First Gen Tundra 4x4 purchase/build

11,019 Views | 73 Replies | Last: 9 mo ago by water turkey
MTTANK
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AG
I have slowly sold my 100 series, 67 fastback, and boat over the last couple of years because of time and the newborn. Driving me nuts not having anything to fix on, and turns out my dad needs a truck. It will not be his daily driver, and he wanted something bigger than his mini truck and smaller than a full size. Been looking for a first gen tundra for a couple of years with no luck, and finally found this one:

MTTANK
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AG
Found this one freshly listed on FB marketplace on Thanksgiving. Messaged the guy and he gave me a call. Told him I wanted it but would have to pick it up the next day or my wife would kill me. He refused a deposit and pulled the listing. Headed to Waco solo the next morning with a trailer and made a deal. Truck had a good history and an older guy owned it and kept it in his airplane hangar. This one is a 2000 with 150k miles. Here's some pictures from the listing:




JB
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AG
The Camry of a 4wd truck. Love those. Simple and reliable. Values are still high as well.
MTTANK
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AG
Indeed, funny enough the steering wheel in these until 03 are identical to the early Camry's. I think they are the perfect sized truck honestly. About the size of a modern Tacoma, but has a V8 and an actual truck bed. Think it's rated to tow around 7500-8k pounds. Easier to whip around and park in town because they are not as wide. Would also do better on trails because of sizing.
MTTANK
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AG
When I looked the truck over I noticed the radiator was original and showing some brown/yellowing discoloration. From my Cruiser ownership, I knew this meant it was getting ready to give up. Funny enough in the first week I noticed some steam coming from under the hood, sure enough the plastic tank was already separating. Luckily I already had one on order. Here is a picture of the old one after I pulled it, hard to tell the discoloration of the plastic but it was easy to see against the other black plastic under the hood. Since we are all friends here I was nice enough to mark over my shrek feet:

maroon barchetta
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I've got a 2000. That engine is solid. And my radiator did the same thing and I replaced it several years ago.

That is a nice truck. Let me know if you don't need your drivers seat anymore!

It's also the easiest vehicle for an oil change out of the three we have.

Great find! I'm jealous!
OXDL45
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AG
Pretty sweet find!
fixer
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1st gen's are fantastic.

Hard to believe that is a 20+ yr old truck.
Furlock Bones
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I had a 1st Gen Tundra. Loved the 4.7V8.
maroon barchetta
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That is amazingly low mileage for a 2000 Tundra, btw.
Dill-Ag13
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Peak Toyota to me. I love seeing clean ones around town
MTTANK
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AG
This truck was well cared for and very original, just what I was looking for. Surprised to find it had the original front windshield in it still. Unfortunately it had a good sized chip in the line of sight, and years of dust and road grime made it look dirty and unenjoyable to drive. Toyota no longer sells factory front glass, and Pilkington makes it but outsources it to china now. After a ton of research, had a Fuyao one installed that is a china based company but produced in the US. It's about 5 pounds heavier than the next best option.


MTTANK
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AG
I noticed it had all new coil packs, but they were not marked toyota or denso. With that I decided to pull the plugs and see what they used and how they looked. Luckily they used Denso Iridium's and they looked okay to my untrained eye. Went ahead and ordered a Denso coil for the glove box as the chinesium ones tend to be hit or miss.


MTTANK
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AG
My next line of business was the timing belt. Last change was at 80k miles and 14 years ago, so she was due. I ordered the aisin timing belt kit, aisin fan bracket, a new oem fan clutch, and an oem thermostat. I intended to do this on my own, but decided to price the job at the Toyota stealership. At less than $600 in labor, I happily let them do the job and give the truck a full bill of health check. I liked the idea of having it reflected on the Toyota owner's website as well as the documentation in hand. Of course, I forgot to supply them with the new serpentine belt and fan clutch I had.



Flaith
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Man, that's a great find. I've been casually looking for one, since I agree it is the perfect size and capability
MTTANK
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AG
With all the documentation this truck came with, there was no owners manual. Ordered a nice one on fleabay with the toyota cover. Also ordered a couple of showroom brochures that are pretty cool:





OXDL45
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AG
Awesome! Nothing like some old pictures and brochures to get me feeling old.
maroon barchetta
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Looks like my manual!
BigTex83
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I had a 2000 Tundra and a 2003 and a 2006. Agree that the first generation Tundra was a good size with good power. Easier drive in inner city of Houston. Have to admit, really like my 2016 TRD Pro. Waiting on a new generation TRD Pro to be available.
chet98
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Loved my 2003. Sold it when we started having critters as we figured the suicide doors would be a pain in the A to get a kid into and out of the backseat. We were probably right but man, wish I had that truck now (oldest now 16).
dubi
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AG
Why didn't you replace the water pump with the timing belt?
dubi
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Very nice truck. We have an '05 Tundra with 70k miles.
maroon barchetta
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MTTANK said:

I noticed it had all new coil packs, but they were not marked toyota or denso. With that I decided to pull the plugs and see what they used and how they looked. Luckily they used Denso Iridium's and they looked okay to my untrained eye. Went ahead and ordered a Denso coil for the glove box as the chinesium ones tend to be hit or miss.





I keep a spare coil ready to go. I've replaced three so far. Rock Auto makes it inexpensive and my code reader tells me which cylinder has the problem when it starts running rough.

It's maybe the easiest repair job you can do!

$60 for the coil. Five minutes of your time.

I had a shop quote me $200 to replace a coil when I asked them how much it would be. Good grief.
tfunk02
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AG
MTTANK said:

Indeed, funny enough the steering wheel in these until 03 are identical to the early Camry's. I think they are the perfect sized truck honestly. About the size of a modern Tacoma, but has a V8 and an actual truck bed. Think it's rated to tow around 7500-8k pounds. Easier to whip around and park in town because they are not as wide. Would also do better on trails because of sizing.
Supra had the same steering wheel too. I guess most or all Toyotas did?
MTTANK
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AG
dubi said:

Why didn't you replace the water pump with the timing belt?
Thats a good question, I did in fact replace it. The water pump is part of the aisin timing belt kit.
JB
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AG
Just saw this pop up on Texas off-road swap
maroon barchetta
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longeryak
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JB said:

Just saw this pop up on Texas off-road swap

That would be a sweet ranch truck that would outlast most of our lives.
MTTANK
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AG
That one looks nice, and is right at what I paid for mine. If it checked out I would buy it. I do see some strange rust spots in the bed of it that look like they are coming from under it almost. Looks like the bolts that attach the bed to the frame are not factory either. For those that don't know, these trucks had an extreme frame rust problem that led to a recall. It was a mixture of design and metallurgy flaws of the cross memebers and frame as well as body/bed mounts. You can find pictures of them broken in half on a lift that show no body rust. Really need to research where they lived and get under them and do a thorough examination.
drmwvr
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We had one of these as a farm/ranch truck for a while. Great vehicle. Still have this tailgate extender in the barn if you are interested in one. The picture above reminded me of that.


cledus6150
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Unfourtunately over the christmas break my boss decided to trade in his 2001 tundra 4x4 that only had 125k on it and had no real issues. The dealership stole it for 4500, i wish he would have told me about it before he traded it in!
dubi
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AG
cledus6150 said:

Unfourtunately over the christmas break my boss decided to trade in his 2001 tundra 4x4 that only had 125k on it and had no real issues. The dealership stole it for 4500, i wish he would have told me about it before he traded it in!

HOLY COW! Your boss truly was not in touch with the reality of the value of used vehicles.
maroon barchetta
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cledus6150 said:

Unfourtunately over the christmas break my boss decided to trade in his 2001 tundra 4x4 that only had 125k on it and had no real issues. The dealership stole it for 4500, i wish he would have told me about it before he traded it in!


Let us know what the dealership lists it for on their website. Would be interesting to see their markup.
cledus6150
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AG
No he really wasnt., i did educate him though or tried to without making him feel too bad.
cledus6150
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Here it is, They only use a stock photo.

https://www.toyotaabilene.com/vehicle-details/used-2001-toyota-tundra-sr5-5TBBT44111S165931
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