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

Maybe that was the trick? Hopefully it's one of those "fixed itself" scenarios. I've been battling brakes for a minute, but as long as it's stopping, I'm not complaining.

 

Good info. I'd planned on checking mine out when I dropped my spare in the near future to update the factory tire to my new size.

 

That was me. It was the 3 lea. I liked it, but then realized my leafs were shot and replaced with the ATS HD. The HD isn't really HD, it rode great unloaded.

 

Definitely drove nicely unloaded. Not nearly as stiff as I expected! I'll be curious to see how it does with my next bedload of mulch in a couple months.

I'm curious though @rock climber, do your springs have significant gaps between the leaves? Like what I posted in this pic? https://tnstatic.net/attachments/upload_2023-9-24_18-3-48-png.919510/

 

Wow, that's really weird. Mine weren't like that at all. I'd ask ATS their customer service was really good when I ordered mine.

On a side note, how hard was it to remove the front part of the old leaf springs? I had to use a bottle jack to push mine out.

 

Everything slid right out. I let the weight of the spring drop itself out.

Gist of my install, since I was working solo:

• Floor jack under diff, lift truck via diff; plop jackstands under frame; drop truck onto stands but keep jack holding diff
• Wheels off, OEM bottle jack under shock mount on the side I'm not replacing
  
• Remove U-bolts; remove lower shock bolt; remove shackle/hanger bolt; remove front leaf bolt, letting the floor jack tension hold the spring into place
• Slowly lower floor jack to drop OEM spring out; slide OEM spring out; sit side-by-side with new spring, transfer OEM shackle/hanger to new spring in exact same position; slide new spring into place

With the OEM bottle jack being under the other side's shock mount, the axle stayed centered nicely while I dropped the floor jack, and with the shock on the side I'm working on unbolted, the axle dropped freely and pivoted low enough to let the leaf pop out and in. At first, I was fighting to pull the damn shackle down enough to get the bolt in, tried using ratchet straps, then realized I was a dumbshit, and just needed to drop the axle down more. The centering pin held the leaf pack in place while bolting up the hanger, once that was installed, I jacked up/down to get the front leaf mount 90% there and centered it. I found it easier to leave the hanger/shackle bolts a little loose for more flexibility in the back; knew I needed to tighten them up once they're on the ground and the hanger/shackle was sitting at rest.

From there, it was just lifting things up a little to reinstall the lower shock bolt and put pressure on the leaf enough to u-bolt it in. Easy peasy.

Worst part, other than dealing with the front leaf bolt at the gas tank (that damn under-tank pan makes it way more of a PITA than it need be!!) was sliding the spring in. Juggling 55-60lb of steel into that space sitting on the floor is no fun. And for whatever reason, the friggin hanger has a penchant for getting stuck on the hanger mount that's riveted to the frame. There's definitely a little finessing that needs to happen there.

But a very do-able task for a solo mechanic to achieve. I saw a video where a guy was doing this on his 1st gen on YouTube. He wasn't in an ideal place and appeared to have a much more difficult time than I did, especially having to use a come-along to ratched the axle into place ... I'm not sure what he was doing differently, it only took me 25-30min/side working casually.

 

Anyone using an aftermarket front bumper?
Id like to mount a winch, but I don’t see any bumper that I like besides ARB. I really don’t want to spend $1800

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-tundra-armor-thread.50877/

 

Makes sense, I recall a recall for the spare tire carrier

 

Beat me to it.

 

First pics in the desert was when I bought the truck, on the trip home. Second pic is today after swapping over my 255/80/17s w/ Level 8 MK6 (zero offset) wheels from my Tacoma.






I think the 255 size is pretty darn good on the 1st gen tundras! hardly notice any difference in power and braking compared to the 265/75/16s that were on it before. If anyone is curious.... Toyo Open Country AT3s only weigh in around 51lbs. Not bad for an all terrain 33".

Next up gonna change out the oil in the diffs. Lucas in the rear (non-synthetic for limited slip) and synthetic in the front. Think it'll harm anything to have two different brands?

 

@DJenerated there's your L6 wheels with TRD center caps

 

when i got these wheel years back there was a dude on tacomaworld.com that sold vinyl stickers meant to fit those center caps. just removed the L8 logo and slapped these stickers on. Been on for about 6 years no issues.

 

Dude, i love my 255 33s! Looks and feels good on the truck.

Where in the desert were you at?

 

This was at valley fire State Park just outside of Las Vegas. Didn't have much time to hang out, so I just cruised around. Pretty awesome place with a campground and lots of hiking.

Glad to hear from other people running them! Some people frown upon it because they are more narrow than 265s and 285s, but honestly had a really can't tell unless I'm looking directly from the front or rear

 

Oh nice, i went there for the first time last year. Pretty cool place.

Check out Tinkerers' Design on youtube. Has an amazing video about the pros and cons of wide vs narrow tires. Hes a mechanical engineer making really cool videos about some of the long held myths and theories in the offroad world. Long story short, made me that much happier after seeing his video to have narrow tires.

 

I'm considering trying pizza cutters next. 255/80/17 is actually bigger(taller) than my 285/70/17's I currently have. It might actually look better.

 

No, these are

 

The only pizza cutters want are Kenda klever 35"x10.5"

 

It's always hard to get pics and enjoy the trails at the same time. Looks like y'all had a good time camping and off roading with the BGC.
I'm a little jealous.

 

It was fun, Saturday trail we started up in the pines, and ended up dropping down into the desert with this cool Joshua tree area with some spectacular specimens.

 

What tires are you both running? I'm seeing limited options for 255/80/17.

 

I'm running toyo open country at3

 

Was that your first time in the area?

 

2nd time.

 

Looks like you have a aftermarket rear bumper. What are you running there?

 

Coastal offroad, with a customé swing out. I like it, haven’t tagged it on a rock since I’ve installed it

 

How much do they rub?

 

I removed the front mud flap. I'm seeing a little tiny bit of rub once in a while on the inner fender. On my Tacoma I had SPC light racing, upper control arms and you had a lot more control of where the wheel sits. I might look into getting those someday so that I can move the wheel slightly forward. But for now this is fine. I should all. I'm so mention that I have a 1.6 inch lift currently. I could go up another clip on the 6112, but not sure that I want to.