2005 Golden Tree

Yeah manifolds are definitely known to crack, but I thought that was on older models. You can stick a leaf blower up the tail pipe and then use soap bubbles/ear holes to check the manifolds

 

Yikes, OEM definitely don't have zerks. A lot of the ones on Autozone look to have them.

 

I’ve heard of this but the thought of blowing crusty catalytic converter chunks towards exhaust valves makes me want to

I’ll have to keep thinking about it.

As soon as we resume to normal temps I’ll swap them with OEM and call it good. Any road trips planned? We all need to figure dates for an unofficial Tundras to Sedona trip since they moved it.

 

Next big trip in the works is when when I bring diffs to Zuk, likely towards the springtime. Morgan mentioned something like a mini TTS, I would be interested for sure. We could pick a few dates or weekends as candidates and try for a Casner Mountain permit accordingly when the lottery opens.

 

I used amsoil power clean on the FJ and it fried my Cats. I don’t recommend this approach

 

Unless you have a buddy that has a spare set and you don’t mind buying OEM sensors.

 

Nice find, I love our '04!

 

We did something similar with our oldest. She just finished her first semester on a full ride with all ‘A’s (definitely a proud papa moment). Picked up a real nice 2013 Highlander for her.

 

Busy week - Sequoia continues to impress. I finally broke down and drove my truck today as it hadn’t moved since I brought the Sequoia home on 1/2.

Couple additions / arrivals -
@1lowlife was kind enough to send out a set of replacement hub caps so we didn’t have to roll with the black dust covers - really appreciate that!

Half of the bolts for the LBJs showed up - not sure why shipping time on Amazon suck lately.
Before

after

 

Could be wrong, but looking at the picture you posted of the LBJs on the truck, I'm pretty sure you have the later bigger (better) ball joints with M12 bolts, not the earlier style with the M10 bolts.

 

I’ll have to double check.

 

That eases my OCD and glad to do something for you and your daughter..
Even though it probably didn't bother either of you..

 

They’re definitely the wrong ones - thank you for catching this before it’s torn apart!

 

To test those manifolds for cracks you could use a smoke machine too. Then just look for smoke coming out in the engine bay area. Should eliminate the possibility of blowing catalytic converter chunks where you don't want them to go. Cheap smoke machines go for $70-80 on Amazon

 

I bet Adam has the smoke machine covered

 

Found the correct bolts - maybe doing the ball joints this weekend.

 

More artwork -

 

That mileage sticker is great.

 

Is that dent new?

 

Nope - bought it that way. The color made it hard to see so we fixed that.

 

Swapped the dim yellow incandescent interior lighting for some fresh LEDs. Winter rain storm here in the desert for a couple days.

 

Got a 3M lens restoration kit to clean up the fogs that were really cloudy - they cleaned up nice but now they make the headlights look tired.

 

Cerakote headlight kit. Amazing.

 

https://teqcustoms.com/collections/headlights-2/products/retrofit-headlights-1st-gen-tundra-sequoia

I ordered these and am super stoked on output and what they do for function and fashion. Wife raves about them driving in the mtns.

 

Long time with no update. End of January the radiator started leaking on the front side. Didn’t drive it much since it was losing coolant but I didn’t want to change the radiator until I had time to do the water pump and timing belt. The time came yesterday - roughly 7 hours to complete the job for a couple first timers - a good hour of that was spent trying to get the fan off the hub. Not particularly easy but certainly could have been worse. Had to evict this guy.



Fresh water pump, o-rings, timing belt, timing belt tensioner and pulleys, serp belt, radiator, and rad hoses. Need to knock out the ball joints then hopefully I’m done for a long while.

 

Crossed 246k miles this morning. Still haven’t done the ball joints yet but truck is running / driving great.

 

Ordered parts for the Kenwood HU install. Harnesses / adapters cost more than I paid for my first HU.

 

Does it not need a dash trim kit?