What have you done to your 1st gen Tundra today?

If only we could get these people to pick up first Gen Tundras!

 

https://youtu.be/IzUoe-9bKa0?si=SK8G7cllR3P3c7W1

I need more lights.

 

yup, like what Dook said. It’s only 10 years….except KTM began to have parts NLA (no longer available) of a few obscure parts for their 990 Adventure bikes after about 8 years.

 

I can’t comment on mechanical parts but you really don’t want to know how obsolete parts are procured in the defense and aerospace industry. I’ve had to deal with it personally and the possibility of failure is high considering defense contractors don’t want to perform a full qualification on 20+ year old questionably sourced parts through approved brokers.

That said, there are some companies like Rochester semiconductor that hold onto all the old equipment and reproduce original parts at 5-10x the original cost.

 

Careful what you wish for. You don’t want to blast them with too much light. I got the firepower, but i don’t want to be in a head-on collision because the oncoming vehicle were blinded by my lights. I normally use my Baja Designs S2 Pro amber wide cornering as my full time DRL/driving lights. I have them purposefully mounted fairly low to the ground so that they can scooch under the fog a bit better. I used to have clear wide cornering lenses and the lights were just way too bright for oncoming traffic. The amber lens dimmed them up just barely enough that i rarely get flashed by oncoming traffic.

If oncoming traffic forgets to turn their high beams off, i normally give them a quick flash of my stock high beams. If that doesn’t work, i’ll give them a quick flash with the second pair of S2’s (driving combo clear lens). That pretty much wakes everybody up. I only use the two OnX light bars on wildlife. I live in a rural area and constantly have to drive with my head on a swivel, looking out for deer and elk.

 

Jack is spot on for the OTR (small Pittman) and the LBJ puller (large Pittman) in the front end service kit carried by Advance Auto. This is the PowerBuilt set that I did a write-up with pics over here:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-2168#post-3736392

 

I ordered the oem tools puller kit

$77 OEMTOOLS 26554 Front End Service Kit, Pitman Arm Puller & Ball Joint Separator, Tie Rod Removal Tool for Suspension Maintenance

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZJ9BF7W
Hopefully it works but idk if I’ll end up keeping it.

My tool I made kinda works okay for the upper ball joints just a process

 

You won’t lose the case, that’s for sure. It’ll work. Before Powerbuilt, Advanced Auto lent out the same kit from OEM Tools but it was a black case. They sell the pullers individually for $15-30 each.

 

Okay cool I’ve had a different kit but the pullers didn’t fit on to the tie rod or the lower ball joint I figured a little more expensive china tools would work lol

 

Looks like Autozone sells them individually now for $16 in a case. I may just pick these up myself.

https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-...r/p/oemtools-pitman-tie-rod-puller/555631_0_0

https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-...aller/p/oemtools-pitman-arm-puller/555623_0_0

 

The pitman arm puller is the one I modified to fit the upper ball joint I had to cut the jaws from 1 5/8 to 2 inch’s worked perfectly all I needed to do was cut the top of the ball joint threads off lol but better than the big c clamp press thing.

 

That’ll do the job. And I’d keep it if it does. Those tools will last a lifetime and are good for more than just suspension.

 

Yes and no. I agree with you, but after spending months browsing truck campers on FB Marketplace, it's really common with older, lighter units. Wouldn't have been a thing for decades if they were falling over left and right (as it were). I don't like it, but I accept that it's a legitimate, safe set up. Just not nearly as solid as four jacks.

I've been scouring Marketplace for a used jack. Had a couple leads but so far no luck. They're ~$400 each new. I found a guy selling an entire pop-up truck camper for $100, with 3 jacks. I tried so hard to connect with him but he was a total flake and I finally gave up.

 

Yeah not happening for me. They seem unnecessary for my setup anyway. I agree they're the ideal setup, but my camper is probably 500lbs, and I'd rather just have the d-ring tie-downs I installed in my bed. They're pretty low profile, unobtrusive.

 

Toyota would be financially irresponsible if they stopped making lbjs lol probably still their best seller for parts.

 

Not much today, hosed it down a bit and took it for a spin.

 

I'm baaaaarely 100 miles away from hitting 80k!

 

Well just wasted my afternoon trying like hell to push that tab back on the rear drums so I could loosen it. Finally found it and got them released after I drove it earlier with the rear brakes dragging. Weird though as it was perfectly fine in the warmer weather the past two days.

Perfect way to sabotage someone’s truck though. Cops would think you were crazy.

 

If you knew the people I deal with for neighbors, you’d think differently.

 

The easiest way I know of is to replace the lower control arms at the same time you replace the lower ball joints. That's what I did on my 2004 RCLB. It would be a shame to do the LBJ's and then find out a week later your LCA bushings are shot.

 

I fluid filmed my frame Saturday morning. Should be good for the winter now.

Yep, I agree! I couldn't separate my LBJs from my LCAs, the LBJs had been on there for 16 years, and the LCAs were original and super rusty, and weren't going to be worth the effort to swap the bushings. I just replaced both at the same time. Didn't have to fool around with separating them that way.

 

I'm sure it depends on where you live. The LCAs are a big job, and at least on my trucks, didn't need new bushings until nearly 300,000 miles, and the control arms themselves were still fine. For many of us, LBJs are 30 minutes per side with extremely minimal frustration. When I replaced the LCA bushings on my Tacoma, it was a full weekend job.

I have the OTC front end kit. It's not very expensive and comes in handy all the time.

 

14 mm impact socket and wrench with medium torque setting took mine right off. Only issue is getting unobstructed access. I need to cut the wheel both left and right along with using the right extension length to get them out.

 

Drove it some more today. Gettin up there.

 

Are the red gauge needles factory? Mine are yellow.

 

Not factory. Used a Sharpie Xtreme marker to color them in like 6 or more years ago when I did my LED conversion. Held up well.

 

They got orange to change the yellow door latch stickers back to their original color?

 

Hardest part of swapping LBJ's is figuring out which bolts to replace with and the value to torque them to!

 

I just took stickers off other Toyota door locks at the junkyard and swapped mine out. Worked like a champ.