2018- click, No crank over, Maybe Starter? CLICK only-

Hello everyone and thanks for any advice on this.

I have a 2018 SR5 2WD with 43k miles on it.
I have had the truck about 2 years.

I have had an intermediate issue for about a year where-
I turn the key and only get a loud click from under the hood-
Engine does not turn over- Just a click -
I can cycle the key several times and sometimes it will crank/start right up,
Others just a CLICK.

Recently the issue has went from doing this once every few months to doing it
almost every time. I was almost stranded the other day due to this issue.

What have I done so far?
Brand new Interstate Battery- No change
checked and rechecked battery connections and ground connections - Nothing loose

voltage shows 12.2 volts when not running
Voltage shows 14.0 +/- .2 when running

A day ago it was acting this way so I had someone pull beside me and I
put on jumper cables from their vehicle to mine- I did this while their vehicle
was running- NO change
I turned off their vehicle and voltage on mine showed the same 12.xx volts,
I cranked their vehicle and voltage on mine showed 14.xx volts
I rearranged jumper cables and retried my tundra- CLICK- NO change
Put Tundra in Neutral, No change
Put the Tundra back in Park- No change - Just a loud click-

I returned to my truck later in the day and turned the key to try and start- Started right
up with NO hesitation-

Temps in my area varied from 50-65 for all testing- Alabama weather here-

All connections are CLEAN- Truck is extremely clean- NO Corrosion on anything-
Barely any dust on anything under my hood.
It's a grocery getter truck- So it rarely even seens rain-
All fuses are good, All relays accessible in fuse box under hood are good-

I tried this morning and the truck started right up- 7 full times, (turned off, cranked/started, turned off, cranked/started, NO issues).

Once again 2018, 43k miles,

I got up under the truck and can barely seen a glimmer of the starter up in the abyss -
No way I can test anything on that starter without taking it out of it's hole it is buried in.

I am thinking starter, Any other thoughts out there?

If it is starter- WHAT brand starter do I replace it with as I don't want to every do it again-??


I appreciate any help or advice on this-

A special thanks to the engineer who thought hiding the starter on this truck was a good idea-

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/res...runs-well-worse-in-cold-and-2nd-starts.98788/

Went through a starting issue myself not too long ago, and it turned out to be the bendix gear catching on the starter...but only sometimes, and no rhyme or reason to it.

There are a few things listed in the thread to check, just in case, like starter relay replacement, but in the end, it was the starter.