1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

Driving to grab lunch with a friend today, some jackass almost made me eat some poles.

Jackass was driving a VW with a license plate frame w/Heritage colors. They apparently had no idea what they did, just kept on driving like nothing happened. Good thing it was a 25 zone and I was only doing 30ish. And the brakes worked. Asshole.

https://imgur.com/a/kkyu4ws​

 

I need to take a pic of a contractor’s pickup in my area. This guy has got a homemade cap which is just a shed roof complete with asphalt shingles. Did a double take the other day when I saw it.

 

Did you lay on the horn and flip the bird?

 

Laid on the horn the second I saw their tire start dipping into the center stripe, and continued to hold it until they'd gone about 100 ft, while holding my arm out the window in a YO WHAT THE FUCK, YOU FUCKING IDIOT fashion.

I reserve the bird for special occasions. And honestly, around here, that's what's gotten a number of people shot on the interstate in the last few years.

It was someone's mom or a younger girl. Not sure which. But there was an older man with glasses in the passenger seat and possibly a kid in the back.

 

I lay on the horn and flip the bird at the idiots, with reckless abandon. But I'm single and childless, so I can take the potential consequences, without much fear of the impact.
But the idiots need to understand that if I'm in the 06 and we collide, due to their negligence, Penelope will potentially destroy their bucket, or worse.
Then, they may have to reckon with my bad attitude.

 

We pass on the shoulder here, too. But i’ll be damned if im not gonna let them drag the side of their car down the edge of my bumper support for that.

 

Neat opportunity for anyone in the Midwest to test this cool new part.

 

This is basically identical to what JXB (designed? and) sells for the shitty-ass Jeep WK2 platform: https://www.jxbperformance.com/prod...eshaft-center-support-bearing-carrier-upgrade

The design has been (shocking, I know) stolen by Chinese manufacturers at this point, who are selling for 1/4 of the price online in retail markets like scAmazon. Install is pretty simple, as you'll see below.

EDIT: Just noticed the name, Jay Bullington. That is, in fact, JXB. Jay Bullington.

But I fail to see how this will do anything for Tundra owners. It's not like our trucks use a 1pc unit like the Jeep WK2 platform does, where you need to replace the entire driveshaft assembly when the rubber inevitably blows out on the carrier. I've obviously seen 1st gen Tundras have the rubber donut crack, fracture, etc. but it's a couple of paint pen marks, two bolts to drop the old, then install the new and you're done. I fail to see the advantage to this product for our trucks.

If you're interested, here's the install on a WK2 to better visualize what the product does, and why it's a clamshell design. I had to go down this rabbithole when my good friend next door had his 2016-2017 Cherokee Laredo blow out the rubber suspension in his carrier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v4rubYdbIg​

 

Interesting. I’ve replaced the carrier bearing once in 20 years on my FGT and never in 10 years on my WK2.

 

Anyone know how much lift the driveshaft can handle before the slip joint runs out of joint?

@bmf4069 , get a pic of the driveshaft at full droop.

 

I need a longer brake hose to test full droop. There's not much slack atm.

 

Do you have the stock brake lines still or did you already upgrade to SS braided extended lines when you lifted?

 

I wish I had pics of it. The thing was totally blown out. When he approached me about it, the symptoms were almost like chatter, but a bit more "thumping on the floor" vibes to it, and it virtually only happened while turning and accelerating from a stop. And there was a periodic squeaking noise (that, in hindsight, was a rubber-on-rubber squeak) that was reminiscent of what you hear from ungreased poly bushings on metal.

On another note, speaking of 2016-2017 vehicles, my parents sold their camper to buy an RV, and are selling their 2.5 gen 2WD. They needed something 4-seater they could 4-down tow behind an RV, so they went out and bought this (I'm shocked, still) 2017 Wrangler Unlimited.

​

 

They could have used a nice WK2 for that duty.

 

That Wrangler is what came up first, apparently. They're in a really small town, so local options are semi-limited without driving 45-60 mins.

 

Ps - I didn't realize finding cars you could flat-tow was such a big thing. I didn't realize most modern cars can't be towed that way. Now I understand why I typically either see older cars being pulled, or Jeeps.

 

I put the braided lines on about a year ago. Now that I'm lifted in the rear my line back there is short.

 

Even the FGT can't be towed that way. Only certain vehicles can be put into a neutral drive train mode via transfer case. The WK2 is one of those. Very comfortable interior and full IRS / IFS setup. ZF 8 speed, available Hemi, Pentastar and Ecodiesel powerplant options.

 

It's the 3.6L pentastar I'm concerned about after seeing what the same friend next door has dealt with on their WK2 with the same engine. His only has like 65k miles on the clock, they inherited after his MIL passed away. so far, the water pump has failed, the rubber suspension in the carrier bearing has blown out requiring the entire driveshaft assembly to be replaced, the water pump failed, and most recently the oil cooler assembly that sits in the engine valley cracked, dumping more than 50% of the oil inside the block, into the valley, and down the back side of the engine. He's already sunk damn near $5k into it. It's wild to me, all that in less than 9 months of ownership. The three electrical-gremlin bills (headlights, tail light issues) in the 535i we bought about 10yrs ago was about the same as they've paid in maintenance on their WK2.

Maybe their situation is just a fluke. Or maybe specific models (theirs is a Cherokee Laredo AWD) have more issues?

 

I’ve had ours for 7 years. Replaced the AC condenser. Replaced one cam follower that was ticking. Mild weep at the oil cooler that costs about $80 to fix when I get ready. Otherwise been pretty solid. I’ve spent about $2k total on repairs in 7 years outside of oil changes and tires. Of course, I do most of the repairs myself. I had a shop do the AC condenser, that was $1100 of it.

 

Also, the Jeep they just bought has the same engine and transmission. So they still have the same issues regardless. Transmission is solid AF.

 

That's a lot of his cost. He wanted a shop to do the work. I told him I'd walk him through everything and we'd do it by the manual, but he insisted on shop, after confirming what I was telling him was wrong was the actual issue.

The carrier bearing fail (at my preferred driveshaft shop, which @Dakillacore and a lot of my gearhead local buddies use, which is super affordable) ended up costing him like $1,200 or something. $900 for parts, $200 labor, and tax. Water pump fail, the Jeep shop he went to wanted over a grand to replace it and the t-stat, and hoses. Oil cooler was another $1,000+ out the door, 4-5 hours labor, $300 for the Dorman "all-metal OEM fix" part.

I can't recall any GM, Honda, or Toyota vehicle I've owned that has ever required that level of maintenance. Sadly, we sold them our 2013 Highlander Limited V6 two years ago. They ended up having to sell it to make payroll at their brewpub. Two years of ownership after buying it from us in late 2020/early 2021, and the only money they had to spend was on alignment and a tire.

 

The most I'm spending money on with my Tundra is just oil leak correction, hah. The previous owner did not drive this thing at all barely so now that I'm driving it she's started to cry oil.

I'm going to schedule Toyotechs to do the timing belt/water pump by next month and I'll just have them knock out the filter housing o-ring. ($1400 quoted) Thanks @shifty` for letting me know about the A/C compressor and bracket removal. I planned on doing it myself but since they have to move most of that out of the way anyway, might as well just let them do it and save me the energy.

Then I have to replace the Yoke seal and finally the inner/outer tie rods. I have a bit of seepage on the rt side inner tie rod boot.

After that is finished then I can finally shift my damned financial focus on some wants and not needs. Like the audio system and some 5100s.

 

The cam follower issue and the oil cooler leaking issue is a problem for the pentastar. Handy folks are out $3-400 to fix both. But they are a bit unique to that motor. The water pump is what it is. A wear part, not unique to any platform. I had to replace the water pump twice on my 3.6 Lamba GM suv in 180k miles. Once under warranty thankfully. Also random sensor failures happened to both. Emissions and fuel system related.

 

Hmm. I’m in Milwaukee. Maybe it’s worth reaching out to him?

 

Damn that would be awesome. I just had to replace mine last year.

 

I had to do mine a few years ago too. Definitely going to reach out- just need to get accepted into the group first.

 

Keep us posted

Hopefully it won't be as expensive as those $800 frame supports, hah.

 

Looking for compact tool kit/roll recommendations. Anything y'all like to carry in your truck? I'm just talking wrench's and sockets, maybe a few drivers... These wouldn't be my main tools, just something I could forget about until I need em. Would be cool if it fit under or behind the seats somewhere.