Builds 100's Cousin (twice removed)

[dirtEJohnson]

Not sure how I feel about your thread title, but hey it's a good read at least. No judgement from me, I've bought a few sight unseen myself. Mostly worked out heh. Keep going and learn your ride the honest way. Like the wheels too, I intended to PC mine the same color, but not much on looks. Forgive me for the the battered rattle can version but meh, I just care how good they work, not so much the paint. It gets striped up on the regular anyway. Here's my current driveway look, minus the Lexus road trip mobile.

 

[GTV]

Not sure how I feel about your thread title, but hey it's a good read at least.

Yep I agree, thread title sucks! Glad you're enjoying it though.

Nice rigs you've got there. Where in Wyoming are you? I did a year at WyoTech in Laramie almost 15 years ago. Don't miss it

I'm slowly moving towards doing a simple rattle can paint job on my wheels as well. I really like the dark hyper but it's a real pain in the ass to get the colour right and I don't want to spend a bunch of money and not have it be accurate. So we'll see where I end up...

Random story time...
My first ever drive was when I just turned 15 years of age. My sisters father-in-law had a then new 80 series (he now has a 200), and threw me the keys. I loved the 80 back then, and I couldn't believe that he was letting me drive it! Shortly thereafter Toyota released the 100 and aesthetically, IMO, it had nothing on the 80. I never really came around to the 100 until a buddy of mine picked up an LX a few years ago, immediately raised the AHC and put 34's on it. The more I've learned about the 100 the more I began to appreciate it, it's a seriously capable vehicle. In fact it's far more capable then I foresee myself needing, so that's part of the reason why I went with the Sequoia (and being able to get a non luxury spec cloth interior, VVT 4.7, 5 speed, 6 lug, and the ability to easily fit a full sized air mattress in the back). I thought about titling this thread "Wannabe 100" but that's not exactly accurate either. So, whatever. I'm open to suggestions!

 

[dirtEJohnson]

I'm from the "holy crap that's pretty" part of the state. It you remember your plate designations you would already know...
A double mattress fits nicely in a 100 too.
It's my understanding that 100 series stock rear springs (non AHC) are a perfect way to add 2" to the rear of the big tree. Might be a good option for you. For the front I would highly recommend the Toytech stuff. I tried a few options (and wasted a few bucks) on the Tundy before I found the setup that works. Aftermarket support is weak for the Tundra/Sequoia platform and I think it's a shame. I have put mine through a lot of punishment and have never had an issue.
Keep your thread title just like it is. They are cousins, maybe twice removed. IMHO the Land Cruiser is on a whole other level. The smarmy, genius cousin.

 

[GTV]

Good call

Ohh yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about. Went there three summers in a row in my pre teens, haven’t had the chance to make it back since. Been trying to figure out a trip for a few years now.

You’re absolutely right about the 100 coils. I’ll check out the Toyotech stuff eventually, I just installed 5100’s up front and 4600’s in the rear as a baseline of sorts. I’ll play around with this a bit, learn what direction I need to go to suit my evolving needs.

 

[GTV]

Parts arrived today! The plan was to put the instrument panel back together in the Tundra but unfortunately the drive and O/D off bulbs they sent me were far too big.
Originals on the left.

Anyone know what’s up with this? All of my research showed that the correct bulb was the 83120-60020. I’m awaiting response from McGeorge Toyota.

Since finishing that project wasn’t an option I turned my attention to the rear hatch on the Sequoia. Since my ownership the hatch has been very difficult to unlatch and it wouldn’t completely close allowing it to bang around a little bit over bumps. It finally stopped working altogether a couple weeks ago. I ordered a new latch assembly and got to it.
The original latch was completely wasted. Hard to believe it worked at all!

It took longer to clean the gobs of old lithium grease off of everything than to r&r. The handle itself looked relatively new, it must have been replaced somewhat recently.

Install went smoothly, and I also found a 6mm nut inside the hatch that is back to where it belongs and no longer rattling around in there. The hatch opens easily and closes tightly. I’m happy!

 

[Jgrauman]

good work. I also have something rattling around my hatch. I need to open it up and see...

 

[GTV]

good work. I also have something rattling around my hatch. I need to open it up and see...

Do it before it breaks, it’s a bit of a pain in the ass to get in there when the hatch won’t open.

McGeorge has been helpful, they said the bulbs I ordered should have been correct. I sent the picture of the old vs new and now they are sending a return package for the wrong bulbs and a new pair that should work, 83120-04090.

 

[Jgrauman]

Do it before it breaks, it’s a bit of a pain in the ass to get in there when the hatch won’t open.

McGeorge has been helpful, they said the bulbs I ordered should have been correct. I sent the picture of the old vs new and now they are sending a return package for the wrong bulbs and a new pair that should work, 83120-04090.

Latch is new, think the po just dropped something when they changed it. I ordered from mcgeorge for the first time for my lower ball joints, they were great to work with, I ordered castle nuts because they weren't listed on the lbj part diagram. They emailed me with a refund within 10min of the order and said they already came with it. Now that's service.

 

[GTV]

Yeah those diagrams are the worst part!

 

[GTV]

Still waiting on the correct instrument panel bulbs, hopefully today.

I’ve had some brake vibration in my Tundra that I narrowed down to the original 247k mile rear drums. I tried getting the original drums machined but they were slightly past spec and I couldn’t convince the guy to just do them anyway so I picked up a cheap pair of replacements. Good enough to sell.

 

[GTV]

McGeorge hasn’t even shipped the correct bulbs to me yet, I got tired of waiting so I asked for credit and bought the bulbs at my local dealer (for twice the price). I haven’t seen the D and O/D lights in years!! And I’ll have to start driving this a little more, no way I’m selling it will a full tank of 92!

It was also due for an oil change. I had a little Redline left over from 10ish years ago and the PO of our house left a little Valvoline in the garage. I made up the difference with some Mobil1, at least it’s all 5w-30! I used the K&N version of the Mobil1 filter I pictured previously in the thread (larger capacity) because I’ve read good things about the K&N and it has that handy nut welded to the bottom.

I forgot how much fun this Tundra is to drive. It’s so much more immediate/urgent than my Sequoia, a LOT more analog and a LOT less numb feeling. A hell of a lot lighter as well. Comparatively it feels like a hot rod. Currently waiting on this rain to stop to get a little more work done...

 

[GTV]

More Tundra stuff.
I needed to get at the AUX cable to see why it wasn’t working. I figured it was a good time to pull the carpet and give it a well needed power wash. I also took the opportunity to clean up 19 years of dust and dirt from the metal surfaces and door jambs. It’s going to be downright civil in there now.

I’m hoping it will be dry enough to reinstall tomorrow but I’m not betting on it.
AUX cable now works

 

[GTV]

I had a little break in the weather after work today so I got busy and reinstalled the interior. Cleaned and detailed every piece I touched along the way. All that’s left now inside is cleaning up the door panels and dash.
Looking ok for an old work truck!

 

[Gappy]

Good read.
Nice Yotas, nice “bay window”, nice bike. When I started reading I was expecting to read in the end that you decided to keep both vehicles.
Keep it up.

 

[GTV]

Thanks Gappy!
The bay window is an absolute pile of s***! Definitely some buyers remorse on that one but at least it was super cheap. Once the Tundra is gone it needs my attention. It's been sitting in that spot for 2 years now and I want it gone. Plan is to do the Gambler 500 in it this summer and then sell it on. That is starting to feel like a pretty tight deadline though...

I'm definitely sentimental about the old Tundra, hard not to be after all these reliable years. If it was 4WD I'm sure I would keep it and I would have never had the need (ok, want) for the Sequoia. The only thing it does better than the Sequoia is haul big dirty car parts around and I just don't do that stuff anymore. I'm also becoming a lot more minimalist these days, it has become redundant so it's gotta go. I'll definitely miss it, I'm honestly hoping one of my friends will step up and buy it!
Anyway, I did a little more work yesterday. My goal was to use the football trick (stuff deflated football between panels and pump it up) and pop out this dent in my door where a deer hit me 4 years ago. I was able to work it out a little but not as much as I hoped for.

At least it gave me the opportunity to clean up the door panel and inner door properly. I also saw that I forgot to plug the tweeter back in from the last time I was in there. Oops!
With that door put back together I moved to clean up the rear suicide door. I was 99% done when this happened

Luckily (very luckily!) I had kept a new hinge in the center console all these years.

 

[GTV]

Within maybe 20 minutes I had the panel off, new hinge installed, panel and inner door cleaned up and back together. I love how easy Toyota's are to work on.

I still need to bleed and adjust the brakes, but it's getting real close now.

 

[GTV]

Unfortunately I have little to report here, I’ve been riding my fixed gear as much as possible and only making a short drive in the Sequoia once or twice a week. My last tank of fuel in the Sequoia lasted 13 weeks It returned an awful 12mpg, I think some of the fuel must have evaporated!

Life has also been unbearably stressful lately so that has put a hold on truck work, last week however I found a great deal on some used Bridgestone Dueler 255/70’s to replace the nearly bald 265/65’s that were originally from the Sequoia. I really like how a slightly taller and narrower tire looks on this truck. Less sidewall bulge is far more appropriate. The ground is slightly uneven hence the larger gap up front...

Anyway, last thing I need to do (besides wash and detail the filthy thing) is adjust the brakes. I don’t have the time or ambition with everything else going on that we’re currently dealing with, does anyone have a suggestion on a trusted Seattle area Toyota mechanic that can take care of that for me?

 

[GTV]

I’ve got a thing for witty old license plate frames, I’ve got them on all of our vehicles. I’ve been after one of these “TRY IT... IN A TOYOTA” frames for a long while, finally scored this NOS frame on eBay. I’m pretty stoked!

 

[GTV]

Some good friends from AZ came up and visited us in Seattle last weekend, this week they made plans to head north and explore Victoria, BC and the surrounding area. I lent them the Sequoia and this morning my buddy sent me this.

 

[GTV]

I was having a chat a few nights ago with a buddy of mine back in AZ and he was surprised that I hadn’t yet taken the Sequoia out in the sticks. He was totally right, in the 8 months I’ve owned this thing it hasn’t been off the pavement and I needed to rectify that ASAP.
I had a couple unplanned days off in the middle of the week so I invited a buddy of mine out to a quick trip to the North Cascades, we did Hart’s Pass and found a sweet little campsite Thursday night.