2006 Tundra Lucchese #42 (I've got issues)

Hello Tundras.com,

I recently inherited this Tundra from my father who passed away with cancer just last month, one of his dreams was to fix up this truck and give it the love it deserves, I've taken that upon myself and have a few quick questions.

1. What I have fixed so far; I'm not a car guy unfortunately, I'm learning quickly so I can get this done, I just recently took the Tundra to a local Firestone who gave it a multi-point inspection, their diagnosis was the shocks and their periphery were in really bad shape, they gave me a quote of $5,300 to fix it, so I paid that.

Results:
2. What needs to be done now, the paint is in pretty rough shape, especially on the roof and hood, would you recommend repainting their entire thing? If you have a recommended DIY guide, I would appreciate it.

3. Recommendations on what I should focus on maintenance wise, to be honest, this has been sitting in the sun for over 2 years without moving, I got the oil changed once during that time, but other than that, it hasn't been driven more than a dozen miles.

4. Interior parts, the seats are specially made (and specially ruined) with the leather torn entirely with large holes and cracking abound. Do they make these seats anymore? I really don't want to give up on the ostrich leather, it is unfortunately, ruined inside.

5. Upgrades? What can I do to get it to be as cool as possible, beefy and mean, he always talked about wanting it to sound like a monster truck and get it as awesome as possible. I really want to do that, so he can look down and see us carrying on with his wish.

6. Thank you so much for any help or advice, a general direction, a pointing down the right path, anything helps. I appreciate the wealth of knowledge that is available, it just is a lot to take in all at once.

 

Welcome from NY.
Sorry to hear about your dad.

Here's another.....
https://www.tundras.com/threads/new-to-me-2006-dlb-cab-lucchese.127919/#post-3265101

 

Thank you, he was a funny guy, and wow! That's so well taken care of and beautiful, I'll definitely use that as a reference, thank you!

 

Post up in this forum and you will/should get help and answers.

https://www.tundras.com/forums/1st-gen-tundras-2000-2006.2/

 

I'll move it there, thank you!

 

Welcome to the forum.

I hate to tell you this but the trip to Firestone was a mistake. It looks to me like they (over)charged you more than a dealer would and they used inferior parts to add insult to injury. Quickstruts are pretty notorious for riding like shit in these trucks, and are the cheapest stuff you can get, but they charged you more than quality OEM-grade stuff from Bilstein would’ve cost. Hopefully they didn’t replace the lower ball joints (but they may need to be done), you can really only use OEM with that part specifically. I can’t tell from that receipt what all they did, nor is is clear from your pic if the LBJ are new.

Really, do yourself a favor before you take another step. We could’ve probably saved you a couple grand already. Read the first two replies of this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Welcome. From what I see listed, adjustment of the rear brakes to make sure they grip well would be recommended since you went with standard rotors and brakes. These truck are notorious for putting too much force on the front rotors and essentially warping them in a short period of time. Also, make sure you know when the lower ball joints were changed since they're also notorious for failing if not replaced at regular intervals and ONLY go with OEM. There are no better substitutes and aftermarket ones have a history of failing prematurely. Make sure to get new bolts to go with it.

Beyond that, I'd just recommend changing fluids (motor oil, tranny fluid, coolant, gear oil and brake fluid) whenever possible to make sure those are in order. Also, greasing the zerks on the driveline as well.

 

Dang, so I was being taken for a ride, I had a feeling and the dealership was an hour drive from my home. I was really nervous to drive it that distance since it was making some awful sounds (which stopped after they had it). They did not do the lower ball joints, only the steering stuff and the shocks. I was honestly surprised by the price, but assumed the pros knew what they were doing. A fatal mistake it seems. Well, I'll chalk it up to a valuable lesson.

I appreciate the link! I'll do some thorough reading and try not to take it back to a dealership. I had a feeling after they gave me that quote I should just use that money to buy tools instead.

Oh, there's a bunch of terminology that's new to my eyes, I'll be sure to research these, I was told the ball joints were dangerous and required regular replacements, I seem to be having issues finding the part number that matches exactly on the genuine toyota website, after putting in my VIN, it says 'fitment not available at this time' with 3 different lower ball joint options, so that is a little concerning for me.

 

The fatal mistake was thinking an impact jockey at an all-in-one chain store is a “pro”. Places like that are often rife with guys who aren’t qualified to open their own specialty shop, and/or not experienced or qualified enough to do specialty work at a dealership. Jack of all trades, master of none. That’s great if you need universal consumables like tires or brake pads/shoes, but the downside is, they won’t know the specifics about your vehicle and the quirks/special stuff you need to know to avoid disaster, and do the job right for the customer with anything else. And they definitely won’t know about major safety stuff, like the design oddities of the ball joint setups on these trucks, or why aftermarket is bad (plastic bushings, not beefy enough arms, bolt re-use issues, torque sensitivities, etc)

That said, I DO NOT recommend using the dealership unless you gotta. I often refer to dealerships as “stealerships” because they see an older model like this roll in, and dollar signs flashing their eyes. They’ll often throw you a highball maintenance offer in hopes they can use that to sell you a new truck AND get your truck on low trade in, then turn around and resell. Especially the custom packages like that one. But if you know what you need, it can be viable.

Your best bet is to find a nearby shop that specializes in Toyota. Not “all-Japanese” (unless that’s all you’ve got), but someone who specifically deals w/Toyota. A lot of certified dealer wrenches will eventually get sick of the bullshit and open their own shop after a decade or two, those are the guys you want to find.

It would’ve been cheaper, but not an instant fix. Live and learn. Not everyone is cut out to do the work, but we’ve helped more than one person on this forum with their first deep dive into front susp/steering.

Use the EPC-DATA website. More info is in the first couple bullet point of this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/howto-use-the-toyota-parts-system-to-find-order-parts.113808/

 

Absolutely phenomenal information, I've got my LBJ numbers now and I'll be running down to grab some tools to do the replacement myself. I'll be sure to post pictures after I'm done. I know some people are fit to turn wrenches, but I'm going to do my best to learn and do the rest of this myself. I really do appreciate the help and pointing me in the right direction. It's a crazy amount of info and I have a few dozen extra bookmarks now, but man is this an exciting new adventure I'm on.

Quick question though, how long are those quick struts going to last? Should I bother taking them off and putting new ones on?

 

Welcome to the forum Lex. My condolences about your father. No doubt did his truck go to the perfect person to keep it going!

As for the Monroe struts, they are pretty budget, but they’re totally safe to use. The valving is pretty light on them, so they will be pretty cush in the highway. And the Monroe’s actually have a larger diameter shock piston than the ORM struts!

As for the damaged seat cover, maybe take a look see as Katskins? They might sell something comparable to what you have.

I’d probably just recommend that you just go through the basics to get the truck ship shape for the road and drive it around for a year before you start spending anymore bigger bucks on it. Doing a complete paint job is crazy expensive to have a shop do it.

 

Those Monroe’s will last plenty. If anything, the lower shock bushing may blow out 25k-30k miles down the road due to the suspension design on these trucks. Listen to @whodatschrome above. The biggest complaint about Monroe is the ride. “Floaty”, “mushy” are two terms we’ve seen. Good for highway, general road purposes. But definitely on the side of budget and - from shared experiences on here - more floaty and less tight than OEM. I’m just critical, for $5k I could’ve thrown a really nice custom suspension on that thing with new wheels and tires and a new OEM steering rack to boot. But a lot of that has more to do with being able to knock out the work yourself.

Can you share some upholstery pics so we can see what you’re dealing with? Your custom package has the ostrich + leather seat covers. I’m just curious which parts are blown out.

Also let’s see some pics of the paint defects you mention, curious if your black truck is one of the single stage paint jobs, or if you’ve got clearcoat failure in progress.

 

It's good to know they aren't terrible, I do have a big list of the basics, LBJ, fluids, and grease. I was so focused on the weird noises it was making that I forgot to get the most basic stuff done. I'll definitely look into Katskins.

I dipped into my savings to pay for it too, I really should have come here first, I found this place after trying to figure out how to take the door panels off (as you'll see in the pictures) I managed to break one of the door handle bezels and I was freaking out on how to replace of those. Glad I found this place and here are those pictures. (The interior pics were taken just now, but its midnight here so they're a little dark soz)

 

Might be due for the timing belt at that milage, I didn’t see that mentioned anywhere in this thread. Any record of it having been done?

 

Really sorry to hear about your father passing.

Regarding the timing belt, might be able to look that and any LBJ replacements up at toyota.com/owners.

Sounds like you're planning to learn some basic maintenance and repair, and you're looking at how to address the paint. If looking to learn that too, could take a peek at this as a starter:

Probably for like $50-100 in painting equipment at HF with a respirator plus a compressor with enough CFM, could start practicing on smaller things (like the battery mount) and work up to something like the hood and eventually tackle the whole truck.

With a solid color like black can actually panel paint individual things like bumper, doors, tailgate, hood, bed, etc. to keep things simpler and practice.

 

Ouch. Those seatcovers are toast. Paint does look like clearcoat fail. Is the roof as bad as the hood?

You could probably have a shop re-paint the hood for $500 or so if that's the worst of it and it'd be a marked improvement. Or try to find a used compatible hood at a junkyard in better shape via www.car-part.com and swap out.

I'd still want to run a random orbit polisher on all the other panels with a clearcoat safe polish, like Ultimate Polish from Meguair's using a semi-aggressive correcting pad, and see if it cleans up the fenders and any other spots. But if it's clearcoat and it's already lifting, there's only so much you can do.

 

I'm going to try and do as much on my own so I appreciate the tips on what to use. I'll start small with the hood and work my way around the body getting it fixed up.

 

Well, Here is an unwelcome update to my vehicle! I have only driven it back from firestone and then drove today to the store, well as I'm backing out of the store I heard a GRIND CLUNK, and it stopped reversing. I freak out a bit and shift* it back into park, it slides forward slightly rocking back and forward, with back making the clunk. I jumped out and started inspecting everything, popping the hood, listening to the cranks, checking the belts, looking at the drive shaft, moved to the wheels and decided to climb underneath to check the brakes.. AND LO, ALL 4 MOUNTING BOLTS ARE LOOSE OR MISSING, both sides are not held with locktite, the only culprits are Firestone. I'm beyond pissed, that a $5,300+ job got me this kind of workmanship. I'm going down there tomorrow to blow my gasket.

 

Looks like you're paid your tuition in full for the School of Hard Knocks. Now you're working on your Masters! Demand that Firestone refund your money (or at least partially). If you paid with a credit card then maybe call the bank. Order replacement bolts from Toyota...do not let them replace the missing bolts with anything but. Loctite is unnecessary for the bolts, but torquing to spec is.

 

Listen to shifty. Anyone who owns a FGT NEEDS to learn to do their own mechanic work.

 

How'd this turn out?

 

probably less than stellar....
normally everyone at a place like Firestone, ect, are all like
"man i dunno it was fine when it left here the other day"

OP, nice truck, the drivers side you posted, sure its hazy and has a scratch or two but you can likely buff the majority of that out with literally zero amount of background in paint and correction work. Go to an automotive paint store, or maybe some good auto parts stores and look for a purple bottle that says Wizards shine master. It looks like this:
https://wizardsproducts.com/products/shine-master

Then go to a Harbor Freight or Northern Tools or an auto parts store and get a 6" buffer, you can spend about $50-70 on a buffer and about $25 on pads and with that Wizards shine master and some painters tape to tape off the window trim and black plastics around the mirrors, you can shine anything with a little clear back up to what will literally appear like brand new. If you have a Harbor Freight they sell the buffing pads and compounds and all, you will want the white pad, the soft foam pad, go slow and move the pad back and forth easily and you will see the paint literally appear like it melts together and begins to shine again. This shine master helps fill and blend scratches and the swirls and then seals it up leaving a waterproof shine. You dont have to be a pro, you dont even have to have ever held a buffer before, by the time you are done with a few panels you will see how it works and by the end of the truck you will practically be a pro. Its very very easy and it will bring that paint back to a REAL shine where you can see reflections way off in the distance.
-> point of note, dont press down too hard, and dont spin the pad too fast, the clear and paint are very VERY thin and if you are in one spot too long, or spinning too fast you can burn the clear and it will forever be a white/hazy finish. On the HF 6" orbital buffer you will run it on speed 1 and 2 as you are beginning to learn and by the time you go over a whole panels you will see what looks like really good spots with a little less than good spots around them. You can go over the whole panels with a quick finish to get any high/low spots blended you'll be on setting 3 on the speed but you are going to be running pretty fast and very light pressure on setting 3. Any faster and you are risking burning the clear.

The hood and roof though..... Yeah you are going to need to do a little more correcting on them.. The hood looks like clear fail, then someone went a little hard with a steam cleaner and peeled the clear and paint right off. The paint is thin, once the clear breaks down the paint bakes in the sun pretty quickly and there isnt much bringing it back once its down to primer like you have. If you want to learn to paint you can paint it yourself with a decent gun from Harbor Freight and some single stage paint from an auto paint store. A decent semi-beginner single stage paint can look pretty dang good if you let it cure and the clear float up, and then use your buffer with some cutting compound and then a coat of the Wizards shine master. You can make it look as good or better than the OEM side panels.

 

I'm talking to a Firestone rep and I might be getting a chunk of my money back, I have a fairly large social media presence and posted about the whole debacle there, led to them reaching out to me to get it fixed (and maybe say something nice about them).

I did just that today, I just picked up paint, clear, primer, a spray gun, a buffer with compound (not the one you listed) the lady at the paint shop recommended this Meguilar's and some pads, I spent about $600 for everything today. I'm going to repaint the hood and roof tomorrow, spent most of the day just running around buying the equipment and learning how to paint haha. I'm actually having trouble trying to figure out how to paint the roof, due to it's height, I can't find a way to get decent footing.

 

Be sure and post pics. We like pics.

 

Here you go, it's a little hasty since I just threw it together, pretty much what I'm doing all day tomorrow is working on it.

 

Hell yeah man. Paint and bodywork is something I'm afraid to touch, so more power to you!

 

hey OP i would recommend against the blue pad... Its rough as sand paper.... Unless you plan to use it to cut the paint on the hood to level it down.

Recommend to NOT use blue pad on any of the OEM paint. White only.

 

Oh, I know, I wasn't going to use the blue on the sides at all, I was warned it could strip the paint.

 

When i went to community college, i took 2 years of intense training of automotive refinishing classes. I then went to work at an automotive body shop. All i got to say is there’s definitely an art to painting. To bad we don’t live close, otherwise i’d give you a hand.