Reliable by Winter

Hey hey,
Not so much a build thread, but just for fun I’m going to start logging my progress on my 05 DC Limited.
Just purchased this summer with a list of issues that I’m picking away at. My goal is to get this truck to a state where nothing important is bothering me before the snow falls, as working in the garage in the winter is probably my least favourite activity of all time. So here we go!

 

379,000km on the clock and this is the current (and ever growing) to do list:

-Windshield cracked
-Headlight lenses cracked, corner light mounting tabs broken
-fog light lenses very cloudy
-Vent position control won’t go into central setting
-steering wheel leather(?) heavily stained, torn. Cheap wheel cover installed.
-front door speakers are blown
-Driver side mirror glass cracked
-front door hinge pins, bushings gone
-TPMS Light always on (no sensors in wheels)
-ABS light on/off intermittently
-CEL on, evap canister valve (?) code
-engine/exhaust ticking when on throttle only (so annoying)
-brakes don’t feel good. Excessive pedal effort required. Slight pulsation in pedal when first depressed.
-oil change needed
-fluids? (Probably all of them)
-lower control arm bushings cracked
-front struts leaking, bushings clapped
-transmission mount (rear), rubber torn
-driveshaft support bearing rubber collapsed
-rear shocks, lower bushings collapsed
-block heater cord end needs replacement

More to be found I’m sure. Lots of little things but this is going to keep me busy for a while. I’m going to try and use quality parts on a budget, lots on order already. My wife and I recently had a baby, so finding free time to spend in the garage with a 5month old is a balancing act.

Lol what have I done.

 

Let me know how you solve the windshield issue. I have a couple stone chips but they don’t seem to have any runners thus far. My understanding is the replacement windshields that are currently available suck ass. I’m sticking with this original Toyota glass as long as possible.

 

Don’t forget timing belt and LBJs

 

+1

And the radiator while you're doing the timing belt.

 

The Permatex kit has worked well for me on fisheyes and is relatively easy to use. Project Farm has a good video on YouTube comparing the various brands out there. Permatex is just a brand I trust implicitly. Permatex (now owned by Loctite) and CRC are two brands who make up at least 50% of the products I use in my shop and have for decades. CRC makes some of the best sensor/engine cleaning and general maintenance products, Permatex is killer for anything that needs to hold stuff together or prevent things from holding, they're like the duct tape of the shop world.

Well, I'll be a +2 on that, that's two of the biggest 1st gen killers, and I marked up with some bold italic text to really drill home maybe the most impotant (2) points about Lower Ball Joints.

First thing any 1st gen owner should do, especially if V8:

• Confirm last time timing belt was done, change that, the timing belt, tensioner, and pulleys using the Aisin brand kit if not within the last 10yr/100,000 miles (10yr/161,000km)
• Confirm last time LBJ were done, and confirm they're OEM, change if not done in the last 125k miles or potentially less in unfriendly/salty climates (never use aftermarket LBJ, always buy 4 new mounting bolts per side)
• Visually inspect the radiator for age/browning, if the top cap isn't black, replace with a new Denso radiator (and new Denso radiator cap)
• Rust, you need to literally go over the ENTIRE frame with a fine tooth comb, especially behind the splash guards on either side of the front struts, the X-member over the spare tire, the inside-rail frame stiffeners, and at all shock/spring mounts.
• If 2WD, inspect the 4 bolts holding the transmission to its crossmember and check that crossmember for hairline cracks, if 4WD, grease the shit out of the driveline using a moly-fortified NLGI2 grease like Valvoline Palladium 2

@T2SK I take it you've seen our community info thread with all the warnings, problems, and even a service plan-of-action? https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Congrats on the new kiddo and the new truck. Welcome to club of late night wrenching when the kids asleep.
Others have nailed two of the biggest things to check/inspect which aren't on your list (Timing Belt and OEM Lower Ball Joints). It seems there's a decent combo of things that you can attack quickly/easily and some things that you can move lower down your list, that are more irritating than critical.

Some potential low hanging fruit.
-Brakes - check fluid. ABS comes on when fluid is low and if it's intermittent then fluid might be low and triggering when on incline.
-CEL - what code are you getting? Check your gas cap and make sure it's in good condition and tight.

 

Sames

 

When I get new windshields for my truck, they get a chip and runner within a year, and then never get damaged again after that. So I've had the same broken windshield in my truck now for the last 6 years. Replacing just means a new broken windshield it seems.

 

Not only that, but every time they take the windshield out, you risk them nicking sheet metal, which then leads to rusty window surround.

 

+1 - I’ve watched out SC roads turn to shit for the past 20 yrs. Whenever I drive to ATL or FL the difference in GA is just astounding how much better their pavement is.

 

I feel that way every time I go down to FL

 

Most of this list is purely cosmetic.

ABS sucks, I remove the ABS fuses every winter.

Lower ball joints. As I recently found out, ball joints don't need to have any sign of wear, to fail completely.

Timing belt,

Radiator.


Then move to your brakes.

Do the rest at your convenience.

 

Thanks everyone for your input!

I’ve been reading a lot about the LBJs, those will have to jump up the list it seems. A question I have is that everyone stresses OEM only, and yet everyone still warns against LBJs failing seemingly randomly (and in spectacular fashion). It seems the design in general is poor, so are the OEM proven to last longer? Am I misunderstanding that they all seem to fail, regardless of OEM or aftermarket? I’m going to buy OEM either way, just curious.

Sticker under the hood says timing belt was done at 227000km. The interval is every 160,000km? Seems I’m on borrowed time…

 

It is a design flaw. They are under constant tension instead of compression. If the socket wears out, the ball will be pulled out, if the metal breaks, (what happened to me last month) the suspension instantly comes apart, causing additional damage. No matter how well made, this will always be the geometry of the part.

The idea is that OEM is always best with toyota....and since these are a bad design anyway, use the best you can, making the best of a bad situation.

Timing belt and LBJs are both must doe's when in doubt. Either failure can destroy your truck in an instant.

Lower BJs are also EASY to replace, if not terribly cheap, they are a lot cheaper than the tow and other damage you incur when they fail. The whole job can be done in an hour. The upper joints are harder, and can be a PITA....but also hardly do anything so unless they actually show signs of wear, I think can be left alone.

 

LBJs are a wear item that’s supposed to be replaced every 100K miles. They’ll most likely last longer than that if they’re OEM, but you have no idea when or where they may fail. Aftermarket ones had a huge recall that covered multiple brands because they were all made in the same plant, and they’ve been known to fail in like 40K miles or less. That’s why everyone says to avoid the cheap aftermarket ones.

Think of them like an upside down trailer hitch. The weight of the front suspension is trying to pop that ball out of the hitch, and if it does, your wheel goes sideways. There’s at least one aftermarket LBJ that “fixes” the design, but it’s more aimed at people that are also swapping out knuckles and control arms for off road use. It’s also more expensive and the OEM LBJs aren’t that hard to do yourself once you get the hang of them.

Timing belt, water pump, and radiator should be done at the same time since you have to drain the coolant to replace the water pump. Once you knock out the LBJ and timing belt, you don’t have to worry about them again for another 90-100K miles and you can take your time with all the other stuff.

 

What caught me by surprise...was the backwards nature of these.

I've probably replaced a dozen ball joints in my life, in every case, it was something I found during an inspection.

It was always a matter of 'oh yeah, this joint is a little loose, better replace it soon'

I thought it would be the same on my Tundra.....

But it wasn't. Even with no looseness at all, the neck of the ball joint can crack and shear off from metal fatigue.

 

They're also not really designed to be used on-road in a cold climate where sand and salt are applied to the roads.

 

Thanks guys, LBJs ordered this morning.
I was pleasantly shocked to find OEM available on Amazon! That’s a win for sure.
As mentioned in my original list, my lower control arm bushings are cracked. Do you think this will cause any additional stress to the LBJ? I was honestly hoping to wait on doing those, but I don’t want to prematurely wear out my new joints.

As for the timing belt replacement, is it a bastard of a job to do? Or fairly straightforward?

 

• DO yourself a favor, buy OEM (Toyota/Denso/Aisin/Advics brand) where possible. DO NOT buy from scAmazon or fleaBay, they're rife with counterfeit/knockoff parts as seen in posts here. Toyota direct is outlined here.

 

The brand is labeled as Genuine Toyota and listed as the OEM part numbers. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what bags they show up in. And if not genuine, I’ll send them back.

 

It's usually a problem when they say "shipped and sold from Amazon" in the listing. They get parts from multiple vendors and throw them in one big box, they may be from good reliable vendors and may be from no good unreliable vendors, you just never know. That's why we always say to stay away from scamazon when trying to buy OEM parts.

You're gonna want to replace your bolts as well , those probably wouldn't be very expensive from your local dealer though.

 

It doesn't matter what it's listed as. scAmazon DOES NOT MONITOR THEIR INVENTORY FOR AUTHENTICITY. They also mix inventory in bins, so it really doesn't matter who you buy it from on scAmazo, they cannot guarantee the inventory wasn't mixed.

DO NOT BUY AUTO, APPLIANCE, OR SMALL ENGINE PARTS ON scAMAZON OR fleaBAY. YOU WILL GET KNOCKOFFS AND GREY MARKET PARTS!!

If it hadn't happened to so many members, we wouldn't be issuing this warning. It's especially bad with spark plugs. We had one member who got fake plugs, and one fell apart into the cylinder while the engine was running.

Those OEM-looking stickers are available for purchase from multiple websites. They just slap it in a plastic bag, slap a sticker on it, and will sell you anything. But the knockoff parts are incredibly deceiving, and may look the same. They always miss some cue, but the average person can't tell the difference.

 

Who did you buy from on Amazon? There are a handful of dealership parts stores on there, just hard to sort the good from the chaff. Safest bet is to skip the wholesale sites and buy straight from a reputable dealer to ensure authenticity. The price is usually favorable from the select dealers and better so during sales.

The OEM design flaw isn't with the joint itself, it's the way the joint is integrated into the system. The joint that Toyota makes is far superior to any of the cheap, plastic component aftermarket replacements.

The original recall involved a machining issue with scratches on the ball and socket surfaces in some mid cycle models that caused premature wear. The replacements should not have this flaw and should really be a check and replace as needed part, lasting 100's of thousands of miles even (many members experiences). If it were not for the catastrophic nature of the failures, replacement would be whenever they show wear. But routine replacement for this is a good safety practice to prevent the carnage associated with an unexpected failure.

 

We need pics of the cracking.

Worn bushings will make the truck more difficult to align at minimum, and stay in alignment at most. Some spiderweb cracking of OEM rubber is normal. You should not see large cracks or splits in the rubber.

Note there are two qualities of rubber. OEM rubber, which will last over a decade without showing signs of spiderweb cracking, and "chubber" (Chinese rubber) which will start showing major cracks and failure typically within 1-3 years.

It's exorbitantly difficult to replace the bushings in the LCAs without specialty tools. And OEM bushings cost half as much as new LCAs, so most members here will just buy new OEM LCAs ***IF*** the bushings are blown. Which they may not be in your case, won't know w/o pics. You can get them as cheap as $250/ea during national sales.

But no, bad LCA bushings aren't going to add exceptional stress or lead to premature failure of your LBJ.

Timing belt: See the sticky thread - https://www.tundras.com/threads/timing-belt-master-thread-sticky.107240/

You should really spend some time looking at the sticky threads and reading the thread linked by @The Black Mamba, that contains much of our collective info, with many answers to a lot of the questions you're asking.

 

Shifty gonna rip you a new one.

Personally, although I think he has a point....I don't think the situation is as bad as he says.

 

It's true, and I'll openly admit it: It's not as bad as I say.

I've had more issues with appliance parts than anything. I fix all of our own appliances, and typically work on our HVAC, broken electronics. Your chances ay be 3%-5% of getting something bunk. So one in twenty, one in 35 potentially, although with certain parts (spark plugs) that could be more like one in five. There are certain areas you'll find it more prevalent. Sensors. Spark plugs.

But, like, even when I was looking to buy my OBDLink sensor, there was a counterfeiter or unauthorized seller selling MX+ units on there for a fraction as cheap. I contacted OBDLink about it, and they gave me a nice 10% off coupon to buy direct, which put it in the realm of what the sketchy bullshit shop was selling. The stupid part? scAmazon auto-added the non-legit seller's product to my cart even though I was sitting inside OBDLink's store page! They always auto-add (at least for Prime members) the lowest-price item to cart. I could've been sitting at a Toyota store looking at LBJs, doesn't matter, whoever is listing them cheaper is who gets added to cart. Their system is rigged to promote this type of behavior, sadly.

Anyway, all that to say. Yes, it's a problem. Yes, I go over the top and over-hype it. But it's very easy to buy the parts from known-legit sources at similar pricing, sometimes even cheaper, so the animated, colorful, over-the-top warnings and responses out of me are not for bad reasons.

 

For me, it was 50% more expensive and took a week longer to get LBJs from a dealer than it would have from Amazon.

Which as you know, I did anyway because I wasn't in the mood to take an chances with my truck disabled miles from home.

 

How much did you pay w/scAmazon?

I saw someone on here, I think @Elam.Pingleton and he was looking at $130/ea for his.

It's tough w/scAmazon on LBJ because trying to tell OEM apart from others can be difficult.

 

I didn't buy mine on Amazon, but they had them for $100 each when I was looking for them, $159 from the most local toyota dealer, with criminal shipping charges so we ended up with them dropping them off at an autozone halfway between us and I drove and got them.