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

The one here has a bunch of goobers. Lot of “overland” rigs but mostly 4Runners with the trd pro wheels and American flag decals on the side windows. Some people definitely spend money and use it, but most of them I can’t stand to be around and listen to them blab on and on lol.

 

I do like that bumper you made. Really nice how you curved it to match the front.

 

Those look great (sliders)

 

AAL in action when carrying unintended load ... even after meltoff ... natural help with the slick roads.

 

Sucked and refilled 2qts of transmission fluid, completely flushed ps fluid, DEEP cleaned ps reservoir, test fit 17" 2020 Tacoma wheels for future Lexus brake upgrade, routed rear diff breather to behind the driver taillight

 

100% agree…. That was my one and only big haul, I wish it was 4WD part of my thinking was that I had a better chance of getting something w/ less issues. I actually have to make myself find the time and take the 4Runner out and purposely put it thru its paces in 4WD to keep things in good working order. 4Hi is no prob but the rest requires soft surfaces etc…. The Tundra is completely unloaded now and looks level.

 

I test drove a 2wd flatbed Tundra when I first started looking. The feel was totally different than a 4x4. It felt really nice...really easy, smooth steering, fast acceleration. So much less bulk and clutter in the front end. Only 150,000 miles. I tried hard to convince myself I could make a 2wd work in Montana...and maybe I could have, but it would have been a constant liability. People make it work, but I wasn't willing to chance it.

 

Spent the morning giving the interior some TLC. I used the Shin Etsu grease that @CS_AR recommend last month. This stuff is like Botox for rubber. I hit all the door and hood gaskets along with the very old and brittle one on my rear glass camper shell.

 

Is this different than silglyde?

 

I would assume so. The only Sylglide I've used is for lubricating brakes. If they have a rubber restorer, I'm not familiar with it. Grease is probably not the best description for this product. It restores old rubber and helps it plump back up. People report less wind noise from the doors after using it.

Check out his post here

https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-2244#post-3810081

 

Thank you for the call out! I've been using Shin Etsu to rejuvenate door seals since 2008.

 

I’ve got some Shin Itsu but only so far used it in a preventative way on newer rubber. I’m curious to see how well it “restores” old rubber. Glad to hear the positive review, I need to do some similar on my weatherstrippings.

 

Ordered parts to replace the radiator. It’s really fun ordering parts, fun maintaining/updating the truck, but if only the bill would get lost in the mail. I’ve bought a lot of stuff in recent weeks. About $340 shipped for the radiator items, plus will need to buy the coolant. On the other hand, I was quoted as high as $1600 to pay a shop and that would not include the hoses and thermostat

Bought Denso radiator from RA. Other items OEM from Ourisman. Let me know if you see something else I should be doing while I’m at it.

Thermostat

$21 90916-03100 Thermostat

90916-03100
T-stat Gasket 16346-550010
Cap 16401-20353
Hose 16572-0F011
Hose 16571-0F031
Clamps 90466-41005
Radiator Denso part# 2210518 (OEM equivalent 16400-0F040)

I’ve definitely been pushing my boundaries and learning a lot. I enjoy working on the truck (and cars) now more than ever, but I don’t have the experience or skills some do. Have a GX470 I’m gonna think about doing the valve cover gaskets myself. In the past, I never would have considered that job. I stuck to simple maintenance like fluids, brakes, suspension. I continue to enjoy this forum and appreciate everyone I learn from.

Still have a lot of suspension stuff ahead of me. I’m taking my time and don’t need to drive the truck daily right now. If you have a preferred website with a good interface for wheels, let me know. I’m looking at plenty, but a lot of the sites don’t have great interfaces and filter options.

 

Valve cover gaskets are now replaced thanks to @shifty` coming over. Learned a lot thanks to him. Can't thank you enough, buddy.

 

I would consider doing your fan clutch also. It's a good time to do it. I plan to do mine the next time I pull the radiator which will be during the timing belt job.

 

Fun times!

Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Dan ( @empty_lord ) in a while. I was curious to ask him about your VVTi solenoids. Damn things were coated in oil, too to bottom. Never seen anything like it, but there’s nothing else around here to coat them in oil so I’m curious if this is normal (mine are dry as a bone) or a sign of something else. Drivers side was pretty dry. Passenger (pictured) is head to toe coated.

 

Ps - @Dakillacore holler when you want to knock out those LBJ.

 

What up?

 

Curious if you have a sec to peek at those VVTi solenoids above? Wondering your opinion, is that normal, all that oil cake? He didn’t have any codes stored. Didn’t* notice it until we got his intake tube off and really started digging into the valve cover gasket job.

 

Looks like the solenoid is sealed with an o-ring (internet search, not something I’m personally familiar with). Maybe it could be removed, replace o-ring and reinstall.

 

I looked into doing this very exact thing just a couple weeks ago. This is on a 2003 truck though. I don’t have them, but heated power mirrors were an option for my truck. There’s an empty socket in the under hood fuse box for a relay (i think it was either a 30 or 40 amp, i can’t remember which). I used a multi meter to find out that it is indeed a live circuit when the ignition is turned on. I investigated for about 2~3 hours with it, then decided to can the idea. It was about 45 degrees out and i wanted to finish up wiring the LED backup lights that i just installed on my headache rack, so i just used a standard relay and wire harness that came with the lights.

If it were closer to 80 degrees out and all the wires in the toyota harness were soft and supple, it might have been a different story. The fuse box would need to be disassembled so that you could run your own dedicated wires to where you want them to go. Plus i have no idea how the toyota relays are wired in, are they positive ground relay, or are they negative ground relay? As sanitary as it would look, I doubt i’ll attempt to revisit that idea.

 

Looks like the solenoid itself might be seeping.

 

Is it normal for the 2UZ? I was surprised to see it even on the harness, but there’s nothing else this high up on the engine that has interaction with oil, so I assume it’s coming from the solenoid on the part. Spendy ass part, too.

Guess I’ll keep eyes out at the JY for a replacement for our friend here.

 

My honest opinion of the weld in gussets…

From an engineering standpoint, they would be stronger. The gussets look totally trick, but i don’t think i’ve ever heard of reports of someone bending the long portion of the spindle..unless they installed too tall of a lift and decided to reuse the OEM upper control arms. Also having the weld in gussets will make future upper ball joint removal and install a lot more difficult. I also have a suspicion that many people will accidentally bend that portion of the spindle from heat distortion when they go to weld them up. I thought about all of these things back when i had my spindles removed. It was then i decided against it. The gussets do look great on any instantgrahm page though.

 

Dude…the polished concrete floor is awesome. Well it’s awesome as long as it doesn’t get slippery wet. So how much a side do the sliders weigh? It looked and sounded like they were in the 70 pound range?

 

Usually it’s cam seals. But it can hapoen

 

You have a good ear

 

assdogs truck has nylocks & bolts from a treadmill holding the brakeline bracket to the knuckle.

 

The best part about parking lot duty... Peeping them new to me Konigs.



Seems the TRD center caps, among my other 1GT crap, aren't selling.
I think I'm going to order the FNW center caps and follow these instructions to make my TRD caps work...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-custom-flush-mount-trd-center-caps.278294/

 

I'm impressed with the slide and the tunes, but disappointed I didn't see Dale helping. I know he's the brains of the operation.