Hello there. When was my 06 Tundra built?

Hi everyone. I’m new to the Tundra forum. I’ve owned my 06 Tundra since bought new in 2007. I think it just clicked past 120,000 miles a couple of months ago. Not bad. Thought about replacing with a new 21 or 22 Tundra until I realized how much more they cost these days. Even thought about the Tacoma lines, which I owned before the Tundra. So I’m going to keep my low miles Tundra and start to make some upgrades. I just replaced my stock jbl audio system with Kenwood receiver and Alpine speakers and keeping the Oem amp, which I may replace later. But for now I need to replace the shocks and coil springs.
So my question(s),
How can I tell when my Tundra was built? Construction year? Reason is I’m looking to replace with Bilsten OEM, but want to make sure I order the correct ones.
What’s the difficulty level for an old guy/62 to replace them by himself at home? I’ve seen some YouTube vids and it looks easy enough. Maybe some muscle power and an impact would help.
Any thoughts on Bilstens or any other brands?
Thanks for the add to the T group.

 

Welcome aboard! Enter your VIN here and you'll be able to get "date of first use", https://www.toyota.com/owners/my-vehicle/vehicle-specification. Create an account and you can access some service records if you've had them done at the dealer.

For the Bilstein 5100s, depending on the vendor you chose you can have them ordered pre-assembled or just the shock. If you get just the shock, you will take off your shocks from the truck, separate the shock from the coil, then re-use your stock coils on the new shock. Simply taking out the shocks and re-installing them is something you should be able to do yourself (not much more difficult than swapping out brakes). Disassembling and reassembling the shocks is something you'll want to have a shop do (very dangerous unless you have professional tools).

You might want to keep your stock coils since you have a TRD. They have a heavier coil spring rate which gives your truck a "lift". If you buy a pre-assembled Bilstein, it may come with a softer spring rate causing the truck to sit lower. The Bilstein 5100s also have different perches you set them at to give you more lift if desired.

If you're going to tackle this job, I highly recommend replacing your lower ball joints with OEM Toyota ball joints, if they have not been replaced recently.