My 2001 TRD Access Cab Repair/Modify Thread

I’ve been a member here since January 2020 and have been soaking up as much knowledge as possible about the 1st Gen Tundra. I purchased my TRD from a guy in Northern Illinois knowing what I was getting myself into. I paid $2000 for the truck and about the only thing going for it was the clean body and the fairly clean interior. The frame was in rough shape, but I felt that with some time, I could repair and save it.
This has not been a project for the faint of heart, as the photos I’ll be sharing will show.

The truck has 172,000 miles on it and it runs very well. The transmission shifts fine and overall, the drivetrain was in good shape. Being a multi LS430 owner over the last 10 years, I’m more that familiar with the 3UZ-FE, so the 2UZ wasn’t a stretch for me.



the first thing I had to do was assess the frame, and I determined that there were 2 areas that would need attention first. Both left and right forward frame sections.



Yes, someone had attempted a repair on the right side frame rail, which I immediately removed.

The interior really is pretty decent, although I will be replacing the carpet and probably the seat bottoms as well.



After a whole lot of front suspension removal and cleaning/painting of the existing frame, I installed the frame caps, which worked out quite well.

https://www.autorust.com/product/front-frame-section-art-213-s-set/

Here are a couple shots of the freshly rebuilt frame on the right side





I ended up purchasing a new Transmission cross member support bracket and cab mount for the right side, and picked up a clean crossmember from a Sequoia.

..More to come

 

Among the many things that needed attention were the brake lines for both front wheels. So I ended up buying new lines to go between the ABS module and each wheel. The guy I. Bought it from had just recently done the brakes, so I decided against upgrading the calipers for now, and just stayed with the original size.

Here’s the end result of the front suspension rebuild





The transmission crossmember came from Japanese Truck Dismantling out in California. For the 75 bucks it cost me, it was well worth it.



It came with all the hardware and bolted right in...
The truck had a power steering leak, so I went ahead and purchased a rebuilt rack and installed it, along with new hoses.



Here’s a shot of the repaired frame on the left side.



.. .More to come

 

With the front suspension work about done, I figured it was time to look at restoring the wheels and buying new tires, so I went with the Falken Wildpeak in a 275/75/16 and cleaned up and repainted the original Patrick wheels. They’ll do.
Here’s a shot of the test fit after refurbishing and new tires mounted



At this point, it was time to remove the old exhaust system, which had been repaired about 58 times, from the amount of patches on the pipes... In removing the extremely rusted nuts from the manifolds, I ended up breaking 2 studs on each manifold, so I made the decision to purchase and install headers.

I don’t have good pics but it sort of shows the installed headers. This was by far the most difficult job I tackled on this truck, but I’m glad I did it, as the manifold shrouds on the originals were completely rusted away and it was just a matter of time before I was fixing exhaust leaks.



I can’t remember who suggested it on here but someone mentioned painting their exhaust with high temp paint, so I went ahead and painted all the exhaust system sections with BBQ paint



We’ll see how it holds up

Since the front brakes were all new, I pulled the rear drums and decided it was time for a brake job.



And the finished product..



....More to come

 

Working my way toward the back now, I decided it would be much easier to repaint and clean the rear frame areas with the bed removed, so off it came.



Outside of a boatload of scale, the rear sections are in decent shape. There is some rust in the front shackle mount area on each side, so I’ve got some more repair work ahead of me, but after 4 days of cleaning and painting, the frame looks better.





So, at this point I’ll start dropping the fuel tank to access the shackle mounting areas and keep moving forward....
...More to come

 

Wow, great job pumping new life into your first gen. May it bring you many trouble free years!

 

Thanks Steve. That’s the plan anyway. I’d like to be able to keep this thing for a while, so I figure the time/effort I’m putting in now will reap rewards down the road..

 

Just to tally up what I’ve spent so far (in very rough numbers)....

2000 - Initial purchase price
460 - frame repair kit
350 - Crossmember and mounts
400 - Transfer case and A.D.D. Actuators
550 - suspension and steering rack
250 - Paint and misc. supplies
500 - Falken Wildpeaks
Roughly 4500 bucks so far. I figure I have at least another 500 bucks to spend on the interior stuff I want to do and then another 300 or so in Transmission fluid service and a Timing Belt kit.
So, could I have purchased a sorted AC TRD for less than 6000 bucks? Maybe... but the education I’m getting is priceless! Or so I keep telling myself...

 

A very good education. Keep up the good work. Your work shows. It looks very good

 

Following. So far much better frame repair than mine was!

 

Nice work my Humble Grasshopper. You get a 9 out of 10 Feather Dusters approval rating.

 

Spent some time this morning removing the fuel tank and drive shaft. I’ve got the truck situated to do the last of the frame Repainting/repairs, and then the work on the bed starts.





I’m using the saw horses just to support the rear of the frame until I get the front shackles out of the way and the axle dropped.

I forgot to post a pic of the front suspension now that everything is done and back together. Much nicer now, as compared to January when I got it!

 

Time for an update.
It took a few days, but I got the spring brackets removed, and drilled out the frame stiffeners. They were really rusted. The left side came out in 36 little pieces and the right side was in one piece, but much of it was rusted away. I started fabricating new frame stiffeners yesterday morning and finished up this afternoon.
It's probably overkill, but i fabricated them from 1/4 inch steel plate. Not my best welding, but i welded both sides of the joints and i got good penetration. Tomorrow morning I'll start picking up the holes in the frame and then the spring shackle brackets will spend a little time in the sandblasting cabinet.
Here's a few pictures from the last 2 days

the original frame stiffener for the right side.


Here's the new RH frame stiffener/doubler during fabrication yesterday



And here's the 2 completed stiffeners. Next step is to pick up mounting holes, paint and install. I made them longer than the stock stiffeners to spread out the load on the frame a little more.

 

Time for an update..

Well, I made some progress today. Finished picking up all the holes for the new frame stiffeners and got the spring mounts cleaned up and painted. I was able to get the right stiffener installed along with the spring mount. The left side stiffener is installed, but the paint was still tacky on the spring mount, so I'll install that tomorrow. I hope to have the tank back in and drive shaft installed by tomorrow night, so I can start on the bed repairs on Saturday.

here's a few pictures:

the right frame stiffener is in



Left stiffener is installed



And a shot of the right-side again



More to come.....

 

Update..

Although I didn’t take any photos, I cleaned up and repaired the rust on the forward fuel tank crossmember. Got it reinstalled yesterday.

I got the fuel tank and tank shroud cleaned up and reinstalled. That fuel tank was a bear fighting me all the way back in. The straps that hold it in place we’re a little difficult to reinstall... Leak checked the hoses and all was well.

New shocks are in and I’m just waiting on my Spicer Carrier Bearing to arrive, and I can reinstall the repainted drive shaft.

I had the new exhaust installed up to the resonator, which sounds great when the truck is running. I installed the Muffler today and am just waiting on a clamp so I can install the tailpipe.


All the paint work is done on the frame, so after the Drive shaft reinstall I can finally move forward on the bed work.

here are a few pics...

Cleaning the tank shroud


Fuel tank after a quick wash. I removed the filler neck bracket and bead blasted/painted it.




fuel tank Installed.



And a shot of the restored crossmember for the tank.



More to come...

 

Time for a quick update on this thing....

Since I've finished the frame work, it's time to start on the bed. The floor of the bed is pretty rough, but nothing that can't be fixed.

here's a shot after I started cutting out the damage..
..



My plan is to repair the damage on the front of the bed floor, and then hang it the other way and repair the rear floor damage.

Another shot of the bed... Its rough



The channels that are spot welded to the Bottom of the frame have small rubber isolators, so after cutting the damaged sections out, I made sure to grab those bumpers to install them on the new channels




Heres after the damage was all removed from the front floor area




The left front corner thankfully only has superficial surface rust.

The plan is to tack in the repair panels from the bottom, and then fabricate ribs from 16GA and weld those on the top.

The front wall of the bed is really beat up, so I'll straighten it out as best I can and spot weld it back in place.
After all the repairs are done, I'll be doing a Spray-in Bed Liner to hide the past sins committed against this poor truck.

More to come...

 

Spent some time on the truck today. Fabricated the repair panels and got them welded in place.



Heres a shot from the top of the bed



Next step is fabricating and installing the ribs, which go on top of the repair panels. I finished the forward right corner area. That's seam sealer on top of the welds..



And from the back side..



Tomorrow I'll hopefully finish this first group of repairs, so I can continue with the rear of the bed.


More to come...

 

Wow! Beautiful work!
I just joined, and am your newest fan.

 

Looks great. Slowly cleaning up my ‘new to me’ 2002 AC, nothing like what you have going on, but fun nonetheless. These are great trucks. Love the 4.7 and trans, especially compared to all the Tacomas and 4Runners Ive owned with 6s
What wheel paint/primer did you use? Plan on doing the same, and yours look oem again

 

Thanks for the Kudos, den... I bought plain old Rustoleum Silver Metallic. I used a wire wheel/angle grinder to get the 20 years of corrosion and dirt off the face and inside the wheels, then sanded, primed with Self Etching Primer, then coated with the Silver Metallic and finished with Duplicolor Wheel Clear. It was a filthy job, but so far there haven't been any tasks on this thing that I've been able to stay clean doing..

 

@N84434
Thanks! Very helpful
Putting on some quick struts this morning and new rotors/pads while Im in there. These things are fun to work on.

 

Not sure how I missed this thread but I'm really impressed with your dedication to fighting rust. Nice work.

Once you're done fixing the rust, what's your plan for protecting it from the next winter?

 

Agreed.. It's been a real journey so far. Not only have I been learning a crap ton, but yes, it's enjoyable as well.

 

Well, that's a really good question FGV. Between Fluid Film , Corban Inhibitor, and PB Blaster I'm spraying on the frame, it should hopefully be OK.
My daily commute for work is roughly 155 miles round trip, so I imagine I won't be driving the truck too often... Beyond that, I'll have to crawl under it every 6 months or so and see how my work is holding up...

Wonder if I can dip the truck in Flex Seal???

 

Load up a ShamWow Towel with some grease and go at it.

 

That's some seriously impressive work!

 

Thanks very much. I figure since I've been at home so much this year, I might as well make the best of it...

 

very nice work breathing life into this ol girl. My rebuild was all collision replacement. rust scares me. lol i have enough rust to deal with on my 01 tacoma

 

Thanks much. It's been fun, and frustrating all at the same time!

 

Speaking of frustrating, I took a break from the endless rust removal/repair on the bed and decided to install the leveling kit today. What I assumed was going to be an hour turned into about 5 hours. I had the hardest time getting the LBJ reinstalled after installing the leveling kit. What a pain in the neck...

Anyway, here's a few pictures from the last couple days of work. I finished the floor repairs on the forward section of the bed, and manufactured new support ribs that are installed on the underside of the bed



Remember, this aint no show truck, I just want it to be functional and reliable




I hope to start on the other bed repairs tomorrow or Monday. While i was setting up for the leveling kit install, I decided to replace the fog lights with LEDs that I had for my LS430. What a difference...



Here's a shot after I finished up today and stuck it back in the garage



Like I said, that leveling kit kicked my rear, but what a difference after getting it back on the ground!




And a gratuitous up close shot of the front...



So, hopefully tomorrow will be a little more productive. I'm getting antsy about finishing this thing...


More to come...

 

I just read through all 13 pages of your Tundra rebuild. Very nice work. Much more of a restoration than my rebuild.