2005 Tundra novice build - "The Rez"

[Kpack]

Yep, the extra gearing is great for towing. Just keep in mind that all the gains you get on the low end or when loaded are a tradeoff up top in gas mileage. My truck averages about 15mpg once you account for the different odometer reading.

Sean

I get 15 mpg right now accounting for odometer... On a good day. I wonder what gearing I have currently? Any way to check without pulling the third member? I have no idea what was done to the truck previously besides what showed up on Carfax.

Kevin

 

[Kpack]

That sucks on the radio, sounds like you did the same install I did. Like you said factory amp must be acting up. If you bypass the amp don't you have to run new wiring to the speakers?

I didn't even notice the lift but now that you mention it I see the blocks. I'm not going to do my lift or buy new tires until summer but scoping out options now, your "in-between" tire size should be a good trade off between needing gearing and killing performance...at least for the 5psd Tundras. Good to see you fixing all of the previous owner's issues, these Tundras are a pain in the *** to find in good condition...

I had assumed that I could just bypass the amp and use the new harness to tie into the existing wiring for the speakers? But you know what they say about assumptions.

And you're not kidding about trying to find a 1st Gen tundra in good condition. There wasn't a lot of selection when I was looking to buy. And up where I'm at they are overly expensive. Most four door 4x4 models are $14k+ in WA, and that's with a ton of miles.

Kevin

 

[Loubaru]

^^

Yeah, it "only" took me 2 months to find one but I got super lucky and found a guy that didn't want to deal with "craigslist people" and I had cash ready so he got a killer deal for fairly low miles (130k). All of the nice 4 door models seemed to be 18k+ and everything below 16k seemed to be trashed or very high miles. Still don't fully understand the Toyota market in the NW but I guess it is what it is. Thankfully I also sold a 4runner in this market which offset the cost of the Tundra.

On the Stereo maybe try calling Crutchfield? I've been buying for them for a while but called them for the first time when installing mine to confirm a couple of the plugs weren't used and the guy I got was super helpful/knowledgeable. I think it also only took 5 minutes or so to get connected to someone. You can also do some reading on the forum below which is pretty dead but has some decent info. I think thats where I read of you want to bypass the amp its best to run new wires, I don't remember why though.

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/1gen-tundra/

 

[wrenchMonkey_]

I get 15 mpg right now accounting for odometer... On a good day. I wonder what gearing I have currently? Any way to check without pulling the third member? I have no idea what was done to the truck previously besides what showed up on Carfax.

Kevin

You have 3.91, or rather, I should saw we do, as we have the exact same truck. Haha.

If you wanna check. Jack up the rear end, mark the flange on the rear drive shaft where it goes into the axle. 12' o'clock position works fine. Mark your tire at either the top are bottom so you know where you start.
Rotate the tire one full rotation while counting how many times your mark on the flange rotates. You should get just under 4, showing 3.91 gears.

I am running 35's on mine, and I'll go to 4.56 eventually, when I find my money tree. On our trucks, with the extra HP, TQ, VVTI and 5th gear, I don't have as much lag as the guys with the earlier 4 speed tyranny.

I also laughed, because my second post in my build thread (way back in 2015 when I got the truck) is about removing my rear bumpers and painting a new one. I had some of the same issues as you haha.

 

[Kpack]

Got the truck back from my friend yesterday and I'm very pleased with the paint work. Not perfection, but still very, very nice. Kind of makes me want to paint the whole truck.

Dents and dings gone, I'm really digging the debadged look.


Well worth a few hundred dollars. Less than $200 for the bumper, ~200 for paint and supplies, and I gave my buddy some cash for his time even though he didn't charge me.

Now I don't have to be embarrassed of the rear of my truck anymore.

Kevin

 

[smokeysevin]

Yep, you lucky dogs with your extra gear and vvti.

Sean

 

[Kpack]

Sean - I haven't driven an older Tundra so I really have nothing to compare it to. But I do notice the 5th gear and it's nice. With my original gearing and 33's, I can drive at 70 with the engine running at 1800rpms. Super quiet.


While I'm waiting for parts, here's something I found awhile ago after a lot of searching. I had been looking for a way to mount my phone up high so I could see TorquePro running and keep a close eye on engine and tranny temps. I didnt like the ones that mounted on the windshield because they look obnoxious and they move while turning or over rough terrain. I finally came across this: https://www.amazon.com/Square-Jellyfish-Jelly-Smartphones-Garmin/dp/B01GHV33KY/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1505436412&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=square+jellyfish&psc=1

Truly a terrible brand name, but the product works for what I need. Here's how I mounted it:

I pulled the cluster surround and used the metal clip on the phone holder to grab the edge of the surround. Reinstall the surround and tighten the mount down, and it has been rock solid for months.

The mount grabs the phone at the bottom, leaving the A/C clear, allowing me to see the head unit fully, and holds the phone up high enough that I don't have to look away from the road to see it. It does not hold it high enough to interfere with my view of the road. This picture shows it from my view angle:

I can remove it with one hand, and I can plug in the USB cord from the back of the HU to charge the phone. With that, I can run TorquePro full-time and not loose any power.

-Kevin

 

[Kpack]

A few weeks ago I scored a great deal on these: http://iconvehicledynamics.com/shop/5-series-piggyback-reservoir-shocks/1061-2000-2006-toyota-tundra-vs-25-series-pbr-rear-shocks-0-15-lift.html

It was a fantastic deal....brand new, never used (bought for the wrong truck) and price was too good to ignore. So they showed up on my doorstep a little while later, and my neighbor and I spent some time removing the old shocks and getting these in. The old ones required that we use a Sawsall to cut the upper nut off...once again due to rust. That was super fun, because there is only an inch or so of clearance above the upper shock mount and it's a really hard angle to get the blade in. But we prevailed and got them installed. The amount of droop I have now is insane compared to stock. We lifted the hitch around 4 ft off the ground before the rear tires left the dirt. And with the CDCV clicker I can adjust the ride....still playing with it to figure out what feels best.

Also, these came in the mail:

-Kevin

 

[Loubaru]

Whoa, great find on the cell phone mount! I was thinking about making some similar to be able to mount a RAM mount ball too but this is obviously easier/cheaper, bookmarked for later.

Let us know how you like the suspension. Icon is on the top of my list but seems to have some recent QA issues...then again I think Fox/King have fit issues though with Tundras so a trade off. Is that a full sized spare I see there?

 

[OutOfBounds]

Looks great! Your build gives me some ideas for my 2005 double cab. I really want to tear into my instrument cluster and hvac controls. I hate that green and wouldn't mind white as long as it wasn't obnoxiously bright. Any chance you have a picture of your cluster at night?

How difficult was it to pull apart the gauge cluster and do that mod?

 

[Kpack]

Here's the dash at night. The lighting never shows up on a picture quite as it does in real life, but you get the idea.

Pulling the gauge cluster isn't too difficult. There are a number of tutorials and videos floating out there that go through it. It's a bit tedious sanding off all the green from the back. The hardest part was reinstalling and getting the needles in the right place (you have to pull them off to get the gauge panel out). I had to pull some the of the needles a couple of times and re-seat them until they read correctly.

-Kevin

 

[toyotech]

Whoa, great find on the cell phone mount! I was thinking about making some similar to be able to mount a RAM mount ball too but this is obviously easier/cheaper, bookmarked for later.

Let us know how you like the suspension. Icon is on the top of my list but seems to have some recent QA issues...then again I think Fox/King have fit issues though with Tundras so a trade off. Is that a full sized spare I see there?

It's not just fox/kings. Any 2.5 coilovers may have the brake line clearance issue. With a good alignment you can't get away with it not cutting the line but it's a fairly cheap upgrade to better brake lines and lo pro banjo will be a nice piece of mind


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[toyotech]

Clean truck and quality upgraded parts. Looking forward to your build. Just found it.


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[Kpack]

Clean truck and quality upgraded parts. Looking forward to your build. Just found it.

Thanks! Hopefully it all comes together well. I'm a complete novice to overlanding/offroading, as well as a novice to doing my own work on vehicles in general. The most I've done before this is change my own oil and rotate tires. Since getting this truck I've been much more hands-on.

Regarding brake lines and interference issues (I wasn't aware that there was a problem there), should I preemptively replace them with SS woven lines?


Meanwhile, I had the opportunity to meet up with another WA 1st Gen owner, lhanson, who's truck is featured on this thread: http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/139528-Lhanson-1st-Gen-Tundra-Build.

His truck is awesome. Here it is in all it's glory, with mine hiding in the background.

I picked up a couple of needed items from him. First, a set of a lightly used Wheeler's AAL's that will replace my stock leafs and 1.5" block.

And secondly, a set of Icon 2.5 extended travel coilovers, already with 700lbs springs on them. They're used, but still in good condition. I'll run them until I have to send them in to rebuild.

I've almost got everything I need to get this truck set up....just waiting on the bumper and sliders from Brute Force Fab. As soon as those are in hand it'll all go together!

-Kevin

 

[KTempleton]

Whoa! I kinda like the blue on black. I see they are 700's any info on the length of the coil? I'm due for a rebuild on mine and was going to do coils while apart. I think I can tackle myself though. Good looking truck. Almost the exact same set up as mine.
Will be pretty damn close when it's all said and done.