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Toyota Tundra 2005 Limited Access Cab 4WD V8 Black

Toyota’s Tundra is very great truck.  Especially the TRD Off-Road Package, there are some horses power, torque, and large size.

Mechanical:

4.7 liter DOHL 32 Valve V8 – 282@5400 rpm; 315 lb-ft@3400 rpm.

Automatic 5 speed transmission.

ABS break: front disc, rear drum.

Overall height/width/length/wheel base/bed length (in): 71.7/79.3/218.3/128.3/74.4.

Interior dimension head front rear / shoulder front rear / hip front rear / leg front rear (inches):

40.3 38.3 / 62.4 63.2 / 59.3 56.6 / 41.5/ 28.6

Weights – Curb weight/GVWR/Payload/Towing Capacity/GCWR (lb):

4735 / 6300 / 1565 / 6900 / 11,800

fuel: tank size / MPG city / MPG highway: 26 gal / 15/18

Options (copied from Tundra Brochure also): California Access Cab 4 X 4 Package A

All weather guard package – includes heavy-duty battery, starter and heater (include heated mirrors when power mirrors are offered).

V8 towing package – include Class IV (explained in rvtowingtips.com) towing hitch receiver, 7 – pin connector with converter, heavy-duty 130 amp alternator and supplemental transmission oil cooler.

TRD off-road package – include off-road-tuned suspension, Bilstein® shock absorbers, 16-in. 5 spoke aluminum alloy wheels (6 spoke for limited series) with P265/70R16 BFGoodrich® tires, color keyed fender flaires with integrated mudguards and fog lamps.

Works Great, drive really nice, big engine, and best of all, it will last.

 

 

 

 

So far, this is my review.

Excellent:

Toyota quality, fit, and conservative design ( could be bad if prefer modern design)

Quite V8, smooth transmission

Size: full size compare to other manufactures

Made in USA except engine

Great looking track

Excellent optional package (package A) for 4×4 off-road

Drive like a car (unless prefer a truck feeling)

comfortable chair

Pre-wire most accessories

Clean engine compartment, nothing hang down

Fewer recall or TSB (technical support bulletin) for the Tundra since introduction of 2000

Reliable, reliable, reliable.

Limited series perks – power rear window, 6 CD changer, color trends, steering wheel radio control, power mirror, and excellent control and smooth system

LSD

ABS

4X4

Tow Package

 

Not so Excellent:

Not enough power compare to others

Not strong brake

Ride hard (Due to TRD package, as expected, but still is a bad)

Use lots Gas money

Could use better tires

Small rear space for seats, 90 degree chair

Bench seats front and back

No storage space

 

 

 

 

The Story ….

I drove this truck for about a month now, I went to few places, add few accessories in the truck, and have a wonderful time on it.  I don’t pretend that I am a hard core Off-Road driver, because I am not, and I am worst driver in the world. but I do love occasionally get off the pavement and shake the leg off once a while without destroy the vehicle. I also love to make the ride different than others, so I often purchase something that others don’t do, but still maintain all the warranty, and I will review all the little accessories that I got in the future.  The accessories & Prices that I added are following:

The Truck – $31500 out the door with registration and license

Toyota Hood Protector – $146

Line-x bed spread – $488

Westin Black tube Side Step – $270

Undercover Tonneau Cover – $700

Installation fee & tax for that – $118

Cargo Net – $20

Carpet (Dealer forgot to give some)- $16

Concave mirror – $4

So far the total on the Truck is about $ 33262.00.  This is not include the expense on the wax, car wash soap, Mr. Clean auto wash and other items to maintain the truck with, it’s just the item for the truck listed.   Which if I did my math correctly with my $0.99 calculator, the accessories are $1762, and that is a lot of money for the truck.

Which all these will be reviewed in the near future, but for right now, this is the Toyota Tundra Review Part II with basic light Off-road and the Tundra 2005 Brochure.

 

Review

Toyota’s Tundra is very great truck.  Especially the TRD Off-Road Package, there are some horses power, torque, and large size.  There are lots issues with other owner that generated through out years of Tundra 2005 model years, which my truck is too new to experience those issues, and the possible issue are following:

Break vibration, O2 sensor, slip yoke under greased, Early break usage, sound from center , engine ping, and rear window shake.

Ok, these sound a lot, but all of them are TSB (Technical Support Bulletin), which for any major manufactures is consider minor, they will fix them if you have that issue under warranty, but it is not consider recall (Federal Government mandate repair), and TSBs will not compromise the safety of vehicle.

The truck is very well built, it runs pretty good with the V8, and the Bilstine shacks doing very well absorb all the bump very well with Off Road package, they takes light off-road well, and the trip to the Anza-Borrego’s coyote canyon are mostly Rate 1 to 3 section on where we were going, but if going deeper down, then it will be difficult for the new truck due to the width.

Everything on this truck is good, a little noisy when start, but it will be quiet after a couple minutes after the pressure built up.  The Computer in the Tundra controls everything, so it’s pretty advanced.  The ride is harsh for some road if there are some pothole at that, and most time, it is pretty good.  The Chair hold up pretty well with long time driving, but a captain chair is more preferred.  The 284 hp @ 3400 and 310 really shows when drop the hammer to get into the freeway entrance, and really can pound in the pavement or dirt road.

This is very comfortable and good truck, but it does has one problem that need immediate attention, which it is the brake, it get soft too easy, and it would require some redesign.  Also there is a minor re-grease on the slip yoke due to sitting in the dealer’s parking lot for 6 month.   So far the mileages are averaging 15.5, but once a while it drops to 13.4, and up to 16.7.  The reasonably installed Tonneau cover will increase the mileage by estimation of a mile or two in the long run.

 

Just in case you are wondering, here are the brochure.

 

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Princeton Apex – Head Lamp

No, not April Fools day joke here

I need a head lamp to use when I go camping, I broke my last head lamp and I don’t like the flash light, so I went to store and got this one.

Usually there are some use of head gear for camping so there are some usefulness of this with multiple on one set for different function.

From the Princeton Tec website:

The Apex is the pinnacle of waterproof LED headlamp design, boasting up to 60 lumens of output. With its four light levels, safety flash mode, and impact-resistant design, the Apex is an ideal headlamp for any hardcore adventure. The Apex combines a regulated three-watt Maxbright LED with four regulated Ultrabright LEDs, for Constant Brightness on all modes. Switching modes has never been easier the dual switch system allows you to independently control the intense, smooth, long-range lighting from the Maxbright LED, and the wide-angle, close-range lighting from the four Ultrabright LEDs. Proprietary heatsink technology allows the LEDs to burn brighter and longer. The Apex is compatible with alkaline, lithium, and rechargeable batteries.

  • High Mode – 100 hrs, Low Mode – 150 hrs, Flashing Mode 200 hrs
  • High Mode – 72 hrs, Low Mode – 96 hrs
  • Lifetime Warranty
  • Waterproof to 1 Meter
  • Weight: 10 oz with Batteries (4 AA Batteries Included)

From Amazon.com

The Princeton Tec Apex LED Headlamp will light up your outdoor world. The 3-watt MaxBright LED will shine a spotlight beam up to 180 feet away and the four UltraBright LEDs will cast a steady wide beam or flashing light out as far as 75 feet. All this power in a 10-oz. package that squeezes 72 to 200 (average 150) hours of light out of four AA alkaline batteries (included). The dual switch design allows easy access to the five modes. Submersible to 3-feet, works with alkaline, lithium or rechargeable batteries.

 

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Line-X Bed Spread to Protect truck Bed

 

Before the age of bed spread, there was the bed liner, and it does a lot of damage to the truck bed after extensive usage.  The plastic bed liner will keep the water inside the bed between liner and metal, and slowly rust away the surface of the bed.  Also the plastic bed liner will scratch the metal bed with shaking and moving.  So the bed spread was born, which after years of market, there are 2 major brand Rhino and Line-x.  Of course there are other brand that owners could apply themselves instead of spend extra money, no need to go to professional, but most of time it won’t look as good.

Over all, there are many reasons why Line-x was chosen, but real reason are there are lot more Line-x dealer than Rhino dealers, and there is one near where I worked, so I can go before I go to work

The whole process takes about an hour, which most of the hour are prep, and only takes 5 to 10 minutes to spread.  The Bedlinersplus in Irvine is own by Steve Hillemann, he explained the difference, issues, bolt, over-rail question clearly.  He also sales few tonneau cover, and side-step / running board.  Anyway, his guys took the truck, tape it up, sanded the bed down so the material would adhere together.  The tailgate was painted separately after being sanded, and taped.  There are 6 option on basic color (other colors charges extra) to choose from, but since the target truck is black, so the black color was used.

The shop has 6 different basic color that comes free, and other colors will cost extra.  Also Endura Gloss UV Top Coat was also applied due to UV & color protection (Cost 100 bucks extra).  The rough texture is added by default due to customer popularity, but smooth texture could be achieve if request by customer. The smoother surface can be achieved by not adding texture in the spread, so it is possible not to include roughness in the spread.

 

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Wise Bedrug for First Gen Tundra Access Cab (6.5 Ft bed) (2000 – 2006)

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A.R.E. MX Campershell for 2005 Tundra Access Cab

Well, the Undercover Tonnueau cover serves very well, but for the functionality of Camping or moving cargo, it just doesn’t hold enough cargo or as a good sleeping quarter function.  There are a lot option on how to increase the volume of the truck bed; soft cover, hard cover, or aluminum camper shell, but at end, the fiberglass camper shell seems to be the best choice.  Then There are choices of manufactures, types of campers shell, and what basic design and function it will be using for.  Since this is a lot bigger purchase than my previous Tonnueau, so there are a list made to find the one camper shell that will do the job.

Companies that was considered:

Leer – Not too interest in the style.  There are reports of shell warp

Snug Top – was really considered due to short distance near factory to get low price, but after some forum user reported that certain Tundra model doesn’t fit, and quality is not up to the par.

Innovation – shell warp, paint matching

A.R.E. – There are some report of paint miss matching and some issue with window fit.

After all those choice, the people mostly recommend A.R.E. due to better quality and better fit, and Therefore there is a decision for the ARE MX Camper shell, and only option that was added in this campers hell is the flip down front window.  So after 3 weeks, the shell was arrived & installed. Everything is great, black cab with gray interior, which fit perfectly with the Bedrug color.  Front windows flip open but there are another windows on the Cab, so to connect camper shell or talk to people inside, would need to open 2 windows.  There are sliding windows on each side with screen  on tailgate half.  The camper shell open by one lock with rod to open both side, and have a instead 2 will simplify the opening set.  The camper lock overtop of the tailgate so won’t have issue of security.  The rise of the MX have a view window to see out so looks great and nice fitting.

The camper shell works great and protect my items perfectly for five year until I sold my truck.  The camper shell is heavy of 250 LBs, and connect with 6 Clamps, and I only need to tighten it up every 6 month to make sure it’s good.  Its perfect camper shell and I do recommend to everyone who want a camper shell and MX model do have additional rise above the cab.