New member, but not to the forum.

I have been coming here to this forum for several months now finding all kinds of useful information. I finally decided to actually signup and become a member.

I purchased an 05 Double Cab 4x4 in early December of 2020. It had only 120530 miles on it when I picked it up for a relatively good deal. I knew it had some front suspension work that needed to addressed, but factored that into the deal.

Since purchase, I replaced the rusted out steel wheels with a set of used factory alloys. That proved to be more costly than I anticipated because I had to replace all five of the TPMS sensors. The fifth one sent me to the stealership because the tire shop's TPMS tool only could program four sensors. That one sensor installed and programmed at the dealership cost more than all four of the after-market sensors.

I also replaced the struts because the bottom bushing was worn completely out and was metal to metal with the mounting bolt. With it worn out like it was the truck looked like it was always bowing down with the nose so low. I had to replace the lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends, and sway bar links. Went ahead and replaced the rear shocks and front brakes at the same time.

I just had the A/C recharged because the compressor was not even attempting to engage. Couldn't see anything right off, so the shop put in some dye and told me to run it for awhile. when I take it back in for oil change they will investigate with the black light.

While it was up on the lift, the mechanic noticed that the rear bumper reinforcement/tow bar was practically rusted completely out. In all caps on the repair order they wrote "DO NOT TOW WITH THIS HITCH!!" I took a look at it in my driveway and could see what he was talking about. So I figured that I needed to get a factory tow hitch to replace it. Just know that there is a factory tow hitch accessory and a factory tow package tow hitch/bumper reinforcement mount. The latter is about 7-8 times more expensive. I am looking into the possibility of removing the hitch part off the bumper and mounting the accessory hitch. That will be done when I have the rear brakes completely redone. Poor braking and no parking brake at all. I'm sure they have never been replaced before.

This seems like a lot of work to put into such an old truck, but it is in really good shape otherwise. The paint is still bright and shiny and, of course it runs like a top. I look forward to sharing my experiences here and gleaning more knowledge and information from the rest of you all on here.

 

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