Tacoed Tundra project

Here’s some updates with my speedometer’s indicated speed, RPM, actual GPS speed, my current tire size, and my gear ratio...


With the cruise control set at an indicated 60mph, my actual GPS speed is about 61.5mph.

Cruising at 60mph, my engine is right about 2000 RPM.

All this is with with BFG AT 265/75-16 (at about 75% tread).

I swapped out my 3.9 gears for 4.10 (out of a Sequoia).

Here is my thought about all of the results...it’s perfect. The speedo reading isn’t very far off at all. I’m totally fine with only being off by 1.5mph. I might try to see if i can’t just remove the speedometer needle from the speedo post, and then reinstall so that it’s in the EXACT spot that i want it (i did that mod to my 2005 Scion xB). The 4.10 gearing is AWESOME. My acceleration is waaaaaay faster now. I need to reinstall the bed onto the truck (it’s still sitting on sawhorses) in order to get some weight on the rear tires. I have to be really careful to not chirp the tires on dry tarmac when accelerating from a stop sign. If i do hammer down, it will absolutely smoke both tires at the same time across the widest of intersections! The transmission should also have an easier time living with the lower gearing since it won’t have to hunt for gears (especially overdrive). I’m now looking forward to hauling an oversized load of firewood or tow a trailer!

FYI, I’m not a lead foot whatsoever. 99% of the time i cruise on the highway at 55mph. I do my darnedest to get the best fuel economy that i can. I also like to drive slow because it’s less stressful.

 

I wrapped up the ABS delete this afternoon. I’ve been driving around in the truck for the past couple days, so i’m now 100% confident that i didn’t OVER remove any of the ABS bits.

After removing the ABS electronic box from the aluminum ABS pump, there were bare terminals. I don’t know what else to call them but maybe plungers? I don’t think they plunge though. They’re probably some sort of pressure sensors. Anyhow i pried all six of them out of the box. Of course the wire legs on them snapped off (which is what i wanted). I then cut the rest of the legs off to be as short as possible. I had an open squeeze tube of grey RTV, so i smeared that over the tops of the terminals so that moisture can’t wick inside. A couple days later i just decided to fill the rest of the electronic box with Lexel caulking...simply because i had had an open tube that i found in the shop. Until i can find a more elegant way to mount the ABS electronic box, a piece of foam (for vibration resistance) and two zip ties will be the temporary solution.

 

some more pics. Hindsight i would have just used the Lexel caulking and not the RTV, simply because it would be a cleaner looking product once completed.

 

I did the “fog light mod” this afternoon. It was pretty darn cold out so i was rushing around to keep warm. From all the research i did to figure out how to do this, apparently it’s different for different models. The earlier 2000-2003 trucks have a fog light button on the dash, the 2004 Access and Double cabs have the fog light switch on the headlight stalk...but the Double Cabs have a different wire harness. My truck is a 2004 Access cab and once figured out, the wiring is dead simple. I don’t know if the 2005-06 AC trucks have the same wiring.

With this mod the fog lights can be turned on and off independently of the parking light and the headlights (including high beam). The fogs still automatically turn off with the ignition switch too.

The way i did it was to-
-remove the lower plastic dash cover plate.

-remove the lower plastic trim from the steering column surround.

-find the correct red/yellow wire in the white stalk connector (that’s located under the left side of the steering wheel) to snip (there are two red/yellow wires). Snip far enough back into the wire harness so that you have about 5” coming out of the back of the connector to work with. The other end of the red/yellow wire that’s cut can simply be capped off. It won’t be used ever again.

-find the blue wire with silver dots on the black connector (that’s under right side the steering wheel).

-solder the correct red/yellow wire to the blue wire with silver dots.

-insulate the soldered wires.

-reassemble the dash panels.


There are two different red/yellow wires in this connector. This is the one that will get cut. Leave about 5” coming out of the back of the connector.




Sorry for the poor pic. This blue wire with silver dots is where you can tee into to get 12 volt switched power.




Rather than making a jumper wire, i simply I peeled back the harness loom a ways in order to gain access to the wires. I fished around a bit until i found the blue wire with silver dots. This particular location is kinda near the steering column adjuster knob.




This is results...fog lights just by themselves.



fog lights with parking lights



fog lights with high beams! Of course they can also be turned on with low beams as well.

 

Well, i did a test drive and unsurprisingly my check engine light came on. I plugged in a code reader and got the dreaded P0420. I did swap the rear left and right side o2 sensors with each other and the same P0420 code popped up. I didn’t try swapping the upstream sensors just yet. It’s raining outside and will be for a while. I’m wondering if i should just buy a new Denso 02 sensor and install it instead of messing around with swapping the left and right sides.

 

You already know that if you have to ask, the answer is

 

Do you think this is one of those instances where i should buy a new o2 sensor both both the left and right bank?...even though my code reader shows that just the left side is the problem. The only reason i would buy two is because the shipping wouldn’t cost any more, i don’t want to revisit this problem on the right side any time soon, and i also don’t want to wait for any more additional weeks for parts to arrive in the mail.

 

I would.

 

All righty then...
My order from Rock auto arrived a few days sooner than i expected. I installed all four O2 sensors this afternoon. I then cleared the the P0420 code. The only bummer is that it’s suppose to rain nonstop for the rest of the week, and since i currently have no bed on the truck, i’m not going to risk driving around kicking up a 20’ water rooster tail on the roads. Seems like a sure fire way to get a ticket. There looks to be a break in the rain this coming friday, so i’m hoping to take another test at the DEQ building.

 

is your trucks cab a sc, ac,or dc ? reason for asking is i need to know the weight of a true 8 ft bed they seem to have only been on the single cabs

 

Access Cab. I don’t know how much my 6.5’ bed weighs, but surely the 8’ bed weights 1.5’ heavier.

 

I calibrated my speedometer needle this afternoon. A few months ago i swapped my original 3.90 R&P for a pair of junkyard Sequoia 4.10s. I also swapped out my 215/85/16 tires for a set of BFG AT 265/75/16 (because i had them already and i wanted to use them up). After the lower R&P and taller tire swap, my speedo needle was actually pretty close. 60mph on the needle was about 61.5mph on the GPS. I wanted it dead on, so i did a little experimenting with my speedometer. I did this same procedure on my 2005 Scion xB and it worked well. I figure that since they’re both Toyota, then i might just have a good chance of it working.

I started out by removing the speedometer display from the dash. Then removed the clear cover and black surround trim from the display. After that i unscrewed the four screws and pried up the four terminal flaps. Then it was easily to pull out the speedometer portion of the display.

I tried plucking the speedometer needle from the speedo post with my fingers, but there was NO way it was going to budge. I was a bit concerned that i was going to destroy the whole windings that go around the speedo motor, but since i had a spare speedometer, i went for broke. I used a trim removal tool to gently, but firmly pop the needle off the post. No doubt i breathed a sigh of relief!

I then reinstalled the speedometer back into the display, and then hooked it all back up into the dash (sans speedo needle). I then went out for a drive on the highway. I set my cruise control so that my GPS showed 60 MPH. I then ever so slightly pressed the needle back on the post while driving. It took about four different tried to get it EXACTLY where i wanted it. And once it was where i wanted it, i pressed the needle all the way back down on the post.

I know have a speedo that’s dead on. I did some speed tests at different MPH’s. 20 on the speedo is 20 on the GPS. Same thing for 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70mph. I didn’t try driving any faster, but i can only assume that it’s going to be spot on all the way up to a “ton”.

No i didn’t bother checking to see how accurate my odometer is. It wasn’t as high as a priority to me, but it’s something i will eventually take a closer look at.






Makes me wonder if the trucks that came with the optional 245/70/16 tire size had a different speedometer installed. I would guess so?

 

And the last few pics. It was a bit of a challenge to push the needle back on the post while driving 60mph...but no where near as difficult as doing this same procedure on my old Vespa P200 while cruising down the highway at 60mph, while trying to stare at both the GPS, speedometer post, and other traffic...WHILE riding with the left hand (yes, left hand) on the right throttle tube while the right hand is trying not to drop the speedo needle into oblivion. If that happened, it would have been the proverbial needle in the haystack.

 

A fork and a small piece of electrical tape also works well to remove gauge needles

 

After reading this thread, now I want to find a Sequoia 3rd member with 4.10's and LSD to swap into my 2wd 03. I'm sure my current LSD needs a rebuild.
Did all 1st gen Sequoias come with 4.10's?

 

From what i understand, all the 1st gen sequoias came with 4.10’s. The only variable that i can think of when swapping a Sequoia 3rd into a 2wd tundra is that the tundra’s 2wd companion flange might be a smaller diameter (and bolt pattern) that the Sequoia’s 4wd flange? If that’s the case, you can simply swap the pinion flanges between the two 3rds. Of course you’ll install a new pinion seal. I dunno if the toyota 3rd’s have a crush sleeve or a solid spacer in them or not. If there’s just a solid spacer, then you can simply torque down the pinion nut to what ft/lbs that is specified.

As for the worn out LSD, i dunno how much replacement parts are to rebuild one. If it turns out that it’s coming close to half the price of a brand new Tru-Track, i personally would go that route in a heartbeat. I currently have a Truetrac in the fronts of both my ford F-250 4x4 lowboy and one of my CJ7’s. I was tempted to buy a truetrac for the rear of the tundra as well, but one of my friends quickly convinced me that for the type of things that i do with the truck, i would be very unsatisfied with any LSD. So for now i have no LSD and i’ll keep my eyes open for an ARB or E locker. But i’m in no rush whatsoever to do that yet. I’d much rather put my funds towards a bumper and winch.

 

Make sure to use a strong fork, because this needle was stuck on pretty tight. No doubt harbor freight sells a trim removal tool for less than $10. Plus it comes in REAL handy when working on other bit and pieces on and around the truck.

 

I finally reinstalled the bed back onto the truck last week. Two of my friends came over and we easily plopped it back into place. I then temporarily installed the “Sport Rack” headache rack onto the bed rails. Immediately i put the truck to work. I loaded the bed full of scrap metal dropped it off at the dump. In my picture it doesn’t look like the truck is squatting much, but rest assured it was. With right about 1500lbs weight in the bed, the axle was bottoming out on the bumpstops just driving around on slight undulations.

Right after dumping the scrap, i loaded up a 55 gallon drum of waste motor oil (443lbs!). There a local machine shop that will pump it out for free. This sport rack is working perfect for my needs. I’ll plan to add some sort of grill or mesh to help protect the rear glass this next summer (when it’s dry out). Maybe i’ll add some lights and have it powdercoated as well?

 

Looking good! So P0420 is now a thing of the past?

 

Nope, not just yet. We’re still workin on it. I’m just ridin’ dirty for now.

 

Sorry to hear that

 

I did get an alignment last friday AM. The truck steering much better!

 

I also got some spare keys cut...then promptly found out that both door locks use a different cut key than the ignition lock. Living in a rural area, we never have to lock our doors (on anything), so i never bothered to check to see what keys fit the doors...DOH! So now i’ll have to remove both door lock lock cylinders and have the locks retumblerasized.

 

My 2004 was missing both the rear mud flaps when i bought the truck. I just bought brand new rear flaps, but once installed it made my sun faded front mud flaps look like poo. I decided to see how well the ol heat gun trick would work to make them look newer. I was VERY pleasantly surprised with the results!


Ugly black flaps that were faded to grey.



After heating the flaps up with a heat gun for a few minutes.




A thick coat of armor all was then applied. I have no idea how long the flaps will stay this color before they fad back to grey...maybe weeks, maybe years. Who knows, but it looks great in the here and now.

 

Mine faded after a while but they still look better than they did before I heat gunned em

 

This was a sunny california truck, but now that it lives in drizzly oregon, i'm guessing that they should last much longer that in its past.

 

I was walking by the front end of the tundra this afternoon. I stopped and just kinda stared at the grill for a few seconds. I then popped the hood, looked behind the grill, and then unclipped the V8 emblem from the grill. I know the truck has a V8 in it, and i don’t care if someone else knows or not. Plus the grill looks more symmetrical with the emblem removed. I’ll toss the emblem in with my spare parts. Maybe at some point i’ll reinstall it?...but there’s no rush at this point.



with emblem



Super easy to remove the emblem with your bare hands. no tools required.




what it looks like with the emblem removed. It does clean up the grill a little bit.

 

I just realized that i don’t have many side profile glamour shots of the truck...so i took a couple today.

Long story short, i went to church this morning. There’s a tree (i think it’s an Elm?) that got blown over in last week’s winter storm that’s located just one block away, so brought the tundra, a trailer, and three chainsaws, and bucked firewood right after church. The city had already cut the main branches off the truck, so all i had to do was buck up the smaller rounds (which were some were still really dang heavy). I dunno if need to go to the gym on monday now.

The pics don’t really do it justice on just how badly i overloaded the truck. It was doing a do a pop a wheelie pretty bad. The truck was already sitting on its bumpstops before i even hitched the trailer back up to it! It was a bit sketchy to drive the 30 miles back home. I kept the needle between 50~55mph.

The tree was definitely heavy. Check out the torn up sidewalk!

 

LOTS of downed trees in the greater Portland oregon area from the snow storm last month! For the past few days i’ve been bucking downed trees and bringing rounds home. The tundra hasn’t skipped a beat. No doubt the transmission is getting a workout. I’ve been rowing through the gears on the column so that the transmission isn’t hunting for gears. That all means that my rpm is much higher than normal. I now can see how it would be beneficial to have a Dirty Deeds stainless headers and dual exhaust system. That purchase is still low priority on my list though. A pair of Firestone overload airbags would be a MUCH better investment at this point. When i’m loaded down with this much wood in the bed, the bumpstops are completely smooshed when just driving down the highway.


For heavy hauling jobs like this. I’m tempted to search out a set of smaller 245/70/16 tires. My current 265/75/16 do ok with my 4.10 gears, but a smaller set of tires would definitely be better.

I also don’t miss having a front sway bar...like whatever. Glean what you will from that bit of FYI.

I’m still keeping my eyes out for a single cab 8’ bed and frame. I’d like to find one that has been popped in the front so i can salvage the rear and graft the back half of the frame and bed right behind my AC...


Here’s the house where i’ve been getting the free wood.




Yesterday’s 1st load.



Yesterday’s 2nd load.




Today’s only load.




Even with all the physical labor, i still got chilled today. It was raining a little bit...raining snowflakes to be precise. It was about 35 degrees out. Wasn’t pleasant, but since the wood was free i ain’t complaining. Real world lifting weights is totally different from going to the gym, and i don’t feel bad about not going to the gym this week.

 

Daymn son. Good work!