New to me 2003 Tundra

I inherited my mom’s 2003 Tundra. For the first 175K miles it was meticulously maintained, but after my dad passed my mom kinda out maintenance on the back burner and dealt with oil leaks by adding oil on the regular. It now, 5 yrs later, has 200K.

Well, the truck is mine now and needed a lot of stuff. I’m about to turn it over to my 18yr old son. Seeing how he drives probably 5-6000 miles per year this beast of a truck should last a looooong time.

My son and I are going down a list of things that need to be done and so far we have:

Replaced valve cover gasket which solved the oil leak;
New oil pressure send unit replaced;
Spark plugs;
Oil change/flush and new filter;
Serpentine belt;
Idler pulley;
Tensioner pulley;
Transfer case fluid change;
Rear diff fluid change;
New muffler;
New upstream bank 1 O2 sensor;
New front brake pads and rotors;
Tailgate handle replaced;
Rear pop window hinges replaced;
New tires;

Next on the list:
Rear brakes;
Brake fluid change;
Coolant flush;
Gonna have the ball joints inspected;
New head lights;
New head unit that includes CarPlay;

my question to you all…what else?

what are we missing or what else should we put on the list?

Thank you in advance for the suggestions!

Ben

 

How’s the frame, where about are you/truck located? Depending on the climate it might be worth treating any rust and keeping up with regular rust prevention.

 

Im located in GOD’s country…Georgia…and there is zero rust issues on this truck. My dad bought the truck new in 2003 and this truck was his baby. Other than a lot of oil build up caused by the valve cover leak, you could eat off the frame.

 

Lucky ;-)

 

Timing belt and lower ball joints. Both very serious items if neglected.

 

the timing belt was done at a dealer at 101,000 miles. I know it’s due just forgot to add that to my list. Thanks for the tip/reminder, though.

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

Welcome to the forum, Ben. Fellow Georgia member here.

Before you do another ounce of work, if you're new to the 1st Gen Tundra and its quirks, start by reading the first two replies in this community-assembled introduction to what you're in for: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

That's going to give you the stern warnings you NEED to hear before you get too much farther. Especially on what parts you must go OEM with, to avoid misery, injury, or total loss down the road. There's also a link to some more-common TSBs across the years in there. For example, you didn't list whether your truck is a 2WD or 4WD or have V6 or V8. Like .... if it's 2WD, there's a notoriously nasty issue for the '03-'04 with the transmission crossmember cracking, and dropping its bolts, causing all kinds of noise and havoc. If it's a 4WD in any year, you must keep all the zerks on the driveline lubed, or you'll get weird clunks and bangs stopping/going and there's a special process to follow for the slip yoke zerk, you can't just pump half a dozen times and call it a day, especially if it hasn't been done in eons (I'm doubting mom did it).

You may want to go into your profile, specifically in the personal info HERE, and update the 'Vehicle One Line Description' to replace the color "white" with your engine/drivetrain combo, i.e. "V6/2WD", "V8/2WD", V8/4WD", or whatever. You may also want to include your cab type, "RC" for regular cab, or "AC" for access cab, since some things are different and requrie different advice with different cabs. This way, when you need help, all we gotta do is look under your profile picture and we know what truck we're supporting you on.

If you happen to be in N. GA, you've got a few others around, hailing in from McDonough up to nearly the TN border. Work has me south of ATL, "it is what it is". Happy to throw a hand in on what you're working on if you're close enough. and time permits.

 

Thanks for the info. I’ll give a thorough read this weekend.

most pressing items to have inspected are the ball joints and timing belt.

thanks again!

 

Uppers are almost never bad. Lowers… push/pull on wheels at the right clock positions should tell you but if in doubt, resolve the lowers with OEM and fresh OEM bolts.