Worth while upgrades for my 2005 RWD V6?

What is a worth while upgrade for my 2005 tundra RWD V6? I would love to make it off roading rig but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for a rear wheel.

 

Start by reading the 1st two replies of this thread to make sure your truck is worthy of putting the time/effort/money, and learn what not to do on these trucks, before you make a mistake.

There are plenty of dudes on here with stout ass offroad rigs w/2WD only. Don't sell yourself or your truck short. Especially if your truck is manual V6, that setup is sought after.

As for "worthwhile upgrade", nobody here can answer that. Everyone's idea of "worthwhile" is going to vary. We can't really tell you shit until you let us know two things: 1) What is "worthwhile" to you? 2) What's your budget?

The really important things are: How rusty is the frame? Are you running OEM lower balljoints? If you don't know the answer to either, maybe you should start there before you look at other things.

 

Agreed 2WD can still be very good off road vehicles - its really how good the driver is that makes the difference. You can always carry recovery mats with you to be a good scout and be prepared - Luck and enjoy.

 

Specifically frame, but we always appreciate seeing the truck. Can probably give you some ideas if we know what were looking at.

 

First off I love this website. Secondly I replaced the lower ball joints recently, and the frame from what I can tell has little to no rust. The truck has never seen a snowy road in its lifetime.

 

I’ve thought about throwing a turbo charger or super in I would definitely replace the exhaust. I would much rather keep this truck and modify it before buying a new tundra.

 

Hopefully used OEM LBJ, it'd suck to need to do it all over again

But more important, what's worthwhile to you?

What do you envision doing in your truck, realistically? We've seen ample people on here build up for offroad, only to roll pavement 95%+ so, like, I'm not about to be the guy to push you into upgrades like that.

Are there any conveniences - modern or otherwise - you miss in your new-to-you truck, like hands-free for example, half-worth-a-shit headlights, auto-dimming rearview mirror, steering wheel radio controls, .... ?

Anything you've reached for or thought to yourself, "Damn, I wish the truck had XYZ"?

 

Supercharger and long travel. Dope pre-runner rig.

 

I'm gonna have to disagree here. Unless you add a rear locker, a RWD is pretty awful off-road. Unless you're in the desert or somewhere fairly dry and flat.

RWD with a locker can go places though. I was impressed with Rusted Nuts.

 

I feel attacked

 

I brought in my truck to the Toyota dealership for the LBJ recall and they were only able to replace the driver side. They said the LBJ didn’t fit on the passager side. So a couple of weeks later I decide to replace my wheel bearing on the passenger side because the wheel had some give and was making noise. Of course the old bearing didn’t want to come out so I ended up having to replace the knuckle. But then the Knuckle didn’t fit the old LBJ and the then the new LBJ didn’t fit the lower control arm. Lol I’m pretty sure the new LBJ is OEM

 

Realistically I want to be able to tow a small boat from place to place. I don’t think I’ll really need much off road capability for that. I do like to drive on these dirt roads on the way to this national forest and sometimes I hit a couple of bumps that make it feel like I’m loosing control ( wash boarding) I believe it’s called lol

 

I’ve upgraded most of the lighting inside an out, I am in the process of replacing the audio system I would love to add that sub woofer I found in the link that @shifty` sent. So far I’ve only replace the front door speakers.

 

What is long travel and a locker?

 

$$$$$$$

 

Long Travel is basically what a Pre-Runner would be running.

https://youtu.be/jwy2FPlEZH4?si=fcHRQPZ_GWi1aGy6

LT is a rabbit hole of modifications. Most go Mid-Travel

Locker - locking differential w/ air or electronic for off-road purposes. While OEM is usually LSD (Limited Slip Differential) or in some cases electronic.

 

Big money. You've also mentioned turbo or supercharger. Big money. For what you're describing you want to do, get all of the important things fixed and drive it. If you haven't read this yet, do so. https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Has anyone here done a rack and pinion realignment/ centering? And have instructions or a video to do it?

 

Yes I got down to audio systems and I found out that I can put a subwoofer under the back seat. There is so much good stuff in that link

 

For you and OP, i travel a lot and i mean A LOT. I chase desert races with my work and have spent many a mile in Baja chasing races. I had a 2008 tacoma pre-runner (2wd) with the Detroit True Trac and i could go pretty much anywhere and everywhere that anyone and everyone else was going. I had a good set of LRE tires to help keep flats at bay and i went pretty much anywhere and everywhere that anyone else in Baja could go. I chased many 250/500/1000 races with my rig as pit support. I have been all over the country from i-80 south from San Diego to Miami pulling trailers. I had some all-pro-offroad rear springs and a small lift up front and ran some nice wide tires and with the TrueTrac i would go practically anywhere i wanted to. Sure sometimes it took a little throttle and spinning to get up some hills but the truck was practically a billygoat and would go anywhere and everywhere i ever asked it to go. The 2wd turns sharper, burns less fuel, and will get you thru practically anything you ask except ice roads pulling a trailer.... You're pretty much Fawked and need to stop.

You need better shocks, and a limited slip rear end. You can realistically dumpster dive at junk yards and yank a 3rd member out of a rear end in less than 30 mins and swap into your truck and that alone will make a huge difference in being able to have confidence pulling a boat up a boat ramp not having one-tire-fire. Put some new shocks on it and it will feel totally different.

 

In that terrain, I agree it's pretty capable. I even mentioned that. Where I live, your RWD would get stuck in my yard if it rained. Unless you have a rear locker.

 

I think your stuck and my stuck might be different. Your stuck, not wanting to rut your yard up at 5% throttle vs me “it’s not my yard” WOT throwing 40ft rooster tails is a big difference in stuck vs not stuck. I’ve climbed some hills that were rutted out that were way too steep but I figured I’d at least try…. And while it took some wheel speed, I came up it. Having both rear tires pulling on an uphill with weight transferred over the back tires really will surprise you.

And yea, wet grass might be an Achilles heel if you’re trying to be nice and not rut a yard up but the “not my grass” mentality will typically get you out no problem.

 

$3,000 or so.

Headers
Re-gear to 4.56:1 or 4.30:1
Limited slip (if you don't already have one)

She'll be quick enough without spending tons of money.

 

dont.....them 4x4er's look down on 2WD. It's like talking to a wall

 

Some don’t……

 

the exception does not make the rule......

 

Two turn tables and a microphone……..

 

sooooyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

I always start with wheels tires/suspension. Nothing crazy but makes a drastic improvement. Here’s my 2wd

 

One of you lives in the desert and Texas might as well be. Of course you can get by without it. We get 50-60" of rain here and 10" of snow one day in January. 2WD trucks are absolutely terrible to own here. I had to two one up my hill last year. You just don't get it until you experience it. My dad had 2WD trucks growing up and it sucked. After seeing that, I knew I'd never own one.

We have some of the steepest most windy backwoods roads you can imagine. There is often no shoulder either. Also, this party of the country is famous for red clay soil. It is unbelievably slick and thick.




And they won't even let you drive on the beach with 2WD. So there's that...