Magnet18 2008 DC Build Thread

Hello all from Oregon, new guy here. I just purchased a 2008 double cab, one owner, 179000 miles, [EDIT - SR5 not base] with TRD offroad package.

I come to you from yotatech, where I just sold my 1986 4runner build (pic attached)
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199/magnet18-1986-build-thread-296954/

It was time to trade in for something that can hold car seats. And some creature comforts like airbags, cruise control, being able to reach highway speeds... After doing the tiny truck I decided to go big and get a Tundra. Just drove it home yesterday, I ran to the other side of the state to snag a good deal and had 5 hours on the road to think up what to do with it.

Like I said, one owner, pretty much totally stock other than what looks like a 1" leveling spacer up front and 275/70R18 (33") tires. No plans to lift further or go any bigger, I think it already looks and feels pretty dang big and tall.

Planning a very mild "build". This is 99% a pavement driver that sometimes goes down really rough mountain roads to get to trailheads. I just want to improve the looks.

The to-do list

• Head lights
  • (yellow)
• Tail lights
  • (one is cracked)
• Grease everything
  • During test drive noticed a front end clunk when accelerating from a stop and turning right. Seems to be a pretty common issue on these with a couple causes. Hasn't done it since in the 2 days / 250 miles of driving so I'll start with grease, look around under there for loose bolts or cracks, and see if it stays away.
• Brake pads & maybe rotors, normal maintenance
• New head unit
  • android auto and a backup camera
• New tires
  • 3MPS rated, probably sticking with the same size
• See if I can trim something to eliminate the rubbing I get when turning full to the stops
• Black wheels
  • maybe with just a bit of negative offset to match the flares and help with rubbing
  • We'll see what pops up used near me
• Tire pressure sensor light
• Fender flares
  • Any thoughts on these? I like the price...
  • https://www.yitamotor.com/products/...vet-style?currency=USD&variant=32017154768994
• New TRD offroad vinyl graphic
  • Maybe something like this. The current decals are in bad shape and it'll be a good looking accent
  • https://decalslbshop.com/products/t...rs-decal-graphic-vinyl?variant=36581718163617
• black out what little chrome is on the truck
• Tailgate protector for mountain bikes
• some form of tonneau bed cover
• Sneak some light bars into the front bumper

Thanks for reading, any suggestions/tips/tricks I'm always all ears!

 

Fender flares are pretty much the same. I got mine from eBay for less than $100. The OEM tailgate cap protectors are horrible. I've replaced it 3 times since buying my Tundra used back in 2017. This go round I bought a much better robust one even though it's not made for the Tundra.

$63 IAMAUTO 19535 Tailgate Spoiler Cap Moulding Top Protector (Hardware Included) for 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076FB4C7D?ie=UTF8

I used a heat gun to help mold it. I did have to drill holes for the fastener locations.

Check Facebook marketplace. I've found good stuff there from time to time.

I've had good luck with calipers, rotors, and pads from Amazon as well.

 

That's all great info, thank you!

So far I have whipped out the credit card and ordered the following...

brake pads & rotors 275 BOSCH BC1303 BC1304, CENTRIC 12144157 12144156

9" touchscreen head unit w front camera 300 https://www.crutchfield.com/p_104BE9ACPC/Boss-BE9ACP-C-Package.html

backup camera 69

$70 Master Tailgaters Black Tailgate Handle with Backup Camera Replacement for Toyota Tundra (2007-2013) | IP68 Waterproof | HD Camera | Easy to Install

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DCRS89M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

fender flares 175 https://www.extremeterrain.com/tundra-fender-flares-wf-td07-mbk.html

new TRD Offroad decal 13 https://www.etsy.com/listing/711946144/trd-off-road-vinyl-decal-sticker-toyota

Rocker decal 23 https://www.extremeterrain.com/sec10-tundra-mountain-rocker-stripes-matte-black-t578086.html

headlights (yellow) 155 https://www.extremeterrain.com/tundra-headlights-with-clear-corners-black-hl-oh-tt07-bk-cl1.html

tail lights (one cracked) 118

ACANII - For Red Smoke 2007-2013 Toyota Tundra Truck Tail Brake Lights Left+Right 07-13

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GC88Z9V?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

tailgate cover for bike 109 https://shop.ridefox.com/products/overland-tailgate-pad?variant=40163328753723

HEPA cabin air filter 25

$24 PureFlow HEPA Cabin Air Filter PC5667HX | Fits 2019-09 Toyota Highlander, 2017-11 Lexus CT200h

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0974SZ7X1?ie=UTF8&th=1

White and Blue LEDs for gauges 13

$7 CHANZON 100 pcs 3528 (1210) White SMD LED Diode Lights Chips (Surface Mount PLCC 3.5mmx2.8mm DC 3V 20mA 7-8LM) High Intensity Bright Lighting Bulb Lamps Electronics Components Light Emitting Diodes

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CUGAG14?ie=UTF8

Dash Switches for Cameras / lights 65 https://www.aironboard.com/online/p...ta-oem-replacement-front-camera-new-blue.html

Total damage so far 1,340
Total truck build cost so far 14,590

Still need:
tires (might pick up some used blizzaks this afternoon to use for the winter)
black wheels (might get deferred till spring I've already burned through the budget)
plastidip
LED light bars to squeeze in the front bumper

Stacking up lots of projects for the next couple weekends. Should have a new baby in about 6 weeks, so it's kinda time to build the truck now or probably never get to it, and the wife is encouraging me to build it now - so hey, lets go for it!

 

This truck came from the wet part of Oregon, so I spent an hour yesterday giving it a good bath and getting all the mold and cobwebs off of it. Some pictures of the starting point. All the original manuals, no window sticker though. Found the lift kit documentation - looks like 2" front leveling spacer and nothing on the rear - perfect! I might have considered doing no lift/leveling at all or just 1" in front - but since this is here I'll leave it be.

 

And one more thing. A point of much stress leading up...
"Picture of the Nuna pipa rx lite rear facing car seat in a 2nd generation toyota tundra double cab"
Something I googled many times because my wife was very worried. Wife and I are both 5'6"ish and it fits fine behind the drivers seat. (but just barely, if I was 6' it would not, and the passenger seat has a hair less leg room as well)

 

Good luck and have fun with the build.

 

Thanks! And yea after you mentioned it yesterday I noticed the tailgate cap really is a bad fit. I'm surprised, what the heck toyota. I'm not too worried since I'm throwing the bike pad over the tailgate, but if I wasn't I'd be looking at the alternative you mentioned.

I could tell I was overanalyzing the flares thing so I just pulled the trigger on something, went with the ones I did because they looked a bit more slim and I liked that look better. I really like the bushwhacker look but not enough to pay $600 lol.

 

Facebook marketplace score! The optional 20" wheels from a 2019 tundra plus stock size 3peak mountain snowflake tires that have at least a year in them, all for the price of about 1.5 tires. The tires currently on the truck are definitely in borrowed time, and the aluminum wheels have a lot of ugly corrosion, so this is perfect for now

 

Sweet. I had the same 18" OEM wheels you have. Mine also had some good corrosion. I found 18" TRD offroad ones on FB marketplace. At the time I was also looking at the 20s you got, but opted not to because, as with everthing, the cost of tires has gone up.

 

Tires have definitely gotten more expensive. I haven't had to buy tires since 2019 and definitely got some sticker shock, if I didn't need both wheels and tires at the same time I definitely would have stuck with 18s. 18s are also better off pavement I think.

 

These 20"ers look pretty darn good. When the tires wear out I'll go an inch or so bigger. Also might keep an eye out for cheap black ones to trade out... but for now I'm stoked these look great.

Bad news, did shell out $250 for 4 new TPMS sensors - tire shop said they were all dead. Good news, guess they were right, tire light seems to be off!

This was the one chance the TPMS system had before I deleted it, if it was the computer or something I wasn't about to spend thousands chasing bugs just to keep some 20 year old TPMS technology, modern aftermarket units are way better if I felt I needed it. But for now it gets to live on!

 

I personally despise TPMS. I remove the sensors. I just don’t see paying the $$$ for something I can check with a pressure gauge. Guess im too cheap. I have considered buying and aftermarket TPMS system since the sensors are inexpensive and easily replaced if they go bad.

 

A lot of the aftermarket ones these days are pretty good. I ran TPMS when I had a class A towing a car behind it, it gave live pressure and temperature readouts of all 10 tires which was super handy for monitoring and did save my butt on the interstate one day when a dually started leaking down to zero real quick and I otherwise wouldn't have noticed.

But yea, for a passenger vehicle, I can tell just by looking as I walk to the car if it's questionable, and check in 5 seconds with a gauge, and the owners manual has a hilariously long list of reasons the factory system might not work, everything from "it's snowing" to "you tinted your windows" to "you got different tires"...

It's there, for now it seems to be working, if it ever starts acting up the light on the dash will get a visit from my soldering iron

 

Speaking of soldering iron, lots of progress this weekend. Friday I got a Kenwood all in one subwoofer/amp that I carried over from my previous truck squeezed under the drivers seat, and I got the radio all wired up and installed, including the dumb parking break wire because I didn't want to try to deal with the external spoofer circuits. Looks pretty good, too bad it doesn't work, backlight in the screen is DOA, Crutchfield is sending a new one. But I blindly paired Bluetooth and got it to play music so that's good.

Then today I got the LEDs switched out for white in the gauges and climate control, and put in the new headlights with clear corners. Truck is starting to look good!!

 

Tailgate camera and tailgate pad installed

 

While I was under there I looked things over really good, especially regarding the front end / drivelines.
I did notice that the transfer case actuator bolts are loose.
One is completely gone (circled in red) one is not visible in this picture but it was backed out and ready to be shaken out onto the road any day (blue arrow).

The actuator was replaced recently within the last couple hundred miles before I bought it due to what looks like a fairly common water intrusion / corrosion issue - I knew this when I bought the truck. Whatever shop did the job must have thought they were too good for torque wrenches.

I have the service manual download thinking I would find the torque spec, didn't realize I'd have to wade through 11,000 pages to find it!

regardless, I'll get a replacement bolt and torque everything down there... and snug anything else that might have been touched for good measure

 

Manual calls it the "transfer shift actuator"
Install is on page 11,738 of this service manual
Torque spec is 15 ft-lbs
I believe the bolt part number is 91551-80828

 

The factory bolt is an M8 thread 1.25mm pitch, 27mm long with 4mm unthreaded, and a 12mm flanged head.

Local Toyota dealer said it'll take 5 days to ship them in...

A couple of regular M8 25mm flange head bolts with 13mm heads from Ace hardware seem to be working just fine.

 

Fender flares went on pretty easy. Would have been nice if they came with instructions or mounting hardware that worked with the holes... but that's small details I guess

Reused the screws off the mudflaps since those had to come off anyway, and it worked pretty well

Now I feel like I need wheel spacers and a big front bumper........

 

Today, stickers. More stickers to come.

 

Yesterday - Tail lights. The left side was cracked when I got the truck and full of mold. I ordered a cheap set from Amazon, they happened to be more square and smoked looking than the original, which was a happy surprise, I think they look great.

I also got the front and rear cameras working, both can be activated with the touchscreen while driving if desired, and some boring stuff like replacing light bulbs.

 

Welcome from FL. Nice job on the truck; it looks nice (as did the 4Runner). Congratulations on the new kiddo on the way. One thought on the new rims/tires.. did you also upgrade the spare tire size? I know my wife would be more than mad (especially if there was a baby in the truck) if we had a flat and couldn't just swap it and get rolling again.

 

Yup you need Spidertrax wheel spacers.

 

Thank you !!

I'm getting tint today and close to done with "phase 1"

Phase 2 will be bumpers wheels tires grille and finish blacking out.


The tires right now are actually stock diameter so no concern with the spare, when I go bigger I'll probably upgrade to a full size spare as well

 

Yes I do. Especially when viewed head on from the front, the wheels need to come out 1-1.5" to match the flares. Looking kinda like a bulldog with big shoulders and tiny legs right now.

 

Tint!
Just the front 2 windows so it's not a 100% exact match, but I'm very happy.

 

Friday I got the replacement head unit swapped in and it works great, no complaints so far.

I didn't get any pictures of the truck but we took it on 5 hours each way of driving to the coast for a long weekend with some friends, 2 days of mountain biking and "the party truck" was a huge hit. My wife shuttled and it was super easy to throw 5 bikes over the tailgate and fit 5 adults inside, plus coolers and gear. My friend with a taco rode with us and she is now debating switching to a tundra. Very happy with the tundra that's for sure.

 

Finally got the rear quarter decals to replace the torn up originals. I think ditching the red accents really helped clean it up

 

update on the Boss BE9ACP 9" - for $300 and the features it was a pretty good deal. No issues since replacing the screen.

Front and rear cameras hooked up, I put the omnidirectional mic in the otherwise useless pocket in front of the shifter and it seems to work great there.

Need to put a USB port in a front button blank

 

Replaced the antenna seal
Relocated the front camera from the license plate to the grille. Not 100% stealth but it's not that noticeable and works way better.
Took a stab at repainting the red on the badges. It turned out OK but if you get closer than 1 foot you can see it's pretty rough around the edges. I'll might end up ordering some from a newer tundra that are black - or just black all the badges with plastidip which I was going to do anyway once I get a new bumper.