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

Was it a Legacy, per chance?

 

Forrester

 

When I was hunting a while back, I kept coming across Legacys with blown head gasket. I want to say they were all 2.5L turbo models. After getting curious, I read around and found it's apparently pretty common. Super weird.

 

Not much today. Just gave it a wash. Tomorrow it’ll be covered in salt again but hopefully not as much as was caked on before.

 

You know you love your truck when you wash it in the snow. Temps drop below 60°F and I ain't out there washing mine, getting cold n wet. Kudos.

 

Subaru head gasket issues were mostly caused by the use of a single layer, graphite coated head gaskets. This gasket was used in the EJ n/a series from as early as 1996 in the Legacy GT and as late as 2012 in the Legacy/Outback. These engines were used in every model, excluding the SVX and Tribeca.


EJ25D - 2.5L DOHC N/A, 1996-1999

EJ251 - 2.5L SOHC N/A, 1999-2005

EJ253 - 2.5L SOHC N/A, 2004-2012


Starting in Feb 2004, Subaru started a service bulletin that recommended adding a coolant conditioner to the cooling system. This just kicked the can further down the road.


Turbo models use a MLS gasket, but tend to have piston ringland cracks and turbine housing cracks. I’ve seen turbo models have head gasket failures due to improper tuning (too much timing or boost), boost creep or poor maintenance of the cooling system (old coolant, low coolant, or bad radiator cap).

 

Got my coachbuilder shims in today. Not sure if I’ll use them yet. I went out with the heat gun this weekend and massaged the inner fender so no more rubbing on the driver side. I am planning on going to 275 Toyo RT Trails so if they rub then I’ll throw them in.

 

Ratio for shims is 1:3? So ½" shim will get you 1½" lift?

Or is it 1:2, and ½" gets you 1" lift?

I forget, but lifting probably isn't going to help you clear in this case, alignment will.

 

I’m pretty sure it’s 1:2

 

These are .25” thick and net .5” so 1:2. We’ll see if I need them would bring my total lift to probably 2.25”

 

Turbo Subarus are pretty cheap to get into, but if the owner doesn't stay up on the maintenance, blown head gaskets are pretty common. Subaru even calls for the head gaskets to be replaced every 100K miles. Whenever I see older "tired" looking WRXs on the road, I always look for a puff of smoke on acceleration, it's pretty common with neglected engines.

They're a vehicle where you really want the single mature owner that stayed on top of maintenance and didn't bounce it off the rev limiter everywhere. WRX and Forrester both tend to get the majority of the abuse, check out Outbacks, tend to be more of a family car and way less appeal to the tuners.

 

Not much to report lately. I've been busy with other stuff lately.

But I did get some seat covers to cover up the PO's cigarette burns, seat tear and grime.

I have both sides installed now, but this was taken when I did the drivers side. The passenger side arm rest has the cover that my wife's grandma made for me ha. Odd color choice, but I rocked them for a few months anyway.

 

Sorry you had to say that twice, I missed the reply to shifty. Your AC was one of my favorite on here, and your DC looks great too. Good luck with the sale and with the 2.5, if I had the funds I might go that way too. Though I wish you could get a crewmax with a 6.5 bed.

 

All good, and thanks for the compliment. I see my old green truck driving around all the time and have sellers remorse. At least the current owner is enjoying it.
That is one thing I hate having to compromise on. The size of the cab and the size of the truck bed.

 

Does your wife legitimately think your truck is unreliable? Has it been unreliable? Or are you just wanting more space/something newer? I had a 2nd gen crewmax before my 1st Gen and that back seat is no joke if you need to haul car seats and all the stuff associated with taking a few kids places.

 

I don't think she knows I replace items before they go bad and that I did a lot of modifications to make it more comfortable and modern (touchscreen radio, carplay, usb charger, etc.). I think in her mind she hears "replace" or "work on the truck" and equates it to something is wrong or it's broken.
There was one time when I knew my wheel bearing was going out and we took a 3 hour road trip (with quite a bit of dirt roads) and I was a little nervous about it. But, it has never broken down or been unreliable.

I'm not selling it because it's been unreliable. I'm just ready for a truck with a bigger back seat (going Crewmax) and the modern items that I don't have to install myself. Plus it will be nice to not have to worry about discontinued parts.

 

CM for the win!

 

A cool tundra hit the junkyard it’s a special edition. Going to see if the grill is still there and hopefully the supercharger. I’m 3 days late to it.

any other cool trim to look for lmk

 

Pretty grainy pics on my end, but looks like an Ivan Stewart based on the bed graphics and wheels. Sweet find. Those grilles are awesome.

 

I love the concept, and the grille looks super cool in black or other colors, but something about white trucks makes it really stand out and look bulbous (link). I dunno why it looks so much larger with white than it does with other colors (I've seen it on red trucks and black trucks, looks totally normal-sized).

Something else weird, on the white trucks the metal parts are single-stage, and the plastic parts are 2-stage. I think @Dakillacore explained the reasoning behind why that is, but when you lay clear over the white, it makes the 056-Natural White color look more yellowish. You can see the color difference it on the fender flares and OEM grilles if you look carefully, and now I can never un-see it. It's less-noticeable on the fender flares because they use the rubber transition strip.

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PS - grab the bumper skin, fender flares and other custom stuff too! Unobtanium.

 

Mainly that plastic parts never match to metal panels 100%. Darker colors are harder to tell and lighter colors show it a lot more, especially whites and pearl whites.

The reason is that the plastic parts are subject to static electricity which makes the metal flakes and whatnot align differently than on metal panels.

https://rts.i-car.com/crn-2209.html


Thanks for the reminder on this. I'll add more info about this to my thread https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-were-in-an-accident-collision-insurance-repair-advice.167986/

 

This is it! Thanks. Static, I remember it was some thing like that, but my brain has been foggy for a minute.

 

Nice find! Keep us(me) posted. Would be interested in the SC if you don’t want it.

 

Plus a vastly superior aftermarket.

 

I wasn't going to rub that in.

 

Had to go check

 

Yup, that got* yoinked fast. And the grille was gone too? I see they picked the bumper cover and fender flares.

 

Out with the old ... It lasted a good long while, I give NAPA props on this one. I think I paid for it though, I'd need to dig up the receipt but pretty sure they wanted like $225 for this thing. I didn't have any other option at the time. I see I bought it in September, it would've been pre-pandemic, so 9/2019 ... 5½ years, not too shabby. Didn't even realize it was a 24F. It'll be cramped in here with the 27F, and I'm hoping I have the correct damn tray for it... guess I need to check the part number. Looking at the gap on the tray, I'm thinking it probably is the larger tray.

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Pretty clean up under the tray!

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This reminds me, my partners sienna is slow starting in the cold and has a lead acid from 3/2017... It's been a good run!