What did you do with your Tundra or Sequoia this weekend?

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Snagged a real nice one-owner 17 Cement Pro, 40K miles. Actually I stole
It lol. Awesome manager at a Toyota store in Arlington Tx. Gave me an amazing deal.
I missed the 17 Barcelona Pro. I hope my buddy @ikarus is enjoying the power adder.
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Spent ~week fabricating fridge and secondary battery support for hitch basket, etc for wife's 2022 Sequoia (ole good V8). Loaded it up for the family camping trip. Made maybe 15 minutes, one of the kids farted, cracked down the hatch window and could not bring it up. The glass moves down, but not up.

Returned back, took the hatch door apart, could not diagnose the problem in an ~hour. Spent another two hours moving everything into my trusty 2019 Tundra. Driving 3 kids 500+ miles on the rear bench of DC truck is a nightmare.

Got back home yesterday, used my lab power supply to drive the glass up (motor works), so that the wifie could use her Sequoia while I'm out in the woods, healing family camping mental trauma. Took the switch out and apart, only to find it is a dumb mechanical device with couple of resistors and LED. Switch is good, motor is good, then it must be either a wiring harness or ECU mounted on the hatch, right?

Found the diagnostics step-by-step in the Volume 7 of 35 lbs of 2011 Sequoia repair manual. Highlighted the problem I found. I still have a week of PTO left, so facepalm imprints still have some time to heal...

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@vtl that’s brutal lmfao!

I’m polling the audience to see what y’all think of this trade.

I have my 1993 FZJ80 listed for sale for break even at $10,9xx. 290k miles, factory lockers, no rust, winch bumper, winch, new tires, ome stock height springs, new shocks, fresh hoses, all good except burns a little oil. Paint faded, windshield cracked, sunroof doesn’t work. Blah blah blah.

So I found a 2010 tundra 4x4 TRD Rock Warrior crew cab. I want to replace my 2008 4x4 DC Tundra with a crew cab because I have three kids (9, 7, & 5). Don’t really prefer the sequoia over the truck, so that’s not an option right now. The catch is that the 2010 RW Tundra needs a head gasket. It’s listed for $7k, so I would trade and he would throw cash on top.


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banjo1981 said:
@vtl that’s brutal lmfao!

I’m polling the audience to see what y’all think of this trade.

I have my 1993 FZJ80 listed for sale for break even at $10,9xx. 290k miles, factory lockers, no rust, winch bumper, winch, new tires, ome stock height springs, new shocks, fresh hoses, all good except burns a little oil. Paint faded, windshield cracked, sunroof doesn’t work. Blah blah blah.

So I found a 2010 tundra 4x4 TRD Rock Warrior crew cab. I want to replace my 2008 4x4 DC Tundra with a crew cab because I have three kids (9, 7, & 5). Don’t really prefer the sequoia over the truck, so that’s not an option right now. The catch is that the 2010 RW Tundra needs a head gasket. It’s listed for $7k, so I would trade and he would throw cash on top.


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CrewCab for kids - yes (DoubleCab is really tough). Head gasket - no. I think there's a problem with the deformed block that leads to the blown gasket. New gasket won't last long. The youtube guy can keep saying it's all about old coolant, but no way on Earth that can happen and leave no acidic damage evidence.

I somewhat regret I've got a DC Tundra. 6.5 bed is good, and I slept in there in the woods for quite some time (wind cover is a big deal even in negative temps and no heating), but I relocated my sleeping rig to the cabin recently and would appreciate more space and comfort for the kids now.

Sequoia is hands down a winner in terms of the long family trip. Just in a different league. If your property has a place for trailer, for 3+ kids I would get a Sequoia and do just the trailer when needed.

In any case, do not buy a truck with the blown MLS head gasket. MLS gaskets last forever, it's always the block that causes MLS gasket problems.
 
vtl said:
CrewCab for kids - yes (DoubleCab is really tough). Head gasket - no. I think there's a problem with the deformed block that leads to the blown gasket. New gasket won't last long. The youtube guy can keep saying it's all about old coolant, but no way on Earth that can happen and leave no acidic damage evidence.

I somewhat regret I've got a DC Tundra. 6.5 bed is good, and I slept in there in the woods for quite some time (wind cover is a big deal even in negative temps and no heating), but I relocated my sleeping rig to the cabin recently and would appreciate more space and comfort for the kids now.

Sequoia is hands down a winner in terms of the long family trip. Just in a different league. If your property has a place for trailer, for 3+ kids I would get a Sequoia and do just the trailer when needed.

In any case, do not buy a truck with the blown MLS head gasket. MLS gaskets last forever, it's always the block that causes MLS gasket problems.
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Thank you for the advice! Maybe a good case for a replacement engine from a low mileage wrecked rig.
 
open country said:
HGs on 5.7's are a brutal job, I'd pass. You can find plenty of solid Tundras (albeit maybe not RW's) around $10k.
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Yeah, after more consideration and the advice on here… I’m just going to hold out for the right one. My real wish list is an 08-13 limited or platinum super crew. I had a 2008 sequoia limited before and I prefer towing and driving with the truck.
 
vtl said:
Spent ~week fabricating fridge and secondary battery support for hitch basket, etc for wife's 2022 Sequoia (ole good V8). Loaded it up for the family camping trip. Made maybe 15 minutes, one of the kids farted, cracked down the hatch window and could not bring it up. The glass moves down, but not up.

Returned back, took the hatch door apart, could not diagnose the problem in an ~hour. Spent another two hours moving everything into my trusty 2019 Tundra. Driving 3 kids 500+ miles on the rear bench of DC truck is a nightmare.

Got back home yesterday, used my lab power supply to drive the glass up (motor works), so that the wifie could use her Sequoia while I'm out in the woods, healing family camping mental trauma. Took the switch out and apart, only to find it is a dumb mechanical device with couple of resistors and LED. Switch is good, motor is good, then it must be either a wiring harness or ECU mounted on the hatch, right?

Found the diagnostics step-by-step in the Volume 7 of 35 lbs of 2011 Sequoia repair manual. Highlighted the problem I found. I still have a week of PTO left, so facepalm imprints still have some time to heal...

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HAHAHAAHA!! Thanks for sharing. We've all done something like that.

It is odd that it will go down but not up like that. Maybe a safety system? I'll try in my Tundra, but I'm 99% sure none of the windows will not go down or up. I know in my RX350 they all work normally from the driver's door switches with the lock switch on. So, it's not consistent between Toyota models.
 
Jetboy said:
HAHAHAAHA!! Thanks for sharing. We've all done something like that.

It is odd that it will go down but not up like that. Maybe a safety system? I'll try in my Tundra, but I'm 99% sure none of the windows will not go down or up. I know in my RX350 they all work normally from the driver's door switches with the lock switch on. So, it's not consistent between Toyota models.
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Maybe the Sequoia has an interior air quality sensor and it actually let the hatch window to go down (the kid farted, remember? ;) )

In any case, departing late and tired is always a mistake. Would it happen the next morning I would be able to diagnose it properly. I think.
 
Big milestone today

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Oil change/tire rotation in a crowded garage. Also threw on an RCI skidplate - big improvement. And it'll be killer to not have to drop the skid every time I need to change the oil

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+1 on the oil change. The factory skid is so GD annoying. Same on my 4Runner. Why Toyota??? I swapped to a TRD Pro aluminum one on the Tundra just for the oil access door. It's about a strong as heavy duty cardboard. But I don't have to pull it off every few months. And I have a front hitch so it covers the front hardware on the skid plate meaning I had to remove the front hitch and the skid plate every oil change.

Controversial opinion - I don't think there's a need to change the filter every oil change. I've cut mine open the last 3 or 4 oil changes and the filter is completely pristine inside. I'd bet that I could leave the same filter in place for the rest of the truck's life and it would work just as well if I keep the oil changed on a normal schedule. I was at my suzuki dealer a few weeks ago for my outboard that has a filter that's a PITA down hidden behind a cowling and they didn't have a filter in stock - the parts guy said "you don't really need to change those filters, we never do." And that was for the first 10hr break in oil change where I think it would be the most important of any time. I thought - that's why I change my own oil. But it also got me thinking that maybe it really isn't all that useful. If the filter isn't filling up with debris or particles of anything, why are we changing them so often? Maybe modern engines don't really need the filter changed very often??
 
banjo1981 said:
The RCI has a cutout to drain & change the filter? What a novel Idea that Toyota should’ve considered 😂
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I bet there's some engineer bouncing around departments at Toyota.. started as an intern designing the pesky heater hose on 80s, then moved up to starter placement for the 2UZ, then skid plate design, and now he's been promoted to "block cleaning procedures" for the v35a-fts 🤣
 
ikarus said:
I bet there's some engineer bouncing around departments at Toyota.. started as an intern designing the pesky heater hose on 80s, then moved up to starter placement for the 2UZ, then skid plate design, and now he's been promoted to "block cleaning procedures" for the v35a-fts 🤣
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Block design it is. 3UR was not cleaner from the get-go, yet find a stock one with a spun main bearing.

But that guy was responsible for the UR starter placement, too =)
 
ikarus said:
I bet there's some engineer bouncing around departments at Toyota.. started as an intern designing the pesky heater hose on 80s, then moved up to starter placement for the 2UZ, then skid plate design, and now he's been promoted to "block cleaning procedures" for the v35a-fts 🤣
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I'm thinking he may also have spent a side part of nearly an entire career designing the needle bearings in the front diffs - how on earth did that design last for something like 40 years and multiple generations of TSBs and replacements when a cheaper bushing would work better?
 
ikarus said:
I bet there's some engineer bouncing around departments at Toyota.. started as an intern designing the pesky heater hose on 80s, then moved up to starter placement for the 2UZ, then skid plate design, and now he's been promoted to "block cleaning procedures" for the v35a-fts 🤣
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ouch, that one hurt 😅
 
banjo1981 said:
Yeah, after more consideration and the advice on here… I’m just going to hold out for the right one. My real wish list is an 08-13 limited or platinum super crew. I had a 2008 sequoia limited before and I prefer towing and driving with the truck.
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I have my 08 DC 4x4 sold to my sister in law. Found a 2012 Crewmax limited 4x4 in my price range down in El Paso. Hopefully it doesn’t sell before I get to snag it. Fingers crossed 🤞
 
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