2005 Limited - Salty

AT Salty

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Aug 3, 2017
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Since Sal does such great freaking job on his write ups, I thought I'd copy his format, so here goes:

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GOAL:
The original goal was to sell my '08 civic (with a brand new dealer replaced motor) and use the Sequoia as my daily driver and kid hauler. After continually dropping the price of the Civic with not so much as a phone call, I decided to keep it and use it as my commuter car and keep the miles off the truck. So, Salty is now a weekend warrior and not a daily driver!
I looked for this truck for about 8 months before it finally fell on my lap. It's a 2005 4x4 Limited with 145k miles. Has every option available on the '05 including leather, second row captains chairs, wood grain trim, rear entertainment system, and in Phantom Grey Pearl, was my preferred color choice (next was black.) I was looking for a Southerner...i'm in Florida and didn't want a rusted truck. Found this one at a used car lot and bought it on the spot. It had one owner and spent the last 13 years just South of me in Sarasota. There's not a spot of rust on this rig!
So, my goal now is to slowly build and tweak to fit my needs. I plan to have this salty ole bastard around for a looong time.


MODIFICATIONS:
Exterior:

  • Painted all badges black

  • Billet grills

  • Running board removal

  • Thule cross bars

  • Thule 4-bike hitch rack

  • Pearl Jam and Appalachian Trail tattoos!

Wheels and Tires:

  • New rotors and pads (non vented rotors, which I regret, and cheap pads, which will be upgraded soon)

  • TRD Sema 17x7, fresh out of the box

  • New TPMS Sensors

  • Pro Comp AT Sport 285/70 17

Suspension:

  • Front - Pro Comp Pro Runner SS adjustable shocks, set to highest setting

  • Back - Built in air ride linkage adjustment...wide open

Drivetrain:

  • ...just oil

  • Attempted to have the timing belt changed and the trans fluid pumped out, but the Toy Store dug into it and said belt was new and Tx fluid pink...saved me $$$...highly recommend if you're in Tampa.

Interior:

  • LED light replacement

  • TSB fix for rear window

  • Front speakers re-coned locally at The Speaker Exchange (Awesome work, great price, great sound...and they ship!)

  • AUX USB charging station in console

  • Phone charger run to note pad compartment

  • ROKU streaming stick and HDMI to RCA converter install in console

  • USA SPEC BT45 Bluetooth kit

Bucketlist:

 

AT Salty

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Aug 3, 2017
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GOAL:

Fix rear entertainment system and get Netflix up and running.


PURPOSE:

The dvd player worked sporadically when i bought the truck...needed to get something going there for the kids. Really wanted to get Netflix to the entertainment system, and if I could fix the dvd, that would be a bonus. Have a need for some aux usb charging ports in a discrete location, so that would be a bonus also.

This project only works because my company phone includes wifi hotspot...kinda critical to get streaming tv in the Salty bastard.


DURATION:

...after a few beers, who's counting!


MATERIALS:

  • USB charging block

  • Roku stick with RF remote

  • RCA to HDMI converter

  • Loooong RCA cables

  • Beer, of course

COST:

Including beer, I think I put in about $200 to make it happen.


HOW-TO:

Let me start by saying this project was complete over a year ago, so pictures and details are a little fuzzy, but I'll do my best.

Since the rear ent system was not working, I took it down and bench tested, cleaned everything, and did this 3 or 4 times...still get sporadic functionality from dvd, but aux works fine, which was the main goal.

Opened up the console and spliced into the 2nd row lighter wire to install the USB block.

Wired up the Roku and RCA-HDMI converter then used 3M tape to stick them all to the inside of the console.

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Also ran a cable from the main console to the notepad holder...i use the pad holder to clip my phone in...most discreet phone holder I was able to come up with.

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All in all, Netflix works great, although there is a slight screen aspect ratio conflict that the kids will never care about.
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The charging block let's me plug stuff in and keep it in the console (I might exhibit some OCD tendencies, okay)

The cell phone charger to notepad holder works pretty well...i had to get a 90 degree mini usb cable to avoid pinching the charger, but overall it works well.

It was important for me to not drill any holes in the console for this project, so all cables were routed through hatch hinge openings. No holes drilled, and project is totally reversible or upgradeable.
 
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AT Salty

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Aug 3, 2017
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Thanks mulze. The badge above the license plate used to located on the lower left above "Sequoia"...i kinda killed the original Toyota emblem in the removal process.
Thanks the link to the rack build...that was just what I was looking for.
 

mulze42

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Oct 10, 2017
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No problem. Did you plastidip the emblems?

Let me know how it goes. My tentative schedule to get one designed and implemented is by end of May. Will share designs or progress when I get started.
 

AT Salty

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Aug 3, 2017
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I didn't plastidip, but probably should have. I have never worked with that stuff before and thought painting would be a better finish. The paint worked well enough, but the removal process sucked...wouldnt do it again.
Definetely keep me posted on your progress with the roof rack. And thanks for recommending T-Nutz...much more reasonable than 80/20.
I took some measurements today just to get a rough idea of what I'll need. Two 8' lengths of the 1/4" bar stock should take care of the sides, and the 47" tnutz for the Prinsu will work. I'm going to make the sides and the fairing out of wood first and scribe the bottoms to the roof contour. I'll dry for everything in wood, then use the wood as a template for the bar stock on the router table. I want to put a light bar up front, so that will be incorporated into the build as well.
Gonna take a little while to do it...too much "life" happening right now, but I can't wait.
Happy modding
 
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mulze42

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Interesting on your prototyping technique. I will have to use the wood template too to get a good view on it. Are you planning on sacrificing the ability to pop-up the sunroof? That's one thing I'm thinking about.
 

AT Salty

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Definetely not going to lose the ability to use the sunroof...the rack will built around full functionality of the sunroof. I have a few ideas, but won't really know how it will work out until i start the build.
 
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