Pound Puppy rescue rebuild

Also at this point I’ve now attached and tightened the rear spring hangars so the suspension is floating in position. All good and all in place.

 

U-bolts in and tightened. I got to admit the whole rear Tundra axle seems crooked. The perches aren’t straight, seems like the springs aren’t straight. Weird. It’s straight though, but old wear patterns don’t lie. Those Bilstein are the bloody firmest shocks I’ve ever tried to install in my life! OME land cruiser shocks can suck it compared to these, new shocks for the cruiser are due and it looks like Bilstein are the clear winner for dampening.
I really don’t know about those stupid red bump stops. What’s up with this need for something that looks like a bright red anal insert toy? Thank you pornhub! LOL! Sic humour!

 

Original exhaust position and new piping. Basically I cut the vertical. Twisted the piece 20 deg, cut the tail pipe elbow off and redirected it straight back along the side of the spare tire. Then I bought a 16” piece and welded the original elbow to that and made it level as factory. I welded the Toyota oval tailpipe end on just as a guarantee it clears the back of the truck. This looks a bit ‘80’s’ 1/2 ton, but it’s the exact same height as the factory tailpipe it just exits right at the spring shackle not the mud flap. I figure after the high heat paint fades ( to protect welds from rusting tomorrow ) it won’t be noticeable. To be honest as far as the whole project I’m pretty happy. It was less than 8 hrs for the entire tear down and install of the two kits. That part went easy and instructions were simple to follow. I used metric tools for everything. 12, 14, 17, 19 & 22. Factory exhaust has maybe another 2 yrs on it so I wasn’t about to piss around and spend a bunch of money on a consumable product that’s going to be replaced in a year or two. Truck looks wicked cool! Very noticeable stance difference. Can’t wait to drive it.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

 

First is it handles like a car, farm truck without the truck anymore. Seriously if I thought it handled well before I
was uninformed. Even Teri who doesn't exactly like speed was ok with the first portion of the test on the highway.
Then we went up onto logging roads, bad ones. Looking for some balsam boughs for wreaths. With a rear shackle
now almost 10" long and 8 lbs in air bag it just bounces through the holes and ruts like a car. None of that hard
rear end pounding from a shackle 4" long on overloads. It sucked up potholes quite nicely.
Overall, worth the money and time. It is smoother to drive and feels better.
I'd highly recommend the SOS Lowering Kit and SOS Airbag kit together. Really well made, and does what it
should with the bonus of a truck with far better drivability. J

 

Looks great man! It was a great read!

 

This is a great thread to read through and see the transformation. I always wish I had the time/skill to do something like this. Bonus for being on Vancouver Island too without worries of rust like we do in Alberta. When I was looking for my Tundra I was specifically looking on the Island because of the lack of rust, but being so far away was a disadvantage for the good deals.

Congrats on the cool ride!

 

Thanks for the compliment. This truck lived in Victoria. I live by Ladysmith and they lay road salt like butter on toast here even if there has been no precipitation in 10 days, but it might freeze! I have a BJ74 and 12HT60 neither gets driven in winter here because of road salt. True not as bad as Alberta though. Next time you see a legit deal if I’m home I’ll try to help out - just ask. My office is Calgary and I have solid friends in Land Cruiser community in Calgary/Red Deer areas.

 

That's surprising about the salt, I assumed some of the higher elevations on the highway they would use salt but didn't realize that much in town. You have a really cool collection including the Tundra, that's great to have those options of what to drive when the weather is good.

Thanks for the offer about the search, after months of offers and missing out I actually found one local to me, not an island truck but really clean for a Alberta truck so I'm good now but appreciate it.

 

TPMS LIGHT disabled! After 3 yrs I finally eliminated the two lights that have been just a pain in the butt. Engine light was coded to the O2 sensors. I don’t drive this truck much so I’ve let it slide. But my buddy got Techstream and we finally sorted it out. There had always been a rattle. Turns out the catalytic converter honeycomb had broken up. So using info from everyone here I jumpered the light lime green wire and yellow wire together. Flat tire light gone forever!

 

So once we realized the honeycomb in the catalytic converter was bouncing around I ordered the passenger side catalytic converter only from RockAuto. Also replaced all 4 O2 sensors as a matter of course. the rest of exhaust is okay so it should last for a while.

 

There must be busted honeycomb in the front piece. I thought it was empty resonator. But I’ll have to cut it tomorrow. But the new piece from Rockauto fit perfect.

 

Broke out the Autel and cleared the codes. Drive it with several stops. No more engine light. Seems to idle a bit smoother. 0-60 was slick, quicker and clean shifts all the way up.

 

Tested the new suspension. 2 yds of mulch pretty fresh and wet. Then picked up 54 sheets of 3x6’ corrugated roofing for a new fence. Not sure what it weighed. 56 psi in the Cooper ATS 3 tires and 50 psi in airbags. Truck sat perfectly level 3.5” wheel well height above tires front and rear. Nice! Later today I’ll be picking up a load of cedar split rail fence posts. Shouldn’t be as heavy but the truck does 65 mph and doesn’t even notice the weight.

 

I really don’t like these wheels. If anyone can recommend better 18” options. I found a set of steelies for $300 in excellent condition. They are grey but I’d paint them bronze I think. These factory wheels are corroding. I needed a 10 lb sledge hammer and pry bar to get them off the hubs. If I’d been on the side of the road trying to change a flat I’d have been pounding on them with a rock. Backside is really ugly. I basically brushed a crapload of marine antiseize onto the hub face when I put them back on. But I can’t afford the TRD special wheels a guy is selling on Craigslist for $3750 either.
Anyhow I’m open to suggestions.

 

Found out the corrugated roofing was 1135 lbs. I think max payload is 1845 lbs. This truck wouldn’t hardly notice that.
I’ve ordered a Redarc Brake Controller specifically for 2007 Tundra. I have the tow package and this model has direct plug into harness. Basically plug and play.
Max Towing is 8400 lbs for this truck. 500 lb hitch weight

This is the one: now will see if it lives up to the hype.

https://www.redarcelectronics.com/us/landcruiser-sequoia-4runner-brake-controller-kit

 

BTW here is my reference point for specs on 2007 Tundra RCLB. It has ‘em all.

https://www.cars.com/research/toyota-tundra-2007/specs/289312/

 

So I just went through the whole thread... I'm a lil confused on the seats... I see you washing leather/vinyl seats... But I see cloth seats installed... ??

Awesome job BTW ...

 

Thanks, appreciate the compliment.
The truck had what I think were factory seat covers. Made of indestructible vinyl. I did my best, but they just wouldn't come clean.
Those seat covers are beyond impressive, I wish I knew exactly who made them. I didn't actually look for a tag, but not sure where I stored them. Since I'm a normal person and it's not a work truck I just removed them and enjoy the cloth seats as they came. Sadly around the edges of where the covers were I can't get the fabric perfectly clean but they look okay.

 

So it would seem that prior to the full cat swap I had replaced only 1 O2 sensor. Just to isolate the problem. Well,
last 3 days have seen the engine light come back on. Got the Bank 2 emissions code. So I think running the good
O2 sensor in the bad cat was a bad idea. So tomorrow I'll swap a new rear sensor in and then I have to wait to see
if it codes again. I sure hope not. The good news is the code is consistent now.

 

Hey, nice work on the restoration! Love your choice of color as well.

 

Thank you. I’m kinda bit of a green freak. My Land Cruiser is Black Jade.

 

Well, a 1 minute job. That’s it, 1 f’n minute to remove and replace an O2 sensor. Well,
6 hrs later. Cross threaded or galled thread on sensor. Whatever. Drilled out old sensor.
Removed cat. TIG welded new SS Vibrant sensor bung in. Painted the whole new cat.
Deleted codes and went for a drive. Long drive. Now it seems it’s all done. Smooth.

 

Yeah buddy, I pulled a Subaru O2 sensor out of the header the other day and it took the threads with it. I said to myself I would just try to retap it. Nope. Then the bastard ate my tap.

 

I feel for you. It’s not a whole lot of fun.

 

Got onto Amazon for a couple of upgrades. Battery terminals were those crap lead marine things with wing nuts of all things garbage. So for some actual JIC terminal connectors. Feel more solid now.

 

Got a bit of an upgrade. 2010 RCSB base model. Black trim, bumpers and interior. Manual windows. Brought it back late last night so he sent are the only pics before rain and darkness.
First impressions - weird throttle, solid truck no defects. Fast!! Quick run thru Burnaby Lakes last night 0-100K tiny seconds and it pulled without a shiny or vibration right up to 150K. Brand new brakes all around so everything is smooth and feels good.

 

To get back to Pound Puppy. The tailpipe I made above was temporary and it eventually broke the welds on the rear hanger. So I had a buddy swapping t-cases on his Land Rover and I did a bunch of small jobs. So took the tailpipe and refitted it to as good a fit as stock. I cut the pipe directly below the hanger, installed a short radius 90 and then another but directed it over the lowered spring and got the angle just right to come out in behind the mud flap. It’s rock solid and as soon as I get the lowering kits on the 5.7 this will get copied. That looks much closer to the spring than it is in the photo. Poor perspective. It’s physically impossible for the spring to strike the tailpipe.

 

So exhaust is done. New LH mirror on Friday from smashed housing damage from when I got it 3 yrs ago. New headlights were two weeks ago. New to this truck wheels were swapped on this weekend and Michelin tires. It’s basically finished the whole rebuild now. It has 242000kms on it and runs like new. Maybe an ARE Highrise Aluminum utility canopy is in the works and it’s actually green too! So pics if that happens.

 

I have to say that’s a really nice color on your truck