3 Years with my 2004 Tundra

As 1 year with my Tundra wraps up, I decided to take a moment to look back on the purchase decision to decide if I’ve made a good choice.

The primary reason for the purchase was to tow our camper and use as my daily to go to work.

I previously had a string of manual transmission semi to sporty cars. We used our Odyssey as the tow vehicle.
Our new camper has a GVWR of 5k pounds, and I had initially planned on getting a 2017 + Honda Ridgeline. After some consideration, I decided I wasn’t interested in flirting with the line on capacities, so I began the search for a full-size truck.

Things I wanted: Preferably a V8 for low end torque, Payload over 1500 lbs, crew cab, 4wd and price under the amount that I could get for the car I had at the time ~$15k.

I initially considered every make and model, albeit certain years to get around known issues. The 1st gen tundra wasn’t even in consideration.

After looking and reading I’d whittled down just a few models and years of trucks, but I then added in the 1st gen crew cab after reading some very favorable comparisons and reviews online.

In December 2020 I happened upon an ad for a 2004 tundra with ~125k miles which appeared to have good maintenance records.
I’ve changed the wheels, replaced the driver’s seat bottom, upgraded the speakers, added a sub, changed the head unit to car play capable and performed fluid changes to end up with something I trust.

I’ve driven it just over 20k miles, a little over 10k miles of that pulling our travel trailer, with another 1k or so towing dirt bikes, a friend’s broken-down car, and me and my father’s boats. It has done everything I’ve asked of it, at a reasonable price.

I’ve had just one failure when on the road which didn’t affect my trip or performance – a downstream O2 sensor. The factory chrome bumper was rusted so I decided to replace it. I then found the factory tow hitch was quite rusted and had holes in it. I replaced that as well. Other than those items I would say I’ve only performed normal maintenance (Fluids, tires, shocks, etc).

When not towing I get 15.5 – 16 mpg. When towing the camper, I’m currently averaging 9.23 MPG over the 10K plus miles. Over the full 20k miles I’ve averaged 11.6 MPG.

If I could go back, I would hold out for the 05-06 with the 5-speed and VVTI. I believe the torque curve is similar from engine to engine, but another gear when accelerating and merging would be quite welcome. There were several times especially on this last trip where I was foot to the floor merging as there was so much traffic, and I was still under 60 mph when coming out of the on-ramp. The gear changes are to widely spaced with the 4-speed to make full use of the power of the 4.7L when loaded near capacity.

However When it’s all said and done I’m quite happy. I have a relatively trouble free 17-18 year old truck that still looks pretty good, and I don’t have a ton of money in it.

I hope to get 100k miles of use out of this truck before moving on in 5-6 years. I hope for more relatively trouble-free years.

 

That trucks probably worth over $15k at this point. Enjoy her for the next few years!

 

nice write up

 

Great write-up. That's a good looking rig! I like the camping chart too

 

Year 2 with my 2004 Tundra

Camping Costs



Another year in the bank here in week. I made a big change this year by replacing my cracked and leaking manifolds with long tubes and a full exhaust by dirty deeds. I removed my cats and sent them to Keith to be included in the new system. My hopes were improved torque to assist in towing, accelerating, and being able to maintain 4th gear more often.

So I spent more than $3k on this endeavor. My Cheap truck became more expensive. Am I happy? My truck is definitely peppier. It trimmed a touch over 1 second in 0-60. Towing I can certainly hold 4th gear longer before having to shift. Going through KY and TN on I-75 there were typically 3 or 4 hills that would require second gear and dropping to 50 - 55 MPH on the climbs. Now I can lock out overdrive and hold 3rd gear at 60-65 MPH. Huge gain in the midrange. I'm getting about .9 MPG better towing compared to last year, no notable change when not towing.

Other than this activity, I've just had routine maintenance this year. Excellent truck!

 

Holy crap. I already gave up on balancing my checkbook. No way I have the discipline to do mpg calculations!

 

Now you can scroll up to the top right-hand corner of your 1st reply in this thread, and use the 'Threat Tools' button to Edit Subject and change the number from "1" to "2".

Cool tracking. I love seeing analytics. I'm just too f'n scared to do this for my own truck. If anyone ever found it - besides my fellow Tundra fans - I'd probably get an earful about how much money I'm dumping into "that old truck"

 

Definitely sobering when you put it all on paper. I don't even feel I've done much and it adds up quick.

 

If I send you all my numbers, can I have a pie chart??

 

If you have excel it’s super easy, just highlight the cells and click make graph.

 

This is what I read.... "$#&@ '&$$@ %-$&, :=&#@ #@%% &+**"

 

Camp costs '23



Year 3 has wrapped up. I replaced the button style tonneau cover with a Velcro cover, which I wish I had done as soon as I got the truck – so much more convenient. I also added a tailgate assist at that time.
The only maintenance items other than fluid changes where the HVAC blower MTR, and drivers side valve cover gasket.

We also made a change to a different travel trailer. Slightly longer box, 23ft up to 26ft, and slightly wider, 7.5ft to 8ft. However this unit has no slide, so it’s supposedly only ~400lbs heavier.

The frontal area obviously grew with the width change, and all the gains I had with the longtubes / exhaust I gave back up. Power/gearing deficiencies on hills are rearing their heads again, and mileage seems to be dipping back into the 9’s unless I really do well with a nice draft behind a semi and have minimal headwind.

On our way home from Florida for our Thanksgiving trip, my wife asked if we were getting a new truck before the next towing season. She’s concerned with the power / cabin area as the kids grow / age / braking / safety features of the current truck. This wasn’t on my radar, my plan when purchasing this 3 years ago was to keep it for at least 5 years or around 200k miles depending on maintenance costs. Currently I’m at around 175k miles

So I’ve started researching our next tow vehicle. I’m not sure where I’m going to end up, as we’re still talking about whether we will make the change. The main thing I want is more payload. Not sure that we are going to change, but I told her I’m willing to look at and drive some different trucks.

There may be a pretty nice 1st gen coming up for sale in the next few months. . .

 

Some pictures from this year

 

No doubt your making the truck do what you’re wanting it to do, but i would think a bigger truck would do it a whole lot better. After about the 1000 miles i would have been sick of the stock ring and pinion gear ratio and lowered it a bit. It would free up a fair amount of engine power. It should also give you a bit better mpg as well (when you’re towing). I dunno exactly what gear ratio you currently have, but something around a 4.30-ish R&P paired with the optional smaller sized 245/70-16 would help you out big time!

 

Dang, and I thought it was a chore towing my 10' camper.

 

Shoe can you provide a link or info on the tailgate assist you put on your truck? I can’t seem to find one on my own that bolts right up for the first gen. I had one on my 2014 f150 and I really miss that on this truck.

 

$36 Go Gear EASYLIFT Tailgate Easylift

https://www.amazon.com/EASYLIFT-Go-...prefix=hopkins+tailgate+assist,aps,130&sr=8-3