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

Hahahah that’s awesome!
The world works in mysterious ways!

 

Pull the CARGO LP fuse out of your interior fuse panel then the cargo lights won't be doing anything anyway. That's what I did.

I'll have to see if my cap has any clips or anything on that front window. I know mine leaks decently but it's never been enough to worry about since I don't keep anything back there long term that can't get a bit wet. Maybe I could remove and clean and reseal.

 

Kudos for saving it!

 

So much time and sweat invested, it's almost like I have a weird bond with her.
And Ill tell ya, with 290k+ She may be twisted up, but she runs better/quieter/and smoother than any domestic of the same year and miles.
I believe its wrecked me as far as looking into other trucks from here on out.

 

#Truth

 

This is really exciting for me. Makes me want to clean up my driver brakelight and camper/cab wiring and get some LED strips installed (leaning towards under the bedrails--I have always hated "direct" lighting).

So you just wire that in to interrupt the....hot wire? or the negative? Feel like you would do the hot, so you can still use the switch at the light if you're inside the camper with the rear glass closed. Or what?

 

Man, just a warning for folks to be careful with that stuff. I have had it take paint off things before. Test it somewhere before just blasting all over the place.

Yes! That's what I was trying to explain, too, in going through the same issue with mine. Even though it cuts down on visibility slightly, I keep my rear camper window in to keep water out since I don't have a cab-to-camper seal solution yet (and might not ever).

 

Thanks for that. My concern was that maybe the TPMS receiver in the ceiling was potentially on the same circuit as the cargo fuse. But I hadn't dug into the EWD yet, I hate digging into the EWDs. Knowing my luck, when I need to remove the cap, I'll forget to reinstall the fuse and get pulled over.

I can say, I haven't found any major leaks. I really squirted the hell out of it while cleaning it. It stayed dry as a bone until I started blasting water into the seals, then I watched as stuff splashed out of the slide trays and into the interior. There are some signs it had some mildew growth; need to steam clean the carpet job inside or I'll end up with a sinus infection if I hang out in there overnight (allergies flare, swell sinuse, sinus infection ensues).

I'd really like to pull both side windows and hose them out. I found the process on the Road Ranger "HT side window-replacement" video on the 'tube. They show you what bolt order to follow. It looks like it's helpful to have someone outside when you get to the last top/center bolt though, and during re-install.

 

It's just dawn and isoproply. I've used it to de-gunkify multiple vintage bikes and lawn mowers I've flipped, no issue yet. Was it something specific you had issues with? Was it clearcoated? (FWIW, no problems with the clearcoated paint on the shell, nor my single stage on the truck)

I'd like to find a good boot solution just to keep from water droplets getting down in there, but I'm worried about paint rub-through on my single stage body paint. Back in the 70s & 80s, my parents had some kind of foam or inflated boot for their trucks that worked well. But all that is really fuzzy in my brain, dad pulled his final cap in the 80s and never used one again, until he got his 2.5 gen Tundra a few years back.

I'm really not sure I'd use it anyway. And TBH, I am really enjoying an unexpected side effect to the cab: The truck is massively quieter. I guess I was getting way more noise from my bed/rear than I realized. The truck drives much quieter with the cap installed!!

 

It is the bomb and degunkifying. My problems were on automotive paint (on a different vehicle), but yeah you're right it was in areas where I didn't realize there was no clear (underside of hood when cleaning the engine) or where clear was in bad shape.

 

Just went for a week camping in the Eastern Sierras with my new truck camper for the first time. Handled the Easy to moderate trails really well and was amazing and roomy to camp in. Glad I ended up just building my own!

 

I'll be curious to see if it does anything to either on mine. Only time will tell.

If you just wanted to make-your-own, this is supposedly the formula. I'm going to be doing this from here on out and just re-use the bottle. I hate the smell of the stuff. (I got the white bottle in a multi-pack)

• 4 TBSP Dawn dish soap
• 2 TBSP Isopropyl 70% - 80%
• Distilled Water
• Combine Dawn and alcohol in 19-20oz bottle. Fill one finger-width from the top of the bottle with distilled water. Tilt back/forth to start the mixing process, leave for 30-60 minutes to let everything mingle.

 

NICE! And not another (crazy) human in sight. Thx for sharing those pics, looks like a great trip.

 

Thanks @BroHon It was a great trip, and being that I went during the week and the start of winter it was empty everywhere I went! Perfect

 

I lol'd at that dog--what kind of dog is that? Looks like our Shih Tzu when we cheap out and DIY his quarterly haircut.

 

Your rig is so badass

 

I see you brought the oscardog with you.

 

He's a terrier mix. Almost 16 years old, had him about 15 years now. Hes my camping buddy and yes his face needs some trimming. I did a quick cut on him the other day so you can see his eyes now, haha. At 16 he's such a little trooper though and just wants to keep on going. Gonna break my heart when he passes.

 

Haha yes! I usually try to bring him but he is getting up there in age. Its funny, lots of people think my name is Oscar, but thats my pups name.

 

Thanks man! Had it about 5 years now, just slowly making it my own!

 

Our Husky is turning 14 this month and refuses to die haha. She drags her foot when she walks and hates stairs. She's a lot to deal with sometimes. We sedated her this year when we drove from TN to AZ.

We want to drive to Utah next year but I really don't want to take her again so I'm waiting to see what happens with her between now and then. If I ever get another dog he/she will hopefully be a better travel companion like Oscar.

 

Wow thats definitely up there for a bigger dog like a husky. Yea its kinda tough deciding on whether to take them on trips when they are older.

Oscar is a great camping companion, but he hates the driving part. He doesnt settle down just pants and shakes the whole time. Dealt with that for 14 years, tried all sorts of calming products, nothing really worked. Until last year the vet prescribed an anti anxiety that has helped tremendously. He actually lays down a bit on road trips now and doesnt pant or shake nearly as much. The best part is that it doesnt sedate him or make him drowsy so we can still go on hikes and explore around when we get to cool spots.

 

I love him, he looks just like Mr. Dog from my favorite boyhood book, about a dog who owns himself, lives by himself in his own house, smokes, and adopts a boy:

 

Oh nice i never read that book. He def looks like Oscar, haha. He gets compared to Benji all the time!

 

Same. If feel you either work at a good one make them wealthy, start your own shop hope someone buys your company or go union at this point.
How do you like it? I know it's different everywhere and you'll.always be able to find someone that complains but if you go to work and go home and have good benefits....

 

I like it here. It's a lot different than what I was used to. The union doesn't recognize my masters license, but everyone I work with understands what it means. There's also plenty of upward mobility. As for opening my own shop? Nah, that's not for me. I don't want the hassle.

 

Replaced the fluid in my rear diff with 3.7 qts of 70W140 SuperTech and new crush washers. It’s a conventional diff. Can’t recall last time it was changed. Did a top off when I replaced a wheel bearing few years ago. Oil looked pretty clean with no sludge and essentially nothing on the magnet which was surprising for 250K miles. Also why is it as soon as I remove a drainplug the wind kicks up?

 

Got temporary wiring done for the Leer camper shell so I'm not driving around with a dead brake light. If anyone runs over this in the future, white/blk stripe is ground as usual. Green is constant feed for lights-on mode tail lights. Green/red stripe is brake light.

Temporarily Posi-Tap'd them for now; got the wire into the bed by removing the top bolt for the cable tie-down and routing it through that hole, sans grommet. Sadly, as I found using a 9v battery yesterday, one 3-4 LED segment is out in the middle, so there's another $15-25 I'll be dropping on a replacement - got a couple picked out, hashing thru reviews. Also fixed the latch strikes for the door, one had about an inch of play in it.

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There's exactly 12 lights on each side of the non-illuminating section. It’s symmetric. Could just rock it