Builds 100's Cousin (twice removed) (2 Viewers)

[GTV]

Hey all, I'm Zach. Originally from Arizona, now in the great northwest for the last 4 years. Absolutely love it here.
I bought my 2000 SR5 AC 2WD V8 Tundra back in May of 2005 at the tender age of 24. I got bait and switched at the dealer, my mom had to co-sign for me, I was a broke ass (probably still am) and the $306/mo payment for the next 60 months was brutal. But that damn truck took me everywhere, moved me to Wyoming, back to AZ, and now to Seattle. It survived being borrowed by friends and family, it saw -25° and over 120°. It never complained about lack of maintenance or abuse while towing dozens of dead old cars all over the country, sometimes far over its tow rating. It has been the most consistent thing in my life the last [nearly] 14 years. The dealer may have ripped me off but buying that truck was still one of the best investments I've ever made.

I could keep going but if you’re reading this you already know. It’s hard not to appreciate how bomb proof Toyota trucks are.

 

[GTV]

When I bought the Tundra I didn't want 4WD. I figured it would just be more expense, worse mileage, more expensive insurance and I just wouldn't really use it. I was perfectly happy with my decision for nearly 10 years. Right before I moved up north I started camping more, and started getting the itch to get off the beaten path. So for the last few years always figured I would get another 1st gen Tundra to take me off road. To me the size is perfection and the 2nd gen is butt ugly I was thinking 05/06 for the improved performance, and I also figured I wouldn't make this upgrade for quite some time as I am the frugal sort. Then this past October I realized that the Tundra doesn't get nearly as many greasy/dirty old parts and tools thrown in the bed these days, why not get a Sequoia instead? And from that small seed a big tree grew

 

[GTV]

First thing I noticed was how damn cheap Sequoia's are! Once I learned that, I talked the wife into it and it was game on. After about 6 weeks of searching I found my victim on eBay at a used car dealership just north of Chicago. It was the exact truck I wanted (except maybe the colour). 2005, SR5, cloth seats, towing package, sunroof and that all important 4WD. Very basic. One owner, always dealer serviced, mint interior, solid frame and clean vehicle history reports. 256k miles, $3,750.

 

[Dindu Nuffin]

They're not the be-all end-all of trucks or suvs, but they are hidden gems for sure. They're all used as minivans around here so once you remove the kid mess, you end up with a pretty decent vehicle for not much money. Congrats on the find, and I hope you have many great years with it.

 

[GTV]

In stock form it is for sure a soccer mom special. I don't have the desire to do any heavy off roading, with a slight lift and much better tires I'm sure the Sequoia has the capabilities to take me anywhere I want to go. At least for now... we'll see if I evolve on that over time. Truth be told, I'd prefer to have a 06-08 V8 4Runner (a Sequoia is much more vehicle than I actually need), but all else being equal that would cost me 2-3x what the Sequoia was. So I'll live with it.

The only problem I saw with this particular Sequoia is that it was 2,000 miles away... Buying something sight unseen and taking a chance on it is going to be a little nerve racking. Especially considering what my drive home would look like, in the dead of winter.

My wife and I already had a trip to Charleston and Savannah planned for New Years, so I figured instead of flying back home to Seattle I would detour towards Chicago and drive it home, solo.

 

[Dindu Nuffin]

I came from the 80 world, so the bar was set pretty high and I'm not gonna lie- the tree easily gets the job done off road and is far, far better to live with on the street. I don't even miss the solid front axle.

I'm in South Ogden, UT and there are a TON for sale around here. www.ksl.com/auto for the local classifieds. If you see something on there that interests you, send me the link and I'll go have a look and report back. The one caveat is that I work swing shift, and we are on mandatory overtime right now (six 10 hour days a week), so my current free time is non-existent. But if I do have a free minute, I will do what I can to help.

As for the drive back... It's a Toyota, man. You want to talk about sight unseen jitters? I bought a Jaguar that way.

 

[GTV]

A Jag? You're nuts!

So, I started this topic on another forum that is pretty much dead... as a lot of forums are these days. The next few posts will be a copy & paste of what I entered over there. At least that way I won't feel like I totally wasted my time. I'll keep the topic updated here, hopefully there will be enough traffic to keep me motivated to do so.

January 3, 2019
Hello all, I write this from an Airbnb somewhere north of Chicago, about 9:30pm local time. I’ll go into more detail as this thread progresses, but the short story is that I bought a dead stock (for now) 2005 Sequoia SR5 4x4 with 256k on the clock sight unseen about three weeks ago. I’m picking it up tomorrow morning and I’ll be spending the next three days driving it solo 2,000 miles home to Seattle across the northern U.S. in the dead of winter because... well, because why not

I’ll post here again tomorrow night from somewhere in middle America, if not sooner.

Wish me luck!

 

[GTV]

January 4, 2019
Ok! So I have to admit, even though I’ve owned a lot of cars (I have always been a “car guy”), buying something site unseen with that many miles and that far from home had me a little apprehensive, even if it is a Toyota. But so far it feels really solid. It definitely could use new shocks and tires but that was of course on my agenda anyway. It motored along at 80mph all day long, returning 15mpg which is exactly what I expected and only about 1mpg worse than my 2000 Tundra would have done. I’m staying the night in Sioux Falls, SD tonight, I’d like to make it to Butte, Montana tomorrow but there are some sights I’d like to see so I might push that back a day. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.

 

[GTV]

January 5, 2019
This afternoon I was in the middle of nowhere on a tiny two lane highway in the southeastern corner of Montana, I missed my turn so I made a u-turn, totally mis-judged it, went a little wide and ended up sliding down the snowy embankment. Put it in 4 lo with the center diff lock on and crawled right out, even with the crummy tires that are on there. It totally saved my hide!

I slept for s*** last night, so I didn’t get the early start I was hoping for. Drove straight through to Butte, nearly 900 miles. Just got in a few minutes ago. This rig is gaining my confidence with every mile I drive (now just over 1300). Still averaging around 15mpg, the 80mph speed limits up in this part of the country aren’t great for mileage!

Filling up in Kimball, SD

Gotta love it when you can park right outside of your motel room.

 

[GTV]

January 6, 2016
I’m exhausted but I’m home. The truck did great, the tires were awful. Lookout Pass from Montana to Idaho was an adventure, to say the least. As soon as I hit the Idaho border the roads were clear and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way home.
This was somewhere just west of Missoula, this was no problem but it turned into a white knuckled ride shortly thereafter.

 

[GTV]

January 7, 2019
Did a little general tidying up of things here and there, and set the home link up to open my garage door. As you can see, the garage door is short at only about 6’8”. The topper on the Tundra just barely slips under. I don’t plan to park it in there all the time but I do want to be able to work on it and shut the door if need be. So that will play a factor in this “build”.

 

[GTV]

January 8, 2019
Today I installed the K&N filter that I had on my Tundra before I went to the aFe cold air intake (I knew I kept it for a reason!) and also transferred over all of the other random junk like the ice scraper, maps, center console crap, etc that was in my Tundra. I’ve had that truck for nearly 14 years, it feels really weird to start the process of selling it...

I also got some parts in

A week before I picked the Sequoia up I found a good deal on long tube JBA headers, I had a few hundred bucks in my PayPal account so I went for it. I still have to gather the rest of the exhaust system parts so they went back in the box and squirreled away from the wife. They have the titanium ceramic coat if you were curious.

 

[GTV]

January 10, 2019
Wiper upgrade!
Tundra’s and Sequoia’s use little 19” blades. Years ago while shopping for new blades on my Tundra I noticed that there was a lot of real estate on the windshield for larger blades. And since blades are mostly the same cost regardless of size I figured, why not? Anyway, eventually I maxed out with a 21” blade on the drivers side and a 24” blade on the passenger. A substantial increase in coverage.
One of the first things I noticed when I used the wipers in the Sequoia was the weak coverage that they have. So I figured I would do the same as my Tundra. I tested my 21/24 blades out and realized that the Sequoia has even more room to go up. I maxed out at 24” on the drivers side for a upper sweep increase of 2.5” and 26” on the passenger for a sweep increase of 3.5”. It’s tight, really tight, but it all fits. All blades are Bosch Icon, I haven’t found anything that works better and lasts longer.

Just slides under the lip on the left A pillar molding.

 

[GTV]

The difference is pretty massive. I realized that previously I was leaning forward in my seat so I could see certain areas of the road, now I can sit back and see everything clearly. This is a modification that I do to every car we own, and since the price is the same, why the hell wouldn’t you? And why the hell did Toyota use such dinky little blades to begin with?
One thing I noticed right away when I picked the Sequoia up last week is that it has a Toyota windshield. Either the previous owners had EVERYTHING done at the dealer or this is the original glass (with 259k!?). Either way, little things like that make me happy.

 

[Bryanseye]

Nice work

 

[GTV]

January 13, 2019
Night vision was garbage. I’ve used Osram Night Breaker Laser headlights in my Tundra for a few years now. They’re bright as hell but they last two years like they’re on a ****ing timer. The headlights in the Sequoia were s*** on my long drive home, they seemed dim and the right side light was pointing all up at a wonky angle. I had to use the high beams or else I couldn’t see a damn thing. So anyway, I went a step down in Osram’s lineup and got the Osram blah blah Unlimited. Went to install said bulbs and I noticed that my passenger side bulb was installed incorrectly, the flat side wasn’t facing down. So I fixed that and, voilà, headlights are pointing where they should be. And I saw that the last hands in there, even though unskilled, installed Osram bulbs. So I’ll at least keep those in there for a little while. Major improvement at zero cost.

 

[GTV]

January 25, 2019
The fog bulbs on my Tundra went out, so I decided to upgrade the tree and pass it’s old bulbs down (I’ll be selling the Tundra soon). Just as with the headlights in the Sequoia, one bulb was installed half way-ish and crooked. Weird. Anyway, I installed (correctly) a pair of Hella 80w bulbs. I had them in the Tundra and I really liked their performance. They lasted 2 1/2 years and for the low price I see that as acceptable. The fogs in the Sequoia only come on with the low beams so theoretically this set should last me a lot longer. And for the price (less than $14 shipped), it’s one of the best cheap upgrades you can make. I'll probably further improve on lighting in the future, but for now I'm pretty content.

 

[GTV]

January 26, 2019
A couple days ago I was reading the owners manual and figured out the “engine maintenance” light just meant that an oil change was due How was I to know, this is the newest car I’ve owned! So I obliged. Mobil 1 5w30 and a larger capacity filter, in this case the M1-209.

Yesterday after work my new Denso Iriduim Power spark plugs arrived so I got straight to it and put them in (I was getting a #2 misfire before). Did a OBD scan today and she came up clean, so it is good to get registered and “smogged” It’s running very nicely. I’m happy!

 

[GTV]

Ok, we're caught up to current time now!

Last Friday the 1st I had the truck smog checked and all was well as far as that goes BUT... I have another problem now.

Steering rack is pissing fluid in a bad way. It's un-drivable at the moment, leaves a trail wherever it goes. So I NEED to replace the rack ASAP and I have a few questions that I could really use help on...

1)Where to get a quality rack? Or possibly have this one rebuilt in the Seattle area? Toyota discontinued them (as far as I can tell), I want something high quality that works as Toyota intended and I won't have to replace again. Does a new rack come with tie rod ends?

Edit:

2001-2007 Toyota Rack and Pinion 44250-0C041 | McGeorge Toyota Parts

2001-2007 Toyota part # 44250-0C041 - Rack and Pinion

parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com

Is it worth going OEM or having mine rebuilt, or?

2) Since I'm going to screw up the alignment with a steering rack I figure I might as well go all the way and level the front at the same time so I only have to get it aligned once. I'm going with 5100's for now, 3rd notch, basic leveling job. I will also get extended sway bar end links and I'm thinking steering rack bushings are a good idea. What else should I inspect or replace while I'm in there? I'll be ordering parts in the next couple days

I appreciate your comments!

 

[4mydogs]

I like your Sequoia and enjoyed reading your story to date. I agree that the 2nd generation is . . . well, not as attractive looking as the first. But I couldn't find a low mileage first gen so I ended up with a 2nd. It's been great for me so far, and I hope that you have good luck and great times with yours.