After spending the last few years in a 2002 Silverado 1500 Z71 Ext cab/ short bed, the tinker is pushing 143,000 miles and in this time I've had the tranny rebuilt twice, fuel pump, water pump, and the normal maintenance stuff. Now the transmission is starting to act up again and I have found a oil leak along with the front end neeeding new parts. So i started my search for a new truck with my eyes set on 2005-2006 Tundra Double cabs 4wd. I have found one with 69,000 miles and is a Limited w/leather and a camper shell with rails. it appears to be one of those "Grandpa" owned trucks, which is good. I just hope to get feed back on this model Tundras as the future plans are leveling somehow and fitting 285s on stock wheels. Or the other direction is fix the truck I have now and go about my merry way with the chances of future problems. I would like some thoughts on this! Thanks and excuse the grammar in advance!
To Toyota or not to Toyota?
- Thread starter elee
- Start date
2025 deleted member
Well-known member
Those silverados sometimes suffer repeated transmission failures because of the cooling system. I would replace the radiatior at the same time. But the Tundra should be good.
t-rex grrr
Adventurer
Those Tundras are sick and have a great engine. Do it.
This member's Tundra is the nicest I've seen for that generation - http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/133068-*Rickashay-s-04-Tundra*-A-build-of-Compromises
This member's Tundra is the nicest I've seen for that generation - http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/133068-*Rickashay-s-04-Tundra*-A-build-of-Compromises
Welcome to toyota! While your looking at a low mileage tundra which can be pricy, please consider purchasing a truck with 150k and 6+k less. Use the saved cash for minor maintance, modifications or trips! The common failure points on the tundra are lower ball joints and pink milkshake. To fix the lower ball joint issue, replace lower ball joints every 100k with oem toyota parts. The pink milkshake happens when internals of the radiator crack mixing the transmission and coolant fluids. This may cause transmission failure if gone without notice. To remedy this, remove the transmission lines from the radiator and cap the transmission lines on the radiator (if it cracks at least you won't lose all your coolant). Using an external transmission cooler (b&m) connect new lines. Problems solved for $350. Next major maintance is timing belt at 200k. After that enjoy sleeping easy and trusting your rig.
For reference I purchased my 2005 double can 4x4 with 156k for under 10k. One owner Texas truck. Up in Maine it's a 14-16k truck all day long (Cheaper in Texas because no one wants 4x4).
For reference I purchased my 2005 double can 4x4 with 156k for under 10k. One owner Texas truck. Up in Maine it's a 14-16k truck all day long (Cheaper in Texas because no one wants 4x4).
HighPlains
Observer
I've got an '04 double cab and love it. I've driven and worked on countless GM trucks from that era and the Tundra just feels a much tighter/well put together vehicle. If I were faced with the same decision today I would go with the Tundra again in a heartbeat and not look back. This coming from a former die hard American Iron guy.
Frame rot and milage
I just bought a tacoma recently. At least on the tacoma it basically always rusts out around and behind the spare-tire first... if that's *okay* the frame might not be, but if that's clean, the rest of the frame will be to. The first checkbox on my list was "flawless frame"... and I undercoated it (including inside the frame rails) as soon as I got it home.
With respect to getting a low milage or high milage truck. I bought low milage (74k). I had the money to invest up front, so I sat down and ran the numbers. It turns out that prices for Tacomas run almost exactly where they should. Using 300 miles as the lifespan of the vehicle. Price per mile on a lower-milage truck is only a *tiny* bit higher than a high-milage one. Once I added in the cost of doing the upgrades I wanted to the price of the truck, the fact that I'd get to use those upgrades for a lot more miles meant the lower-milage truck was actually a better deal for me. Point is, I highly recommend computing price per mile you expect to get out of a vehicle. I passed up an even lower milage truck because the premium for it didn't pencil out.
My 2 cents.
I just bought a tacoma recently. At least on the tacoma it basically always rusts out around and behind the spare-tire first... if that's *okay* the frame might not be, but if that's clean, the rest of the frame will be to. The first checkbox on my list was "flawless frame"... and I undercoated it (including inside the frame rails) as soon as I got it home.
With respect to getting a low milage or high milage truck. I bought low milage (74k). I had the money to invest up front, so I sat down and ran the numbers. It turns out that prices for Tacomas run almost exactly where they should. Using 300 miles as the lifespan of the vehicle. Price per mile on a lower-milage truck is only a *tiny* bit higher than a high-milage one. Once I added in the cost of doing the upgrades I wanted to the price of the truck, the fact that I'd get to use those upgrades for a lot more miles meant the lower-milage truck was actually a better deal for me. Point is, I highly recommend computing price per mile you expect to get out of a vehicle. I passed up an even lower milage truck because the premium for it didn't pencil out.
My 2 cents.