seanpistol's 01 Tundra

[seanpistol]

2001 Toyota Tundra V8 4x4 SR5 TRD access cab
4.7L V8 2UZ-FE with 168k miles, daily driven
4.88 gears with ARB lockers front and rear
"J-shift" manual transfer case swap, no electronics in 4wd system

Solo Motorsports +3.5" per side 14" long travel kit
King coilovers with 18" 700 lb springs and custom valving
Camburg +3.5" extended axle shafts with SDHQ CV boots
Trail Gear adjustable limit strap clevis with 12" limit straps
231mm Tundra brake caliper upgrade with custom stainless braided front brake lines with banjo bolt conversion
Total Chaos steering rack bushings and a "new" reman power steering rack

315/70r17 Mickey Thompson ATZ P3 on Method 105 beadlocks - 4.75" backspacing
firewall is tubbed, room for 37s

rear 10" stroke Fox smoothies, Wheeler's 3-pack progressive AAL and Marlin Crawler U-bolt flip
Archive Garage shackle flip with Archive Garage 6" shackles
extended diff breather and extended rear stainless braided brake line

All-Pro sliders and high clearance rear bumper with bedside protection
Brute Force Fab front bumper with Superwinch Tigershark 9500 synthetic and LED fog lights

Washer fluid res relocated to engine bay
HID projector retrofit
full size Goodyear MTR spare on Wheelers steelie with 4.5" backspacing
cowl induction air intake inside fender
DieHard Platinum Marine 31m
Flowmaster 40 muffler
Pioneer AVIC-D3 head unit- GPS, satellite radio capable, DVD player with bypass
6 position OTRATTW switch holder overhead in what used to be the sunglasses holder
Ultragauge
roof painted in bedliner
Cobra 75wxst CB radio
Firestick II 3' antenna
heated seat swap from 2008 Subaru WRX
Center console from 2006 limited Tundra, has seat heater switches but they are not hooked up


Home-made bed rack
Bedslide
Toolbox mounted to bedslide

 

[seanpistol]

I bought this truck in February of 2010 when I had a lot of free time to do research while recovering from a torn ACL. I was driving a 2009 Subaru Impreza wagon that I bought brand new two years earlier, and was antsy to get back into a truck and into a Toyota- so I started doing some research. Before the Subaru I drove a 1990 7.3L IDI diesel 4x4 F-250. I loved that truck, but the twin I beam front end gave me a lot of problems and I ended up with a cracked block at 185,000(maybe 285 or 385 since the odometer just rolls over) miles. I had my eye on a Tacoma but quickly realized they hold their value too well. I talked myself into the V8 and slightly larger body of the Tundra and don't regret that decision for a minute.

I purchased this truck from a friend of a friend who took very good care of the it. They handed me a stack of folders organized by year with every maintenance record and receipt since the truck was new. That had me sold. I bought it with 84,000 miles. It had a 2 1/2" Daystar spacer lift, 1" rear block, 16" American Racing teflon wheels, 285 Hankook Dynapro ATs, a DVD player with a bypass, remote start, and a vinyl flat black wrap. I was also given a brush guard for it, which I cleaned up and sold right away.

Here it is the day I brought it home.

I left the truck as is for a little over a year, with the exception of adding a diamond plate tool box and swapping the stock muffler for a Flowmaster 40. I drug toys around and did some camping.

I was getting tired of looking at the vinyl wrap. They are durable, but they don't last forever and at this point I believe it had been on the truck for about 5 years. The roof and hood were sun faded and spider cracked. The rest of it was in decent shape with the exception of a torn piece on the door that would require the whole piece replaced to fix it. Not only that, but opening your door to see white or having the tailgate down and seeing white makes it seem extra fake. I was told there was fresh white paint underneath, so I decided to take on the project of removing the wrap when it warmed up in the spring. What a PITA. It took me days and days to get it all off. A heat gun and working slowly, followed by copious amounts of goo gone on the leftover adhesive was the best bet. The body pieces were not too bad, but the hood and roof were absolutely miserable. Partway through, Cop truck-

I left the wrap on the front and rear bumpers. I painted the mirror covers and fender flares with Rustoleum bedliner in a can. There were holes in the doors where the stock molding snaps in that I did not have. I purchased molding for a 2012 Chevy extra cab, 056 Toyota paint in an aerosol can, clear coat, and painted the molding to match. It looks much better than the stock molding in my opinion. I later painted the door handles white as well.

 

[seanpistol]

Now I had hit 100,000 miles and went to town on maintenance. I changed the timing belt, flushed the tranny, and changed all the gear oil. I had some pops and creaks coming from my front end and discovered that my lower shock bushings were blown out and my inner CV boots were throwing grease all over the place.

So, I placed a big order with Wheelers Offroad.

I went with Old Man Emu 886 coils, in anticipation of a winch and bumper. Bilstein 5100 shocks for the front and rear. Camburg uniball upper control arms. Total Chaos diff drop and steering rack bushings. I got Bates 930 boots from Kartek Offroad. I also ordered a set of new headlights to replace the yellowed stock ones and put some Hella ultra bright bulbs in them. My truck was on jackstands in a friends garage for 4 days, but I got it all done myself with the exception of having the coils compressed. Road salt makes everything a little more fun. (POR 15 to come in the future)

 

[seanpistol]

After an alignment to DJ's specs, it's time to play. Holllllllllllly this thing rides and drives like a dream. No pops or creaks or anything but smoothness. The slightest movement in the steering wheel gets response from the front end. My buddies live in a cabin in the woods, so I went up there to test out all the work and get the truck dirty. I couldn't be happier.

 

[seanpistol]

I got some mud in the bottom of my airbox, so I sealed it up and made an "undercover snorkel", after ideas from a build thread by JJC on Tundrasolutions. I extended my rear diff breather at the time I changed my inner and outer rear axle seals and wheel bearings.

Here is JJC's post I got the idea from- http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/1283037-post202/

 

[seanpistol]

I got a steal of a deal on an A.R.E. MX topper with walk in door and Thule racks on Craigslist. Some kid was listing it for his Uncle who had left town long ago. He had a horrible listing with no pictures. This shell was filthy, full of spider webs, paint was scratched tint was peeling off the windows, keys were missing and the weatherstripping was worn. I left with it on my truck for $100. I called A.R.E. with the serial number and found out it's actually for a T100, but it fits very well. I cleaned it up real good and slept in it with my dog in Sun Valley, Idaho this weekend. We got rained on and snowed on and there are no leaks. I need to build a storage and sleeping platform in it.

 

[ExpoScout]

These threads are always better when they are mass-updated like this. :ylsmoke:

I hate having to wait days for a single picture.

But regardless, awesome job. I am loving mine more everyday.

 

[seanpistol]

electric fans finally showed up. I bought them from someone that made this shroud and setup himself, then sold the Tundra with the mechanical fan back on it. Pretty happy about getting the whole setup for $125. Gathering the rest of what I need to do it nice and clean and then installing them tomorrow. I tested them on a car battery and holyyy... these things put out some serious CFMs.. blow yer toupee right off! I'm going to put them on a switch in the cab so I can have them on for towing on a grade in the summer, an auto setting where they run on the controllers, and then an off setting for crossing water or something similar.

 

[seanpistol]

Got the electric fans installed. It was pretty simple to do and took my brother and I just a couple hours. I added in a fuse between the battery and controller and fuses between the controller and positive on the fans. The wiring strangely only came with a fuse between the controller and fan #1. The probe is installed about 4" below the hose where coolant comes from the engine back into the radiator.

I have been monitoring the temp with my Ultragauge and the mechanical fan and it seems to stay around 187 on the highway. I did some tests in the driveway and around town to figure out where to set the controller. During one test in the driveway I had the engine up to 197 degrees, turned the fans on, and they cooled the engine down to 181 degrees within 60 seconds. They seem to be very efficient. While driving around here at about 50 mph for a half hour, I had a hard time getting the engine temp above 186 degrees. OAT is 65 degrees today. From what the guy I bought the fans from told me, they rarely come on above 35 mph. My final setting was to kick the fans on at 189 degrees and they automatically shut off at 181. I'll keep an eye on it while driving on the highway and adjust the controller as need be.

The seat of the pants dyno notices more power while accelerating. Can't wait to see how these will improve my MPG.






You can kind of see how the fans sit off the radiator. The shroud itself is sitting on the lip around the radiator which keeps it about 1/2"-3/4" off the fins.




While I had the A/C on trying to raise the engine temp for my tests, I also did some flex tests around the family farm :ylsmoke:

 

[ExpoScout]

Looking good!

 

[CYi5]

Very clean, I see what you mean about the Chevy cladding, good call on that one! I'd be interested to hear about the MPG return of the electric fans as well.

 

[uscg2008]

I like the mods so far specially the topper

 

[seanpistol]

thanks boys. I'm driving from Boise, Idaho to Park City, Utah tomorrow so we'll see what these fans do for my mileage on this trip.

 

[mortonm]

Great looking truck and great platform!

Looking forward to more updates

 

[Derek24]

Looks good! My truck runs all the time at around 181 when warmed up. I'd say you setting you want would be perfect! Can't wait to see how your MPGs are now!