What have you done to your 2nd gen Tundra today?

Update on mount: Drove on pretty much the bumpiest road in town and can confirm my phone doesn’t bounce up and down and vibrates minimally; definitely worth the upgrade and not hard to install. Only downside is that you have to take everything apart if you need to bolt anything else to it later

 

Wasn't today but about a month ago, had to replace the engine on my 2008, let go at 260k. Found a used one with 124k. Fixed all the regular stuff i.e.: timing chain tensioners, chain was fine, timing cover reseal, new water pump, thermostat, checked but no leak on cam towers, front and rear main seals, new oil pan, then added SDHQ battery terminals, Dirty Deeds 10" Exhaust, Overland Taylor Tune. Runs like a champ now.

 

Pictures.. sorry

 

Please excuse the cobbled together TRD air cleaner, came in pieces with the engine.

 

Nice work man!!

 

any idea why the old engine failed at 260K?

 

It looked like heavy scoring in #8 cylinder, no compression. Not sure why, it was running perfectly, up until then. There was nothing in the cylinder, no marks on the piston, so I don't know. I bought it with 252k on it, drove it all over and on 2 vacations, pulled my camper and everything was good. That one trip to the hardware store was all it took..

 

Ouch. That's pretty rough on a new purchase, but I'm glad you've made the best of it

 

Thanks, love the truck so while I really didn't want to have to do it, now I have something I have been through and it runs great, so I'm happy.

 

Any evidence of valve spring failure on that cylinder ?

 

Ol bessie doing work horse stuff

 

No evidence of that at all. Valves were all nestled safely in the head. No marks on pistons and no debris in the cylinder. I didn't tear it down all the way as I was out of time and had to get the core back to the place I bought the engine. If I added oil to the cylinder, it would hold compression for the first revolution but after that, none at all. I had multiple misfires, moved coils around, checked plugs.. al the regular stuff. It still ran but obviously really rough.

 

That stinks, if oil helped compression, then probably ring failure

 

Ring or perhaps the piston rod was bent ever so slightly?

 

Picked up my truck from the mechanic again today lol I feel like that’s 90% of my posts on this thread. But this time I decided to get my leaky valve covers replaced and while they were at it I had them diagnose my vibrations… turns out 2 of my wheels threw weights off so they were out of balance. Still ordered my CV axles anyways since I’m replacing my shocks and UCAs. Unlike my ford ranger I feel that most of the work I’ve done has been either by choice or preventative and it’s nice to know this tundra will last for a long time to come!

 

Are the CV axles something that should be replaced periodically, or are you upgrading them because you anticipate suspension geometry changes with the new UCAs?

I ask because I want my truck to go another 180,000 miles. I’m also going to have my front shocks replaced next week and wonder if this is one of those “while you’re in there” jobs? Or, is it better to not fix what ain’t broken?

 

I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses to this but I'm the type of person that waits til they need replacing.

 

my UCAs an lift are not much. Really about 2-2.5” so not looking to replace because of that. My passenger side inner boot busted a seal ever so slightly and spits grease here and there. That’s mainly why I’m replacing them. People say rebuild them, I say forget that lol it’s a mess. If anything ill install my new OEMs on and take my old ones to someone to rebuild. Another reason for replacement is just the age/miles. My truck is a 2011 at about 165k so I don’t expect them to last for ever nor the boots.
You could wait till the break but in my opinion why chance it? Never know when/where that would happen.

 

my OEMs are at about 260k with relatively aggressive wheeling and 35s, haven't broken or busted yet, one side did start clicking awhile ago but subsequently stopped on its own; from everything I've seen OEM shafts are the best (unless you go with RCVs) so thats why people recommend rebuilding them, unless you're just gonna buy new OEMs

 

I didn't know our trucks could heal?

 

lol thats just the nature of any car, some things might start making noises and just decide they don't want to anymore I suppose, I've seen it happen a number of times on different cars; but obviously once the problem is bad enough its not going away

 

Removed my tonneau cover and took it to a local canvas shop to get new Velcro stitched

 

Did someone say Velcro?

https://www.tundras.com/threads/random-thoughts.47134/page-357#post-3583893

 

Finally I finished! Replaced my shocks and UCAs today with Icon stage 1 kit and bilsteins. Wish I got more photos but man was that a pain of an install. Best recommendation is bring a friend to help and a lot to drink, you’ll be in the driveway for a while lol but took her for a test drive and couldn’t be happier with the feel. The old rough country set up was real rough. Almost forgot I added the bison off-road cam stop kit as well. So we’ll see how those work out.

 

I've done a lot today. Changed the engine oil, transfer case, rear diff, installed ditch lights, aftermarket heat sink PS cooler, installed the ValoMax plug and then went offroading.

 

Those lights look good! How do you mount the ditch lights?

 

It looks like they used the Rago brackets, which seem to be pretty universally loved in the forums. They are a bit pricy though

 

Two hands, lots of lights, bags of plastic clips. Don’t do it twice like I did, it’s not fun! make sure the liner is exactly how it was from the factory, very little margin for error left to right, front to back.

Perfection or nothing.

 

Which SC are you running, Magnuson? I'm doing the opposite of you, installing the SC after my winch has been installed. The IC pump/bracket is my only hang up, when install day comes. Looks great BTW!