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

Still some more battery hold downs left for sale. Mine is holding nicely. Super sharp custom Made in America by Americans Product. @Coupe sent me one for free as a product tester and will say the quality is excellent and looks good too.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/custom-battery-hold-down-brackets-for-1st-gen.67066/

 

What kind of deal you got with him... you’re advertising them as if you want to be his personal hand model!




But yes. Stellar product.. I even have his hold down for my 1st gen taco.. LOVELY

 

I drove to south Wisconsin yesterday and picked up this gem. $900 later and she’s mile all mine. (It’s an M101A2 with surge brakes. All original except someone converted the lights to 12v.)

getting her home was an adventure. 50 miles in, BOTH tires blew simultaneously. Obviously I only had one spare, so I had to leave it on the side of the highway to bring one blowout to a tire shop 15 miles down the road. Good thing I’m too lazy to take my tools out of the truck.

 

I’ve wanted one of those for a long time... buck fuck surge brakes. Lol

 

I’m happy to spread the word for good products and people and gladly will do so. Only compensation received was a free hold down in return for critical feedback before making them available. He offered on his own behest.

Glad you enjoy! Not many left.

 

I hear ya. These one either aren’t working, or are pretty weak though, so I’m not too worried about it. Although, surge brakes might be handy when I’ve got a cord of wet oak behind the Tundra.

First time towing with a Pintle hitch though. Not as bad as I thought. Noticeable bump on acceleration or deceleration, but other than that, it was not much different than a ball hitch.

 

Keeping the pintle hitch setup for it? Would be a cool offroad trailer except it's probably pretty heavy.

 

Yep, gonna keep the pintle. Too much work to convert, and I bought it for hauling firewood out of the woods, and any off-road adventure I might find myself on while needing a trailer. They say they’re around 1000lbs. Not light, but could be worse for sure.

 

I have up on surge brakes when they decided to lock up on my buddies driveway. That wasn’t fun

 

That think is perfect for out of woods hauling.

 

Now the question is, are you painting it to match the truck, or painting the truck to match it.

 

Hi Folks-

Im a bit in the novice territory when it comes to truck upgrades. I was wondering if any of you could lend any constructive criticism or good resources/info on any of the upgrades i had in mind. Thanks in advance. Here is my context:

I have a 2002 Toyota Tundra 4.7L V8 Limited TRD, Gray ( See image )

200,000+ miles

This truck is to be a handyman truck, and not exactly to go overlanding with but some off-roading of course. I mainly want it to be as durable and comfortable of ride as possible ( without breaking the bank).

*CANOPIES: is there any variety to choose from other than the generic snugtop. Perhaps ones with heightened rooftops, instead of flush? I want to have a rack on top for storing gear and hopefully lumber too ( on occasion). Best resource for canopies AND racks + accessories?

*SHOCKS + LIFT: since i have 20 yr old shocks ( and I can feel that in the drive) I was looking at these bilsteins front + rear shocks & level kit. Mainly bc i liked the price range and they have been recommended now more than once. Are these good? Any comparables to consider instead or defects to be concerned about? The LEVEL KIT is to level out the front, as it sags. How high do u think I can lift it without jeopardizing drive quality w/ weight distribution, n towing etc considered? i have only 265/70/r17 rt now but want to get a size up in the future.

https://www.1stgenoffroad.com/store/p786/Bilstein5100RearShocksTacoma.html#/

https://www.1stgenoffroad.com/store/p783/DobinsonsBilsteinCombo1stgenTacoma.html#/

Is there anything else I need to order, before scheduling a trip to a mechanic to do the work.

BTW -- Im in portaldn Oregon if anybody wants the project.



INTERIOR: is just how I want it, although LOOKING FOR a center console (extension), that matches my (pho)wood grain and offers more utility rather than how it is not -- you can see its just wide open -- see photo.

SORRY IN ADVANCE IF THIS IS FAR TOO LONG!

 

Replaced missing bump stops with blue sumos, boy that was an adventure. I spent nearly three hours working on getting the solidified nuts off the u bolts. On the last one I finally realized this is a good time to utilize a cutoff wheel. 10 minutes later and all done.
Finished my front diff job I started yesterday.
Removed the 4 center caps in preparation for changing from The Lexus emblems to Toyota.

Hope to get started on the parking brake situation next weekend. Those are all seized up and won’t engage

 

First off welcome.
my first question is do you know when the timing belt/water pump were last changed? They should've been done about 180k. Radiators seem to last about 120k which would put you almost due if it wasn't done w/ the t-belt at 180k.

Bad shocks are unpleasant, but won't put your truck out of service & you out of work.

Search for a "high top" canopy - those are the tall ones.
For a rack on top - consider a ladder rack that mounts to the bed stake pockets (hidden by bed caps) & offsets out so you can sit a cap on top of the mounts. Looks a little ugly IMO, but super functional.
here's an image from Cap World on a Ferd.

 

Took the family on a trail run with the local 4runner cats. Chimney Rock was the trail, it’s pretty mild, but super busy this weekend from the recent snow; yes it snows in hell! Lots of gazors being dumb and driving wild.....
Truck did good, got some random rubbing from my passenger pinche weld, might get her aligned better and then pull out the hammer.



This sickoia made it up this face! At first he didn’t have his center diff locked, then went right up it.

 

Fluid filmed the hell out of the ole girl today.

1st time spraying with compressor and fluid film gun. Actually went pretty good. Truck got a good heavy coating. My solutions for the boxed sections up front was stuck the gun in the open places and spray the hell out of. I could see mist of fluid film coming out the frame horns and when I look in there with a flashlight all I see is fluid film. It turned out alright.

 

shoe07. Not sure how to reply to you exactly but thx for your response. Good point -- that was replaced before i purchased the vehicle but THANK YOU.

 

Filled the coolant overflow exactly to the top line today. Will drive it this week & see what happens & how quickly it does or doesn't happen.

On a side note - We are expecting 18" of snow between now to very early Tuesday am.
Decided I'm old. Called my boss around 6pm & said I won't be in tomorrow - let the young guys deal with this . Hope I didn't screw myself. Just heard the gov. closed the hwy to tractor trailers - so we're closed tomorrow anyway. Hope I didn't just waste a vacation day when I could'a been paid for "no work".
yeah - he'd do that.
...and my snow thrower dead w/ a dirty carb still. how the he** am I going to shovel 18" of snow? in sustained winds of 15-25mph with gusts to 45mph.
Fook.

 

Do you drive the feeder or package car? Either way, I wouldn't want to even attempt to drive in that much snow. I think I told you my step dad put in around 45 years with UPS driving a semi. He was making big money by the end. He had a few times where he was stranded for multiple days because of snow.

I'm watching it snow here in Knoxville but we're not supposed to get much at this elevation. The Smokies are supposed to get upwards of 8". I'd like to take off work tomorrow and go drive around in it.

 

That wind is worst for driving than the 18" of snow. Especially if it's powder deep snow is IMO easier to drive through than 4 inches of slush.

Hell I typically don't even bother getting out the blower unless we get 8+inches but I've also got a gravel driveway.

 

I don't drive. I'm the overseer for 4 trailers, get 'em filled & gone on schedule or earlier, Chemical boss, and some other misc. stuff. ...and try really hard to make sure your shit don't get broked before you get it.

 

Started break in for the new gears today. All seems well and fine, though it's taking a lot of self restraint to not romp on er during this initial effort. Even the sacrilegious lunchbox locker is surprising me with its road manners.

 

After buying my 2005 Tundra, I had to do some work to make her roadworthy. I made a video covering some of the work.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HRoinR0gK80

 

Finally got my ole' engie on to a stand and into the garage, now I can really work away from the elements after it gets dark.


Took 3 hours to figure out how to get the engine over this stupid curb before my garage, though. Eventually put the cherry picker on the higher ground, gave the chain some length, and slowly lifted/slid the engine over the gap, then had to set it back down, turn it, and lower it until the stand lined up. This thing is heavy, I'd guess it weighs 500lbs.

Didn't find this documented anywhere, but the bolts for the block to standard engine stand are M12 x 1.25 x 90mm with a washer.



For your enjoyment, here's another restoration with cleaning and Aerospace 303:



New head gaskets and the rest of hopefully the last big Toyota parts order are still on the way.

 

Changed the oil and air filter today. Last oil change was April 19, 2019 and it was only 200 miles overdue. I bought it in July from original owner who hadn't been driving it. Lol

 

"Started" the starter rebuild and tutorial write-up by cleaning the motor up and beginning the disassembly.


I've hit a roadblock. There are 4 Philips head screws which need to be removed; 2 on the "commutator" end and 2 on the "drive."




They. Will. Not. Budge. And there's only so much torque I can apply to these heads with a screwdriver before they'd strip (this is why I hate Phillips). @empty_lord suggested a hand impact driver which I did not know existed and will rent tomorrow for the task.

 

Impact driver. Works every time for me.

 

Oh no not that kind of impact. The screw drivers you smack with a hammer