Probably along the same lines as a free puppy...

Daughter was gifted a 2005 Toyota Tundra with a plow on it. V6, stick, 4WD.

Went and looked at it this morning. Decent rubber, usual fenderwell rust, says the infamous Toyota frame rot was repaired under warranty. Hasn't been run in 5 years. Plow is scruffy but complete.

I've arranged to have it hauled to PHPaul's PHabulous Shade Tree Garage ($150 - not worth trying to wrassle it onto my trailer for that...) and we'll see what it will take to get it running. If it starts adding up, we can always scrap it for what we'll have in it.

Free bulldozer would be way more better . Sounds like a good deal on the Toyota though.

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:
Free bulldozer would be way more better . Sounds like a good deal on the Toyota though.

Yeah, that actually ended fairly well, considering...

Plan is to pull a battery out of one of my spare tractors and see if the engine spins over and at least tries to start. If I can get it to start and run for plugs, wires, filters and an oil change, great. If not, I can scrap it to recover the towing charges and steal a few parts off it for my stash.

I bet it runs well just to spite you.

quote:

Originally posted by MRBTX:
I bet it runs well just to spite you.

I could live with that.

You may be pleasantly surprised ... it is worth the try. If does not work out, no big loss, but if does work out a great win. I believe odds are in your favor.

Messing with old cars for over 50 years. I've had them start and run after sitting alot longer than that. Do the basics like you said and I bet you'll be surprised.

Free plow trucks are the only kind to get. Because paying for a rusted, bent truck with a wiped out front end and a tortured transmission just doesn't make sense.

Paul,

Double check those brakes if you do get it running. Every "free" plow I've ever seen had the lines rusted out, blown cylinders, or bad master.

May not be an issue for some drives, but gets quite dicey plowing near the house or around the other cars!

quote:

Originally posted by Gibb:
Paul,

Double check those brakes if you do get it running. Every "free" plow I've ever seen had the lines rusted out, blown cylinders, or bad master.

May not be an issue for some drives, but gets quite dicey plowing near the house or around the other cars!

Went up this morning to take the plow off and air up the tires. Just for gits and shiggles, stepped on the brake pedal. Right to the floor...Like you, I expect it's rotten lines and dried out slave cylinders.

I'll at least get it here so I can get a good look at it and then decide from there.

I know that there are "free" plow trucks that you can sink a ton of money into.
Rod

We need pictures of this beauty!

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
We need pictures of this beauty!

Ask, and ye shall receive...

Still waiting on word about the rollback guy that's supposed to haul it for me.

Just get it crunk, who the heck needs brakes?

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Just get it crunk, who the heck needs brakes?

T'was just me, I'd agree. Daughter has never plowed snow plus her driveway is a tad steep in spots, so pretty sure she be more comfortable if she could stop it without having to run into a tree...

I am pretty sure that the term "free" only has a 5 minute shelf life.

So yes you get a truck at zero cost to you.

Like at Costco,
Yes you get a free snack cracker with spinach dip on it, at no cost to you.
But
Nine minutes later ,at the check out ,
Neither your half gallon $9.00 tub of spinach dipping sauce or your $8.00 crackers are "free".

So relish and rejoice at your five minutes of elation with you new gift.
The clock is ticking

Nope. That was a good title though, very funny. A fun junker project, just be careful not to let the project grow, depending on your personality (no questions please).

Look forward to your project! There is a YouTube Channel called “No Nonsense Know How” where a guy has videos where he gets things running that have been sitting forever. His daily driver is a truck similar to that Tundra and in one video it ended up in a river completely submerged. He had it up and running the following day. Still is his daily driver and tow rig. Bombproof trucks.

Free trucks are like free cats......

Rollback dropped it off this morning, and a buddy and I have started to tear into it.



Very first thing was to check the air box and sure enough, there was the obligatory mouse nest. Filter looked new tho.



After checking the oil and freeing up the throttle linkage, I dropped a fresh battery in it. Turns freely, even started and ran for a few seconds. I think once I purge the 5+ year old varnished gas out of it, it will run. There is no water visible in the radiator, I'm assuming it was drained. Alternative is it froze and broke something. When I'm ready to start the engine I'll fill the rad with straight water for starters as it should probably be flushed in any event.



The bed had one of those wretched plastic liners in it. They are really good at two things: Rubbing the paint off and trapping water. Major fist-sized holes all through the floor.



Seeing as we wanted to drain the gas tank and get a better look at the frame anyway, we cut the heads off the hold-down bolts and yanked the bed off. Frame looks pretty solid, only problem is the driver's side rear shock mount is blown out. Relatively easy fix. Rest of the frame has some surface rust, but nothing indicating failure points.



Rear bumper and it's mounts are paper thin, so all that will go as well.

So, bottom line is that we haven't found any deal breakers yet. Next step is to siphon the old gas out of the tank and see if we can get the engine to run. If that works, it'll be on to investigating several brake issues. Driver side front is locked up, pedal goes to the floor.