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

Is her name Mary?

 

Bingo

 

Well, Wheel Bearings are off to a great Fawking start

Note to self, once bearings start making noise, replace them, don’t run them another 30k miles.

 

Body colored metal FGT bumper is fire

 

The wife asked when the starfish were getting painted black

 

She wants it murdered out

 

Ok, minor but a biggie for me...installed new headlight housings, yester [only 8 days before its 18th b-day].

they were near solid haze-18 yrs of CA Central Vly sun [and drvr side is cracked]. Not suprisingly, bulbs are weak [Toy OEM].
Granted, below shot is at dusk, but the weak yellow light is obvious; this parked 20' fr/wall. Interesting that although not much projection on wall, the fog lamps 'appear' a brighter white, but still on yellow side of spectrum. [and yep, I didn't have my 12" phillips head driver and forgot to adjust from side while turn signals were out.]


I guess these h\light sockets are screaming for a new 'Headlight Services' harness? [and this is the 'cleaned-up' pic]

 

Simple, cheap sleeping platform. I have a large tent/cot setup I often use when I don't want to haul the camper, but in bear country I prefer more security. This'll work. I would have liked more storage space, but everyone I talked to with a cab-height topper who built a sleeping platform up at bedrail height says it's claustrophobic. This height was my compromise. Can't fully sit up to put on shoes, but better than being on the "ground" level, and I can store a few things under there.

I guess I could build a drawer later if I want to.

 

Looks good. Kind of convinced me to follow suite. Been hemming and hawing over it for about 6 months or so

 

That looks great. Nice work!

 

Looks very functional fr/ a bachelor POV. [just kidding.]
You probly already thot it thru, but you could put a foldable/stowable backrest-seat combo on floor next to bunk, against cab wall. For sit- up reading, snoozing, web browsing... and putting shoes on, etc. On an entirley next level: Only thing better, [granted for more cost], would be a 'pop-up' camper shell. I've considered somethng that can be 'slid in and out' after use but never looked into it. I imagine theyre out there.

 

Thanks. I busted it out after work last night and this afternoon. Get to test it out this weekend in Grizzly country. Which, for better or worse, is basically all of Montana now.

Last year I went to the same site and camped with friends who have a camper. The drive was a lot longer for me, so I left the camper at home and tent camped. Went to bed realizing they spent all day cooking and eating knowing they'd be in their hard-sided camper. But I was out there in my tent...

They're still bear aware, but you act differently about food when you have a trailer wall protecting you, vs a tent wall...

This year I'll feel a bit more secure.

 

Oh yeah. I did consider the possibility of a lady friend back there, but all that would take is building an identical version, side by side. Cross that bridge when I come to it. The chair idea is great. For now, I have a camper, I have a tent, and usually when I camp, out here in the arid west, I'm hanging out outside. Rarely if ever see myself spending time in the back of the truck other than sleeping. But if I ever get rid of the camper, that could change.

And yes, I'd love a slide-in pop-up. Only way for me to make that happen would be selling the trailer. Everything's a compromise, and I think the slide-in is starting to win out in my mind, but there's hassle. When not camping, I still want a topper. A lot of switching back & forth. There's the Four Wheel Project M, but they're so new I'm not seeing them used yet. I'm not paying $12,000 for topper, just because it pops up. But that's the easiest compromise. Can outfit it for camping, but essentially have a normal topper otherwise.

For now, all this is meant to do is replace my tent. Somewhere secure to sleep, and almost replicating my cot, in that I can at least swing my feet off to put on shoes, even though I can't actually sit up straight. I love backpacking and will continue to do it as long as I can. I have no problem sleeping on the ground when I backpack. But when I drive to camp, I've found any elevation off "ground" level, including truck-bed level, is way more comfortable for whatever reason.

 

I re-aimed my under the steering wheel, junk refreshing air vent, and it made life better.

 

That thing drove me crazy for a little while. I didn't know it was there. Couldn't figure out why I was still getting a bunch of dust in the cab on dirt roads even with the recirculating air turned off.

 

Dude, I cannot see your truck without having some serious f'n nostalgia. It's really f'n awesome.

 

That said. Dude. C'mon.

​

 

I think I'd feel waay more secure w/ .357, .44 or short 12ga pump.

 

The ball/ gooch chiller is clutch

 

This but with mini shells


I personally would source the Remington version this is based off of, but it'll work 9 shots of single ott buck mini shells

 

but back to my headlight housings...[and maybe i shoulda posted this over on a headlights thread], BUT
..is there a "temp" h4 bulb that's at least is brighter or whiter light even if not more projection, and that'll last a while til i do a 'Lightingservices' harness upgrade, w/out risk of melting my existing harness [asking a lot i guess] ?

 

You could always do the CoLoght mini projector upgrade. I did it, and aside from the set screws needing to be loctited in I have no real complaints. Just have to remove the center bulb reflector. Disconnect the DRL plug and you'll be all set. 2 hours of work and 80 bucks for the projectors

Edit: in case you were interested
https://www.tundras.com/threads/complete-colight-mini-upgrade.137998/

 

I need to pick up some more rubbing compound

 

Wd40 works

 

I don’t think that’s the kinda rubbing he’s talking about, bud.

 

Bear spray. Wider spread and very effective. Especially if there are other people around.
Im in a similar area; we have bears in the summer and cougars in the… always. I keep bear spray close considering a missed shot isn’t fatal for neighbors.

 

Looking good! That truck has come a long way since you showed up. You gonna leave the brush guard off?

 

I thought he was trying to get the adhesive residue off

 

There is no more adhesive residue. I took an eraser wheel to it earlier. What you see there is the paint. Those things were on there for 24 years. Rubbing compound to buff it out.