2003 Sequoia build

[Christo54]

Hi everyone, my name is Christo, and I wanted to introduce myself and my current build. I’m in SLC UT and have been building a 2003 sequoia limited with 250k miles that I bought in October of ‘19. I originally wanted a land cruiser, but this turned out to be the best option for me. Since the beginning of the pandemic I have had a lot of time to fix its maintenance problems as well as get to the upgrades, so it seems like I’ve gotten a lot done. Critiques are always welcome.

Thanks!

maintenance/fixes preformed
Engine timing was corrected (was out of time when I bought it)
New water pump/timing belt.
New Spark plugs.
One plug was stripped and someone had put a helicoil in the head. The helicoil came loose when replacing the spark plugs so that had to be epoxied back into place.
New ball joints upper and lower
New tie rod ends
u-joints replaced in drive line (All of them)
New catalytic converters.
new intake manifold gasket.
Front seats replaced with tundra seats
Brakes all around
Rear calipers were rusty/leaking and were replaced
Parking brakes rebuilt and cable replaced
Rack and pinion bushings replaced

upgrades/mods so far
Dobinsons c59-314 springs front 2.5” lift
Dobinsons springs rear 3” lift
Bilstein 5100 shocks in front
dobinsons shocks in rear
SPC upper control arms
Extended sway bar links in front
1” body lift
35x10.5x17 kenda r/t tires
2019 4Runner snowflake rims 17x7
4.88 nitro gears
Harrop e-locker rear, open front
Wilco Offroad tire carrier
G5-R HID projectors retrofit headlights with black painted housings.
Morimoto LED switchback corner lights

Working on pics!

 

[Christo54]

This is when I bought it

This is now

 

[Littleguy]

Nice rig man, I love my 03’ tree. How much of a difference did the new gears make for you? Ive still got the stock 4:10’s on 305’s and its reallllllyyyyyyyy slowwwwww!

 

[Christo54]

Thanks man.
They feel good right now. The truck seems to be in a better torque range generally, especially on the highway. but they’re still in the break-in period so I haven’t been able to really get on it or tow with it, so I’ll report back when I can test it properly.

 

[Smileyshaun]

How are the kendas treating you so far? haven’t really had a chance to get mine out other than daily driving and up in some deeper snow .

 

[Christo54]

Good. I’ve done three trips on them; mostly rocks and sand. One trip was over a snowy pass a couple weeks ago, and they have done very well so far in all. Their road manners are great too. I haven’t had them in mud yet though.

 

[4msfam]

Nice truck! what year Tundra seats did you get? I’m thinking if new options for mine. The foam is getting packed down. Also, do you have spacers on those rims? Thanks!

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Wow...you took care of the things they matter...Any more pictures...bigger ones! lol

 

[Smileyshaun]

I really do miss my 1st gen sequoia, more than big enough to fit the family but somehow didn’t feel huge when driving . Even on 33s I still managed 17-18 mpgs , fantastic rigs .

 

[Christo54]

Nice truck! what year Tundra seats did you get? I’m thinking if new options for mine. The foam is getting packed down. Also, do you have spacers on those rims? Thanks!

Thank you. I used 06 tundra seats. the leather and plastics were toast on the sequoia limited seats, so I pulled some manual seats out of a tundra. I swapped out the wiring harnesses to maintain heated seats and spliced the wires for the airbag sensor and seatbelt sensors. i like the minimalism of the tundra seats; less plastic and buttons to break.

yes, I have 2" adapters on the wheels.

 

[Christo54]

Wow...you took care of the things they matter...Any more pictures...bigger ones! lol

Yeah, I'll work on getting some better ones soon, I realized when I posted this just how few pics of the truck I've actually taken

 

[Christo54]

Full size pics, taken next to a buddy’s second gen tundra

 

[snowriderz]

Hey I have the same silver Sequoia in a 04 as you but only 130k ! (in addition to a chevy awd van) . I put on traxda 2" lift and have the same 4 runner rims . I went up to 285/75/17 but do get a little rubbing . I think I need spacers ? Did you put the spacers on yourself ? What brand ? Heard 1in is enough put you put on 2in ? Otherwise need different offset rims ? Cant find any tire shop that do spacers ? any opinions on spacers or recs for nice looking rims ?

James in Oregon

 

[Christo54]

Hey I have the same silver Sequoia in a 04 as you but only 130k ! (in addition to a chevy awd van) . I put on traxda 2" lift and have the same 4 runner rims . I went up to 285/75/17 but do get a little rubbing . I think I need spacers ? Did you put the spacers on yourself ? What brand ? Heard 1in is enough put you put on 2in ? Otherwise need different offset rims ? Cant find any tire shop that do spacers ? any opinions on spacers or recs for nice looking rims ?

I would do 2” spacers and an aggressive pinch weld smash and cut first. I doubt the standard 1.25” would be enough. The main problem with those spacer is you’re going to have to buy longer lug studs. Get IS 300 lug bolts and cut them to the right length. This will be an all day project, but worth it to get those tires sitting right. I’m not sure what brand I used for the adapters. I just got them off of Amazon. I would look just For a brand with good reviews that make the spacers out of t6061 aluminum. Tire shops generally don’t like messing with them. Install them yourself, just make sure you torque them down to the correct ft lbs and apply red thread locker. Check them after 100 miles or so. They are safe if you do this.

 

[O.B.A.K]

Hey I have the same silver Sequoia in a 04 as you but only 130k ! (in addition to a chevy awd van) . I put on traxda 2" lift and have the same 4 runner rims . I went up to 285/75/17 but do get a little rubbing . I think I need spacers ? Did you put the spacers on yourself ? What brand ? Heard 1in is enough put you put on 2in ? Otherwise need different offset rims ? Cant find any tire shop that do spacers ? any opinions on spacers or recs for nice looking rims ?

James in Oregon

For spacers I am running trail gear 1.25” - they are around 100$ a pair. Spidertrax makes 1.5” as well. Both are great quality as well as being hub centric - no need to change out studs and able to reuse the OEM lugs which makes the whole setup both hub and lug centric. Best of both worlds. -12 offset wheels would also work if you didn’t want to run spacers -both add the same amount of stress to the hubs. Plenty of people running spacers with great results under 1.75” wide - just need to recheck torque at tire rotations and set at OEM 80 ft lbs ?.