2005 Tundra novice build - "The Rez"

[Kpack]

Get the tires balanced at a shop that has a Hunter Road Force balancer. Hunter’s website list shops that have these machines. Make sure you tell the shop uou want a Road Force balance and want the report that shows the final numbers. This is a fantastic machine. I doubt Costco has one. The shop also needs to assign the guy who knows how to make the machine “sing”. Also, allow the shop to put weights on both sides of the rims.

Yep, all done on all counts. They put weights on several different depths of the wheels and clocked the tires. Overall much smoother, especially at speed. Still a little something there but it's definitely not tire or wheel related now.

 

[Kpack]

Front Suspension Refresh Part 1

Purpose: I've known that I had to have my front coilovers rebuilt for some time. I bought them used from a friend and they were probably due for rebuild when I got them. Over the past year they have become extremely harsh and uncomfortable, though no oil is visibly leaking. I learned after talking to a few shock rebuild shops that sometimes the shock will become harsh if the nitrogen has made it past the seal into the oil. Regardless of the reason I know these are way overdue.

While the front shocks were out I plan to do some general maintenance to the front end, like greasing the UCA's, checking for wear, and checking proper torque. I haven't greased my Camburgs since I put them on over a year ago and they have made zero noise.

Materials
-22mm wrench
-19mm socket
-19mm wrench
-14mm socket
-14mm wrench
-punch (or screwdriver)
-White lithium grease
-grease gun
-breaker bar

Procedure (coilover removal)
-Lift truck and support on jack stands, chock rear tires
-Remove front tires
-Remove upper shock bolts by using 14mm socket for most of them, and a wrench for the ones that are too tight for a socket.
-Remove lower shock mounting bolt using 19mm socket and wrench, then push the bolt out using a screwdriver and hammer.
-Coilover assembly slides out easily

Procedure (UCA grease)
-Loosen UCA bolt by using a 22mm wrench and 19mm socket on a breaker bar. You will need to pull the protective splash guard off in order to get access to the 19mm end.
-Loosen until the washers come away from the bushings
-Clean dirt from the zerks, and use a paperclip or sometime small to purge air from them (per Camburg)
-Use grease gun to inject white lithium grease (per Camburg) into the zerk until you see the bushing start to move
-Retorque to 85 ft/lbs

Both out

I send them via UPS ($46) to Mike's Custom Toys in Oregon. Basic rebuild costs $100 per shock and includes all new seals, oil, cleaning. I will need to replace one of the adjustment collars as one of the holes is stripped. They will adjust the valving to be a little more compliant on smaller bumps and washboard. Cost of revalve is the cost of the materials used. Two day turnaround and 1 day shipping back to me. But with the holidays and how slammed UPS is, I'm probably going to get them back next week.

 

[Kpack]

Ham Radio Install Part 1

Purpose - I decided to get serious about my ham radio involvement. Hooking up a cheap Baofeng handheld to the external antenna was marginal at best. Reception was spotty and transmission was no better. Battery life wasn't that great either. A dedicated mobile rig would be far more reliable and have more useful features.

Radio
I went with the Alinco DR-735t for a few reasons: 1.) large screen on detachable faceplate, 2.) many useful features like crossband repeat, 3.) a couple local ham guys had good things to say about Alinco, 4.) the price was right ($350 for a brand new radio, remote mounting kit, and RT systems programming cable +software).

http://www.alinco.com/Products/ham/mbl/DR-735/

Procedure
-Remove battery leads (precaution to prevent accidental discharge of airbags)
-Remove 4 bolts holding driver's seat in
-Tip driver's seat back to gain access to underside of seat, find a good spot to mount the radio. I chose to mount towards the front because I utilize the seat frame to mount to. I wanted the rear of the radio to be accessible so I could easily plug a programming cable in.

-I used the Alinco mounting bracket and screwed it into an existing hole in the frame of the seat. Only one side of the bracket could be secured in this way. I used zip ties to secure the remainder of the bracket. Once mounted the radio didn't move at all.
-Mount the radio to the bracket using screws provided with the radio

-Remove the door step plate and kick plate next to the parking brake
-Run the coax cable through the firewall, then down along the floor under the trim just removed.
-Cut a small hole in the carpet to allow the PL-259 connector and coax to come through and up to the radio. Leave enough slack to be able to allow the seat free movement. (my coax wasn't long enough to go through existing holes)

-Run the power cables through the carpet opening for the existing seat wiring, and find the rubber grommet that passes through the floor.
-Punch a hole in it and pass the power wiring through. I had to cut the wires because they both had fuses on the battery terminal ends. After passing them through I soldered them back to the rest of the cable and protected them with heat shrink.

-Cover wires in split wire loom and run to the engine bay

-I used zip ties and secured the wire loom to the brake lines on the inner side of the frame.

-I kept the loom as tight to the wheel well as possible to keep it away from as much heat as possible. It comes right under the brake cylinder and up to the battery.

-I attached the negative to the battery ground screw (yellow connector). A lot of hams recommended this, though I believe it really only makes a difference in vehicles that have a battery monitoring system. I didn't have heat shrink large enough to cover the connector.

With the seat back in place, the radio just barely fits. The front part of the radio is resting against the carpet while the rear has space around it, and the fan is unobstructed. I'll monitor as I go and make sure this mounting position will work long term.

Part 2 will come later as I'm waiting for a mount to come in for the remote head.

 

[Kpack]

Ham Radio Install Part 2

Wrapping up the install for my Alinco DR-735t. I ran the remote head wire under the edge of the center console (next to the driver's seat) and from there up to the front of the console right underneath the pull-out ashtray and cup holders.

The mount I'm using for the remote head is this one by Panavise: https://www.panavise.com/pdf_indash/751371300.pdf

I pulled the climate control surround off (lots of videos of this online. Very easy, I've pulled it dozens of times), then used the Panavise mount to mark holes where I wanted it mounted.

Holes marked. Drill out with a 3/32 bit. I had to go at an angle due to the climate control box in the way directly above it but it didn't have any ill effect on the final outcome. I probably should have cleaned before I put everything back together.

I drilled a couple of holes in the mounting bracket for the DR-735 to match the mounting holes in the Panavise mount. A few small nuts and bolts tied it all together.

Reassembled. Mount the Panavise mount with the included screws. The mount is incredibly solid once all four screws are in. No movement whatsoever and I don't anticipate any problems going forward. The DR-735 remote head can easily be removed from the mounting bracket, should I choose to.

All done. I can still access both drawers behind it

 

[Kpack]

Ham Radio Install part 3

I met with our local ham club yesterday and met a lot of really nice people. I'm brand new into ham and they kindly accepted me into their group and took me under their wing. A few of them evaluated my mobile install and were very pleased....that was a relief to know I hadn't botched the job.

Talking on the local repeaters with them I found that my audio wasn't coming through as cleanly for them as I would like. It sounded high-pitched and overdriven. Some other DR-735 owners had mentioned that in online reviews, and one of them had solved the problem by drilling a new mic hole in the handheld mic.

I took the mic apart, and found that the existing mic hole wasn't centered over the microphone receiver. The receiver is the black part at the top of the board.

From the inside of the body. Notice the offset.

From the outside

Drilled out from the inside, using a 3/32" bit, directly over the microphone receiver.

All together again.

This quick mod, plus holding the mic further away and decreasing the mic gain, resulted in significant improvement in transmit audio. Reports from listeners on the other end were much more positive. I still need to tune the antenna, and will work with some of the hams I met to get that done. All in all, I love this Alinco radio. The display is large and easily readable, I can assign over a dozen backlight colors to any channel and for rx and tx, and it is very easy to program. The only think I don't like about it is that it is not part 90 certified, which means I can't use it to participate in SAR ops if I ever get into that.

 

[drumguy_18]

Nice install! I'm in the process of installing a Yaesu FT-7900R in my Excursion. I wasn't aware of the PanaVise mount brackets, I really like the look! Thinking I might get one for my install. Thanks for the info.

 

[Kpack]

Nice install! I'm in the process of installing a Yaesu FT-7900R in my Excursion. I wasn't aware of the PanaVise mount brackets, I really like the look! Thinking I might get one for my install. Thanks for the info.

I believe that some of their mounts attach directly to existing bolts in some vehicles. The Tundra doesn't have any existing bolts to access that are useful, so they had to drill directly to the plastic. I'm honestly surprised at how solid it is though. It feels like it was bolted down to metal. I highly recommend these mounts....fit and quality appear to be excellent.

 

[Kpack]

Front Suspension Rebuild Part 2

After a series of delays due to the holidays and shipping company issues, the rebuilt shocks finally arrived after 2.5 weeks. While the truck was stuck on jack stands I took the opportunity to spray the frame with Fluid Film. It makes quite the mess and reeks pretty bad for the first few days, but all reports are that it does it's job defending against corrosion.

The coilovers needed new shafts on both, new lower bearings, one needed a new adjustment collar, and I had them revalve both as well. Each coilover had three shims replaced with one 1.425 shim, and two 1.550 shims. According to Mike, this would be a 10-15% change in the slow speed compression.

The passenger coilover was set back to the height I sent it in at, but the driver's side was set at 1.75" of preload when it should have been 1.5". Icon says the max preload on 700lbs springs is 1.5" of thread, otherwise you risk coil bind.

This made the driver's side sit about 1/2" higher than the passenger (~23.25" from hub to fender, and passenger side is 22.75"). There was a noticeable lean when driving.

The easiest way I've found to adjust these is to leave them on the truck. However, you can see with the 1st Gen Tundras that the UCA is completely blocking the adjustment collar.

Steps to adjust:
-Remove the nut from the bolt holding the UCA to the spindle arm by using two 15/16" sockets and breaker bars.
-Place a jack under the LCA and push the arm up to get the UCA/spindle at a more flat angle
-Use a hammer and lightly tap the bolt up through and out
-Use a rubber mallet to hit the UCA free from the spindle
-Remove the bolt holding the ABS sensor cable to the UCA, to prevent stretching it
-Lift the UCA out of the way, and the let the spindle hang
-Loosen the retaining nut on the adjustment collar with a hex wrench
-Remove the jack supporting the LCA and let it hang
-Use a spanner wrench (and in my case a pipe extension for more leverage) to spin the collar until the desired height is achieved
-Tighten the retaining nut
-Reassemble the UCA/spindle and torque to 125-135 ft/lbs

I put mine at 1.5" of thread showing, which is a little over where I had it before.

After taking the truck for a drive I measured the hub-fender again and I'm sitting right about 22.5"-22.75", which is exactly equal with the passenger side (full gas tank). The truck definitely feels smoother in the front over bumps now. It is not noticeably different when cornering (no sway bar). The rear of the truck is another matter and is harsh over bumps and makes a ton of noise now (popping, clunking) over bumps. I'm ordering new U bolts today and will be over at my neighbors house this weekend replacing the rear springs. I'll start spraying the bolts today to hopefully allow them to come out easier.

Crossing my fingers that I won't have to cut any bolts!

 

[smokeysevin]

When you say lower bearings do you mean the shaft bearing or the spherical bearing?

Sean

 

[Kpack]

When you say lower bearings do you mean the shaft bearing or the spherical bearing?

Sean

The bearing that the lower shock bolt goes through. The upper spherical bearings were fine, the lowers had some play with them.

 

[Kpack]

Project: Rear leaf spring replacement

Purpose: The leaf springs that were on the truck when I bought it were the original stock ones with 1" blocks. There has been a worsening popping and clunking from the rear end when going over any bumps. I had a set of used leaf springs with Wheeler's AAL already added from a fellow Tundra owner. The bushings appeared in good shape on the replacements.

Tools needed
-A lift (so much better....thank goodness for a neighbor with a lift in his shop)
-Pole jack
-Socket wrenches (19mm, 22mm)
-19mm box end wrench
-Breaker bar
-Torque wrench
-Angle grinder with cut-off disk
-Dead blow hammer
-Brass hammer
-Pry bar

Duration
1 hour 15 minutes

Procedure
-Lift truck off ground, remove wheels
-Place pole jack (or in our case, really really tall jack stands) under the axle and push the axle up on the side you are working on

-Use angle grinder to cut off old u-bolts (so much faster than trying to take off the seized bolts). The first u-bolt you cut through will pop loudly.

-Remove u-bolts and lower spring seat, and remove the cut u-bolts from the spring seat once out. Save the bumpstop and plate that it is mounted to.
-Lower pole jack so the spring pack is a couple inches off the axle (I removed the blocks here)
-Use 19mm wrench and socket to loosen and remove the two nuts on either end of the spring (not the shackle)
-Use a hammer to push the bolts through and out. I used a pry bar to hit against the bolt once it started to come out.
-Use a hammer to knock the front of the spring pack out of the front mount...it will be tight
-Remove pack, then remove the shackle. Mount shackle in same orientation as original on the new spring pack
-Place new pack on the truck (make sure short end it towards the front), use a hammer to pound the front of it into place. Mount the front bolt first. Do not torque all the way
-Mount rear of the spring assembly, do not torque all the way
-Place new u-bolts on bumpstop plate, push the ends through the lower spring seat.
-Place washer and nut on each bolt, and then tighten in crisscross pattern until 98 ft-lbs

-When mounting the driver's side front, flip the bolt so that the nut is by the gas tank. When stock, the bolt is on the gas tank side, making it a pain to remove.

-Put all the weight back on the rear suspension (we placed a jack stand under the rear diff and dropped the lift until the rear pads just barely came off the frame)
-Torque all spring bolts mount bolts (6 of them) to 125 ft-lbs
-Remount wheels and test drive truck

I test drove the truck and it feels like these springs are more compliant than the old ones. They have much more arch than the old ones. There is still some sort of pop back there occasionally, so I will need to check the lower shock mounting bolts to see if they are loose.

Notes:
-Cutting off the old u-bolts was so much easier and faster than removing the seized nuts
-Wheelers 7.75" u-bolts stick out at least an inch once torqued
-I sprayed CRC Freeze-Off on the spring pack bolts for several days before I tackled this. I did not spray the U-joint bolts
-I used anti-seize on everything so I wouldn't have to fight corrosion next time
-Wheeler's AAL added more height than 1" block
-Block allows more droop (because axle is already pushed down 1" in relation to springs)

Measurements (center hub to fender)
Before
Ride height: 23.75"
Max droop: 29.5"
After
Ride height: 24.5"
Max droop: 28.5"

Before front and rear suspension refresh:

After

I wasn't looking to raise the rear anymore than it already was. If anything, I would have preferred it to drop down slightly to be more level. Maybe with a Brute Force HC bumper w/ swing out on the back it'll level out?? I'm already carrying 240 lbs of sand in the back, plus tire and Hi-lift. Now off to get it aligned so I don't destroy my new tires.

 

[Kpack]

I need some recommendations on what torque wrench I should get.

During the leaf spring adventure I realized that my Harbor Freight wrench is just not up to the task. I don't trust that the torque values are consistent or accurate. I ended up using my neighbor's Snap-On digital torque wrench and it felt way better. Almost like I had been over-torquing everything previously with my wrench.

I'd like something I can trust, but don't want to spend $500 on a Snap-On.

 

[drumguy_18]

I need some recommendations on what torque wrench I should get.

During the leaf spring adventure I realized that my Harbor Freight wrench is just not up to the task. I don't trust that the torque values are consistent or accurate. I ended up using my neighbor's Snap-On digital torque wrench and it felt way better. Almost like I had been over-torquing everything previously with my wrench.

I'd like something I can trust, but don't want to spend $500 on a Snap-On.

I've had a Craftsman 1/2" drive 25-250 ft. lbs torque wrench for several years, it's always worked perfectly. It does a fine job for a home mechanic and doesn't break the bank.

 

[Sal R.]

I need some recommendations on what torque wrench I should get.

During the leaf spring adventure I realized that my Harbor Freight wrench is just not up to the task. I don't trust that the torque values are consistent or accurate. I ended up using my neighbor's Snap-On digital torque wrench and it felt way better. Almost like I had been over-torquing everything previously with my wrench.

I'd like something I can trust, but don't want to spend $500 on a Snap-On.

I've been using a husky 1/2" 50-250. Hasn't let me down yet. ?

 

[trailscape]

Yep.. Been pretty happy with my Husky Torque wrench.

I've been using a husky 1/2" 50-250. Hasn't let me down yet. ?