Toyota Tundra Problems

bamatundra · April 2002

I'm having a hard time understanding why you would have to special order the configuration that you listed. Access Cab 4WD V8s are the most popular in the Northwest, and SR5s are the most common by far. You would have a hard time(if not impossible) finding one in Vermont WITHOUT the weatherguard package. Virtually all SR5s come with the convenience package and 3 in one stereo.

In fact - what you listed is the exact configuration that I purchased 2 1/2 years ago(except for the limited slip.)

I would suggest you try some different dealers. This configuration should not be an order build.

The dealer I purchased mine from could find virtually any options I wanted in the color I wanted without an order build. The only problem I had was finding an SR5 with ABS that didn't also have the TRD package (I don't like the looks of the TRD package).

twowheeler · April 2002

Dave,

Check out the www.tundrasolutions.com website. Carson Toyota in California specializes in custom builds and exports to other states, at good prices. They seem to have alot of satisfied out of state customers. Check out this link:

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2749

davecrook1 · April 2002

Thanks-I had already spoken to the folks at Carson Toyota in Cal. -they were the ones who stated that the vehicle I am in search of could be "order built." In fact,they attempted to put me in touch with a dealer in Saratoga,N.Y. who never called me. The folks at Carson said that ordering through them was not practical due to transport costs.I hate to chase these dealers but I guess I'll have to contact the Saratoga dealer myself. Am also trying to contact some Boston dealers. Thanks for the help.

jmess · April 2002

I owned a 2WD Tundra for just short of 2 years. I spent a lot of time towing an enclosed trailer with about 5500 LBs total weight. I towed the same trailer and load several times with my partner's Ford F-150 Harley Edition (super cab). The 5.4 Ford motor had more lowend and midrange grunt than the Tundra V8 did. The suspension on the Ford felt better when towing the trailer. The rear springs on the Tundra were too light, I had to put spring helpers on. The V8 in the Tundra is really a nice motor, and smoother than the Ford 5.4, but when it comes to towing something heavy the 5.4 IMHO is a better motor. The Tundra may be faster in a straight line but the torque band in the 5.4 is better suited to towing.

ndahi12 · April 2002

You compare a 5.4 SC engine to an 4.7 NA engine and you find the SC engine better at towing. Well Duh!!! It better be. The SC engine in the Screw has 340 hp and 425 lb-ft of torque. It damned well better tow more at ease than the Tundra. What next, you will compare the power stroke diesel to the Tundra engine!!!

All you need to do was get stiffer springs. I run the HD bilestin and I have no problems towing at all.

ryanbab · April 2002

i think he is talking about the regular 5.4. SC= supercab

Maybe i missed something but he never mentioned it was supercharged

PF_Flyer · April 2002

You're "playing" much nicer here... That's not to say that you're all at peace and harmony, but you're managing to disagree without getting into the namecalling and cheap shots.

And it IS appreciated.

Carry on!

PF Flyer

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urkillingme · April 2002

The super cab version of the Harley edition was NOT supercharged. It has just been very recently that the 4 door version of the Harley 150, based on the Super Crew, has has been available with the Lightning engine.

eric2001 · April 2002

Dave:
Did you try going to Toyota's website and finding dealers just outside of your area? They include phone #'s and e-mail addresses.

I am guessing that you talked w/ New Country Toyota. I have had many dealings with New Country (Mitsubishi dealer), but not the Toyota dealership, and they were usually decent.

Best of luck in your search,
-Eric

bamatundra · April 2002

The Ford needs to be supercharged to stay with the Tundra. The Tundra 4.7L will run circles around the Ford Friton 5.4L

bamatundra · April 2002

You never did explain why you would have to order build one of the most common Tundra configurations. All of the dealers in my area have several of Tundras with the configuration you describe on their lots.

obyone · April 2002

"The Ford needs to be supercharged to stay with the Tundra. The Tundra 4.7L will run circles around the Ford Friton 5.4L "

That has to be the best joke in a long time....keep up the good work there Bama.

tomh12 · April 2002

And these guys wonder why "GM" guys post in their Tundra topic.

The garbage that gets spewed out for facts certainly needs to be exposed to the light of truth....You do that well.
Tom

kcowboy · April 2002

Geez, Its out right hilarious why gm owners post on this thread. I know they must have enough to talk about concerning all the defects and maintenance problems concerning their so-called pickups! I mean that gm piston slap alone not counting the numerous other problems is enough to bring total embarrassment. I know it would, to pay a high price for something called a V8 that sounds like a worn out Briggs&Stratton lawnmower engine only after a few thousand miles. I have always owned a Ford pickup and now a Toyota Tundra and believe me gm was never in the picture when I was in the market for a new pickup.

hillhound · April 2002

plutonious Apr 20, 2002 12:51am

Dodge is behind the competetion in their 1/2 ton engines in my opinion-at least right now. And I wasn't attacking Toyota in my last post-I was just trying to explain (to Bama, or course) that engine performance is more fairly judged by alot more than peak output only. Dodge's new 5.7L "Hemi" will be a good example of this. It's peak torque output will be at a high rpm level but due to it's flat torque curve it will have tons of hp and torque down in the lower rpm range also.

GM's new "small-block" Vortec engines have this same characteristic, and although I can't find an iForce V8 graph I'll bet it's torque curve is also pretty flat.

Take it easy Pluto!

kcowboy · April 2002

Yea, I've been reading where the Ram will be coming out with a new 5.7 Hemi. That should be a good engine for that newer design. I really like the way they designed the rear access on the new Dodge Ram. I haven't heard if the new motor will be out in 2003 or 2004 yet.

jei · April 2002

is a decent outfit and should be helpful. Like so many places, they're stretched thin. Try one of the senior guys there (Rick Newman or Ken Murphy). New Country has had a good service department as well. I took my '85 Toyota SR5 4WD wagon there for years and was very satisfied.

I looked over a Tundra V-6 there a couple of weeks ago. They said Toyota does not do custom orders any more but that they could locate a truck within the "standard" option range. (I was interested in a V-6 with limited slip differential; no go.) Your truck sounds pretty much within the normal range for the Northeast.

hillhound · April 2002

The new Dodge 5.7 will be available in the 2003 3/4 and 1 ton Dodge pickups and probably late 2003 or 2004 it will show up in the 1/2 ton models.

345hp @ 5600rpms & 365ft-lb @ 4400rpms.

losangelesemt · April 2002

Good info my friend, point well taken.

losangelesemt · April 2002

Lol ... well you are definitely correct, it would take quite a few years for Toyota at 6% to catch up in volume. I didn't intend for that post to be taken too seriously. In all actuality though, I'm basing a Toyota market increase not only due to new customers, but to GM/Ford/Dodge owners looking for something different. Are those owners unhappy ??? Not necessarily saying so.

I think there are quite a few who are looking for a little more longevity and quality in a truck. Toyota might be worth a shot, so might a few others. Toyota would have to maintain 6+ % in addition to GM/Ford holding steady or slightly declining. Otherwise it would indeed be 20+ years before anything would change.

losangelesemt · April 2002

What's this mess about Toyota not customizing trucks anymore. I don't know if thats necessarily true or not, but boy, thats sure a good way to rake in more sales lol.

DAVE - Don't know if you've tried carsdirect.com yet. You can definitely customize there, and usually a low price in the end, actually lower than all of the dealers I visited. Although it is a firm, no haggle price.

drgo · April 2002

Can someone enlighten me on why one would need a LSD on a 4WD truck? Is it because the LSD can be used when 4wd is not engaged, i.e driving on concrete while in the rain? Gonna get my Tundra soon. Obygone, quadrunner, et al, don't bother telling me about what the Big 3 have to offer. I'm only interested in Toyota.

Craig

obyone · April 2002

True, I won't. Cause if you don't you probably don't need it.

La
If anything, Toyota's gains I would guess is coming from Tacoma owners who need a larger truck. After all, that was Toyota's initial intent by offereing something a little larger for the current Toyota owners that needed it. I would think that if anything can be attributed to a decrease in sold units for GM, it could be that they are trying Dodge or Ford. I know I would seriously look at that new Dodge coming out with the Viper motor. Gas mileage be dammed, that sucker looks fast.

lariat1 · April 2002

A LS differential is good if you do a lot of driving on non-paved roads, icy roads, or roads that are wet a lot. I live in Alaska and it is nice to have the LS because it allows me to move from a stop at icy intersections and there are a lot of roads that I tow my boat on that have a less than optimal surface for traction.

sonjaab · April 2002

Get the LSD...At least you will have
power to 3 wheels at once ! Without
you will only have power to 1 front
and 1 rear .....The only other truck
I had with TRUE 4wd was my old International
Scout........Good luck!

pmjde · April 2002

You can special order a Tundra at Prestige Toyota
Rt 17n Ramsey NJ it takes about 8 weeks.Other dealers don't want to bother because they want to sell you what they have in stock now. Because they are paying interest and insurance on their in stock trucks.If you make like it's no deal on what you got and I am going to GM they will offer you a Build a truck. Price wise it may cost the same, but you get what you want if you can wait.

losangelesemt · April 2002

OBY - Definitely a plausible theory there. I'd have to ask Pluto or someone else who knows the approx. annual Tacoma sales. If Tundra continues to maintain a steady sales increase over months and months, then I'd have to believe that they're capturing domestic owners somewhere along the line.

All kept in perspective though, just remember, it is much easier for a low volume product to boast greater increases than a larger volume product. For example, Tundra sold say 10,000 trucks in March, and now sells 20,000 in April. What have they done ??? They've increased sales by 100%. Now lets take a Rado, which say sold 40,000 units in March and 50,000 in April. Both companies have now increased monthly sales by 10,000 trucks, but Chevs % increase is only 25% .

Point being that sales are significant to a point, as long as the big picture is kept in perspective. There are plenty of people who would be interested in a Toyota truck. Only problem is, Toyota doesn't fit their heavier duty needs. At the very least, the newer Tundras and any future Toy trucks, need to be able to perform like a heavy truck. Toyota may choose to skimp on the creature comforts as compared to Ford/GM/Dodge, but they need to at bare mininum make a working mans TRUCK if nothing more. Otherwise they cant realistically expect to capture the full size truck market, pretty simple.

Quad did a little math for us and we realize that it would be quite a few decades at the current pace, for Tundra to earn its piece of the pie. I think a steady 6% increase each month would be great, but Tundra will eventually hit a plateau. When it does, the truck better be improved and stepped up a notch, or sales will become stagnant, and the future of Toy heavy duty trucks will remain in jeopardy.

losangelesemt · April 2002

Stumbled across this the other day. I know theres a few guys in here who don't respect Consumer Reports as Auto specialists. Hoping to keep this within topic realm, this is a list of the most reliable used cars and the most troublesome according to CR. Definitely striking results you could say. Tundra did not make list as they say it was too new.

http://aolsvc.aol.consumerreports.org/autos/crauto17.html

kcowboy · April 2002

Interesting, but if you scroll to the top of the page on your link you'll see top picks. If you open that up it will give you the best overall picks concerning performance and reliability. The Tundra is considered the benchmark for pickup. I've read that review before, CR also recommends it as a best buy. Another site to review is MSN Carpoint its also rated as a best value it also ranks the Tundra as 1 of 3 out of 10 models that have good head restraints, not yielding of course to the fact that it performed the best in the IIHS crash test.

duckshooter · April 2002

I didn't use to care - but then, I never owned a V-8 before this truck. I wish I had the LSD on this truck and I'll tell you why. Even if it doesn't rain much, when it does, the Tundra has a nasty habit of the back tires spinning when you're trying to accelerate from a stop. I have a few bad intersections where traffic is always flying and I am forced to pull out with less distance between cars than I'd prefer (this happens a lot in the DC area). I have to pull out gently, wait til the truck is aligned and moving, then gently give it the gas - else the back two break loose and I lose whatever momentum I had. All that low end power of the Tundra does you no good if you can't get a grip.

Jeff

losangelesemt · April 2002

Very true, I think I ran across the top picks a few months ago. I found it interesting though, that if you look on the used reliable side, the overwhelming majority are imports, while the troublesome are composed of mainly domestics. Is CR biased, who knows. I tend to agree though that import cars and trucks will for most part outlast the domestics. Just an opinion I've formed over many years in the shop and from others experiences. More reason to head to the Tundra lot.

jaguar0027 · April 2002

That is interesting that they will build one. I work right up the street from the Toyota dealer in Ramsey. Maybe I should pull up in my Rado and stir up the pot!!!!

LOL

drgo · April 2002

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, advice and personal experience about LSD. I learned a lot on this message board. Anybody know anything about fly fishing? :-)

Craig

lariat1 · April 2002

I can tell you that a 48" northern pike will strip a 5/6 W setup down to the backing and keep you there for about 30 min. Also a sea run silver salmon can spit flies at will.

bamatundra · April 2002

Go for the LSD even with a 4WD. The reason I say this is that most 4WD owners operate their trucks in 2WD at least 95% of the time. This leaves the truck in 2WD when in the rain.

On my truck, the rear tires break loose sometimes in the rain. The Tundra - with its relatively short wheelbase exhibits this behaviour much less often than the other Big2 pickups.

eknuds · April 2002

I'm interested in a V8 Tundra for towing my racecar. This would be around 3800lbs (probably reaching towards the truck's limit if I eventually get a closed trailer).
Will this truck do the job considering I'm in California and have some wicked hills to climb (and upgrade to a closed trailer at some point)?

lariat1 · April 2002

It will do the job but if you intend to tow a lot I would go go with a 3/4 ton. A 1/ton will spend a lot of time shifting between 3rd and 4th gear in the hills. A 3/4 ton will be geared lower to prevent excessive shifting.

kcowboy · April 2002

The Tundra should be just fine hauling around 3800lbs its rated up to 7200lbs and its just a 1/2 ton. But if I was going to do some serious hauling I would look at the Ford F250 with its 7.3 powerstroke are the Dodge 2500 with the cummins. Both of those would pull all day long in the mountains pulling grades with little effort! The weight range your talking about though the Tundra should be just fine. I would definitely stay away from the gm side in whatever size you are looking for. Good Luck on this one now!

ndahi12 · April 2002

I am the man to talk to about towing a race car in california. I tow approx 3800 (trailer+car) with approx 450 lbs in the bed. I tow from SoCal up the grapevine to ButtonWillow raceway. The Tundra tows like a champ. in the wicked hills I taske it out of overdirve and tow in third. On one small strech of very steep hills I lock it in 2nd gear. I tow at speeds about 70-75 mph. The truck is very smooth and you do not feel that you are towing at this speed at all.

If your car weighs 3800 and you get an open trialer like mine (16 ft, 1200 lbs), then that will put you at 5000 lbs towing. Still this is not a problem for the Tundra. A friend tows his Mustang in an opne trailer with his Tundra with no problems. He recommended getting the Tundra and I recommend it to you.

davecrook1 · April 2002

Thanks to all who offered their opinions concerning my attempts to find a dealer who will order build a Tundra. In response to some of the comments that were offered: 1) The "Primary"dealer I have been working with (Berlin City in Gorham,NH)will know by 4/29 whether the computer will accept the order-then we will talk $$$$. 2) CarsDirect will sell the vehicle for $26762 (so,presumably it can be built). 3) Atlantic Toyota (just north of Boston)thought they could "probably"have it built for $500 over invoice (though they neglected to state what they considered invoice to be). My local dealer in Burlington,VT. (Heritage Toyota)changed their story and grudgingly allowed as how they could order build if I insisted on it. So,apparently,a 4WD,SR5 Access Cab with All WeatherPackage (CK),ABS (AB),3-in-1 Stereo (DZ),Convenience Package (VP),and Limited Slip (LD)is not such a "standard"package. I certainly can't find any in inventory.My guess is that all the dealers want me to buy a Limited in order to get the Limited slip.

wheeldog · April 2002

Dave,

I'm not sure how the Tundras are equipped where you are, but around here (CT) the most popular configuration by far is just what you have listed, PLUS the off-road package (OF) and captain's chairs (CC). For example, there is one local dealer that currently has six Tundras equipped this way. If you're not dead-set against the OF and CC, I would think that your local dealer could somehow get you one in this configuration (and not force you into a Limited).

davecrook1 · April 2002

I'd prefer to get the vehicle exactly as stated. I've read some negative comments about the off road package (choppy ride)and I don't need or want the Captains Chairs (for logistical reasons). Thanks again for the help though.

controlgod · April 2002

Dave, I have an '02 Tundra with what you have listed plus the off road package. I came back from a 800 mile road trip with mine up to the north shore of Lake Superior and had no problems with the ride. About 1/2 was interstate and I had a nice smooth ride and the rest was on 2 lane paved and some quite windy roads. The ride & handling was great on both, good steering response, smooth ride and great response to the accelerator (I know the OF pkg won't affect this great engine). Just my 2 cents worth. Plus I would check around on prices, I got mine just before Xmas with 0% financing and paid invoice for it - ~$27K if my memory serves me. Oh, mine did include the hitch package on it besides what you have listed. So far I have 3200 happy miles on my rig.

Tony K. aka controlgod

bamatundra · April 2002

A friend of mine has the OF package on his Tundra. I rode in it and preferred the ride of his truck over mine. I purchased the Bilstein shocks and installed them on my truck and the handling and ride was much improved.

I initially wanted the bench seat and had a hard time finding one. After riding in a truck with the captains chairs, I changed my mind. A bonus of the captains chairs is that JL Audio sells a stealthbox subwoofer that replaces the console on captains chair equipped trucks.

If you look in the classifieds of Tundrasolutions, you will find that there usually is someone who wants to trade out their bench seat for captains chairs.

drgo · April 2002

Boy, must say I got a VERY good deal thru carsdirect.com. It was surprisingly even better than Costco. For $25,931 (taking into account the $1000 rebate), I got a Tundra with V8, Access cab, SR5, 4x4, ABS, LSD, 3-1 CD with radio, convenience package, fog lamps, carpet floor mats (with door sill protectors, captain's chairs, 5 spoke 1 piece cast aluminum wheels, towing hitch, and weather package.) The options in parenthesis I didn't really care for but was told it was the closest thing that they had for what I wanted/demanded. Of course with taxes, registration, documentation fee it came out to be more. Still it is great deal. Thanks for all those that contributed, especially LAEMT. I guess there are some great benifits to living in Southern Cal with one of the countries busiest ports. I'm stil waiting for the fly fishing tips. The sea run silver salmon sounds awesome. I used to live in Seattle and would often see these fish as part of the daily catch offered at Pike's Market. Bama, if you want to know the great surf spots in Washington state, I'm your man. Talk to me.

Craig

drgo · April 2002

Does anyone know how to get rid of the "emblem/logo on the tailgate that tells what kind of Tundra one has? These aren't the stickers that easily peal away with a blow dryer.

Thanks alot.

Craig

draymond2 · April 2002

How does cardirect work? What are their fees?

ryanbab · April 2002

try using a blow dryer to heat the emblem up. If it wont peel away take some fishing string and put it behind the emblem and slowly using a sawing motion to get it off

bamatundra · April 2002

I have also heard of using dental floss to remove the badges after heating with a blow dryer. The glue residue can be removed by rubbing with your finger.

drgo · April 2002

I'm not exactly sure how carsdirect.com works but from what I could gather, they get a fee from the dealer when they refer a customer who actually buys a car. Carsdirect sees your order, gives it to a "caseworker" who then searches the "inventory" of their list of dealers who participate. Caseworker then connects you with a dealer's fleet manager who has the EXACT car that you want/agree to with the caseworker, you set up a time to pick up the car, you go see the car, test drive if you want, then sign the papers and drive the car home after you write the check or work out the details of finance. Caseworker also tells you up front about some extended warranties if you want. It really took me 20 minutes at the dealer, 40 minutes total if you count time with caseworker. There was no haggling. For my car, I specified what I wanted via the internet, got a call from a caseworker saying this is the closest thing that they had, would I agree to it. Some of the options like ABS or LSD supposedly only come with off road package or alloy wheels. I agreed to the car, get an email from Carsdirect specifying what it is I agreed to, I then set a time for looking at the car and picking it up with the fleet manager. I meet him, inspect and drive the car, he has the paperwork all ready, I agree to take the car, sign the paperwork including check, then drive home. No haggling or high pressured sales of extended warrantee.

The fleet manager tries to make his quota of moving so many cars in the month. I'm not sure exactly how the fleet manager gets paid. I think it is by the number of cars/meeting his quota and not by the options. This guy whom I worked with used to work for Carsdirect.com and was the former manager of my "caseworker." He also stated that "this dealer had spent a lot of money on carsdirect.com" and he was hired on by the dealer especially for this kind on internet/fleet transaction. The guy didn't try to sell me any options, or extended warranties. He truly only wanted to move cars. His subordinate who took the test drive with me metioned that the end of this month really was a good time to buy cars since the "fleet team" really does try to meet their quota. No salesman was involved because I think if they were they would also get a "cut" in the action.

The caseworker gets paid for refering a buying customer, the dealer gets the benefits of (I think) selling a car/making his quota/getting the dealer's holdback which I was told was 2% of invoice. Dealer since he made his quota can now have an increase in inventory, hence more cars on his lot that he can sell instead of having to trade around with other dealers. Fleet manager gets paid by dealer for moving cars. Car salesman gets paid nothing cause he wasn't involved and he didn't get to spend 4-5 hours with you to get you to buy options that you didn't need or want. I believe the salesman makes more if the customer spends more. If you buy a car from carsdirect.com, you have to know exactly what you want, i.e. look around at a different dealer, they buy your car through the fleet manager of your specified dealer whom the caseworker directed you. The fleet manager doesn't want/can't spend time drive testing a bunch of cars with you while you decide on what model, color, options, style, etc... you want to get.

This is how I think things work. Those who know otherwise feel free to correct me. It feels good to contribute to this forum instead of just reading/learning. At the very least people can know that I got a great deal at Carsdirect. As stated earlier, Costco, my favorite store, couldn't do better. They refered me to a dealer who charged me "invoice" which was $1500 MORE FOR LESS OPTIONS. No captain's chair, door sill protectors, towing hitch. There was also no haggling and you also work with a fleet manager. Obviously their "invoice price" was higher than carsdirect.com. They also wanted to move stuff out of their inventory and were not interested in a dealer/dealer trade. This second fleet manager stated that "yeah, the problem with Cars.direct is that the car that they quoted may not even exist, i.e. some options don't come by themselves, eg, no LSD alone but only with alloy wheels or off road package. I tend to believe it. I was so shocked at the lack of good deal from Costco that I specifically told them they should refer all their customers to Carsdirect.com. I'm still waiting for a reply.

What about fly fishing?

Craig

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