Terndrerrr’s “Build It Like I Wish It Had Come Stock” thread

What is the goal of the upgrade? If you like what I did, you can do the same thing. Just order the TRD Fox kit from Sparks, and 285/75R18s will fit no problem on OEM wheels.

 

So far I just put a new set of bfg's ko2 all terrains. Stock size on stock wheels

 

If you’re looking for ideas, check out this thread:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/what-have-you-done-to-your-2-5-gen-tundra-today.713/unread

All the mods on our trucks on this site show up in that thread. Have your $$$ ready

 

Right now not so many mods haha. Just looking at ideas

 

Hit 40k a while back. Still absolutely zero issues. I expect this at 140k, 240k, and beyond. Changed my oil and reset the maintenance light after taking this pic:


I also spent a long time cleaning the carpet and floor mats. Finally got all of my hunting season dirt, mud, burrs, and straw out of the truck. I use a cheap auto 12v vacuum with a couple of useful attachments from Amazon. It works really well, especially if I pull up the floor moldings right inside the door.


If I had to complain about something with my truck, it would be the interior plastic. My kids aren’t the most careful, and I took this pic of the back of the console after cleaning it twice with soap and water. These scuffs are ridiculous. Can’t wait to see what it will look like in a few more years.

 

I've heard careful application of a heat gun can smooth some of those scuffs away. I personally have never tried it, so use at your own discretion.!

 

Yeah, as much as I love my truck, that's the one thing that annoys me. I mean, don't get me wrong - I'd rather gripe about door scuffs than lifters, transmission issues, etc...but if you asked me "Hey, would you pay an extra few hundred bux for better quality interior plastic?" Hell yes I would.

 

How are you liking the Duratracs? I'm looking at picking up a very lightly used set of LT275/70r18 for a good deal on a second set of "fun" tires. I found the limit of Bridgestone Duellers in about 16" of snowpack the other day and had a great couple of hours getting unstuck with a rather irritated wife.

I've heard to rotate them often.

 

I am closing in on 40k with mine. They probably don’t have a lot of life left. But I think I’m going to stick with them for my next set. I don’t have excess noise or uneven wear issues, and I rotate every 3k or so. They’re decent on pavement and absolutely killer off road.

 

Still haven’t trimmed/installed my mountain hatch yet. Is it worth it?

 

I use it every time we go camping. If you prepare meat/veggies/etc on your camping trips, it’s great.

And it’s easy to trim.

 

Great build thread! Thanks for letting me know where to find it

 

It will look just like that in 20 years. Maybe in 200 years, too. Compare that to a luxurious, eco-friendly plastic in Volvo, which dries up and falls in pieces in 5 years in turns into goo in 10 years. In 20 years you have a perfect, hot zinc double-dipped rust-free car body with no intact plastic left inside the cabin.

 

I just came back from the last offroading in this winter season. General Grabbers were unstoppable once I figured out how to disable traction control in 4HI properly (a long button press, like 3 seconds or so). It went through ~10 inches of black ice + dry fluffy snow + thick crust like a hot knife through butter.

I'm debating if I want to switch to almost-35" narrow Falkens when Generals run out or replace UCAs to fit in real 35x12 Generals.

 

Another trip out to Land Between The Lakes. Took the kids to give my wife a break. We explored, swam, kayaked in a downpour, and collected some cool rocks. Always a good time.

Sandwiches on the tailgate:






Rocks!






The loot!




A screenshot from my oldest filming us coming down a trail


“Daddy, it glows!”

 

OK - you legit were finding cool rocks. You've even got the hammer!

 

Yeah, it looks like some turquoise and a few different colors of fluorite and some other stuff I can’t even guess at. The hammer is my 9-year-old’s. He’s been filling his pockets with everything he thinks is cool since he was able to walk. This little kit is something I pieced together from Amazon and Home Depot for his last birthday. It’s just a hammer, chisel, some brushes, safety goggles, cases, and the toolbox. He has been great about sharing it with his brothers when we’re out exploring. Makes me want to find some other places to dig around!

 

Took a trip to Crater of the Diamonds last weekend with the family. This was our THIRD 1,000+ mile trip since May.

The Crater was a bust, but there are some crystal mines in the area that the kids loved. We brought back two 5-gal buckets full of crystals and rocks with crystals in them and rocks in general. Our VRBO said "mountain cabin" but it was a converted boat/RV storage garage. And a duplex. Concrete floor, "rustic" wood paneling, exposed HVAC ductwork below a drop panel ceiling. Looks charming from the front. Hilarious backwoods redneck Arkansas stuff I guess.





The kids collected way too many of these:


My youngest washing some of his loot:


My middle, ever the organizer:


Found a great swimming hole in the Little Missouri River:




It was a great trip. I'm just about to roll over 50k miles.

 

Cool truck! Awesome pictures, awesome mods, awesome activities, and well written! Kudos to you, sir!

 

My truck spent the last week and a half running all around Colorado in search of elk. By the time we found a couple herds, they were holed up on lower elevation private land, and my hunting partner and I had to get back to Tennessee. Here are some pics though. I’m sitting at over 53xxx miles now.

Here we are heading up an entirely too narrow trail. We took my 24” chainsaw for exactly this situation, and my buddy hopped out here to cut some deadfall out of our way.


At the end of that road, we hiked into the wilderness. After 5.4 miles and 1700 net ft of elevation change to scout several remote meadows deep in the densest deadfall (with absolutely zero fresh elk sign), we drove out the next morning. Found a spot near private land at lower elevations that looked promising, so we stopped on the side of the road. The way my truck is leaning should give you an idea of how steep this field really is.


Beautiful views on the way to check out another spot:


Parked on the side of a trail. We had spotted a 6x6 bull here and spent the next two days trying to call him out of adjacent private land before we ran out of time and had to come home to Tennessee. I can only imagine him laughing at us now.


A couple more pics from a spot where we glassed. Found two herds from this vantage point, both holed up on private land. Lol.


Extremely dirty, dusty truck.


It was a great trip, even though we came up empty handed.

 

A day spent hunting yet empty handed still beats a good week at work.

 

So nice! Keep it up

 

Rolled over 54k miles. Truck still hums along without missing a beat. No rattles, no issues.

I have some thinking to do though. Two guys and hunting gear on my Colorado trip, and we were at GVWR. The truck didn’t struggle or anything, but you could definitely tell we were at higher elevations. We hit some really hairy roads, and it crawled right over and through everything with ease. I monitored trans temps on the steepest and longest grades (to/from the Eisenhower Tunnel on I70). Pan stayed within 2ºF of engine oil temp, and torque converter stayed under 225ºF. Thank you, transmission cooler!

Also, my kids are hitting that pre-teen exponential growth phase, and it seems to me that we’re just going to get heavier and heavier with them bringing more stuff on our trips. Everyone wants to get a camper, too. Well, if I towed according to the door jamb, the rest of the family would have to follow in another vehicle behind me. Seems like our needs are changing. I’ll probably be looking at HD trucks pretty hard this fall. I might just go all in on a diesel. Fun times.

 

Update! 61.9k miles. The truck just keeps humming along. Here she is downtown and clean (this is rare):


It’s normally dirty. Was very much covered in snow a few months ago:


Also a few months ago, I bagged this guy with my bow. Fun times! It was a great shot, and he didn’t go far at all. My buddy’s rope made a huge mess stringing him up. Healthy sized deer for Tennessee. He’s in the freezer now.


Speaking of humming, it sounds like I have the needle bearing issue. I ordered the bushing, seal, and bearing removal tool from ECGS and watched a couple videos on removing a CV axle and installing the needle bearing. I will tackle it in the very near future. Waiting on a few more tools (axle fork and some mechanic’s pry bars). More goodies arrived today:

I bought a case because I might as well replace gear oil in both diffs as part of my 60k service when I install the ECGS bushing. That’s 6qt right there. My LX570 will take the rest when the time comes.

Speaking of 60k service, I drained a little less than 5qt of brown transmission fluid, added 5qt with a funnel and hose from the engine bay, sealed everything up, started the truck, let it warm up to 105ºF, cycled through gears, opened the level check drain, and closed it when it was at a trickle. Easy. This transmission fluid looked pretty nasty for only 61.5k miles:


I will do this again at 90k miles and will add removing the transmission pan and replacing the gasket and filter inside @ 120k miles.

Also, I ordered new OEM PPF for the front part of both bedsides.
Part numbers for the Crewmax bed:
66244-0C020 Stone Guard
66243-0C020 Stone Guard

Removing the existing PPF will be fun I’m sure:


Remaining 60k maintenance checklist:
• drain and fill both diffs
• I will skip transfer case oil this time. It’s straight 75W (NOT

$39 75w-90 GL-5 Limited Slip, Ultra Long Drain 500k Miles, Manual Transmission, Gear/Differential Lubricant (1 Gallon)

75w-90). It was perfectly golden when I changed it at 30k. Seemed unnecessary to me. I will probably stick to 30k intervals for the diffs and 60k for the transfer case. Will adjust upon inspection if needed.
• probably suction out some power steering fluid with a 500mL syringe and put the same amount back
• maybe do the same for the brake fluid

Mods I’m interested in:
• leather steering wheel
• power folding tow mirrors (I have held off because it seems that Boost Auto doesn’t know why their folding mirrors are hitting some people’s trucks)
• maybe Katzkin leather with some DIY seat heaters
• old man truck cap? It would significantly increase my storage space from the tonneau cover I currently have. The downside is, it would make my rear window, which I love to roll down about halfway in good weather, obsolete.
• booooost??? Following SC and the TurboKits threads.

 

**East Coast Gear Supply ECGS Replacement Bushing for needle bearing slop INSTALL WRITE-UP**

My truck has been doing the wuhhh wuhhh wuhhh under the front end between 35 and 55mph for quite a while. If your truck does this, and if it disappears when you put it in 4Hi, congrats!! You have this issue, too. This is the first actual repair I’ve had to make to my truck. I decided not to have the dealer fix it under warranty because they’d just put another needle bearing in it and kick the can down the road. So I bought the needle bearing removal tool, bushing, install tool, axle seal, and axle seal install tool from ECGS for $200 instead.

I’m doing this write up because it took several different videos to piece together answers to all the questions I had (with no one to ask) while I was doing this. Hopefully this will be helpful. I will link to the YouTube videos I watched and add what I thought was missing from them.

What makes this hard:
1. Doing it on the ground. Tapping the bushing in with minimal room to swing a hammer is tough. What worked best for me was sitting cross legged with the lower control arm sort of hanging in my lap, threading my left hand behind the shock to hold the install tool and my right to swing the hammer from under the lower control arm. Awkward position but best results if you’re on the ground like me. PRO TIP: I had the best luck turning the hammer and hitting with the flat side of the head.
2. Not having the right tools. I had to go buy a 250 ft lb torque wrench, a tie rod puller, a seal puller tool, a telescoping magnet tool. At least I had ordered the axle forks beforehand. Consider availability and whether you will need to use them again before just getting everything at Harbor Freight.
3. Working alone. A couple times, I had my wife shimmy up under the truck on my creeper so I could awkwardly swing the hammer with both hands. That was helpful!

Tools you will need (with links):
Amazon:
•

$16 GEARWRENCH Oil and Grease Seal Puller - 3245 12.5 in

seal puller tool (the one at my local Napa was $5)
•

$28 Lisle 39650 39mm Axle Nut Socket for Toyota Tundra/Sequoia/Land Cruiser

this 39mm 12-sided socket
•

$20 ABN Axle Popper Kit - 2 Piece Inner CV Axle Removal Tool Set CV Popper Wedge and Shim Ball Joint Separator Tools

these axle forks (so worth it)
•

CHANNELLOCK 3pc Professional Pry Bar Set w/ 12, 17, and 25" Pry Bars, Made in USA, Molded 4-Sided Textured Grip

Channellock pry bars
•

$7 Master Magnetics Magnetic Pick-Up Tool - Telescoping, Retrieving Magnet with Scribe, 25" Length, 3 lb. Hold, 07565

telescoping magnet tool (also $5 at my local Napa)

ECGS:
• ECGS bushing, bushing install tool, axle seal, axle seal install tool

Home Depot:
• 250 ft-lb torque wrench

Harbor Freight:
• • Tools I already had:
• sockets, impact driver
• 10mm hex bit (for the diff drain/fill plugs)
• toyota washers for the front diff (post #74 of this thread has P/N’s, torque values, and diff capacity)
• red threadlocker
• pliers
• a 1-qt plastic bag
• dead blow hammer and mallet
• handheld 3-lb sledge hammer
• large breaker bar, 2’ section of iron pipe (plumbing aisle of Home Depot)
•

$9 Mission Automotive Brake Caliper Hooks - Durable Steel Brake Caliper Tool for Suspension Work and Automotive Maintenance - Powder Coated Yellow for Visibility, 1/4" Heavy-Duty Steel Brake Hanger

yellow caliper hooks
• gear oil (I’m using Amsoil 75w-90; you can find Valvoline locally with no trouble at all)

PRE-JOB STEP 0: VERY IMPORTANT: Remove your skid plate if needed, and grab a ratchet and 10mm hex bit, and work on breaking loose the fill and the drain plugs on the front diff. Once those are loose, we can move on. PRO TIP: A little heat from a camping torch and a smaller breaker bar may help to loosen them up. They’re supposed to be torqued to 29 ft lbs, but if some dealership air-tool jockey was the last to touch them, they might be double or triple that. Not cool. Once those are loose, so we know can we refill the diff, we can move on to the job…

Step by step instructions:
1. Break loose the lug nuts, which are torqued to 97 ft lbs if you have normal wheels (or 154 ft lbs if you have steelies) on your driver’s side wheel.

2. Jack up the truck at the farthest forward flat point of the frame behind the driver’s wheel, and finish removing your wheel.

3. Place a jack stand next to that spot as well as under the driver’s side corner of the front crossmember that you can now reach because your skid plate is off. When it comes to jacking up the truck, I like to adhere to the Department of Redundancy Department rules. I had two jack stands and a jack supporting the truck at all times.

4. You’ll need to remove the dust cap off your hub. Your pry bars or a screwdriver should work well for this. Start as small (thin) as you can with your prying surface. Pop this cover off to reveal a 39mm axle nut with a nifty cover and cotter pin. Use pliers to remove the cotter pin. The nut cover pulls right off.

5. Now, from your tie rod, remove the cotter pin and castle nut, which is torqued to 51 ft lbs. (Note: I did not remove the sway bar end link like many of the videos showing this process on a Tacoma or 4Runner; you don’t need to on a Tundra.)

6. Remove the two lower 24mm bolts from the steering knuckle so your lower control arm can swing away. Make sure your big boy pants are on; these are torqued to 221 ft lbs.

7. Now, tighten up those big boy pants because you get to break loose the 39mm axle nut, which is torqued to 249 ft lbs. I started the truck and had one of my kids hold the brake pedal down for this. I actually broke an 18” breaker bar on this nut and ended up improvising with a 2-ft long section of 1” iron pipe (plumbing aisle of Home Depot ) to use as a cheater with my smaller torque wrench. (I had not yet run back to Home Depot to buy the big 250 ft lb torque wrench…)

Here we are with the axle nut off, ready to pop the tie rod out:


8. Use the tie rod puller to pop the tie rod end out of place. There are other methods that don’t involve the tool, but we’re reusing this tie rod, so maybe just get the cheap puller tool from Harbor Freight so we don’t damage our tie rod.

9. Now that the axle nut is off, the tie rod is disconnected, and the lower steering knuckle bolts are out, you are ready to remove your axle from the hub. Hit it with a shot of penetrating oil. Do not strike the end of the axle with your heavy metal hammer; you will warp the threads. (Ask me how I know. Also ask me how fun it is to start that 39mm nut with a ding in the threads.) Either use a dead blow hammer/mallet, or line up a center punch on the divot in the middle of the axle end, and strike the center punch with the metal hammer. Let your penetrating oil set for a bit, and it shouldn’t be too hard to break this loose.

10. Once the axle is loose, and your tie rod, steering knuckle bolts, and axle are off of the hub, use a yellow caliper hanger to pull the hub off to the side on your right and hang it out of the way.
Now it’s time to take the axle out of the diff.

12. Use the tapered axle fork to wedge between the CV axle and the diff housing. You can gently tap it with a hammer to wedge it in there. And now, just pry it out. When you’ve made a bit of progress and you have enough room, switch to the non-tapered axle fork. The axle will pop right out. The forks are worth it if this is your first time like it was mine!

13. Now that your axle is out, you should be leaking a bit of diff oil. It will seep like this forever. I was going to swap gear oil as part of my 60k service anyway, so I went ahead and removed the drain plug (remember, we broke these loose before starting this job) and drained the diff oil into a pan.


14. Stuff your 1-qt plastic bag into the diff behind the needle bearing. This will keep you from dropping (into the bowels of the diff) that small bracket that you need to fit behind the needle bearing as you set up your removal tool.

15. Setting up the needle bearing removal tool. Every video I watched shows a bit of how to do this. Using your telescoping magnet tool, place the bracket at an angle behind the needle bearing tool. It will fight you a little bit. You’ll get one side of it behind the needle bearing, but the other side won’t want to pop into place. It’s a pretty tight fit. One guy shaved down this part on a grinding wheel. I do not recommend that at all. Use a pry bar and hammer to gently tap it into place. Be careful you aren’t damaging the needle bearing; you don’t want to have to fish for broken bearing pieces in the bottom of your diff.

16. Once that piece pops into place, insert your threaded bar, place the large plate on the bar, and thread your nut onto it. I think ECGS used to send a 22mm nut, but the one in my kit was 19mm. So I used a 19mm ratcheting box end wrench to tighten it until it pulled the bearing out. Super easy job once the tool is set properly. Here it is:

No damage to my needle bearing; no pieces in the diff.

Bearing is out; old axle seal is still in. Note my 1 qt plastic bag shoved behind where the bearing was to prevent losing the piece of the install tool:


17. Time to remove the axle seal. This is a pain without this little seal puller tool I bought from Napa Auto Parts for $5. That thing made quick work of pulling this out.

18. Now to install the ECGS bushing. Lube it up with some grease. Note that it comes from ECGS with the install tool mounted correctly. The side of the bushing that has the extra steel surface over it is the side that needs to face out toward you. The hardest part of hammering this in is getting it started, and you need to hit it lighter than you think to start it and get it to seat inside the diff.
• 18a. Small taps with your metal hammer on the install tool.
• 18b. Once you feel the bushing start to “grab” the shaft of the diff, pull your install tool off and visually inspect the bushing to see if it is lined up straight.
• 18c. If not, give some gentle taps with a mallet to straighten it out.
• 18d. Put the install tool back on the bushing, and hit with the 3 lb hammer.

BIG PRO TIP: Repeating steps 18a-d will get your bushing seated as quickly as possible. It is awkward to sit cross legged with the lower control arm hanging in your lap, but this is the best compromise between tapping the bushing in and visually inspecting it to make sure it’s going in straight.

Once it’s in, it will sit flush with the middle part of the diff housing (green arrows). The dark part between (red arrow) sits farther back a bit:


I sure did beat this install tool silly:

19. Now it’s time to put some lube on the back of the new axle seal and use the seal installer tool from ECGS to pop it into place. This is the easiest part of the install.

Now we put everything back! This is where I learned something that I will NEVER forget when installing a CV axle.

20. Replace the CV axle. Lube it up, and this will make your life so much easier: see the little “C” clip on the end of the axle that goes into the diff? Biggest PRO TIP of this entire write-up: Make sure the opening of that C clip points up “to noon”. The axle will slide in and take very little encouragement from a pry bar and hammer on the axle housing to go in. Place your pry bar on the lip of the inner housing that will mate up with the diff. Seriously, it makes it SO MUCH EASIER.

21. Now button up the rest of it.
—Refill gear oil. Torque drain and fill plugs to 29 ft lbs.
—Get the other end of your axle into the hub
—Start the 39mm axle nut
—Start the 24mm steering knuckle bolts AFTER applying some red thread locker. You may need to use a floor jack to lift the lower control arm to get these bolts started
—Reinstall the tie rod end. Torque castle nut to 51 ft lbs. Reinstall cotter pin
—Get your new giant torque wrench out. Set to 221 ft lbs, and torque those steering knuckle bolts down. PRO TIP: You may need to use an extra floor jack to lift your lower control arm a bit so you can get your threads started.
—Now set your torque wrench to 249 ft lbs, and torque that massive axle nut down.
—Reinstall the axle nut cover and cotter pin
—Reinstall axle dust cap with mallet
—Reinstall your wheel, torquing nuts to 97 ft lbs.

Now, go for a test drive, and notice, no more groaning from the front diff!!

Here are some links to some YouTube videos that were helpful.

This guy is a boss. It is not his first time. He works fast, and his head-mounted camera may make you nauseous. The truck he’s working on is on a lift, so he can get to things easier than I could. There is not a good view of him working the bushing in or tapping the axle back into place.


These guys are very detailed. They are also the ones who shaved down the install tool. Not necessary any more. Around the 31:00 mark, they hammer the axle back into the shaft using a 2’ pry bar against the lip of the inner housing like I described above. If your C clip is pointed with the opening at noon, it will go in with no fuss. I was able to do this alone once I had the proper orientation of the C clip.


Here is where I found that biggest pro tip of this write-up after a lot of frustration trying to get my CV axle to go back in. Props to Wrenching with Kenny!!


Another very detailed write-up, and like the others it is not on a Tundra! Great video, just beware the tool and parts links; they are for a Tacoma:


That’s about it! Hope this helps someone get through it faster than I did. If I ever do it again, it will go SO MUCH faster.

 

Awesome thread!!

 

Great write up on the bushing installation! Good for future reference just in case. Also nice build overall. You definitely inspired my decision to swap back to OEM wheels and 285 all terrains.

 

This write up saved me so much time. Thank you for doing such a great job with it. Took my son and I a little over three hours. Hardest part was the front diff drain plug. Someone ran it in there with an impact at some point. Take care out there!

 

That’s great to hear!

 

Update. Almost 66k miles.

I removed my TRD Fox kit and reinstalled my factory 4600 Billies with a spacer up front to keep the same geometry and make sure my 285/75s would fit while I figure out what to do. I’m now thinking of going with Bilsteins. Either a 6112/5160 setup or 8112/8100. Or an ADS kit.

The 4600s are honestly not bad at all:



Goals for the truck:
• Tow a 7k trailer wherever I want, drop it off, and hit trails. I want articulation and towing stability.
• 5.29s are most definitely in my future.
• And if I’m doing 5.29s, why not 37s, too?
• whatever decision is made on suspension, I will probably get UCAs. Would like to go 3” up front and 1.5” or 2” in the rear. I like some rake as I actually do truck things with my truck, so probably closer to 2” in the rear.

Any suspension ideas? I just feel like trying something else.

JBA UCAs were awesome on my 4Runner; I’m leaning toward going with them for the Tundra, too.

I also installed some boost auto tow mirrors. I went for the smoked strip, sequential signal 2.0, bright spot lights, power fold, and paintable caps. The paint and clear coat came out great. I rattle can’d it all. It’s pretty cool that you can get 2k clear in a rattle can for smaller projects like this.


After some much needed forum assistance (thank you @RainMan_PNW, @texasrho83, and @RobertD ), I wired up the power fold feature to an OEM switch for the cleanest look possible. My ‘21 just doesn’t have any blanks by the mirror switch.

I spliced into the two blank slots in this connector:


…which allowed me to use this switch for power fold:


Everything works great. Love the mirrors. The visibility is crazy. I may wire my reverse spots to their own switch. Just seems overkill to have these bright spotlights come on every time I’m in reverse (they also flash as my shifter passes through the R position when going from P to D and vice versa).

Yesterday, I installed my Revesol steering wheel. All black leather. I painted the silver inserts, but it’s so humid here, the coats of paint did not set up well at all, even though I left them overnight in my cool garage. They look terrible. So I ordered some black AJT inserts to swap in.

Pro tip: no steering wheel puller necessary. Just hit your steering wheel from behind with a mallet to work it off.

Here’s a pic of the Revesol without the guts reinstalled yet:


Also, my neighbor dropped off his 2020 Limited in Mesquite last night. He is doing some plumbing work for me (I want hot and cold spigots outside the house by the garage), and in return I installed an RCI skid and a set of RAS coils on his truck in preparation for his bird hunt in Montana next month.

I forgot to take an after pic of his truck. He has a decked system completely loaded to the gills with tools and hunting gear. That alone leveled his truck. I set his RAS with the smaller disc as he has no front lift (factory 4600 Billies). The RAS restored the factory rake and gave him a bit more stability when making turns without sacrificing articulation off-road. He’s very happy with the system. Here’s his truck when he dropped it off:


His only mods: Decked drawers, RAS, RCI skid, and 275/70R18 Duratracs.
He wants to get a trans cooler after he gets back from his hunting trip. I told him we can do that no problem. Easy install.