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

Little bit of hand modeling

 

Anyone ever convert the dtrls from the headlights to the fogs? I imagine it's much like the fog light mod for first gen tacos, where you just skip and swap a wire on each light.

 

Not sure, found the foglight mod from an old TS member. That's still one of the best looking first gens in my opinion.

https://youtu.be/DJwZb6Jtkh8

 

Yeah I like that hood

 

His hood was clean. He made that grille himself too, I think the Toyota letters came off a land cruiser. He removed the strips from the sides and filled the holes before he painted it. He was a body shop guy if I remember right, wonder where that truck is today...

 

Would an 00-02 grill be a direct swap onto my 06? Or would it be more involved than plug n play? I been thinking about a mesh grill and I kinda like the overall size of the opening of the 00-02 grill better. The little gap in the bottom of the 03-06 grill looks awkward on any non-stock set up imho.

 

Does anybody make first gen rear bumpers? All I can find are for second and third gens. With the exception of a few 00-02 that I'm not sure why they wouldn't fit 03-06

 

All I've seen are the ones people have made themselves.

 

I wish N-FAB would make their pre-runner style F&R bumper for 1st gen Tundra.

 

Brute force fab

 

I've been on their site today already. They just show sliders and front bumpers. I really like their designs and would prefer to buy all my armor from them, if not locally. Unfortunately Shrockworks out of Houston doesn't make shit for our Tundras

 

No one makes shit for our trucks. BFF is somewhat local to me and have great products but I also have quite a few fab shops around that I might consult. Really want to make my own though.

 

I know a local TW member who is a welder that used to make custom Tacoma bumpers but his shop burned down so he doesn't take on side projects anymore.

 

That’s unfortunate.

 

Yeah I finally buy a 4wd and he's retired from the armor side-hustle. He made some great one-off front bumpers and sliders and HC rears and bedracks

 

Looking at lockers and/or LSD's. A friend, who is a Ford mechanic, just put an Eaton Tru-Trac LSD in his 01 Tundra. Likes it really well. said it doesn't need friction modifiers or any additives, due to the way it is made.

Funny thing. He likes his 2001 Tundra better than his 2015 F-150, except that he thinks the Tundra springs are a little too soft.

Anyone with experience with this?

 

I led a Kazuma/TRD LSD in my '02 back in '04, and love it.
I added a Hellwig rear bar, and I would add an Air-Lift system if I towed or hauled heavy loads.

 

Trutrac uses gears instead of clutches.

@because_v8 early grille probably won't fit your truck. Early grill is quite a bit shorter than yours.

For rear bumpers there is a place to look but they're expensive. Trying to recall the name, not brute force.

 

Iron Bull. They look nice.

https://www.ironbullbumpers.com/collections/toyota

 

I like the Iron Bull front bumpers, but they are almost 30 lbs heavier than the Relentless ones. Of course, Iron bull is 90 miles up the road from me, so I could avoid shipping costs.

 

Did your 02’ have th factory front sway bar that came with the TRD package? Reason I’m asking is my 02’ has the front sway (TRD) and it was recently reconnected with new links. She is tight again. Wondering how a rear would do in conjunction? Have been looking at that

$500 Hellwig 7700 Solid, Heat Treated Chromoly, 1-1/8" Rear Sway Bar

Hellwig 7700 rear sway for about a 6 months, but other repairs have been higher priority.

 

My springs have remained pretty firm since 02’. Even with lots of towing and hauling loads. New Billy 5100’s even gave the rear a slight lift.

Only problem I’ve had was splayed leafs (which played more after Billys) which I squared back as best as possible and put on 2.5” u-brackets with a slight modification. The rear has tightened up and no longer experiences that slippy do dah feeling when rounding a curve with incline.

Never had a rear sway bar before and wonder if it would help keep the inside rear tire from that slight spin out when doing turns coming out of a stop sign?

 

Looks ok. Kinda bulky for off road wheeling clearance and pricey. I wish we had more options.

 

Mine has the factory front sway bar. Non-TRD.

 

You have a Hellwig rear too?

Just wonder if two is overkill.

 

Mine has a standard front sway bar, and yes the Hellwig bar will make the front & rear suspension play well together.

 

This is the one that fits the 02’. The local 4 wheel place can buy it AND install it for $375 total. No brainer to let them do it.

 

The LSD rear bar combo will make the inside tire grab and spin a little at low speeds. The sharper the turn, the more noticeable it is - nature of the beast. My rear leaf packs were replaced under warranty about 100K or so ago, my normal load under the heavy Leer hi-top is about 700 lbs. I towed & hauled heavy loads early on, it squatted enough to warrant the purchase of bags for the rear but the job changed before I installed them. The leaves haven't splayed out yet...

 

Most of my towing is short distance and sporatic so I prefer to keep the stock springs for normal driving. The airbags sound like a good idea for hauling payload, but again its less often than towing that I’m running heaver than 400lbs.

This week, I’ve run a few 1300-1500lb payloads and the bump stop was sitting about an inch off the axle stop. Only bottomed once on a dip.

Thanks for the feedback on the Hellwig rear. Might do this in the next couple months and call it quits on spending any more money for a few years unless something major comes up.

 

Lies!