Heartbreak Tundra

This is a thread for my 03 AC tundra. Im playing catchup here because I have a history with this truck so we will start in Jan of 2019 with the day I bought this truck:

 

it looks like a golfball... salvage title due to hail damage, 250k on the clock, but I was 17 and it was a great truck to me.

 

always loved this truck and it never let me down

 

One night I hit a cow with it. open range grazing on a dark night, it happened quick.

 

I was 17 and broke so I made it road legal and drove it for a couple months

 

After the cow incident, I sold the truck to a family friend for $1800. That was oct 2019. In Nov of 2021, I was offered the truck back for $2000. I couldn't pass it up the front end damage was fixed albeit a little bit jank...

 

Not having a front bumper is considered road legal?

 

Its wyoming, almost anything goes...

 

the truck wasted no time breaking, dropping a LBJ far away from cell service. luckily I ran into some friends and got a ride off the mountain, replaced the LBJ and got it towed down because the CV axle was torn apart

Hindsight is 2020 but i should have replaced both

 

Found some 2020 tacoma wheels for sale. stole them for $150 with the stock tires at about half tread.

 

Installed 5100s front and rear as well as sway bar end links

 

Looks like a lot of history! Glad you're keeping it going!

1st Gen Builds (2000-2006) | Toyota Tundra Forum (tundras.com)

 

The Bilstein's are awesome. absolutely worth the $400 I paid for them. Ordered from 1st gen offroad. shipping was quick and I would recommend his store.

 

Dropped the other LBJ. you can see my unimpressed wife in the passenger seat

 

We do name drawing for christmas every year. My little brother got me clear headlights to replace my tinted ones. the light output was horrible. I was relying on my auxillary lights as driving lights

 

Took a break to work on my little brother's truck. he has a 01 RCLB. we added a leveling kit and wheel spacers.

 

this past sunday I painted the grille and added some JB weld where it had cracked. Small houskeeping stuff.

 

Those wheels look familiar. Are they Silverado wheels?

 

With that, this thread is now current. I still have a list of stuff to do maintenance-wise.

• Upper ball joints
• outer tie rods
• driver-side seatbelt is fraying
• rear axle seals
• replace sketchy hose-clamped cv axle

Also mod-wise

• Spindle gussets
• upper control arms
• bigger tires
• mount ultragauge and switch panel
• rear speaker replacement

Me and my wife have our baby boy coming mid-march and we are currently trying to move, so progress might be sparse going forward.

 

Should this thread be moved? I see some people put their build threads here, and some there.

 

Good eye! I've been told they came off a suburban, but entirely possible that they came on silverados. I'm actually trying to sell them. If anyone wants these wheels I'm in northeast WY

 

Doesn't have to be. Just a dedicated build thread vs a general gen 1 thread. Just an option as well.

All good.

 

Have you used the JB plastic weld before in the past? I'm trying to find out if that's sufficient for my truck grill or if I should use the plastic bonding stuff requiring UV light to set it.

The plastic part holding the screw to the hood broke off on mine.

 

Sounds like we are fixing the same problem. I used the 5-minute set stuff. its a cheap rockauto grille so I figured its better than nothing. it seemed solid when I mounted it back up, but time will tell. I have used the same stuff on a few things, but I don't have a good idea of it's strength.

 

This reminds me of when I would go ice skating as a kid. I'd get about 10 feet in and my ankles would give out...

 

I been dealing with the same issue

 

That's why you start out on double blades as soon as you can walk as a toddler and have your dad make a skating rink in the back yard.

 

I’ve repaired critical plastic parts with JB weld and .035 welding wire stitches
Take the welding wire, bend it like a U, heat it and insert into broken plastic as a stitch or staple, then JB weld over it all

 

Speaking for myself, the plastic in the affected area is far too thin to use stitches like you describe. that sounds like a great method though.