Back in a Tundra (Gen 1 Double Cab 4x4)!

[willc]

I've spent a lot of mental energy trying to pick the "perfect" second vehicle to complement my '06 LX470. New Tacoma, gen 2 tundra, 4runner, another 100 series, maybe get a porsche 996? I don't know... I had a gen1 tundra I bought back in the day, and I respected it, but I didn't love it. It was a V6, regular cab, manual trans. Bought it for $5,500 and sold it for $7200.

So, while my original gen1 wasn't the ideal truck for me, it's been in the back of my mind that these things are almost as good as gold to own. Love the access cabs, but with a baby, I knew that wouldn't be a great option for a rear-facing carseat. So, I'm cruising marketplace daily, and I see this thing (pictured below) pop up. 116k miles, 4x4, double cab, 2005, limited trim, the timing belt had been done, $9k.

I've been looking on Autotrader and CarGurus checking occasionally, and a 4x4 double cab in the south is fairly rare. I thought, this thing must be from up north and brought down here. It'll be a rust bucket. Nope. Really clean frame- I'll post a vid in of the frame next. Ok, ok, ok... this sounds pretty good- how far away is it from me? Talking with the seller, he's 15 min from my house! Ok, ok, ok, I'm on the way.

The truck was surprisingly clean. The motor sounded good, no codes, confirmed no rust, let me drive this thing. Well, the lower ball joint is thunking- I've read about that and already ordered new ones. Everything worked on the interior. This thing is incredible! Except... It smells like smoke. I decided that's a deal breaker for me. I asked in a Facebook group about the frame, confirming it's clean because Idk what goes on up north in terms of cover up. Everyone said it looked good. I followed up on the post and said thanks everyone, didn't buy it. Smelled smoke. One guy commented something along the lines of, "You dumbass. that frame is like the holy grail for these trucks. It's 20 years old, do you know how many people would give their right nut to have a frame this clean?" And at first I was like, eh whatever dude. But then...

I'd be laying in bed and thinking, am I a dumbass? I am! I gotta have this thing!! So I started blowing the seller up on text messages. Like 5 long texts in a row asking for proof of the timing belt, how much I loved the truck, blah, blah, blah. If you can't show proof of the timing belt can I give you 7k? He finally gets tired of me blowing him up, and says, "Look dude, I did the timing belt. I told you that. But if you come with 7k tomorrow, you can take it."

So I showed up and bought for $7k! Deal of the century, I'm a genius, I could probably clean this thing up and sell it for 15-20k!! Incredible! I love Toyota trucks!! But, I soon came to learn, I'm not the genius I bragged to my wife about being. More in the next post...

 

[willc]

Eh I can't post up a frame video I have. I'll get some pictures soon.

But back to the truck. After I purchased it, I was looking at the keys and I noticed there was a bodyshop advertisement on the key chain... Oh no... Did I buy something that was in some sort of crazy accident? Did I just screw this up and it has a damaged frame? Lemme call the shop and see if they have a record of it. Ah- they do! Whew... it was only $1100 worth of work and only effected the front bumper, not the frame. Ok... man, I'm doin alright here!

I get it home and start thinking... I wonder if that guy is BSing about the timing belt. I want to know so I can replace if needed. Let me get on Toyota.com and look at the maintenance history if it's there. Ok great- the timing belt has been done! But wait... that's weird... it was done at 210k miles??? What??? Damn! Someone rolled back the odometer on this thing!!!

I didn't know that was a thing on modern vehicles. So, my time as a genius was cut short. But, IMO even with mileage unknown, and being upfront and honest about it, I bet it would still sell for 9-10k based on all the hunting I was doing (if not more).

 

[willc]

There are a couple things I am going to fix/maintain right away. Lower ball joints, fluids, maybe swap out the wheels. IDK what do y'all think? I don't think I'm a Fuel wheel type of guy. Might like to sell them and buy some 17in steelies and paint them black or something like that. It's going to need tires either way. What do y'all think about the wheels?

The smoke smell, actually ended up not being too bad. The guy vaped, but "never in the truck." Yeah right buddy. But thank God the vape smell faded way quicker than cigarettes would've. And I'm going to pay for a good detail on this thing to try to make it feel like we're back in '05.

The leather is pretty shot. When I thought it had a legit 116k on the clock, I was going to get it reupholstered. I still might, but I won't have that same swagger like I'm adding value to this low mileage, clean frame, 4x4! Now, it'll feel more like an expense. Seat covers?

Think I'll add a nice CarPlay head unit. That's one big advantage this thing has over the later 100 series. Easy to upgrade the stereo.

It has a tonneau cover that's in OK shape, but not too useful for my purposes hauling stuff in the bed. Might just give it away and get a backflip cover that can fold up out of the way.

I already took the running boards off as you can see below. The skid plate was taken off, I guess when they did the front end work, so I'd like to replace that.

There's this weird thing on the fender where it's flared down slightly. I think I'm just going to bend it back into place or at least up and out of the way.

The rear door panels are having some flaking. I might find some used panels in better shape. the door handle housing on some of the inside doors and the door handles on some of the outside doors need to be replaced.

Overall though, this thing seems to in really good condition. Even with the odometer BS, I think it's still going to be a truck that serves me well. And I'll be less likely to flip it because the value isn't going to be there like it would for a legit low mileage example. Now, it'll be more about just driving and enjoying. Having it in good enough shape to where my in-laws can take it around when they're in town and not have it feel like a beater.

I'm going to attempt to keep this post updated, so if I do decide to sell it in a couple years, there will be full transparency on my ownership time with it. And someone like me, who doesn't want to potentially lose their ass on a used car purchase will be able to see it was well maintained.

 

[willc]

I used a heat gun to soften up that fender and bend it up out of the way- not beautiful work, but an improvement over it being bent down.

New LBJ’s going in on Tuesday. Toyota parts.

Think I’ve decided I like this thing analog(ish) so I’m not going to be adding a touch screen for now.

Driver’s seat is killing my lower back. I think it has to do with the seat bottom foam being super compressed. I was thinking I’d skip reupholstery like I did on my LX470, but that might be my one splurge. Unless there’s other seats people swap in?

Brakes are pretty weak. I want to add steelies in place of the fuel wheels, but I don’t know if adding more unsprung weight will be a great idea with the current braking power.

I’m researching the gx460 brakes now, I’ve seen the power stop pair, seen some rear disc conversions… not too sure what I’d do, but the braking is considerably worse than the LX470, and from a safety standpoint… I’d like a little more stopping power.

Overall, this thing is incredible for a 7k truck. I’m shocked at how well everything works compared to my 2000 Silverado I used to own about 4-5 years ago. The Chevy was reliable, but the build quality difference is on another level with the Tundra.

So, some little projects- going to try to not over improve the 7k truck, but I think a comfortable drivers seat and good stopping power are both reasonable. Lmk if you have any thoughts