And for my next stoopid money-losing project...

[PHPaul]

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My daughter lives alone and has a driveway about 1/2 mile long. Her regular plow guy has given up plowing and she was stretching the budget to pay him anyway. Got lucky this year with very little snow, but that can change in a heartbeat.

So when she was offered the pictured truck as a freebie it sure seemed like a good deal. 2005 Toyota Tundra, V6, 4WD. It's a stick which isn't ideal, but the price is right, the truck looks decent from a quick visual inspection. I've arranged to have it hauled to my place on a rollback as it hasn't been used in 5 years and will no doubt need some love.

I figure if we can get it running and drivable for $500 or less, we'll be money ahead. It'll just be a "yard truck", no intention of putting it back on the road. If not, I can scrap it and recover my towing fee.

[Red Dave]

It oughta work pretty good, if you can get it starting and running reliably.

Those Toyota V6's are all but bulletproof and have surprising power. We have a '99 Avalon with a V6. The body is shot, but the engine is strong. Had an oil leak from a valve cover that ran down on the manifold and made a little smell. A couple gaskets solved it.

It's is on the small side according to some pundits, but I plowed with a 1965 Scout that had a slant 4 cylinder 152 cu in engine (literally half of a 304 V8). It didn't want for power, just put it in low range and let it push, it actually needed more weight to plow better. It had posi both front and rear, which could make for interesting driving on slick roads, but it would really push snow. It doesn't take a 10 wheeler to plow most snow.

[Bkeepr]

I can’t see how this can be a money loser…a time sink, certainly (although I am always blind to my own!!), but it seems a good-bet project to me.

I wish I could find a good stick shift truck again…my current F150 is the first automatic I have owned (ok, except for the RV), and I miss the fine control you have with a clutch.

[PHPaul]

The rollback guy delivered it today, and a buddy and I started tearing into it.

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First order of business was to search for and evict any squatters that move in during it's 5+ year hiatus. No surprise to find the obligatory mousehouse in the air box.

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Checked the oil, freed up the throttle linkage, put a good battery in and bumped the key to make sure the engine was not seized. It not only turned over, it started and ran for a few seconds! I suspect once I get the old varnished gas purged out of the system it will run fairly well. The radiator was dry, I'm hoping that's because he drained it, not because it froze and dumped all the coolant on the ground.

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The bed had one of those wretched plastic liners in it. They excel at two things: Rubbing the paint off and holding moisture. Another "no surprise here" moment to find a half dozen fist sized holes in the floor of the bed in addition to the major rot over the wheel arches. Seeing as the bed was junk and we wanted a better look at the frame anyway, I cut the heads off the bed bolts and we lifted it off. Frame actually looks pretty good. Some surface scale, but the only serious damage is the upper shock mount on the driver's side rear. Relatively easy fix.

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The back bumper is a mere shadow of it's former self as are the mounts, so that'll get torched off and replaced with a farmer-bilt bash bar.

The only serious question left (assuming the engine starts and runs on fresh gas) is the brakes. Driver's front is locked up, pedal goes to the floor and the lines are seriously sketchy.

[GeneMO]

I started this morning pulling the cabin air filter and the heater blower out of my Nissan Titan to evict the mice. Found one petrified one in the squirrel cage fan. The little bastards had even eaten a chunk out of the plastic vanes in the van. I hate mice !!!!

Gene

[PHPaul]

Based on a tip from another site, I put the air box back together (filter was fine), siphoned out the old dead gas, put some fresh in and it started right up and ran fine.

Put it in 4 lo and bumped the clutch and the frozen front wheel popped loose, so that's another worry off my mind. Of course it will still need a 4 corner brake job, but at least I have a chance of getting it apart. I did add fluid to the reservoir and the brakes went from nothing at all to spongy.

Radiator wasn't empty, it was just a half-gallon or so low. After running it up and down the driveway once, it had pressure against the cap. I'll replace the thermostat just because.

Next bit of semi-bad news is that the alternator is seized up. I loosened it enough to keep the belt from burning up and ordered a replacement from Rock Auto. When I get it off I might see if I can replace the bearings just for the hell of it.

In the process of ordering the replacement alternator something wasn't adding up as it only listed a 4.0 V6 for that year and this one has a 3.4 Ran the VIN and turns out it's a 2001 not a 2005.

[PHPaul]

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Frame is rotted out at the rear cab mount on the driver's side. Basically just the upper and lower flange holding it together, web is completely gone.

Looking into the no brakes situation, got a bad line at the wheel cylinder on the driver's side rear. Sort of expected that, but the lower half of the backing plate is completely rotted off as well.

This is looking more and more like Bulldozer - Part Deux...as in RUN AWAY!

Neighbor Dan was interested in buying it outright. He knows about the brakes, but we thought the frame was good to go. If he doesn't want it now I'd certainly understand. If he passes on it, I'll need to decide on one of three courses of action:

1. Scrap it and walk away.

2. Part it out. Engine/trans/transfer case/differentials all appear to be good.

3. Patch the frame and keep throwing money at it.

The first one is the easiest and quite probably what I'll do. #2 would net the most money but takes time, effort and dealing with looky-lous. #3 is on the list only because I'd love to have a manual transmission truck to play with, but makes no sense at all financially.

[Red Dave]

It would take some work, but could you grind around it to clean it up enough to weld a fish plate over the hole? But since you aren't going to put it on the road, and only driving it at slow speeds to plow, it might be good enough.

If you are having thoughts of driving it on the road, forget what I said and call the junk yard now.

[PHPaul]

A neighbor made me a cash offer a couple of days ago that would recover what I've spent and put a couple dollars in my pocket. I thought sure he'd run away after he saw that hole, but he said the same thing you did: "We'll fishplate it".

I'm not nearly a good enough welder to work that far out of position, but I can make a pattern to cut a piece of flat stock that will fit inside the frame and then drill and bolt it.

Assuming, of course, that the frame isn't so stinking hard the drill bit skates instead of cutting...

[Bkeepr]

Seems like selling to the neighbor makes the most sense, although you do run the risk of feeling obligated to help him work on it afterwards. You’re right about the problem with parting it out—that’d be too much dealing with time sinks for me! And scrapping it seems like a complete waste.

Good luck with whatever you decide…keep posting, it is an interesting story.