2005 Tundra novice build - "The Rez"

[smokeysevin]

On the cooling side, check the heater control valve on the back wall of the engine bay, the plastic tees on the heater pipes, and the t-stat. You can get cooler t-stats, all the way down to 150 degrees but running the TRD 160 degree one in my truck, the temps are locked between 184 and 186. The t-stat in your case should be fully open at those temps anyways so unless it is blocked, I wouldn't expect it to be the issue.

It might also be worth checking to make sure that the aux trans cooler, the AC condenser, and Radiator all don't have stuff stuck between them.

Sean

 

[thezentree]

Bet your axle bearings are shot.

 

[Kpack]

On the cooling side, check the heater control valve on the back wall of the engine bay, the plastic tees on the heater pipes, and the t-stat. You can get cooler t-stats, all the way down to 150 degrees but running the TRD 160 degree one in my truck, the temps are locked between 184 and 186. The t-stat in your case should be fully open at those temps anyways so unless it is blocked, I wouldn't expect it to be the issue.

It might also be worth checking to make sure that the aux trans cooler, the AC condenser, and Radiator all don't have stuff stuck between them.

Sean

Thanks for the tips. I'll check those areas and see if there is anything amiss. I'm sure the radiator and condenser could use a good pressure washing as well.

Bet your axle bearings are shot.

I was wondering about that, but aren't these bearings sealed? Either way I haven't noticed anything different when driving. The whole assembly (axle shaft, bearing, backing plate, etc) was all new OEM. My shop swapped out the axle seal for a new one a couple days ago and no leaks so far. Fingers crossed that there are no more issues.

 

[Kpack]

Had a few minutes the other night to address my lack of proper taillights. I've been running trailer/towing lights for like 10 months now, and although they worked they were super ghetto. I haven't had reverse lights that whole time. And the flasher timing was off because I had no bulbs on the actual taillight harness.

I picked up some replacement OEM tailights and got them back on. I had to cut off some of the bent metal housings (couldn't be straightened), so the only place these new taillights attach is at the two middle screws. Should be good enough, but I may do something more to strengthen them.


The accident was a lot of force against the bumper on the driver's side. You can see how much the driver's side of the bumper got pushed in by comparing the two. This is after pushing the steel back out the best I could with bottle jacks and the Hi-lift.


Passenger


The taillights should be totally sealed, so I'm planning on just leaving the backs uncovered. I'll probably tidy up the wiring a bit, and will probably paint the backs of the lights whatever color I end up painting the besides. It's nice to have some halfway decent lights again.

 

[Kpack]

Chasing cooling system problems.

Checked all the hoses, no leaks or anything amiss. Changed out the thermostat today with one from NAPA (180 degree). The truck had an original Toyota (32 Celsius = 180 Fahrenheit) in there....not sure if it was replaced in the past or not. Replacement was messy since I didn't drain all the coolant out. New thermostat was definitely different than original. It did include a small jiggle valve which I positioned at 12 o'clock. Refilled with proper coolant and purged system according to the manual.

Did a test drive around town, at freeway speeds, and up long hills at 70mph (several miles long, ~4% grade). Idle is steady at 192-194. Normal city speeds with stop and go is 192-195.8. Above 50mph was 201. And climbing long hills above 70mph it slowly climbed up to 217. A/C was on the whole time, ambient temps 95-99 degrees.

That seems a little high for an unloaded truck. With the old thermostat I remember the temps were typically between 184-194, but I can't remember if that was during the summer or not. My concern is towing. I do tow a heavy boat and would like to tow with some confidence. With the old thermostat I consistently hit 225 when going up long and steep hills....no A/C and doing 55mph. The needle starts to move at 221. At 225 it's at the 3/4 mark. Does anyone else have this problem with towing? What is everyone getting for temps with just normal driving? I'm trying to figure out if what I'm seeing is normal, or if there is another problem going on.

 

[smokeysevin]

What does your boat weigh?

My ski trailer is right around 2k (guessing 900 for the runabout, 300 for the standup, and 800 for the trailer itself) and I pretty much stay pegged at 186-190 on the scangauge. Its also really flat here but I am typically running the ac on full and cruising at around 75mph.

I sit between 184 and 186 unloaded unless I am parked after running for a while and it is hot out, then the clt creeps up to 192ish and stays.

Sean

 

[Kpack]

What does your boat weigh?

My ski trailer is right around 2k (guessing 900 for the runabout, 300 for the standup, and 800 for the trailer itself) and I pretty much stay pegged at 186-190 on the scangauge. Its also really flat here but I am typically running the ac on full and cruising at around 75mph.

I sit between 184 and 186 unloaded unless I am parked after running for a while and it is hot out, then the clt creeps up to 192ish and stays.

Sean

I haven't weighed it on a scale, but it is supposed to be around 5K with the trailer. It's probably closer to 6K I'm guessing. I live in a valley surrounded by hills, so no matter what direction I go I'm going uphill at some point. Some hills are very long. I'm towing it down to the river tomorrow, then a very long slog back uphill to home. I'll see how the temp does. I'm not confident that it will go well. The truck really seems to struggle to maintain a steady temp right now. Not sure where else to look.

 

[smokeysevin]

I haven't weighed it on a scale, but it is supposed to be around 5K with the trailer. It's probably closer to 6K I'm guessing. I live in a valley surrounded by hills, so no matter what direction I go I'm going uphill at some point. Some hills are very long. I'm towing it down to the river tomorrow, then a very long slog back uphill to home. I'll see how the temp does. I'm not confident that it will go well. The truck really seems to struggle to maintain a steady temp right now. Not sure where else to look.

Do you have a way to check long term fuel trims? When were the plugs last done?

Sean

 

[Kpack]

I have an OBD reader and Torque Pro. I'm pretty sure I can check fuel trims on that, but have not done it yet. Plugs were last changed about 50k miles ago. I'm overdue for a change.

One other note, I can feel some definite surging when pushing on the gas anything more than a gentle acceleration between 2K and 3K rpms. I don't think it's transmission. From what I've read it could be the fuel pump going out. The truck does not have a fuel filter.

 

[Kpack]

Towed the boat yesterday. Temps on mild hills and flat land varied between 197-209. 50mph. Coming back from the river is almost all uphill....coolant temps were at 221-226 with the needle at 3/4, trans hit 240 at one point (torque converter). 50 mph with no A/C.

Anyone else seeing temps like this with towing?

Also, how do I check if the water pump is actually working? It was all replaced when I had the timing belts done 50K miles ago, Aisin kit.

 

[Kpack]

Had some time last Saturday to get a project done on the truck. The front tires have been hitting the fenders hard when at full stuff. They were hitting the screws that hold the fender bulge and wheel well liner to the metal. I'd already ripped 3 of the bolts out. I didn't want to sacrifice any travel by getting taller bump stops (running factory right now), so I elected to trim both metal and plastic to gain space. The truck is no show truck....it's been through plenty, so had no hesitation in cutting off pieces.

First image shows full stuff with the plastic fender removed.

The plastic fenders and screws stick down at least another 1/2"

I marked and did a rough cut of about 1.25" all the way back to the cab. I left the front to blend in with the Brute Force bumper. After I confirmed clearance I went back and cleaned up the cut

Here's the final shape with everything cleaned up. I used a heat gun to reshape the fender liner as best I could. To attach it to the metal, I marked and drilled holes in the metal, then used some plastic trim clips from NAPA to pin the plastic to the inside of the metal. Worked fine. I smoothed all cut metal, and painted all exposed metal to help prevent rust.

I used self adhesive door edge molding to protect all metal edges

I cut the plastic fenders to match the contours of the metal cuts. They lose their mounting points when this work is done, but the plastic clips are strong enough to hold the fenders to the body. Looks much better now...gets rid of that heavy "eyebrow" look that the stock fenders give it.

Kind of hard to see with the whole truck being black

Overall not a bad job to do. I will likely need to cut and weld some on the firewall as well. Full stuff and full lock rub's, even with 33's and the caster increased way beyond spec. But I'll wait to do that until I get 35's. I'll probably need to trim more off the fenders at the same time.

 

[zoomspeed05]

Had some time last Saturday to get a project done on the truck. The front tires have been hitting the fenders hard when at full stuff. They were hitting the screws that hold the fender bulge and wheel well liner to the metal. I'd already ripped 3 of the bolts out. I didn't want to sacrifice any travel by getting taller bump stops (running factory right now), so I elected to trim both metal and plastic to gain space. The truck is no show truck....it's been through plenty, so had no hesitation in cutting off pieces.

First image shows full stuff with the plastic fender removed.

The plastic fenders and screws stick down at least another 1/2"

I marked and did a rough cut of about 1.25" all the way back to the cab. I left the front to blend in with the Brute Force bumper. After I confirmed clearance I went back and cleaned up the cut

Here's the final shape with everything cleaned up. I used a heat gun to reshape the fender liner as best I could. To attach it to the metal, I marked and drilled holes in the metal, then used some plastic trim clips from NAPA to pin the plastic to the inside of the metal. Worked fine. I smoothed all cut metal, and painted all exposed metal to help prevent rust.

I used self adhesive door edge molding to protect all metal edges

I cut the plastic fenders to match the contours of the metal cuts. They lose their mounting points when this work is done, but the plastic clips are strong enough to hold the fenders to the body. Looks much better now...gets rid of that heavy "eyebrow" look that the stock fenders give it.

Kind of hard to see with the whole truck being black

Overall not a bad job to do. I will likely need to cut and weld some on the firewall as well. Full stuff and full lock rub's, even with 33's and the caster increased way beyond spec. But I'll wait to do that until I get 35's. I'll probably need to trim more off the fenders at the same time.

have you thought of painting the bed sides black?

Also have you thought of doing skinny 35s?
35x10.50

 

[DzlToy]

A 35 x 10.50 is a difficult tire to find. In fact, I only know of one or maybe two companies offering that size tire. In contrast with people such as Andrew White, who advocate running a skinny tire to optimise off road traction, my experience has been quite the opposite. In nearly 30 years of off roading, I have found that a taller and/or wider tire maximises your foot print, traction and use of throttle, while minimising trail impact and vehicle stress. Watch MarlinCrawlerMedia videos on YouTube for real world examples. Gearing and traction are your friends. You can have 40" tires and 700 HP, but if your tires slip on the rocks or dig into the sand, you aren't going anywhere.

 

[Kpack]

have you thought of painting the bed sides black?

Also have you thought of doing skinny 35s?
35x10.50

I thought about it briefly, but the olive drab/gray look is growing on me. It looks a bit more utilitarian and is a nice contrast to the overall monotone black that the rest of the truck is. I'll have to paint it regardless though, since the factory primer is not going to stand up to UV rays and the deicer they put on the roads here. Not a huge priority for me at the moment though. I still need to get under the truck before winter hits, clean up any surface rust, repaint, then Fluid Film.

A 35 x 10.50 is a difficult tire to find. In fact, I only know of one or maybe two companies offering that size tire. In contrast with people such as Andrew White, who advocate running a skinny tire to optimise off road traction, my experience has been quite the opposite. In nearly 30 years of off roading, I have found that a taller and/or wider tire maximises your foot print, traction and use of throttle, while minimising trail impact and vehicle stress. Watch MarlinCrawlerMedia videos on YouTube for real world examples. Gearing and traction are your friends. You can have 40" tires and 700 HP, but if your tires slip on the rocks or dig into the sand, you aren't going anywhere.

I've considered the 35 skinnies. I doubt that I'll go that way though for the reasons you mentioned here. More options in 35x12, plus if I'm doing any snow wheeling I would prefer to have something wider to hopefully help keep me on top of the snow as much as possible. New tires probably aren't going to happen soon though. My KO2's have tons of tread left, and they are riding great. I have other projects on other vehicles and my shop that are going to be more important right now anyways. When I do get to moving up to 35's I'm going to regear at the same time. So I'm looking at a pretty hefty bill.

 

[zoomspeed05]

I thought about it briefly, but the olive drab/gray look is growing on me. It looks a bit more utilitarian and is a nice contrast to the overall monotone black that the rest of the truck is. I'll have to paint it regardless though, since the factory primer is not going to stand up to UV rays and the deicer they put on the roads here. Not a huge priority for me at the moment though. I still need to get under the truck before winter hits, clean up any surface rust, repaint, then Fluid Film.


I've considered the 35 skinnies. I doubt that I'll go that way though for the reasons you mentioned here. More options in 35x12, plus if I'm doing any snow wheeling I would prefer to have something wider to hopefully help keep me on top of the snow as much as possible. New tires probably aren't going to happen soon though. My KO2's have tons of tread left, and they are riding great. I have other projects on other vehicles and my shop that are going to be more important right now anyways. When I do get to moving up to 35's I'm going to regear at the same time. So I'm looking at a pretty hefty bill.

Im currently running Kenda Klever RT 35x10.50r17 no complaints yet But i also dont do rock climbing so i can give my experience on them in that aspect.