[skills4lou]

I've been looking for a Tundra off and on for about 5 months now, more serious the last 2 months. This afternoon I left a deposit on one that ticks off most of the boxes for what I was looking for. It's a '13 DC, 8' bed and not the Limited. Cloth seats, which I prefer. It has aluminum 5-spoke wheels with good rubber, and an extra set of snow tires on rims. The bed is rhino-lined, and it has the Toyota tie down system with 4 of the fittings. There is also several Riv-nuts in the floor of the bed, which I think may have been for a rollout tray system. I was hoping to find one with the flip up center console/seat up front, this one has the permanent console with shifter. It doesn't have the fuel mileage counter, which I wouldn't mind having but certainly not necessary. The stereo is the basic one, so easier to upgrade when the time comes. Custom mods by the previous owner include:

• Firestone airbags with on-board compressor
• Extra large gas tank
• back-up camera (display in the mirror)

-storage bins/trays under the back seats.
-Flip-over goose-neck hitch

From what I've seen this one is easily the best deal within about 500 miles. If my bank was open today I could have brought it home, but that didn't work out. So I'll just have to make another trip to pick it up later this week. I live near Missoula, MT and the truck is in Post Falls, ID (about 2hrs away). I'll post some pics when I get it home.

The only thing that I could find that needs work is the horn is inop, so most likely it'll need a new clock spring. Easy enough. Down the road the valve covers and maybe the cam towers will need resealed, as there is a little dusty smudge around the lower edges.

 

[steoldro]

Congrats on the new Tundra. Post pics of it when you drive it home.

 

[bedlam76]

I looked for my ideal Tundra for almost as long -- persistence and patience really pay off. Glad to hear you got what you wanted.

Congrats and enjoy!

 

[skills4lou]

Got it home last night. Apparently it actually has the Bluetooth radio and steering wheel controls, so I won't need to upgrade that after all. It had about a quarter tank showing on the gauge, and I put 38 gallons in to fill it up. 182 miles to get out home, and it burned just a hair over 10 gallons. That includes two mountain passes where I discovered that this BEAST of an engine will go any speed you want up the hills. If I do my normal slower driving I'm pretty sure I can push that to close to 20 mpg highway and empty.
I also picked up a complete set of Limited wheels with nearly new highway tires and factory tpms. I'm very happy with the purchase so far.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[skills4lou]

I spent a couple hours this evening going over bits and switches, reviewing the manual and figuring out what does what. It turns out the microphone for the bluetooth seems to be completely dead. I followed the manual for trying to set it up, used the knob to get to the point where you HAVE to speak the name of the phone and reached a dead end. I pulled the stereo out to check connections, they all seemed good. Then I pulled the roof console down and checked that the connections for the mic where all good. Still no microphone. Oh well, maybe I'll buy a new microphone at some point.
I did figure out that it has couple other optional things. There is a trans temp gauge, not just the idiot light. It has the tilt/telescopic steering column, and it also has the vertical headlight adjustment from in the cab. I'm pretty stoked about those features.
The manual adjustment for the seat height seems to be jammed, so I'll probably pull the seat out this weekend and take a look at the mechanism. Maybe I'll get away with just a little grease or something.

 

[skills4lou]

I got the 20" Limited wheels installed.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[skills4lou]

Tonight I replaced the clock spring to fix the inoperative horn. I was ready to pay for the Toyota part, but it only has a 1 yr warranty. Napa had one that has a lifetime warranty, and with my discount I got it for $240. Yea, I spent $240 to fix the horn. But with the airbag also tied into that mechanism I didn't really want to take any chances on a cheap part. I could have bypassed the whole thing and just installed a momentary switch elsewhere, but in the long run I think this is the better solution.
Next up: the bluetooth microphone that seems to be dead. Unless my 3M headlight kit gets here first, then I'll be polishing the headlights first.
So far the biggest issue is that my wife has needed the truck more than I have!

Anyhoo, if anyone in the future wants to see pics of the inside of the steering wheel I took some. They are posted at the link below to my google album.
Click me for link to google.

 

[cerisestars]

Got it home last night. Apparently it actually has the Bluetooth radio and steering wheel controls, so I won't need to upgrade that after all. It had about a quarter tank showing on the gauge, and I put 38 gallons in to fill it up. 182 miles to get out home, and it burned just a hair over 10 gallons. That includes two mountain passes where I discovered that this BEAST of an engine will go any speed you want up the hills. If I do my normal slower driving I'm pretty sure I can push that to close to 20 mpg highway and empty.
I also picked up a complete set of Limited wheels with nearly new highway tires and factory tpms. I'm very happy with the purchase so far.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk

Nice car and your tires are looking good as well.

 

[skills4lou]

So, I got to looking at another truck this evening and I'm trying to figure out if mine has leveling kit. The shocks and struts where just replaced before I bought it, and I assumed this spacer was part of that:

And then here's a view of the side, parked on a level area. The truck does have about 5lbs of pressure in the airbags, so it lifts the rear end just a hair.