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

Just replaced my steering shaft seal. Shout out to @bajaphile for the DIY. Took me about 90 minutes but could easily be done in an hour with the right tools.

My old one was in rough shape.

 

It’s not the end of the world. But they’re there to keep stuff out of the drums

 

I'd just shoot the frame w/ Fluid Film now, get what you can get & stop it's progress in those nooks & crannies.
15 or even 30 minutes if you are particular this go round & done. 1 less worry in life.

When you pull the fenders & bed do a good job on it all. ...but don't let it start-in meanwhile. IME

 

i need to do this on mine. ive got a giant hole in my seal... just like my tacomas did.

 

This seems like one of those parts someone might actually do a better job making aftermarket. The OEM part has extremely thin rubber. I'm not surprised they tear so frequently.

 

I’d beef it up with some caulking in the folds it I ever put a new one on. Give it some body and flexibility to the thing.

 

Installed new OEM upper ball joints to match the lowers replaced under recall last week.

 

Spraying the seal with silicon once in a while will improve life. They get tore up because of the seal “grabbing” the shaft

 

Hows about some silicone grease? Grease the shaft and rubber for life?

 

Grease likes to attract dirt. But can work too

 

For some people, this is their lifelong mantra

 

Not today but couple of weeks ago:

- Painted the Chromed bumpers with bedliner - Same for fender flares.
- Installed flush mount led lights in rear bumper.
- Replaced rear shocks with Bilestien 5100
- Replaced Power steering hoses (of course the oil as well)
- Replaced Rack & Pinion bushings - Energy Suspension)
- Replaced Tie rod ends
- Replaced CV axles
- Replaced Valve cover gaskets & Spark plugs tube gaskets
- Cleaned Throttle body and changed gasket
- Replaced Fuel filter
- Replaced Alternator with 150amp Sequoia's & did the 3 big upgrades
- Changed oils: Rear differential, front differential, Transfer case

 

He just needs some of this

 

In black ofcourse

 

Had a few minutes between meetings so I installed the exhaust to the cats. The header nuts should be in Saturday so I can wrap up the header install up, tighten the cats to the headers and FIRE HER UP!!!!

Oh, also had to make some adjustments on the o2 connector. It wouldn't reach the new location so I cut back some of the wraps to pull the o2 connector out a bit. Plan to add some electrical tape to clean it up and zip tie the little bit of slack.

I also have the PCV scheduled to deliver this Friday but want to finish the headers, drive it, make sure everything is kosher before jumping into something else!

 

Well I humiliated her even further by using her to get the new in box replacement rear bumper for the 2015 that I snagged for $100 of FB somehow!

The new one has Chrome ends which I do not want to use really but for the low price I thought I would see if I can use the insides for the bent insides I have on my factory Black corners now?

If not I might just live with the Chrome until I grab a new rear bumper shortly.

Anyway I can't remember the last time the '01 was empty in back and it is pretty handy for sure and much quicker too!

The Bumper in box is a lot bigger than I expected too somehow and I almost tried to get it with the Element?

 

Fixed it for ya. Nothing like working on a car between meetings.

 

@Darkness I will definitely post a sound clip!

Thankfully the 4 pm wasn't a Zoom meeting so I could get a bit dirty! I tried to use some mechanics gloves I bought about a year ago to stay a little cleaner but I just can't do it when dealing with hardware.

 

I hand washed the beast today, and I may put some wax on the paint tomorrow.

 

Yeah there are some times where gloves make things harder, they have their place for sure. I keep a box or two of nitrile gloves in my garage for handling hardware in messy spots. Since we have barely been in the house a year I dont want to put my greasy paw prints anywhere in the house.

 

@imDementeD can't remember if you said you are throwing any codes or not? Your undercarriage looks really good for it being an Idaho truck. They must not use a ton of salt..?

Are you going to wrap things up with new dirty deeds injectors or hold off?

 

I would get a P0420 here and there because I had a leak between the pass. cat and the resonator piping (which is where the o2 sensor was). Having the o2 sensor moved up should alleviate that and I replaced the gasket that was leaking there. It should be in good shape now.

Overall, yes the frame is in great shape for a northern truck, and from my understanding, you're correct they do not use a ton of salt like northeast states.

For the injectors, I'm holding off on those. I had all (10) cleaned when I got the truck, prior to learning about DD's injectors, so I will ride on these for a while.

 

Spent about 6 hours installing all 4 o2 Sensors with DENSO brand. I used every hand move in the professional world and then some secret jives that made me Top Dog in the industry.

Might make a comeback like Mike Tyson after shaking off the dust today.

Ran the truck afterward kinda hard and the exhaust smells different. Like its just a clean steam smell. The truck isn’t faster, but the pedal/engine feels slightly more responsive.

Big difference in the design of both of the removed aftermarket front sensors installed by others about 6-8 years ago. The rears were Toy OEM’s aged who knows how long?




Used an Oscillation Tool with a carbide blade to score a line in the nuts. Then punched the line with a chisel to bust off the nuts. Takes some hand coordination to not cut into the stud.

Old on the left. Brand? New DENSO on the right.

 

Here is a glimpse of the slot punch technique. Check out that precision cut that allows the nut to fold off when punched.

Fingers using Andersen ‘The Spyder’ Silva Technique. Precision knock out power!

 

Quarentine has given me a lot of time to do those small mods. Finally got some new shoes on her. I also installed some grille lights from Wally World and color match painted my rear bumper due to rust starting. Also painted my exhaust pipes, installed 1/2" top plate spacers from wheelers offroad and new tie rods! Now my alignment is all out of whack (Solving that on Friday). Today, I also dusted off my karate skills with some wax-on, wax-off techniques.

 

Swapped tires and replaced the spark plugs. nutn fancy just movin forward.

 

next time try just a drop or two of dawn soap on your bare hands....rub in like lotion and after a minute of two they won't be sticky but will fill all your fingerprint cracks and crevasses. THEN, go wash your hands after the job is done.

 

Magnetic Tailgate Vise


In all my tinkering, I've constantly needed a vise. Messing around with clamps on a sawhorse has proven jank. As with seemingly more of my mods these days, I couldn't find anything on the Internet, so I figured something out myself.

Went with a drill press vise because it's a slimmer vise, and who needs a chonking anvil bulging from their tailgate? Then I added 4 strong rubber-coated magnet studs/mounts with some hardware to the unit, to make it removable without it falling off.


She holds strong! And yes, I can close the tailgate with it securely attached. Will put a wood stopper inside the vise to prevent drilling into my tailgate. I do a lot of cutting/drilling on wooden and metal projects and know I'll get tons of functionality out of this thing! After installation I tested by sawing aluminum extrusions for my camper kitchen galley unit. It's perfect.


Suspension update:
After an alignment that the shop struggled with, I'm pleased with my installation of the Bilstein 5100's and new upper/lower control arms. I've never had my steering wheel this straight or a ride so smooth! The Tundra's such a pleasure to drive now. Just needa' find some used OEM springs, though, which hasn't been easy.

 

Ran the truck again to make sure I didn’t mangle anything from yesterdays o2 installs. All is good. Slipped in the new MAF Sensor. The rubber ring is tight going in which is good! Swapped the metal plate off and painted it.

OHMs tested old sensors. Not sure if the test shows anything because I have no idea what they should run. Didn’t test the new ones prior to install. The old fronts measure 8.1 and 8.3. The old rears measured 13.1 and 13.8.