$1100 Tundra build

I can’t get above 189 ever even full throttle towing in 96 degree weather it hasn’t budged above that. Aluminum radiators are the trick

 

Spent the morning reading through this build, this has been my favorite one so far. Very impressive and fun to watch the transformation.

 

Thanks man!

 

New tailgate! Gotta give it a paint job as it’s the green color. But, it’s rust-free.

 

It seems like most of the parts we all find are green. @Professional Hand Model's running boards were green. My running boards were green. Your tailgate is green. @Darkness' spare tire in the bed of his truck was green.

 

Had to do some Forum-Fu to zero in on "pitchers." See below

 

Man either my tire looks massive or that wheel looks tiny there.

 

Wow, just wow. I finally read through the entire thread and I've got to say, you have a good skill set. The truck has come a long way!

 

Finally added reverse/aux lights to the high-rise topper. I’m also in the process of building a DIY decked/bed drawer system. Stay tuned.

 

Started on my drawer system after work tonight. I had a platform for an air mattress built in the bed already since the Montana trim earlier this summer, I built that with little thought going to how I would fit drawers in later.


this meant I had to take it all apart and reconfigure it. I’m planning to have one drawer on the left at 24” wide, and one drawer on the right at 14” wide. That way, I have multiple sizes for a multitude of items, since I really don’t know what I’ll be storing in here yet.


I have the platform completely framed, but I was dark when I finished, so I didn’t get a pic.

 

Made some progress on the drawer system.

 

Made some more progress on the drawers. I put rustoleum bed liner on because it’s an easy 1 part solution that I can get everywhere, so future touch up will be easy.



the biggest downside is that I could not get the back piece of plywood through the opening in the back, so I had the wife help me lift the topper up and slide it through the side.


And a suprise.


The wife put a custom paint job on the tailgate

 

Very impressive build. I hope to do a fraction of this. Lots of great info to learn form (copy) here. Thank you!

 

painted the wheels last night. turned out okay, but the color doesn't quite match my bumper and sliders.

 

Topper sealage.

 

made it to and from TN without issue. no cool trail photos, as we didn't made it beyond forest roads before the wife caught a bug and we headed back home. still a fun trip though.

 

After a month’s forced vacation, a lot happened, and it’s time to catch up.

did the timing belt with my brother. That was a job. Took us two full days and an evening.
And guess what! The timing was off by a tooth on the crank!


We put it back right, and after driving it, I didn’t gain much fuel economy or 0-60 time, but there’s a definite gain in torque from 2000-3000rpms.


also, I sold the Milestar Patagonia’s to my brother and picked up a set of Dick Cepek Trail Country EXPs. They’re SO MUCH QUIETER. I have about a thousand miles on them so far, and they’re great. Got them for $176/tire.



Also, my deer hunting setup.

 

Winter goop applied.

 

Went snow wheeling a today in the foothills state forest. There was about 4” of powder on the ground. Aired the dick Cepeks down to 20 psi. Had a great time!

 

Been status quo for the last year. Just been a rock solid daily driver. Did another axle seal this summer, along with replacing the wiring for my off-road lights, and a few other housekeeping items.
She did some good work this summer too.


Now, I need to set aside to get caught up on maintenance. Outer CV boots are starting to crack, there’s a short in the right blinker, and I have a battery drain issue I need to hunt down.

more to come.

 

Pulled the the turd into the shop and was able to start some maintenance tonight.

got a section of wire in the right blinker replaced. It was shorting out where a previous owner put a wire tap for the visor lights. Problem is, the wire pulled out of the plug at the same time, so I had to bypass that wire and sandwich it between the plug for now. Next time I’m at my parents place I’ll go snip the harness of the parts truck and splace it in.

man alive, a heated shop sure beats the snowbank I usually had to lay in to work on this bucket o rust come wintertime. 10/10 would recommend to a feller.

 

You made that S*** a whole lot better.

 

Thanks! Can’t say it’s been easy.

 

Been a week of catching up on maintenance here on the Turdna.

the tattered outer CV boot finally blew so I pulled it into the shop to replace it. I couldn’t find a source for a nice silicone boot, so I bought oem plastic kits for both sides.


Forgot to photograph the finished product. I reused the inner red silicone boot because that’s in good shape still, and I trust it more than the teeny little oem inner.

 

A short test drive, and I realized the oem outer boot is fatter than the neoprene one that came from CVJ, and will rub on the shock bolt if that’s in backwards. Of course mine is.

no problem, I’ll just unbolt the shock and turn it around. Yeah…no.
Inner bushing sleeve is rusted to the shock bolt. 3 years of salt does a lot of damage. I just cut the end of the shock bolt off, and will address whenever I need to do front shocks again. Nothing can be easy!



I’m also still trying to narrow down my battery drain. I eliminated the auto start/keyless entry system, brake controller, and my subwoofer amp so far. That leaves the OR lights, dedicated HU power, and the 12v+ running to the trailer plug.

 

I was reading back through the last page of this thread, and realized I never mentioned the JBA Long Tube headers and full 3” exhaust installed by my brother’s tech school in Jan of 2022. It’s definitely a tech school exhaust. Terrible welds, routing is not the greatest. It sounds mean as hell though.

wouldn’t recommend the long tubes to anyone though. Not worth the hassle of install, they leak bad, and they didn’t offer a very significant performance benefit.



I also need to fix the exit. They weren’t paying attention and just ran it straight out the back. Looks stoooopid. Just haven’t had the time to cut it off and do a proper side exit tucked up nice.

 

I wonder if it's a problem with the Eibach design. One of mine is seized and it's been on less than a year and no salt here.

 

My guess is it's just a low-quality bushing. Cheapo steel that doesn't have enough corrosion resistance.

 

Makes sense. Wish I'd known to bury it in anti seize