View Full Version : The Consolidated Truck and automotive thread. DIY, Performance, problems.
So figured, I've seen 3-4 other threads in the top page about vehicle stuff. While I dont think we need some specific subforum, since a lot of the information is coming from the same mechanic types, or is of interest to many, or whatever. Might be nice to have one thread everyone into automotive can check and have a single searchable thread.
May not take off, but figured might be worth thinking about (and if it's liked, maybe the first few pages in General and Ask a member of car stuff could get merged.
Until that happens, figured I'd kick it off with some stuff of my own.
Here's my Tundra,
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I'd like to head in this direction, though I'm thinking about keeping some chrome either on the grill or ends of the bumpers since I have the chrome side steps? Thoughts? I like that I finally have a black/red vehicle as I envisioned something like it on my VW R32, but once I added silver/chrome or gold accents everyone said it would look nazi mobile.... I do like keeping a smidge of silver in the wheels rather than jet black, in the near future I'm going to try dipping the oem's black since dipping apparently is all the rage now and reversible until I have hobby money for wheels.
I am going to get a 6 or maybe custom 7" BAmuffler exhaust.
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Oh and a quick LOL of what I dont want to turn into. I do think I have a hankering for those stupid bolt on fender flares, but at least in this pic, the black seems to kinda clash. Maybe body color red, or just dont work on red..?
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(Love the look but forum i found it said 3" lift, unsure how neccesary it will be to fit something similiar size/style)
Aside from blinging it out dillemas. This will be my first truck in winter unless you cound an old S10. It is the 5.7V8 and does have 4wd. Wondering if I can get away with all seasons which were always adequate in the VW with a great AWD. Or going to be well worth it to keep the oem wheels for winter tires and bling bling for summer or all season. Until I have 2 sets of wheels though I'd be concerned about eating up winter tires since last several years is usually a mostly dry winter with snow that dries up in a day with a couple exceptions in the season.
Also thought wheel/tire choices bad on little ricer cars, sure seems like everyone on the trucks is messing with offset and spacers to get things to fit on top of lifts. (Which as I said I'd rather avoid for now.) I hear Toyo AT/2's mentioned a lot. Any other must have suggestions both for summer/winter? I am a 90% highway driver, actually going offroad usually means pawnee or very basic trail and is rare. (Which all the aggressive looking tires are I thought offroad geared and going to be obnoxious at highway speeds I imagine?)
Great-Kazoo
10-03-2015, 13:58
The more shine the more time, to clean. It's a frigging truck, drive it. You want to bling it out, it defeats the purpose of it being a truck. Unless it's going to be the woman of the house truck .
redneck122
10-03-2015, 14:16
Nice looking truck. Have fun getting it to where you want. And this is only my opinion, but why on earth would you want a 7" exhaust on a half ton gas truck? Thats ridiculous.
Was researching my existing tires. Sounds like shitty winter tires and lowish reviews overall. :( Bridgestone Dueler H/T 684-II's http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+H%2FT+D684+II
Dunno, but out of the Borla, Corsa, etc etc brand names, this dudes exhausts on Tundra forums seem very popular. 8 inch is supposed to stay real quiet until you get on it heavy, 6 inch a bit rowdier, and a budget one that's just obnoxious. All come with resonators for drone and allegedly will make 7's to order.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YEHn7HOmpg
@Jim, part of negotiations was she gets to drive it. Sadly she has more cred driving one from her gigantic ram she used to have. And yes not looking forward to doing the whole body polishing. This is I'll admit like 80% vanity/fun/toy, 20% work. But hey you know who to have help move something now.
Anybody bored and wanna come toss this thing in my F150? Haha
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This is the new build after I cooked a thrust bearing and a head at 177k mi.
cableguy11
10-03-2015, 15:48
Nice looking truck. Have fun getting it to where you want. And this is only my opinion, but why on earth would you want a 7" exhaust on a half ton gas truck? Thats ridiculous.
I believe that is the length of the muffler used..not the actual exhaust size...too much diesel on the brain!! lol
-Art
redneck122
10-03-2015, 17:47
I believe that is the length of the muffler used..not the actual exhaust size...too much diesel on the brain!! lol
-Art
Yea i figured that out after the fact. I was thinking of the stupidly large exhaust tips guys are putting on they're diesels lately. Ignore my comment Fitz! That muffler sounds pretty good
Great-Kazoo
10-03-2015, 17:54
Yea i figured that out after the fact. I was thinking of the stupidly large exhaust tips guys are putting on they're diesels lately. Ignore my comment Fitz! That muffler sounds pretty good
Get a bennet or Joes mailing addy. Start from the manifold, dual exhaust with small cats, call it good.
OR GLASS PAKS
https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.Md35ca7514155278034370be447e9f13bH0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300
redneck122
10-03-2015, 18:11
Glasspacks need to go away. Forever. However cherry bomb's extreme line of mufflers are pretty nice. However Spintech's are still one of my favorites.
BushMasterBoy
10-03-2015, 18:50
I like Chevy 454 big blocks. Carbureted. Headers. No computers. Goes good with trucks, vans, Vettes, Novas, Camaros, etc. I got two 454 GM square bodies.
Only thing I would do to the tundra is install a huge transmission fluid cooler under the grill. It will make it last alot longer. And undercoat the bottom, salt will eat the underneath. All the bling ain't worth a crap if the tranny goes out and the body rots. Not sure if there is a tundra work truck, but you might find some steel wheels cheap and add extreme snow tires. Think practical ahead of cosmetics. Oh yeah, a grill guard for the deer and elk...
Would I really need a tranny cooler if not hauling anything? When I said "use" that's loading it up with large but not terribly heavy furniture.
Any reason it would be more vulnerable to salt than anything else? Kinda thought we dont get near as much as way out east. At least in my 08 VW wasn't seeing anything like that, but then again I do remember hearing dueling claims of one truck fan arguing with others about which brand rusts out.
Was researching my existing tires. Sounds like shitty winter tires and lowish reviews overall. :( Bridgestone Dueler H/T 684-II's http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+H%2FT+D684+II
Dunno, but out of the Borla, Corsa, etc etc brand names, this dudes exhausts on Tundra forums seem very popular. 8 inch is supposed to stay real quiet until you get on it heavy, 6 inch a bit rowdier, and a budget one that's just obnoxious. All come with resonators for drone and allegedly will make 7's to order.
That's about 4.5 more feet of exhaust as the current project, in my garage, has. Jeff, at Boulder Muffler, quoted me under $300 to make it neighbor friendly.
Jeff did an exhaust for me that included "turbo mufflers". Not sure of the make but they sound good and the price was right. Nice dual exhaust rumble but quiet in the cab (where it matters).
BushMasterBoy
10-04-2015, 05:01
Does the tundra have a transmission temp indicator? If it gets close to 200F then cooler is necessary. Once the temp is 225F+ it is degrading the fluid. Worse temps will be heavy hauling and crawling I70 mountain traffic jams in summer. Seems older vehicles rust around fender edges. I line the wheel wells as the rocks rocks on my unpaved road chip the wheel wells badly. Both of these "mods" are fairly cheap.
You could also line the inside of your wheel wells with a hard felt. My new duramax has it and it is awesome, easy to clean, cuts down on noise, you don't get that horrible "whack" sound when a big rock lets loose from your tread, and it protects from chipping.
i used to spray rubberized undercoating on the bottom of my trucks. Now I don't worry about it
I dont think so, wonder how pricey/easy that would be to just add a temp sensor before going with a big tranny cooler. Like I said doubt I'll do any heavy hauling. Just got back from mountains which is a rare trip but I'm usually pretty good about going on a weekday non peak hours to avoid that crawl. (Holy crap coming home on a sat I felt sad for the miles of backup)
Any special kind of hard felt specifically for that, or you just grab like some landscaping stuff and staple it?
BushMasterBoy
10-04-2015, 11:02
I'm curious about the hard felt. I'm using the spray in liner. I have a 2500HD gasser. I'm adding a cast aluminum trans pan with drain plug. The pan on it it has no drain plug. Has a built in digital trans temp gauge and is going to get a large cooler in series with the factory cooler. The 2.8L Colorado has a large cooler and a Derale cooler pan. Just got the GMC Sierra 1500 out of the transmission shop. 3-4 clutch packs burned out at 150K miles and it has a large cooler and a factory cooler. It is a known issue with 4L60E. The bill was $2100. Five GM trucks and a TJ, I must be insane!
Sniper, see bush and I asking about this felt?
So the more I look the more I think my oem tires are gonna be ass in any snow this winter. People don't like them even just on rainy streets.
Anyone else with suggestions for either a winter specific or general All seasony tire. I got some saying elsewhere that were big on BFG T/A KO2's but aside from slightly on the pricy end, unsure if they are really gonna help on I25 the few nights a year when it's the packed icy stuff. But I'm conflicted since usually we have a fairly dry winter and not weeks of snow on the road.
I'm getting rid of my oem tires on my explorer. I was excited that it had hankook on it, as well they make some good a/s tires. Then I started driving on them and reading about them. While I didn't have any real issues, there have been a few moments where I was cursing them.
After spending a year off and on reading about tire options. I'm going with the Pirelli scorpion verde. Really great reviews and I had scorpions on my truck before I got rid of it. Pricey yes, but to me they did better than the Bridgestone that I had on there.
Why not stick with what works when others praise them.
What vehicle are you looking at tires for?
Sent by a free-range electronic weasel, with no sense of personal space.
ThunderSquirrel
10-06-2015, 13:25
I run DuraTracs on my truck. Great off and on road performance, and they've done really well in rain and snow. They also wear very well, I have about 12k on them and they still have plenty of tread.
argonstrom
10-06-2015, 18:51
My $0.02:
For your stated purpose, throw some BFG A/T tires (in the stock size) on it and call it good.
blacklabel
10-06-2015, 19:08
I run DuraTracs on my truck. Great off and on road performance, and they've done really well in rain and snow. They also wear very well, I have about 12k on them and they still have plenty of tread.
They better after 12K miles.
My last set of Hankook Dyanpros went 54K before I replaced them. They're economical, great in the mountains and did well the past few winters.
My $0.02:
For your stated purpose, throw some BFG A/T tires (in the stock size) on it and call it good.
Agreed.
BushMasterBoy
10-06-2015, 21:00
The only tires worth a crap on ice are studded tires. I have had to cancel trips because of black ice. Nothing scarier than a tractor trailer jack knife in front of you on black ice. I got the cheap steel wheels, now I have to go get studded snow tires! Only thing worth a damn in certain snow conditions is chains. You got chains? Usually can find them cheap at thrift stores and yard sales.
Anyone have a prefered mechanic/place for either Toyota or truck in general? Looking at reviews while high from sales, looks like the service department of Stapp right next to me is fairly horrifying. So far looking at using Ehrlich Greeley or Mountain State.
Wish the ford dealership was a good choice, but I fear them not being able to do certain things as readily or not be as familiar with due to way different brand?
Holger Danske
10-13-2015, 21:26
HID light help needed. Any experts out there.
I bought some new headlights for the excursion from amazon, which came with the cheap Chinese bixenon 35w HID lights. Install was no problem the lights work but I dont get any high beams. This is a 9007 bulb and I changed all the pin combinations without luck. When I switch from low to high the lights are momentarily brighter then return to the low beam brightness. I'm wondering if the ballusts arent getting enough power from the OEm harness and need to direct wire from the battery.
Yokohama geolanders at-s work really well in snow....rate higher than bfg
I'm no electrician Holger, but 35watts doesn't seem like that much to ask of the stock system. I'd hazard as the random idiot theory that it's just a bum bulb. Are the high's a separate gas pocket right? Maybe that's burned out.
Question on automatic trans fluid changes. My 05 suburban 1500 with 5.3L engine has 85k on it and the original trans fluid. I heard from some friends that changes that late in the life of the trans can result in bad shifting. Any truth to that? How hard of a job is this? Is it better to just have a shop do it?
Question on automatic trans fluid changes. My 05 suburban 1500 with 5.3L engine has 85k on it and the original trans fluid. I heard from some friends that changes that late in the life of the trans can result in bad shifting. Any truth to that? How hard of a job is this? Is it better to just have a shop do it?
Normal service interval for trans fluid is at 60k, with 85k you should be good. Anything over 100k for a first trans service is unadvisable.
Updates for mine.
@Bushmaster, apparently according to the original purchase info window sticker, it allegedly has a tranny cooler and some other tow related things to go with the hitch/tow mode/controller. Wonder would trans fluid temp be readable with the plug in sensor since I dont have it on dash?
Going with the pics I originally posted for "vision" Couple weeks ago blacked out wheels. I still need to go back and resilver the toyota symbol.
Tonight I did bumper corners and hood. Was in a rush since I started late and weather getting too cold to do it. Peeling tape messed up a couple edges and one little tear in bottom left of pic I'll have to touch up later. Usually need to peel tape while black still wet, then once full dry retape and did gloss. I had tried doing both in one go. Happy for what an amateur I am. Appearance really changes a bit over a couple days so dont know if I'll stay happy with it. I liked the wheels which whernt tacky but were sensitive to fingerprints for a day or two really hardened up and got to a good point after a week of totally drying out.
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fairrpe86
11-04-2015, 23:22
Anyone have a prefered mechanic/place for either Toyota or truck in general? Looking at reviews while high from sales, looks like the service department of Stapp right next to me is fairly horrifying. So far looking at using Ehrlich Greeley or Mountain State.
Wish the ford dealership was a good choice, but I fear them not being able to do certain things as readily or not be as familiar with due to way different brand?
I just saw this, but ATLR (Affordable Toyota Lexus Repair) off of 43rd and Kipling is who I would talk Toyota stuff to, Jesse really knows his stuff and is very fair/honest.
If you want somewhere closer to you that isn't Toyota specific but also another trustworthy shop, FTAR in Arvada is a good group of guys as well.
Toy Car Care just west of you in Centennial...
Think you may have people mixed up, I'm in frederick, quite far ;p.
I'll look into ATLR, whats FTAR though? Through a tundra forum got referenced to one guy kinda near a post I work sometimes thinking of trying.
yup mixed up....well good luck to ya
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