2000 Limited TRD refresh/repair story

What kind of plugs are they? Mine are just the basic plugs (denso brand though) and when I changed mine a while back the gap was quadruple what it should have been. Truck ran fine before and after though.
Think with factory basic plugs you are supposed to change every 35k or something like that. Are they on your list of things to do on your "maintenance day"?

 

I have no idea what the plugs are, I don’t remember seeing anything related to the brand/type on the maintenance record but I also wasn’t specifically looking, so I’ll check again.

I’ve been scared to try and loosen the bolts holding down the coils… they’re pretty bad looking. I think I’m gonna drive around and get it real hot, then try to remove them.

And yes, plugs are on the list for Maintenance Day. I’m planning on doing all sorts of stuff, all fluids, filters, fan belt, etc.

 

Well. I goofed up yesterday.

I was trying to install new rubber weatherstripping that runs along the top of the windshield. The old one was faded, hard, and pulling up and catching rainwater/snow. It never leaked but I figured it would be about time to replace.

The new weatherstripping needed to be tapped into place with a rubber mallet. I tapped a bit too hard. Put a nice big crack right on the top. Right in my line of sight too.


Ugh. Time to be replaced. I got five different quotes, ranging from $195 to $295. This sound good? What’s the real $100 difference between the two? Should I just go with the cheap one?

 

Buy the best and you cry once...

 

What he said ^^

When I was looking into mine, Pilkington seemed to be the way to go, and PGW (Pittsburg Glass Works) was what Toyota used OEM. Avoid the cheap shit. It's fabbed up in China at the cheapest places possible and is never as clear and wave-free, sometimes even has bubbles. While Pilkington or PGW may not still make for anything earlier than 2007 (You'll need to check), finding a glass shop that prefers using them will get you into the ballpark of good quality glass.

I'd love to hear what they tell you about brands. I've been wanting to replace mine, but I'm holding on for dear life. If OEM windshield wasn't in the ballpark of $600-700, I'd just buy that.

 

Where did you find out which brand to use? All of the quotes I got were online or over the phone… I’m assuming you went to the shop in person?

When I called Safelite, they told me it would be $970 for an OEM one. Nope.

 

Not sure if they are different, but on my 2000 an OEM one from Toyota could not be purchased. I spent an embarrassing amount of time researching this stuff, and ended up speaking to an executive from Pilkington. While I agree with Pilkington being the best glass, for our trucks its not the case. Pilkington now outsources our windshield production to China. Fuyao makes the best glass for our trucks, as it's about 5lbs heavier than the next best option. Fuyao is a Chinese company, but they have production plants in the US. Funny stuff. I would suggest buying any and all trim/rubber parts that need to be replaced direct from Toyota and bringing them to the installer. @FiatRunner

 

That documentary on fuyao was depressing.

Spoiler: you can’t spell fuyao without f u

 

I was pretty embarrassed letting that info out into the world. I have a problem. Wait..... You're probably just depressed you can't order a new OEM one to replace your perfectly fine OEM one.

 

I know, right?

I am considering removing my tint from 20 years ago on the two windows.

I think I’m actually on all original glass in all 3 trucks. But two replacement windshields in the 2018 Odyssey which I don’t drive. Clearly I’m the superior driver?

 

So maybe all safelite locations aren't junk but our local one absolutley is. They did the glass on my Lexus ES350 after the glass got a chip and I figured why not use the insurance to take care of the glass. I should have left it be. I had wind noise like crazy that they said was normal, the upper seal looked terrible (said it would settle eventually) and then had water leaking into my floor. They redid it and said there wasn't enough urethane on it.

Terrible experience will never go back.

Seems like I recall members here having leaks after getting new glass or having rust issues where the windshield sits in its channel. I know I've seen people recommend having the glass pulled then inspecting your windshield channel but I couldn't tell you any of the specifics of it.

 

Yeah, windshield channel rust is definitely an issue. Mine has some.

It’s not a lot, at all, but it was one of the reasons I was trying to remove the old weatherstripping that was trapping moisture. Living in the rust belt, most of the first gen Tundras I see have rust above the windshield. Hell, most of the tundras I see don’t have anything left of the bedsides either.

I would love to pull the windshield, grind that rust down, treat it, and paint it, but that’s far from possible with my schedule. That repair process was described in this thread:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/top-of-windshield-rust.77141/#post-2765485

I’ve heard that some glass shops will treat the rust on the sealing area, but I can’t imagine they do the rust that’s on the actual paint/body areas. I’m keeping an eye on it for now. It sounds like a good project for the summer to me.

 

I'd read similar on the Pilkington/China thing, Id read on another forum it's true for all pre-2007 Tundra glass. I haven't looked around to see if anyone sells PGW

Don't go Safelite. Too many mediocre experiences here, with a couple of bad experiences mixed in. You're always better off finding a local mom & pop shop.

And as for brand, you can ask them at the non-national-chain stores usually. "What brand of glass is available for my truck?"

Some glass shops will advertise on their website what brands they use, like this. PGW and Pilkington are just two of those names I picked up years ago working at the audio/tint shop. The guy who owned the shop did all the tint and always said he loved doing their windshields the most, glass was smooth and perfect.

They suck here, too. I'd never use them for anything that needed to be urethane'd in. Side windows, probably. Rear window, maybe. Windshield never. Too many respectable small shops that stand behind their work to bother. Up until this year, I had a glass guy in my n'hood. I've had him replace windshields on 3 different vehicles now.

The glass guy I just mentioned ^^ would take the time to sand the channel, self-etch primer, tape & prep, even painted to match once, we let it cure for two days before he installed the glass. Granted, I was one block away and he could walk to the job, but he didn't hafta do the extra. I ended up tipping him about 50% on top of everything. Talk about a needle in a haystack... sad the guy moved back to TX.

 

It’s about time that the truck gets some cosmetic repairs. It’s been a while since this thing has had something done to improve the looks.

To start, I got the windshield replaced today, $290 for Vitro glass at a shop that’s been around since the 70s. Not too bad!


I also repainted the peeling window trim with plasti-dip. I didn’t want to take the trim off the door, but that wasn’t much of an issue when using a heat gun to help peel off the old coating. Worked well, and I think the trim looks great.




I removed the window rain vent/shade things, as they were faded, cracking, and one was just plain missing. I’m pretty sure I’ll be putting new ones on soon, the truck just doesn’t look right after seeing it with the vents for all of my life.

I also have sanded down and primed numerous areas that had surface rust, as well as hundreds of rock chips. I’ll be repainting all of these spots with color matched paint in the next couple weeks.






I’ve actually been working on the exterior of the truck for weeks now. I’m in my senior year of high school, and my auto shop teacher has agreed to let me use the truck as my project for my collision repair class, as I’ve already taken the class before. This gives me a solid 45 minutes to work on the truck every day, in a heated, clean, well-equipped environment. I’ll be painting the mirrors, trim, wheels, and I’ll be getting a new rear bumper as well as applying POR15 to the insides of the rear fenders and axle housing.

I’m not a paint guy, but I’ve done my fair share of paintwork before and I know how it’s done. I’m not expecting perfect results but I think it’s gonna be quite the improvement once it’s done!

Also, I’ve been getting 10.9 mpg, which isn’t terrible considering I’ve been driving in single digit temps, without the bedcover on, and doing lots of donuts in the snow we’ve been getting recently.

 

Curious to hear more details on the glass and how you're feeling about the Vitro brand.

Also, did you do all new seals, north/south/east/west of the windshield? (Keep a close eye on the luggage rack covers, that they're not flying up while driving)

10.9 MPG for a 4WD in city is pretty normal if you're in the gas a lot... but in looking at your truck info below your username/avatar, and in your signature, and in the thread title, I don't see if this is 2WD or 4WD. But I think I see a 4WD badge in the 1st pic? So you're normal

The wind deflector residue ... while I love the Turtle Wax Sticker & Decal remover, which I used to get rid of my clear bra crap on my rear fender flares, I've heard stories of it sometimes softening clearcoat, which your truck has and mine doesn't. That said, there's two awesome tools to help you get that done easily. One is this 3m wheel chocked in a drill, just make sure you clean any loose debris with a toothbrush before using and keep it moving to avoid heat buildup, but a cheaper paint-safe alternative is these plastic razors with a little WD40 to help it glide, just be super careful to keep the blade near-flush to the panel or you can nick your clearcoat.

 

So far, the glass has been great. I'm not at all experienced with auto glass, but it appears to be pretty wave-free to me, and looks like it fits quite well. I talked with the guy at the shop, and he said that he wouldn't hesitate to use Vitro glass on his own vehicles, and that it's made pretty well. The windshield came with new seals all around too.

The 10.9 MPG is a 1 MPG decrease from the last tank, but I'm expecting that to go back up even more once it gets warmer and I'm not sliding every corner. And yes, it's 4WD. (although it doesn't work very often) While I know 10.9 is pretty normal, I'd still like to get more. When it isn't snowy, I drive around pretty slow, the transmission rarely shifts much above 2100 RPM. We'll see, there's lots of maintenance coming soon.

I used plastic razor blades to remove most of the residue, I need to take an updated photo where it's 95% gone. I love those plastic razor blades, I've used them for so many paint/body related things. That last 5% of the residue is almost entirely cosmetic, and hard to notice unless you're right next to the truck. I might leave it, as the new deflectors will go right over it.

One thing I'd like to source is a rear bumper. It's impossible to find one around here that isn't rusted to hell, and a new one is $250+. I don't think my current one is fixable.

 

Nice update. Keep up the good work.

 

I ended up buying my replacement from Summit Racing. It won't be the same part number as yours (I don't think?) but ... free or cheap shipping, and their typical fast service. I paid $196 for mine, add about $17ish for tax and $9.99 for oversize-item ship. Wish I'd coated the rear before install, but overall not rusting much after years of use.

​

 

Woah, what? Floor mats????
Oh, sigh, those are just weathertech.

 

Yeah, that's from when I got my Weather(fitsLikeAss)Tech floor mats.

 

Did your low mile truck have a beat up bumper?

 

Nope.

Had the truck for less than a couple months, IIRC. Was doing a basement cleanout and dropping off a bunch of stuff with kidney-fund sponsored spot in a big ass parking lot and some jackass backed into my stock paint-matched bumper. At the time, I wasn't able to find another paint-matched bumper under $300 so ... I've got a chrome one now.

EDIT: But it did have a couple dings and stuff, untouched-up, so a little rust.

 

Ooh. I’ll have to look into Summit, that $196 is a lot less than some of the other places I’ve seen.

I was hoping I’d be able to pound out the dents in the original one, but it’s so thin that I actually punched a hole right through it with the hammer.

I’ve been thinking about paint matching it, like the optional bumpers on later trucks, but I’m thinking it would look odd with the chrome front. Thoughts?

 

Sometimes you can find paint-matched bumpers, but all I see for your year is chrome, and it's Toyota p/n 521510C021

Looks like you can get it as cheap as $409 with no tax and free ship if you order from Serra in Birmingham using coupon FREESHIP: https://parts.serratoyota.com/p/63407107/521510C021.html

McGeorge may also have similar for you.

I thought I'd like chrome. In hindsight, with what I'm about to do to my truck, I wish I'd have sourced out a white bumper. Hindsight's 20/20 ...

 

Yeah, I don’t think you could get paint matched bumpers (except for the Ivan Stewart package) until 2003, but I might be wrong.

If I was to paint match though, I’d be painting it myself. Don’t have the budget to buy a painted one or have someone else paint it, and I also don’t really wanna paint one myself. I’ll probably end up sticking with chrome.

 

OEM painted bumper:

https://parts.conicellitoyotaofconshohocken.com/oem-parts/toyota-rear-bumper-521510c901?origin=pla

I bought an aftermarket painted bumper, and color matched it with a couple of rattle cans (black, single stage...easy color match in my case). If I had found this at the time I would have gone OEM because the metal is slightly thicker.

Here's an aftermarket chrome at a reasonable cost:

$191 2000-2006 Toyota Tundra Rear Bumper Face Bar Chrome New TO1102229

https://www.amazon.com/2000-2006-Toyota-Tundra-Bumper-TO1102229/dp/B00952VG6Q

Finally, aftermarket painted:

$193 Rear Bumper Face Bar Primed for 00-06 Toyota Tundra Standard Bed

https://www.amazon.com/Bumper-Prime...--4691--8-1---&vehicleName=2004+Toyota+Tundra

 

I like the look of the painted ones, but they are not nearly as durable when some shit stick nicks you in a parking lot. Never seen an older painted one that looked good. Chrome bumpers seem to take the scrapes a little better

 

Yeah, but what color?

(I assume the typical black primer color)

EDIT: Yup, shonuff - https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota_2...Bumper-Face-Bar-Rear/63121287/521510C901.html

I dunno, my OEM had zero chips. Just scratches where PO may've jacknifed it or something.

 

An 18 year old on an internet forum? Don't you know forums are for old people?

 

I can agree with this. There's been plenty of times I've backed up until I've lightly bumped what's behind me, mostly in tight parking garages. I even got rear ended lightly once, and the bumper didn't seem to care too much. Of course, I'd never bump another car or something that could be damaged, but It's been nice to back up until it hits, but I guess that'll have to change soon when it gets replaced!

That's what I'm told! I get a weird look every time I tell someone that I was recommended something or got an idea from the forums. It's just so hard to find another resource that provides the same help and advice.