Can anyone suggest good Tundra mechanics in southern WV or western VA?

I expect the dealership to be more expensive, has anyone had good experience with small shops in southern WV or western VA? I'm near Beckley, WV. If you know of a place please hit me with a phone number.

I'll want these things done:

Timing belt change with water pump, pulleys, and tensioner replacement.

New radiator and trans cooler change.

New O2 sensor.

Maybe new lower ball joints (might can do myself, will check).

Maybe new CV axle (I'll try and get you guys some pics on that before I get anything replaced).

Parking brake fixed.

I'll buy all the parts OEM from Toyota, Denso(Demso?).....the places you guys suggested on my other thread.

Thanks!

 

Can't help with VA/WVA recommendations, but I'll toss out 2¢ on some other stuff.

You don't necessarily need to buy all parts from Toyota. But you can pretty easily look up all your own OEM part numbers, and buy through a local dealer via Toyota's Parts Portal. There are also a few online who will ship, like Serra of Birmingham who typically don't charge tax and are free ship on orders over $75.

Look up your parts @ www.densoautoparts.com to get the exact part numbers for your truck, and avoid buying from known-to-have-knockoffs places like scAmazon, fleaBay, WallyMart, Searz/Kmart, HomeDespot, etc. I'm changing the names on purpose so the forum doesn't auto-link them.

Radiator... Inspect carefully on arrival. Rock Auto has a good track record for shipping undamaged, overall. Summt Racing has never done me wrong personally. Both typically beat every other online retailer's pricing. Trans cooler, not sure it's entirely necessary.

O2 sensor, when hunting your part, be sure to buy the "Direct fit" offering, not the "Universal". Also, be cautious, the upstream is typically called "Air/Fuel ratio sensor" in Denso's lookup, and sometimes V6 vs V8, manual vs. auto, and 2WD vs 4WD will have different parts. Lastly, it's recommended to replace both sensors (upstream and downstream) on the bank you're working on at the same time; they work in pairs, so pairing one that's 15yrs old with one that's brand new ... maybe not the best idea.

OEM CV axles are fairly bulletproof. Why are you changing?

LBJs are easy enough if you're remotely mechanically inclined. Only potentially difficult part of the job is separating the joints, genuinely. Be sure to unbolt one side of each swaybar link (top nut is advised) before lifting the truck. Use OEM parts here. Get 4 new bolts per side. Use at least blue threadlock.

Parking brake, supposedly the Dorman assembly for our trucks has worked for some folks. Just make sure you understand the p-brake and its proper adjustment is critical to non-spongey brakes.

If you haven't seen the megathread, go nuts.

 

Shop that did the test drive inspection (I test drove it over to a muffler shop that got it up on a lift for me and scanned the truck's computer) said "you need a new CV axle."

I may only need a boot....there is a lot of fluid under there (black greasy-looking stuff) and a solid "thunk" when it goes into 4WD but it went in and out on the button use, both HI and LO. So maybe just the boot?

I appreciate all the help and will keep learning as much as I can before I take any repair action.

I can do the LBJ's myself, pretty sure I can anyway. I had to park it in the grass though...no room in the driveway.

Transmission cooler needed......this truck was bought to pull a trailer....we have LOTS of big hills here....

 

Good on ya for making the kid fix it and keep it up. I intend to do the same with my oldest over the next year if I can find a Toyota/Scion/Lexus or possibly Honda/Mazda vehicle in the right price range.

I have a pretty distinct "thunk" when I pop out of 4WD, which I've seen others report. No clue what's causing it. I have less than 80k miles. My truck hasn't been abused and is well-maintained. A banker owned it for the first 50k-something miles and had a 5 mile round trip to work each day. Other owner had it less than 10k miles and traded it in on something bigger. I bought off the dealer's back lot. Southern truck its whole life. Still no clue what the thunk is (it's like driving over a water hose at speed, for lack of better ways to describe) but I've had multiple Toyota-specific mechanics say, "totally normal",

Understood on the trans cooler, I thought maybe yours had tow package and already came with one.

Get us some pics of that CV axle in question. Inspect both boots for tears. If your CV was going out, I'd expect to feel some play in it, and potentially popping or chatter while turning. It's not universal, but those are common symptoms I'm familiar with. Grease sling may be another story. If the mechanic who looked at it isn't a Toyota guy, I'd take the advice with a huge boulder of salt. The general sentiment amongst fanatics is, if you keep your boots intact, and you keep grease in 'em, you're golden. A blowout of grease without any symptoms and no tears in the boot just means you need to apply the right grease and re-clamp the boot.

 

Good on ya for making the kid fix it and keep it up. I intend to do the same with my oldest over the next year if I can find a Toyota/Scion/Lexus or possibly Honda/Mazda vehicle in the right price range.

Who are you addressing? I have no children.

I think my Tundra has a tow package....not sure though. According to the shop it has a tranny cooler and if so, definitely want to keep that as I want all the pulling help I can get!

I might can get ya'll some pics tomorrow.....will be doing oil changes before I go out to mow and if the wife is free, I can get her to take some pics.

 

Somehow got wires crossed between tabs on the kid thing.

I'd be surprised if the 2006 didn't have Tow package. You can easily look that up at the Toyota owner's website, which you should register your truck and VIN at anyway for safety reasons, or check the under-engine fusebox for a tow fuse along with the rear for a 7-pin tow connector left of the license plate, mounted under the bumper. But either way, why are you replacing the tranny cooler? It's the radiator that shits the bed on the earlier models and causes pink milkshake. If the tranny cooler isn't leaking and the fins aren't overly compromised, why are they recommending replacement?

 

No worries on the kid deal.

I did register on Toyota's website....maybe I'm not using it correctly but I didn't see that material.

I suspect it has the tow package as it has a tow hitch mount, plug in under the bumper, and (according to the inspection shop I took it to) it has a tranny cooler.

"Why replace the tranny cooler?" Just my own ignorance there. Had read somewhere it was one piece with the radiator. The supplier I looked at (Denso?) for a new radiator stated in the ad the tranny cooler came with it.

I clearly have a lot to learn before I get started on it, which is why I'm here.

 

FYI. It'll have both the radiator cooler and a separate trans cooler with the tow package.

 

Is this the unit from Denso?

So all I need then is a new radiator and not a tranny cooler?

Will the folks at Rock Auto know what I'm talking about if I ask them via phone?

 

And I'd add to that, it's almost like a sandwich. Trans cooler farthest forward. Radiator closest to the engine. A/C condenser sandwiched in between.

Yes, Rock Auto will know if you get them on the phone. But that said, I'd always go to www.densoautoparts.com to look up your part number directly, Denso is OEM manufacturer on a number of critical parts (Denso, Aisin, Advics, etc). I'm putting a screencap from Denso's site below with their 7-digit hyphenated part numbers. Note: If you are a double cab (i.e. 4 doors that open independently in the same direction), you want the part number ending "0518"

Only us Toyota/Asian pink long life. Don't mix coolant colors.

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Oh gosh, thanks a ton! I'll have a closer look at this soon. I was busy all Friday and Saturday doing a thermostat replacement on my GMC Canyon.

 

I finally have an update for this thread.

I'm going to go with a local shop in Shady Spring, WV to do the lower ball joints, radiator, and CV Axle replacement.

I think Ramey Toyota of Princeton, WV is going to be the one I get for the timing belt replacement. I could probably arrange for a friend to trailer it down there or me do so with a UHaul truck and trailer, but I think a rollback will be a lot less hassle and missed work for me.