"Big Red" may be dead. Who is "Big Red" you ask? My beloved 2007 Toyota Tundra SR5 Double Cab pickup truck. The top photo is from the day I brought it home from the dealer on Monday August 2, 2010. My wife named it Big Red since it was the biggest, baddest pickup truck I ever owned.
This photo is from Wednesday October 20, 2010 just after having the brand new ARE Mid-Rise cap installed. I bought the cap from Killam's in East Windsor. They matched the factory paint perfectly. I took the photo on the back ramp of the firehouse.
I bought the truck from Charles Toyota in Norwich on July 31, 2010. It had 33K on the odometer and was listed for $23,506.00 as a 3-year lease turn in. It had the 4.7L V-8 engine and TRD Off Road package with factory towing. Of course as a fireman, my new truck HAD TO BE RED! But I wasn't sure what body style I wanted; Double Cab or Crew Max. It turns out Charles Toyota had one of each in Radiant Red. I returned to the dealer with my wife and had them bring both trucks up front side by side so we could go through them and decide which configuration was best. The Crew Max only comes with a 5.5' bed and a huge back seat, but a poor in cab cargo area because of the way the seat folded down (they have since made it better). The Double Cab had a 6.5' bed (they are available in 8' too) and a slightly smaller back seat, but the seat folds up completely out of the way allowing a huge cargo area behind the front bucket seats. We felt that for traveling, especially with the dogs, that would be best so they could be in the climate controlled cab with us. Funny story; I paid their full listed price and here's why. When I went to pick it up, I tried to pull a last minute negotiation and asked for $1000 off, figuring they would counter and I could save a few hundred. They told me they were selling it for what they paid at auction. I told them to produce the invoice that backs up that claim and they've got a deal. They did and the invoice read $23,501. Because I brought my own financing, they made a whopping $5 on that truck. They needed to get rid of it when they did, because it was on the lot for 4 months and they were about to start paying property taxes on it as inventory.
And travel we did! Cape Cod, Maine, and trips to Massanutten Resort area in Virginia with her parents and brother's family. I made multiple trips over the years to Emmitsburg, Maryland to the National Fire Academy and the annual Fallen Firefighter's Memorial Weekend with a few guys from the department. My last trip down there was in 2015.
In this photo it's parked on the side of The Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia on June 23, 2014 the first time we went down there.
On our trip back there in 2015, we brought our kayaks and bicycles but never the dogs because they were not allowed in the vacation condos. The kayaks rode on top of the cap, the bicycles in a hitch receiver mounted bike rack, and all our luggage and food in the bed under the cap. A small cooler and snacks were in the back seat cargo area. Below is a photo from when I was test fitting the kayaks in the driveway using the saddle racks on the integrated Yakima roof rack system. Because they sit up so high, I bought and installed cockpit covers so if we got caught in heavy rain, the kayaks would not fill with water. Two kayaks filled with water up that high could mean a rollover disaster. It takes two people to load and unload them; one on the tailgate and the other on a 6 foot stepladder. The ladder got stowed in the bed for travel. We only used this configuration for the long trips, never for day trips around home. For that the kayaks just slide into the truck bed.
In 2016 we rented a trailer for cheap from a guy on the fire department after I spent the better part of a month rehabbing it in lieu of rental money. We went all the way to Glacier National Park in western Montana and back with lots of stops in between. This photo is from when we arrived at Badlands National Park in South Dakota on August 24, 2016. The trailer weighed in at 7600 pounds, and the towing capacity of my truck was 7800 pounds. But Big Red pulled that trailer effortlessly, especially since I used non-ethanol gas whenever it was available, which was almost everywhere from Indiana west. We had all three dogs with us for the 3 week trip.
Next stop was Devil's Tower in Wyoming on our way to the western entrance to Yellowstone. After being at Yellowstone for three days it was north to Glacier. We headed home three days later by way of North Dakota and then headed south to Indiana where my wife wanted to visit a wolf sanctuary. From there was one more night in Pennsylvania and then home. It was the trip of a lifetime for sure.
We have used the hell out of that truck for hauling stuff, helping friends move, towing my utility trailer, commuting, and just all around use. With the big back seat we always took the truck if we were going to carry passengers. My wife's RAV-4 and her previous 4Runner always had the back seat down and set up to transport the dogs, making it a lot of work if we were going to use it that way, and then put it back.
In 2018, Toyota put a brand new frame under Big Red. That made it worthwhile for me to remove the rusted bed and repair all the mounts two summers ago. While the bed was off, I fixed a bunch of other stuff too. The plan was to keep the truck at least 3 more years from now. But that plan has been totally derailed.
On Sunday morning May 31st, I was on my way home from the firehouse at 6:05 AM. Less than half a mile down the road, the truck lost all power and I pulled off the road. There was no check engine or other warning lights and the gauges were normal. When I tried to restart it, it would start and run perfectly for 1 1/2 seconds then shut off. I tried repeatedly with the same results. Having a small tool bag in the back seat cargo area, I disconnected the battery and shorted the battery cables together for 30 seconds to completely reset the truck. I connected everything back up and tried to start it. Same results as before. It was acting like the engine immobilizer was preventing it from starting, as if you were trying to use a cut metal key without a chip. I gave up screwing with it and called AAA to get towed the 1 1/2 miles home. They showed up within the hour and got my truck and me home. Being a Sunday all service centers/dealers were closed, and I had to be back at work Monday morning at 0600. I would ride my motorcycle to work and spend standby time burning up the phone lines to deal with it Tuesday. Luckily we were in store for a stretch of decent weather with only showers on a couple of overnights, so using the bike has been OK.
I first called the garage we normally deal with that specializes in Toyota. But since they are not a dealership, they, like myself do NOT have access to Toyota's proprietary diagnostic software and OBD cable. So it was going to have to go to the dealership. I called them and they said they could not set something up until I had the truck towed there. I replied I would see them Tuesday the 2nd.
Tuesday morning I called AAA to arrange a tow. They said sorry, you get one tow per disablement and I would have to pay. They would arrange it for me but could not give me a cost, it would be up to the towing service. I said thanks but no thanks, I would rather give my money to a local guy I know. I called my local guy and he said he could tow it for $207.65 He towed my truck to the dealership and I went on ahead of him on my bike. When I got there I spoke to the service advisor and told her my truck was coming and why. A few minutes later my truck arrived on the flatbed and they checked it in. There were phone calls back and forth over the last week and finally a diagnosis.... mice have chewed up my wiring harness under the fuse box in the engine bay. Good news is auto insurance covers this under Comprehensive Coverage. Yesterday I called Progressive to file a claim and secure a rental car. I get the car for up to 30 days and will hitch a ride with my wife on her way to work tomorrow morning to get it.
Today I get the bad news. The wiring harness is no longer available new from Toyota or anywhere else used or salvaged. I thought I found one in Florida, and had a discussion with the parts manager about it. It turns out they are specific to the model and options, and the one I found in Florida was not correct for my truck and would not work, even though the website's fitment chart said it did. He also stated that any wiring harness needs to have the factory tag on it with the proper part number before they will use it. Shit! I am now staring at the possibility of Progressive totaling my truck. Time to gather up the receipts for all the work I put into it recently. 😒
My original plan was to replace my truck in about 3 more years with a 25+ year old, low mileage, Grandpa's creampuff from down south where they don't use winter salt. No emissions, cheap property taxes, cheap insurance, easy to work on myself. I would drive it into the ground like always over the period of about 10 years, then find another. It looks like I might get close to 10 grand if they total my truck, so I'm not sure what I am going to do. I really need a truck, but they are unaffordable these days. There will be no getting a good deal like I got on Big Red. That truck these days are going for $45K plus.