2001 Tundra Access Cab Rebuild (part 1)

Last fall I stumbled into an '01 long-bed five-speed RWD Tundra (in Imperial Mica Jade). I had been helping someone find a new truck, and at the very last minute, they went with another Ford Ranger. I ended up with the Tundra for a pittance and decided to keep it for a little while and then pass it along.

Turns out, I quite liked it and felt like it would be a good basis for a camping rig. The only roadblocks it being the perfect truck would be the lack of a rear-seat for my 6-year-old son, and lack of 4WD. Off to the land of Craigslist/FB Marketplace, I went...and was I surprised just how much money that spec (with a new frame) were going for. I eventually found one that was sound mechanically but with a rotten bed and rockers. The price was right and the seller was very forthright, so I went for it.

The truck in question was a five-speed, V6, 4WD Access Cab in Imperial Mica Jade. was located in western New York (where I'm from originally, meaning I am aware of just how bad the rust monster can be there). The truck was pretty much what I expected. I hauled it back to New England behind my long-bed Tundra.

More to come as time permits...

 

Welcome form Texas! I'm in. I can't wait to see where this goes Nice score on the unicorn 4WD 5VZ manual trans.

 

Yup, in the rust belt, anything with a known-solid frame can come at ransom costs, this thread gets into the "why", and how shady a lot of sellers are. Too many people have come here after getting duped, not aware of the massive frame rot issues these trucks have. Also a big part of the reason someone would rather come down here and spend $10-12k on a rust-less truck then drive it back.

Welcome to the forum! Look forward to more pics. That body is ... something! (what's left of it! )

 

It was owned by the family of a Toyota mechanic, and had the frame replaced about 5 years ago, along with a lot of the regular wear and tear items...I've got more progress right now that I haven't had time to write up. My biggest issue is trying to avoid paying Toyota prices for drivers-side rocker panels...

 

Best advice I can give you on the parts if you don't already know ...

Buy online via Toyota Parts website, for pickup at your nearest participating dealership at a nice discount. But wait until a national sale is going on at 10-20% off on already-discounted parts, which happens sporadically on major national holiday (Independence Day, Black Friday, Veteran's Day, etc). With some stores linked from the main Toyota Parts website, the coupon "FREESHIP" will shave off most of the shipping. If you wait for the right time, Serra Toyota Parts in Birmingham (link) often has no tax, along with the national sale and FREESHIP, it can really get costs down. Olathe is another option, but they do charge tax and don't always support coupons.

 

Yeah, I have a cart loaded (with 20% off shipping!) but I've also got a line on at least two that are being parted out that would be much cheaper...

 

You're almost better off hitting www.car-part.com and finding a used one somehwat nearby that's already the right color, but in better shape. Great way to find a bed replacement too.

Hardest part is finding another access cab or regular cab with the same fender trim, the ones with plastic trim often have factory holes punched in them. Double cab stuff won't fit.

 

Stay tuned for my bed story - I got extremely lucky!

 

I just wanna know where you guys keep finding these 5spd 4wds...

 

So, after hauling it back to my shop, I briefly took it on a road trip to VT to visit a friend. The only readily apparent issues were soggy carpets, a sagging drivers side front door, and a worrisome amount of road noise.

I parked it at my shop and started to plot the repairs that I would need to undertake. Obviously, the most pressing were the rockers and the bed. The bed would be the easy part…

The internet brought me to a few places that brought clean beds up from the Deep South…which would be great (I even found one that was Imperial Jade Mica), but they wanted as much (or more!) that the total purchase price of the truck itself. A few more days of hunting turned up a perfect bed in Alabama for $600. Great price, perfect bed…except it’s a long way from home. As luck would have it, one of my closest friends was flying down to Alabama in a few weeks time to drive a GM van back home to VT. Since he’s dumb (like me), he offered to tow a U-Haul behind the van and bring my bed back north. I figured $300 for the rental plus gas, plus the bed…$1000 was a great deal. My luck held out, as he actually was given a small utility trailer that he wanted to bring home. So, bed and gas was around $800, which is still a steal!

 

I have 3 pedal envy.

 

I hunted and hunted for one that was the right price in the right place that wasn’t a total rot box…I got mostly lucky.

 

I think the rarest were the 05-06 4x4 manuals with the 4.0L. That would be sweet.

 

After securing the bed from Alabama, I then turned to the rest cab. I found a fabricator/welder that was willing to take on the rot in the cab, and he came out for a quick look before agreeing to the project. We set a date/time for him to start work. Prior to that, I decided to pull the seats and carpets out to make it easier and to save time.

This was, of course, the real eye-opener. I will say right from the start the original seller was honest about the rust and didn't try to hide anything. I bought it knowing full well the rockers needed to be replaced.
Oh, boy!

 

By "rockers" I think you meant to say, "the whole damn floor".

That's quite a project! @Bmktw2 would be proud

Maybe some inspiration to be had from his build thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/new-to-me-2001-4x4-5spd-v6.124851/

He also wanted to cab swap, and I think he has a donor. His cab is in much better shape than yours and easier to repair, but he's stepped away for a bit. His cab color and engine/trans config match yours too. May be worth reaching out.

 

Here is the passenger side after the first round of repairs. Of course the passenger side is the easier of the two, but I’m happy so far.

 

Nice work ! I live in the rust belt. lol

 

I ordered what drivers side rockers Olathe had listed…and they sent me the wrong part. I’m going to follow up with them but I think I may be out of luck. But then there is this…anyone want the drivetrain and I’ll get the sheet metal I need?

 

A few weeks ago I located a fairly decent Tundra at a local Pick and Pull. The rockers, cab corners and cab mounts looked somewhat reasonable, so I took my saw and went to work.


The first attempt had to be aborted - I didn’t have enough time and patience. I gave up and and thought the truck would have been recycled by the time I got back, but today it was still there. Attempt #2 was far more successful.







It’s not my finest work, but the saw was very limiting in how I could attack the metal. Tomorrow my welder comes back and he will tackle the drivers side. Between what I acquired today and the stock he’s bringing, I think significant progress can be made.

The best part? The entire thing was $40. What a bargain!

 

Wow. Aside from the amount of work, that looks pretty fun cutting up old trucks!

 

It was, actually. Would have been much easier with a cutting wheel, but it worked out in the end.

 

After life got in the way, I was finally able to make some progress on my Tundra this past weekend.








I’m still waiting to get up to VT to pick up my “new” bed. I don’t know if I should pull the old one off at my shop and drive up and install it at my friends house, or go pick it up and install it at my shop. It’s a nice choice to have, either way.

 

No way, does the passenger seat actually bolt onto the driver's side? (I see DS in bed, PS in DS spot in your pic)

If your bed is "solid enough", leave yours installed so you can stack the two beds on top of each other when you get there, strap them tight, drive home, and get started.

 

None of the interior (save for the rear bench) is in the truck, so I just tossed the nearest seat into the drivers spot to move it around. Even with my long legs its a bit of a stretch to get to the clutch!

You're probably right about the bed, I have other work I need to do while it's off so it makes sense to do it all at my shop.

 

We used to drive the trucks we were rebuilding in the shop sitting on an upside-down milk crate

 

wow, thats a lot of work, glad I dont live in a rust area

 

I’m enjoying it - I like knowing what exactly has been done and how well it’s been done.

 

Progress continues! I was able to reassemble the passenger side and everything looks amazing. The drivers side is coming along - the salvage rocker can mount hole was from an ‘06 and was about a quarter of an inch off, so that required some bodging. But it’s in and secured.

I also redid the drivers side door bushings - but I’m not confident I did them correctly. All that is left to fix on that door is sorting out what is wrong with the track for the glass. I’m very pleased with the profess for sure.

 

Excellent work!
I kept looking at the rockers on trucks at the yard never got a chance to do that.
My cab is pretty rough too... I will say the new chassis, bed and doors gave it the temporary fave lift I needed to be mobile again