1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

Think of all the beer cans you could set on that thing

 

Bottles*

 

Forties.

 

Only thing I've found that looks like it might breathe better is a long tube setup
RV6 Long Tube Jpipe 2006-2008 Honda Ridgeline – RV6 Performance (rv6-p.com)
I haven't even looked at beyond the motor.

 

It can’t be unseen. Hahaha

 

That's kinda fugly. Is that a cell tower... or is that some B-Vent with a termination cap he is trusting @ 70-80mph highway speeds?

 

What's weird is that other people have done the ARB bumper and it looked great.

If you look close they are completely different bumpers. That's the difference.





https://www.tundras.com/threads/lets-see-your-first-gen-photo-thread.21/page-100#post-3081155

https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-tundra-armor-thread.50877/page-12#post-3339688

 

Thats the one i've been looking for, but finding a straight one, used, locally, has been difficult.

I think it's the '05-'15 taco model or LC 100 model.

 

Went for a ride today. Spotted my truck from the top. This Google Pixel has an impressive zoom.

Side note, someone send rain! We're at level 3 "extreme drought"

 

Trying my hand at some burnt ends today. Threw the brisket point on about 5am, and she's about ready to cube up.

 

Sold my little Honda Insight today. Sad to see it go but I just couldn’t deal with the highway driving any longer. Put it on FB marketplace on Thursday, and it’s gotten more than 7500 clicks, and hundreds of inquiries. Sold it for $1000 more than I paid for it in July, which sounds great to me.

I’m on the hunt for a Lexus. Stay tuned.

 

Hell yeah man, you need a Lexus is300 SportCross wagon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7evHD1KUQ8​

 

Everyone wants one, so they're not cheap. I've been looking at LS430s, specifically 01-03 models, as they're the most DIY friendly. They're $3000-6000, vs. a SportCross's $10k+. (Near me)

The LS400, GS line, and IS line have cult followings. Everyone wants one of those, but there's significantly less people in the market for an LS430, even though they're way better than the LS400s, in terms of cost, reliability, efficiency, etc. I test drove one with 366k miles and was astounded by how well it drove. Interior was too ratty though.

 

Get an ES. My 2008 ES350 has treated me well. Feel like your gas mileage will be junk with the 430 but I don't know any real numbers on it. Isn't gas mileage a real concern for you because of all the driving?

 

LS430 are cool vehicles. Cool as shit I think. Don't know how much of a headache they are to keep going.

 

I've owned an ES300, LS400, and LS430. My son still drives the LS430 w/300,000+ miles. I would not say that the LS430 is DIY friendly at all. And parts are expensive!

 

Coworker had an LS400, late 90s, two tone white/tan or white/grey, I forget. He got a good 230k out of it, but not without spending $$$ because the parts were spendy, and the labor (mechanically inept) was worse.

I mean, does your ES350 get great mpg? I'm seeing 19/27 for city/hwy with premium gas, which is only a hair better than what our 2012 Highlander 2WD with a V6 (2GR) got. I'd think with far less weight, you'd get more oomph out of the ES.

 

Dude needs a Corrola.

 

My pops just traded his doomed Rogue for a gently used 2022 Corolla. Toyota certified used. He's pretty excited to be done with the Nissan.

 

I 100% would not buy a Nissan car. Shame, some cool ones have come along through the years. That CVT is an absolute no for me dawg. Interiors also need some work. Those gauges are 90's with leftover 90's illumination. Haven't met a Nissan that didn't smoke after about 120k miles either.

 

300k & has only needed a fuel pump.

 

My friend that's going thru the fight w/cancer in his back has, I think, an '08 or '09 Xterra. It's actually been pretty good to him FWIW. I believe it's well-north of the 100k mark at this point.

He's prepping for chemo starting in the next week, and I rolled over yesterday to drop off our elliptical, he had to move the Xterra so I could wheel thru the garage, and I saw an oil-soaked slab of carboard under the damn thing. I was, like, "Bro - is your oil pan leaking, valve covers, ???" and he replied, "Dunno! Cardboard's been there for a while, I keep checking the levels and it's fine, it's only leaking a couple of drips here or there, going on a couple years now..."

Now I'm curious if those things had specific problems with the oil pan seal or the valve covers leaking. I may need to look into how bad of a job it is and knock it out for him.

Edit: N/m, looks like Nissan made it even more of a PITA to do on theirs than our 1GT, and our 1GT isn't even "horrible", but nowhere as near as simple as any of the old GM trucks or 80s/90s Honda sedans I owned. And the Xterra valve covers are plastic too, prone to cracking. Awesome.

Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be the oil pan, but it looks like they're not as well known for oil pan leaks as they are VC leaks.

 

Guys on the forum have consistently reported 27mph hwy with regular gas, and 29 with premium. I think that's mostly due to the fact they they only have a drag coefficient of 0.25, which isn't much more than my Honda. And I'm fine with getting 26 or 27 highway if that means I get incredible comfort. I've done thousands of highway miles in my Tundra at 17 or 18mpg, so the gas cost won't seem insane to me. At least 95% of my driving is on the highway.

Edit: just did the gas cost math on a round trip to visit my girlfriend, 760 miles, assuming gas is $3.35/gal
Tundra: $135
Insight: $44
LS430: $84

It's definitely nowhere near as DIY friendly as our trucks are, and you're right, parts aren't cheap, but in terms of maintenance items, it's not too bad. When I looked up a timing belt replacement guide it looked a lot easier than our trucks, they actually use the same

$183 Aisin TKT-021 Engine Timing Belt Kit with Water Pump - Compatible with Select Lexus GS400, GS430, GX470, LS400, LS430, LX470, SC400, SC430 Toyota 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Tundra

Aisin TKT-021 kit. These cars also allow you to reset the maintenance intervals without a dealer computer. Things like brakes, bushings, fluids are a bit more expensive than the Tundras but not to the level that I wouldn't be able to afford them.

If I buy one that’s been taken care of, without the air suspension or soft closing doors, which are the only common failure points, then I think I’d be in pretty good shape.

 

What year is that one? My stepdad bought a 2005 Frontier new and had pretty good luck with it through 200k miles. It did get pink milkshake but they were able to catch it in time to save the transmission. The quality on his Frontier seemed to be a lot better than my dad's 2012 Rogue.

 

The LS is basically a version of the Avalon I believe? Similar setup, super comfy, cheaper to keep her around than the Lexus, although I suspect some of the expensive parts for the Lexus are just reboxed parts from the Toyota branded counterpart. Camry would be a nice compromise and similar to the Lexus ES in earlier models.

 

The most common complaint I hear about the Titan was the overheating rear end in early models. Most have an actual heatsink built into the factory rear end housing cover now. My take above on Nissan was directed towards anything Nissan small, the SUVs and cars. Hard pass. I'd take an old hardbody and most of the Frontier setups all day. If it's Titan or Tundra, I'm Tundra all day too. It would also be hard for me to go Titan over some domestic offerings as well. Your 300k is a nice argument for the longevity, but the design just doesn't hit me right.

 

I don’t think the Avalon and LS are the same platform, but I could be wrong. The LS is 3UZ and RWD only. I’ve never been in or worked on an Avalon so I’m not sure.

 

thats right, fuel pump & rear diff. My bad, blocked that memory because i miss the 2.96 gearing. The engine is half under the windshield, i'd have done sparkplugs if the rear 4 were easier to get to.

it's an '04.

 

Looks like the Avalon and ES share a platform, not the LS.