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

I dreamed of installing the parts I ordered Friday. Oh, I also made a beer run earlier today.

 

I plugged in the block heater today. First time in my ownership of this truck. It's -35C (-31F) here today. Brrr...

 

-35! Oh hell no. It's +35 here in SC and that's playing cold for me.

 

Yeah, it's just about time to put a sweater on eh? Decided to cook dinner inside tonight instead of on the bbq.

 

Looked at it sitting in the driveway. Covered in snow. I refuse to drive it with all the damn salt they use on the roads around here. Bessie can sit and relax. I put my lil Xterra to work. My cold air intake showed up today along with new fog light bulbs. I'll just collect parts until the roads clear up and that mess washes away.

 

I found a nice used 6’ x 12’ trailer in the classifieds.

 

I really like that two tone. I'm thinking of adding satin black to my phantom gray.

 

Ordered more parts. . .

 

Put a set of 80 series wheels on w/ KM2s. Discount did a horrible job with the wheel balance, though KM2s are terrible to balance anyway. Still debating on keeping the rig or not, but can’t complain with the new shoes.

 

Those center caps are on point!!!

 

Unplugged the block heater today. On Thursday, we hit -40C with a windchill pushing it down to -50C (-58F). Today it hit -3C (+26F). Quite the swing. Guess the Arctic front has moved on. And it keep right on moving on...

 

I’ve got a 2003 sequoia we bought for my daughter who just turned 16. She doesn’t have her license yet so I’ve got time to work on this thing. It’s got about 160K on the clock. The brakes were bad when I got it the dash was lit up like a Christmas tree and the timing belt has never been changed. Also the rear deck lid wouldn’t open up.

First thing I did was get that rear hatch open from the inside and fix the handle. Now it opens awesome. Also lubed everything up while I was in there. Completely cleaned the interior of the truck “minus shampoo that is to come”. Took it down to O’Reilly to get the codes checked. It gave me a list of codes that sounded BS. So I took it to the dealer and they couldn’t really give me a straight answer of what was going on after they scanned it. But one of the codes that came up was O2 sensor. I decided to change both upstream Sensors. That got rid of the engine light. Another one of the codes was wheel speed sensor and they said my problem may be the ABS module. They checked it and said it seemed OK. Couldn’t tell me why my brakes sucked.

So now the only lights on are the brake light, VSC light and traction control.

The brakes of been squishy since we bought it. All the lights on the dash should be off until you stopped for the first time after driving it. The pedal would fall to the floor unless you pumped it. I changed all the rotors and pads as well as flushed the system. That didn’t help. Then I ordered a master cylinder from Napa and power stop braided brake lines for the front. Then I ordered a master cylinder from Napa and power stop braided brake lines for the front. I was going to do the rear hoses but Amazon failed to come through and canceled my order. I went ahead and installed the master cylinder today and front brake hoses. Had my daughter help me bleed the brakes.

Took it out for its maiden voyage and it looks like I’ve won this battle. All the lights have gone away and the pedal feels perfect like a new truck. You can’t imagine how good I felt. This has been looming over me wondering what is going to take to get this thing braking correctly. I was hoping it wasn’t going to be the booster and especially that ABS module. But it looks like she’s a whole car again!

Next step timing belt! I’m going to do it myself along with the water pump. It’s got a new radiator so that’s a plus. After that all the fluids are going to be exchanged throughout the vehicle and then I’ll give it a proper hand polish to bring it back to somewhat of a luster.

Sister-in-law was pretty hard on it. It’s had a couple of doors repainted poorly and she used to like to bump into things LOL. So it’s got a few nicks here and there. Definitely needs some love. Some of the weatherstripping around the rear windows has folded into itself. I looked into replacing it but they want an arm and a leg for that crap. I’m not going to make a show car out of this thing. I just wanted to be reliable and have everything working. Not bad for getting it for $3000. It’s an SR5 but I’m really starting to like this thing. I think I’m gonna drive it to work on Monday LOL. Might have to find something else for the kid to drive someday

 

Got a new O2 sensor put in and cleared the code. Nice to not have the check engine light on again.

 

Looks like you've been hard at it. Here is the timing kit I got. OEM parts all in a kit.

$183 AISIN TKT-021 Engine Timing Belt Kit with Water Pump - Compatible with Select Lexus GS400, GS430, GX470, LS400, LS430, LX470, SC400, SC430 Toyota 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Tundra

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EEYWKI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Usually when my pedal gets low and the light is on in the morning I know it is time to adjust the rear shoes again. The stock adjusters just don't really work.

 

But look at the bright side you still get two weeks of summer up there!

 

Hey Outbound,
just curious ..
how far North are you & typically when is your spring thaw / break-up

 

Got in my timing belt kit from Aircabinman off ebay. Now I gotta spend the time/cash to get the truck in to get it done. Soon, hopefully!

 

Thanks for the link. I’ve been trying to figure out which kit to get. One of the parts guys at the dealer said that Aisin was the same thing as the Toyota branded stuff.

I wish it was as simple as adjusting the rear shoes but its 4 wheel disc. I think it got ruined when somebody bled the brakes and pushed the pedal all the way to the floor.

 

Any other parts I should get along with this. On Amazon I read something about the gasket is missing on top of the water pump. Someone said something about FIPG sealant?
When I do this I want everything in hand that I could possibly need. I assume I should use Toyota coolant. It looks like somebody replaced it with the green stuff when they put the new radiator in. Any other tensioners or pullys I should get?

 

Yeah, but it's a glorious two weeks!!

I'm up in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Northwest corner of the province. I'm about an hour east of Mile Zero of the Alaskan Highway in Dawson Creek and around 450km (280 miles) north of Edmonton.

The weather here goes through bigger mood swings than a woman on her period. For example, the last week here has been getting up to 3 - 4 degrees Celsius but we'll be dropping down to -10 ish this week.

The weather starts warming up consistently in late March, snow is usually gone by early/mid April and by May everything is pretty well dried up. May long weekend is usually the first camping trips of the season though we've had snowfall then too.

Winter usually starts showing up again around the end of October with the first big dump of snow and frigid temps around mid November.

I grew up in south western BC, about a half hour east of Vancouver. I honestly prefer the climate up here. 4 distinct seasons, minimal continuous rainfall, more sunny days than not etc

 

My mechanic did the work but I ordered that kit, a thermostat, thermostat gasket, 2 gallons of Toyota coolant and a new serpentine belt. He said it was a really nice kit.

The FIPG is just an RTV gasket maker.

 

@Outbound
I always wanted to ride my bike up your way.. just haven't made it that far yet.
one my best ridding buds is from Canada, He lives in Port Coquitelm.
He tells me if you get up on the mountain ridges above Grand Prairie you see nothing but absolute wilderness & trees for as far as you can see.

is that true?

We made plans several summers ago for a trip to ride the Dempster HWY ... I couldn't go.. had a heart attack.
he went solo.
Damn I wish I could have made it.
I Love riding in Canada.

 

I'm going with this one:

$183 AISIN TKT-021 Engine Timing Belt Kit with Water Pump - Compatible with Select Lexus GS400, GS430, GX470, LS400, LS430, LX470, SC400, SC430 Toyota 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Tundra

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B008EEYWKI/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=IVLJL2XBP1KDP&colid=3IYYGT7EECVM5&psc=0

I'm adding the T-Stat with gasket so it'll be $201. The ebay kit mentioned above is very complete, at $328 it adds 4 additional pieces. 1 front crankshaft seal, 2 front camshaft seals and 1 serpentine belt.

I'm undecided if the brand names in the ebay kit and the addition of the 4 pieces warrant the additional $127 premium. However it is my understanding the replacement of the crankshaft and camshaft seals are not part of a traditional timing belt service, so unless you are doing the job yourself, the addition of this service will likely add to the labor cost.

I know there is more than one Toyota technician on the forum in the Gen 1 family, so hopefully they'll weigh in and correct me if needed.

 

Yeah, there's hundreds of miles of empty wilderness as far as you can see once you get out of town a little ways. Something like 90% of the Canadian population lives within 100miles of the Canada/US border. The rest is just pockets of civilization, trees, moose, bears and mountains.

If you ever make it up here, drop me a line. We'll connect and I can point you to some great spots.

Here's a picture from one of our hikes south of Tumbler Ridge, BC. Tumbler is about an hour or so south of Dawson Creek and well worth the detour if you make it up here. This is looking south. There is nothing but wilderness from this point south for hundreds of kilometers until you hit Hwy 16. The south of that is more wilderness....LOL

 

Awesomeness.. incredible

about 8 years ago..

I made a trip through the Canadian Rockies..

the veiws were fantastic but way to many people.. we spent a couple days around Jasper then road to Prince George then back home.
That was a nice road.. saw so many bears,
Moose & mtn goats I lost count.

In that 350 miles or so to prince george.. I counted less than 10 cars coming the other direction.. So pretty & peaceful.
Every person we encountered was truly genuine, happy & nice.

If I were a younger man I would do my darnest to become Canadian!

But the .. Canadian Government just doesn’t want broken down old guys like me!
Ha

 

I also did a Toyota thermostat. My belt was good already and I just used some parts store coolant.

 

Also if you headlights are clouded at all this was an amazing upgrade to my truck. I could not believe the difference in brightness

$87 Brock Replacement Driver and Passenger Headlights Headlamps Compatible with 2000-2004 Tundra Regular Access Cab Pickup Truck 811500C010 811100C010

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008G35SZK

 

Purchased SPC uppers and Icon’s 3 pack progressive AAL today. Install updates to follow in the next week or so.

 

I've got the SPC arms and Icons paired with 5100 and OME 2885 coils, looks good and rides pretty decent. The Icon's are a definite improvement in the rear, I added 250lbs of sand for the winter and it doesn't sag any.