Forest Adventurer 2002 Tundra 5SPD 4x4

Hello all!

This is meant to be a log of my restoration and build of this 2002 Tundra! Come along with me on my transition from 2 previous Tacoma's to this Tundra.

Background:

I had owned my 2011 Regular cab for 8 years. Modified it, took it wheeling and everywhere. It went with me from NC, to VT, TO MS, to AK. I planned to keep that great little truck forever. Eventually, in December of 2022 I decided that I needed a back seat. I went looking and eventually I found exactly what I wanted! A 2023 Tacoma TRD Offroad 6SPD 4x4 in Lunar Rock. It was perfect! Okay, this is the truck I'm keeping forever. Living in Anchorage AK at the time I flew down to Tacoma WA and picked up the truck. I then proceeded to make the 2,000 mile trek home via Ferry and the ALCAN. Over the next year and half I made some amazing trips and memories in that truck. Tastefully modified it into the overlanding rig I needed it to be and put on 34,000 miles by August of 2024.
In August of 2024 I was on my way into work sitting at a red light. I was slammed into at about 55 MPH by a driver that claimed they couldn't stop (pretty certain they were on their phone). Looking at the damage I was fairly sure the truck would be repaired in a few weeks and I'd be back on my way. I was wrong. As it turned out the frame had been bent and punctured. Still under the threshold to total it I still expected to get her back. It was not to be. With frames on a national backlog the time to repair it was expected to be over a year and the insurance company was not going to do that, totaled..
That brings us here, after weeks of scouting FB Marketplace and any other source I could use I found what I was looking for. The truck was located about 900 miles away. No stranger to traveling to get the vehicle I want I booked the flight.

2011 Tacoma


The 2023 before and after the accident:








The Truck:
2002 Tundra SR5 5SPD Manual in 4x4
Mileage: 137,800 when purchased (139,400 now)
Color: Imperial Jade Mica

 

Having flown in and picking up the truck it was time for the long shakedown drive back south.

The game plan was to drive down to NC and help out my relatives in the mountains who had been hit by Hurricane Helene. Everything went smooth for the first 700+ miles. Then 50 miles from my destination heading up the mountain into Hendersonville NC the clutch went out. There had been no warning until about 20 miles prior I got some surging indicating it was starting to slip. I figured I had at least a few hundred miles left but no.




$1400 and 3 days later and I was back on the road with a new clutch.

 

After making it back home now its time to start doing general MX and basic mods.

• Replaced the fluids in the transfer case
• Cut out the rotted rear hatch hinges. (Still trying to find replacements)
• Added new gas struts to the cap
• General deep clean
• Protective coating to the frame
• Added fender flares
• New wipers

Next up is this pile of parts waiting for me!

• Lower & Upper Control Arms
• OEM ball joints
• Sway bar end links

I've got more on the way! It's going to slow down as I can only wrench in the weekend and it's my Daily Driver so I have to keep the projects self contained to the weekend for the time being.

 

Next on the docket was fixing the hole in the exhaust. The drive from NY to GA was deafening. After a few weeks of commuting with it I was sick of it so made the swap. Nice easy fix and now it sounds great.

 

Started the process of re conditioning the hood. I don't need it to be perfect but just want it too look decent from 50ft away.

Order a few rattle cans of color matched paint and set off.

Pulled the hood and sanded down the cracked clear coat and the sport where it started rusting. Used multiple cans of filler primer to fill in the hundred or so little divots. Gave it an initial sand and then another spray. Now to let it sit over night, come back and sand it down smooth. We'll see if it needs another run of primer or if it's time to spread to base coat.


How the hood looked on the truck

After the first few coats of primer

 

Good looking truck! What’s your end goal as far as the build goes?

 

Thanks! Right now its just refreshing everything to be uber-reliable and clean up some things that time has gotten too. (Replacing ball joints, lower & upper control arms, Tie rod ends, bushings etc. this weekend).

Eventually the plan is a light overlander, weekend warrior truck I can load the camping stuff and bikes into and head for the hills. (Sort of what I had with the Tacoma's)

 

What did you get for base coat? My truck could definitely use this

 

Let’s see the hood! I need to do this with mine. Then the roof.

 

I used this:
ERA Paints 6Q7 - Imperial Jade...

$48 ERA Paints 6Q7 - Imperial Jade Mica for TOYOTA Exact Match Automotive Touch Up Paint Spray - Basic Kit

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L3M7SPW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

It worked great and matched pretty well.

Overall it came out okay, but that was definitely on me and not the paint. The sun was getting ready to go down on Sunday and I need it back on the truck to take to work early Monday morning so I definitely rushed a bit on the base and clear coat applications. I think with another sand and paint it would look way better but I'm satisfied for now.

Here's how it came out:


Last week I started tackling the front end.

I put in new OEM ball joints and Moog lower control arms, inner and outer tie rods, and sway bar end links.

I ordered pre assembled Bilstein 5100s with OME springs that will go on the weekend after they all arrive! Not to mention various new hardware from Toyota to replace the rusted originals.

 

Got into doing the front coilovers today. Man what a headache! The top mount nuts had essentially welded themselves to the shock mount assembly. It took a few hours of cutting, heating and chiseling with various tools to finally get them off. Instal if the new coilovers was a veritable breeze in comparison.

With the short amount of daylight this time of year I only got the driver side done. Tomorrow I'll knock out the rest.

 

I hope you were serious about OEM on the ball joints. I'm not happy about MOOG anything

 

What coilovers did you pair with the bilsteins?

 

Yup OEM for sure on those! I've heard enough horror stories about anything else.

OME 2884 for the springs. I had them pre assembled when I ordered them. One less sketchy thing to have to do in my driveway.


I got around to hopefully finishing up the front end. I started with doing pads and rotors but ended up doing upper control arms and upper ball joints too. I was hoping to be done by 1PM to watch the Eagles game but finished at 8.




Next is the drums. Then finally fun easy stuff! Hopefully...

 

Put the Trail Edition wheels off the old Tacoma on. I had them wrapped in new Falken Wildpeaks.


I have a sticking piston on the passenger side so next up is replacing the calipers. I promise I'll get to the fun stuff soon...

 

I would rock a supercharged 5VZ 4wd stick Tundra like this one err day

 

How do you like the ride with the 2884s/5100?

 

It's a little on the stiff side. It's not unbearable but I hope it'll break in a little and give a bit more over the next few thousand miles.

 

So in the past few weeks the work has significantly slowed down on the truck. The front end is pretty much finished. Paired with an odd cold snap in middle Georgia not a lot of desire to lay under the truck outside. So I got around to replacing the LEDs in the gauge cluster and center stack. Doing an oil change and putting in some window visors.

Next up is chasing down an odd vibration. It happens in any gear approaching 2800+ RPMs but is most noticable in 5th gear nearing 70MPH. I can feel it through the wheel, and shift knob but really in the pedals. I'm certain it's not the tires as I've had them rotated and balanced multiple times and tried a different set of wheels and tires all the same still. I'm thinking it's carrier bearing / U-Joints. The other indicator that makes me think that is a clunking noise I hear occasionally in a tight turn only under load but not in neutral. The sound comes from under the foot well and not forward. Has anyone had any similar symptoms? What turned out to be the fix?

 

Started tackling some smaller jobs. I went into the weekend with the plan to sort out why I've noticed the transfer case and back of the transmission is always slightly wet with gear oil. Never enough to drip but definitely wet. The answer to that seems simple enough. When I bought the truck on the drive from NY to GA brining it home the clutch went out in the mountains of North Carolina. I had a shop replace the clutch. It appears when they did that job they forgot to replace the gasket between the shifter and the transmission. The metal shim gasket was there but the two layers of paper gasket weren't. I'm going to grab some gasket maker and fix that. The transfer case had the paper gasket below the metal one but not above it.

I also found what I'm assuming is a breather tube or something that was disconnected. There's a nipple below the shifter on the trans that wasn't connected to anything. There was another one on the T-Case with about six inches of tube on it that was split at the far end. The perfect reach to attach to the exposed nipple on the transmission. I'll replace that as well.

As I was gaining access to the top of the shifter housing I had the bright idea I'd take the carpet out entirely and steam clean it. Once I got it out I realized it was much nastier than I thought so I just ordered new carpet I'll put in when it arrives.

While the seats were out I decided to add seat heaters and touch up the seat frames a bit.

I'm searching for a full center console to modify to work with the manual transmission.

I also noticed that a hose to the EVAP canister under the hood is split at the end and won't connect. I'm thinking that may be contributing to my P0466 code and gas smell when the truck is over half a tank full.

That's how it seems to go! I got in with the intention of doing one small thing and before you know it I'm working on 5 others and the original thing never got finished.


The source of the wet housing.


The seat pans before paint

The split EVAP hose shoved back on. It was just dangling when I found it.

 

Got most of the way through installing the new carpet. Just have to cut out the cubbies in the back.

I've started on fabricating/modifying a limited model center console to fit. Everything lines up except I need about 1/2in more clearance in second gear. The throw of the shift is just so long back into that gear. I could cut more material out but I'm at a nice spot where it will look very clean once I add a leather boot. It's just finding that half inch further back.

 

The URD short shifter arrived today and is installed. Super easy! Maybe a 20 minute task from beginning to end.



The front of the center console is in and attached. The back half is almost in. None of the mounting holes from the old console matched with the new so I drilled some holes and JB welded in some nuts into the trans tunnel. Once those finish curing I'll run the longggg bolts to reach from the mounts.

 

I was working in the garage this weekend when I noticed one of the hinges to the glass on my camper shell let go, the glass was just dangling by one hinge and the bungee cords I've been using to keep the glass down over speed bumps while I source the right latches.

I decided in the meantime just to take the topper off and store it, I was planning on pulling the bed in a few weeks to continue my overhaul once it reaches the rear of the truck. I picked up a cheap tonneau cover and installed it when it arrived today.

Before:



After:




Pretty happy with it for the cost and digging the truck looking like a truck for a while.

 

The process of freshening up this truck from its rusted North Eastern roots is starting to shift toward the back of the truck. The front end is pretty much complete. I may go back in and replace the CVs again with OEM or CVJ OEM Remans if my driveshaft plans don't solve the shaking I'm getting. Which leads me to the list of what's next:


Center of truck:
Rear Driveshaft
Fuel tank, pump & filter

Rear of truck:
Leaf springs
Rear shocks
New bed (possibly)



I've acquired most of the parts to do a total overhaul of the driveshaft, all of the U joints and carrier bearing. (All Spicer OEM part #s). If it's the double Cardon then I'm SOL as I've heard those are nearly impossible to rebuild and be worthwhile. I think that I have the tools and the mechanical inclination to be able to handle the task but I'm considering taking it to a pro for this one.


Ever since I bought the truck it's had a strong fuel oder when the tank is full that subsides when it gets below about 1/2. I initially thought it was a rusted fuel filler neck so I replaced that, nothing. Then changed the fuel cap. Then maybe it was the charcoal canister. With this being an 02 the canister is under the hood and the smell radiated from the back but regardless I replaced all the dry rotted vacuum hoses in the engine bay. The other day I noticed there's a wet spot running down from the top of the tank, I can't locate the source but I think I may have found my leak. I'm planning on having a smoke test done to confirm before I start spamming parts at the rear end.



The back of the truck is mostly because I have the rear shocks and a new set of leafs arent that expensive that I may as well do it while I'm there. If I end up replacing the bed I'm hoping to do that all in one fell swoop.


Other things I want to do are just quality of life things.

Upgrade the speakers to go with the upgraded head unit I put in when I first got the truck. Finish the interior upgrade I started by wiring the heated seats into the 05 automatic center console I modified to work with the manual. And replace the shifter gasket as I think I may have under done it with the RTV.



Unfortunately work has me busier and busier leaving me with only nights and weekends to work. With this being my daily it adds the fun wrinkle of having to wrap up each project by the end of the night or weekend. I do have my actual project car (a 97 Jeep TJ) if I'm in a bad spot but with a 80mi daily round trip commute it's not the most fun thing to take every day.


Thanks for tagging along, if you have any tips or suggestions for things I should get into while I'm doing all this I'm all ears!

 

Really fun to see this truck come along. Excellent work!

 

Forgot to show how I wired the backup camera on this. It was actually one of the very first mods I did when I purchased the truck. Someone was asking for camera suggestions on Reddit so I snapped a pic.

The way I did it was by taking the lock out of the latch and it sits almost perfectly. Gives it a pretty OEM look. The loss of the tailgate lock doesn't bother me since well it's a truck bed.