic.

 

Let me encourage you to replace the bulbs in your cargo light as well. The stock bulbs can melt the socket, cooler LED bulbs are a smart & easy upgrade.

 

Yes! I think I may have enough in the ones I bought…? And, I certainly plan on doing them as well! Thanks!

 

Yeah, they’re great for the cargo lights as they actually put out enough light to use at night.
There are three in there including the brake light, you can swap them all to that style LED without issue.

 

Thanks Dave. I’ll just use the Napa part and chalk it up to experience.

 

Added the plug n play Crux blue tooth. I did the same in my Taco years ago. These blue tooth units work flawlessly, never any issues connecting, unlike my wife's damn Subaru

 

Hadn't seen that one yet. GTA's 1st Gen Tundra kit is the one I usually recommend and see folks running. Adds full hands-free integration for phone usage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZWJYk7IXek​

 

The Crux BT is just simple blue tooth plus a usb port and aux port. As far as hands free functions I just say "hey Google"

 

Yup. Sounds like a cool option. Honestly, a lot of guys who bought the Alpine I have got it for CarPlay purposes. I just needed Bluetooth integration for hands-free (it's illegal to hold phone while driving in GA). I thought about keeping it all stock with such a low-mile gem of a truck, but the basshead in me reared its ugly head and ... yeah.

 

Those stock stereos are clean but I mean, tech has evolved so much and double din units are so damn easy…

 

That’s pretty cool. Does it plug into the stock harness pretty easily? I need something like that for my C5

 

Good luck on those OEM radios lasting. I got about about 10 yrs out of mine with daily use before the amp got a solder crack in it somewhere making the volume level cut in and out.

 

yep, it’s on the calendar for tomorrow!
Are they the t10, or t5, or???

 

Some people are just hardcore about having the original OEM stuff in there. My low-mile OEM amp, my OEM head unit, and my OEM speakers all went to someone who was in that boat. Their radio harness got hacked by a PO, they went the distance to have someone replace the harness with OEM, wire in the OEM radio and amp, and install the speakers.

It is what it is. Some folks are nostalgiac ... or something

 

I’m still rocking my tape deck! Though I did add the GTA kit (hands 98% free) and a “sub” but peeping in its all OEM.

Once it becomes my daily I see myself upgrading, CarPlay is just too nice.

 

Looks like the ones I ordered/used are T15

 

Yep, my oem radio has a 12 pin connection. I believe this was for an optional cd changer. The Crux blue tooth plugs into that, then I just push the cd button twice to toggle between the cd deck and the cd changer (now bluetooth)

 

Darn that’s pretty sweet! Nice, clean and convenient

 

Less chances of a crackhead breaking your window to steal yo shit if he sees an old school cassette tape deck in your rig. Ah, who am I kidding, crackheads will steal anything they can get their dam hands on. LOL.

 

Yeah my OEM radio was replaced in the first 3 days of owning the truck. Gotta have my Bluetooth and decent UI for it.

 

Around here, you can't even leave visible change in your floorboard. $200+ window gone over a 32¢ on the floorboard. I've seen crackheads in the city smash a window on prospect alone - an empty pack of cigarettes someone left on their seat. I get it, smokes are expensive these days, glad I'm not a burdened slave to the nicotine dick, but ... I can't even imagine how pissed I'd be. Insult to injury, my coworker parked in an uncovered spot and a t-storm hit before he realized anything happened.

 

Yeah, the only thing I like about stock radios is the theft deterrence factor. That’s why I have one. But I still think it kinda sucks.

 

No reason you can't cannibalize a dead OEM unit for its face, then mockup a cover-over panel to drop over your flatscreen aftermarket radio. That's what I used to do in my car back in my late teens/early 20s when I was doing ceiling light fixture retrofits in grocery stores. I had to park my Civic at the shop for days at a time while I drove the crew around in a G20 cargo van and trailer full of fixtures/ballasts/lights all over FL and GA. I took a faceplate off a crap radio, and used rubber to shim it so it'd stay in place. Dropped it into the glovebox when not in use. Then again, my system was worth more than the damn car at the time, shitbox '95 4dr sedan.