Million mile 5.7L 2007 Toyota Tundra

[jjackkrash]

7 hours ago, nyryan2001 said:

 And I've hammered this truck towing my 247, a 9500lb 34ft travel trailer and the G.

That's a big Travel Trailer for a 1/2 Ton.  How does she do with trailer sway in a cross wind?  

[nyryan2001]

It actually towed that much better than the 8900lb G.

when I towed the travel trailer, I used the proper WDH with torsion bars and sway bar cranked down putting 40% of the squat you see in the pic above on the front tires. It also had electric brakes.  Much more stable and secure.

Towing a 10k pound travel trailer with all the correct gear is much more stable and secure than towing a 6-9k wakeboat in a weight carrying configuration.

 

Edited February 13, 2017 by nyryan2001

[That Guy]

Nice review. I also like the mention of the road master active suspension. I've thought about getting that for my truck. I had airbags on my prior truck but felt even empty it made the ride worse.

[MadMan]

23 hours ago, nyryan2001 said:

It actually towed that much better than the 8900lb G.

when I towed the travel trailer, I used the proper WDH with torsion bars and sway bar cranked down putting 40% of the squat you see in the pic above on the front tires. It also had electric brakes.  Much more stable and secure.

Towing a 10k pound travel trailer with all the correct gear is much more stable and secure than towing a 6-9k wakeboat in a weight carrying configuration.

 

Just curious, have you measured your tongue weight with the G?  I noticed your trailer has a fairly long tongue which would lesson the tongue weight. 

[nyryan2001]

It's heavy, I would estimate 8-900lbs tongue weight creating that squat you see. That's 6-8" of rear squat.

 

The Crappy Fulton F1 jacks don't stand a chance.  It eats 1 per year.  I had to get a fixed drop leg 5,000lb rated jack.

Edited February 14, 2017 by nyryan2001

[Fman]

On 2/12/2017 at 3:37 PM, RyanB said:

It is cute when someone compares Toyota to the Big 3 in full size trucks.  Despite trying to be competitive, Toyota can't even muster 10% market share in full size trucks.

Time to move on @RyanB, who cares if they only have 10% of the market share... does not necessarily mean they dont build a good solid truck.  You have made your point you are not a fan of them.

[Tims]

On 2/13/2017 at 11:45 PM, Fman said:

Time to move on @RyanB, who cares if they only have 10% of the market share... does not necessarily mean they dont build a good solid truck.  You have made your point you are not a fan of them.

Some people just gonna hate. I don't own a Tundra but have to admit that they are rock solid trucks. Pretty much everyone I know who owns one loves them. Can't say the same about Ford or Chevy owners, including myself. (Sorry, don't know anyone who own's newer 1500 Dodge) Co-worker had an 08 Tundra that he sold for a 2016 GMC Denali with the 5.3 and 8 speed. It gets 1mpg better mileage than his old Toyota but he hates the throttle response of the new 5.3 because of the lag associated with the cylinder cut off/throttle programming. Like most buyers he has no clue about the engine differences and choices but he will admit to most everyone that he wished he had his Tundra back.

 

 

[Nitrousbird]

Call me a cynic, but when I read that Toyota wants to dig into that truck to see what they can build better, I read it as "let's see what we over-built so we can save money on future models."

When I was used truck shopping, Tundras were mainly off my list for two reasons:

- Hard to find used ones with leather (100% requirement for me), and those that did have it were asking a huge price premium over their cloth counterparts
- Hold their resale too well.  I could get another brand (pretty much any other brand) that was newer/less miles/better shape for the same money.

I wanted something that took a big depreciation hit already, so that's what I went with.  Holding value well is obviously a good thing for these trucks.

[Falko]

2 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

Call me a cynic, but when I read that Toyota wants to dig into that truck to see what they can build better, I read it as "let's see what we over-built so we can save money on future models."

That's the exact thing I was thinking as well. "What did we do, and how can we sell more trucks...."

Very few people that buy new run a truck past 150k, and that many fewer people go to 250k. If you get the truck to hold together to 250k with few issues, you will hold a very good reputation.

[saxton15]

Unfortunately, the 2018 Tundra won't be getting any help in the fuel economy department.  I've been hoping they would get a new tranny in there to help the MPG in daily driving, but they have only made a small refresh again.  The Tundra is pushing quite a few years on their current tech, it's too bad they haven't thought to give it a deserving upgrade. 

[Falko]

All of the Toyota large vehicles are suffering from a lack of upgrades to the drivetrain. I've heard the Sequoia numbers are down and the Land Cruiser as well (not that they sell many of those unicorns to begin with).

[nyryan2001]

All of this is true.  Everyone was hoping for a new engine and tranny.

[Cole2001]

Have you guys seen the cement grey colour? it is amazing! currently looking at buying a 4runner and just wishing they had one in stock. 

[saxton15]

Yeah it looks bad a$$ with the blacked out badging and rims.  

[MLBurns]

Looks like primer with clear coat on it.

[nyryan2001]

I love the gray and the desert tan!

Edited February 26, 2017 by nyryan2001

[leje0306]

On 2/10/2017 at 8:18 AM, RyanB said:

125,000 miles per year / 52 weeks / 5 days is 480 miles/day average.  Insane.  And I never want to own a vehicle with nearly that many miles.

IMO, it is now the norm for a vehicle to go 200,000 + miles on engine/tranny.  300,000 isn't that unusual.  Plenty of examples out there  And it doesn't matter the brand.

If you want a Toyota truck, you should buy one.  But to me it doesn't make any sense to buy something that is more costly up front, gets worse MPG, and has less features than a competitive truck because you think it will have a longer life (that you won't even take advantage of).  And no, resale value does not make up all of that difference.  There is a reason the Tundra is a DISTANT 4th in sales.

Yes, primarily because of manufacturing capacity. They sell every truck they make and they do it at very nice margins. Nothing wrong with that, just solid business. My question would be what are all these features they are supposedly missing?

[leje0306]

On 2/15/2017 at 10:07 AM, Falko said:

All of the Toyota large vehicles are suffering from a lack of upgrades to the drivetrain. I've heard the Sequoia numbers are down and the Land Cruiser as well (not that they sell many of those unicorns to begin with).

What lack of upgrades are they suffering from? Mileage isn't great, but it's the most reliable V8 you can buy, so there's an offset there. The only "upgrades" I can think of are direct injection (ecoboost cokes up the backside of valves with that "upgrade"), cylinder deactivation (GM has its share of issues with that "upgrade"), and a 10 speed transmission, which I would agree is an upgrade. But, the current 6 speed is smooth and reliable and has hit scale, so profitable. I can't think of any reason, other than economy, that a 10 speed would materially impact drivability.

Edited March 1, 2017 by leje0306

[oldjeep]

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 8:57 PM, nyryan2001 said:

It's heavy, I would estimate 8-900lbs tongue weight creating that squat you see. That's 6-8" of rear squat.

 

The Crappy Fulton F1 jacks don't stand a chance.  It eats 1 per year.  I had to get a fixed drop leg 5,000lb rated jack.

double or single wheel?  The doubles don't hold squat due to the way the wheels are cantilevered off the sides.  The wide single is pretty beefy.

[RyanB]

@leje0306, you hit some of the features in your last comment.  Take a look at the interior amenities of a RAM Longhorn/Limited, a Ford King Ranch/Platinum or a GMC Denali or Chevy High Country.  Just the difference in the quality of the leather and infotainment systems.  

I'm not sure how you back up "most reliable V8"?  I have seen plenty of examples of high mileage engines from all the manufactures.  MPG is something you can't argue about.  They have the lowest output numbers vs the top engines of the competitors, yet get the worst MPG.  I would be willing to be that cylinder deactivation (which has actually proven very reliable in both GM and Chrysler) and 8 + speed transmissions play a large role in that

I could go on, but I will leave it for now.

I think empirical data shows that the Toyota is the least advanced of any of the trucks it competes with.  That doesn't mean that it is a bad truck, but there are some GREAT trucks that it competes with.  And, it is priced significantly higher than those same trucks.

Edited March 1, 2017 by RyanB

[oldjeep]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 10:07 AM, Falko said:

All of the Toyota large vehicles are suffering from a lack of upgrades to the drivetrain. I've heard the Sequoia numbers are down and the Land Cruiser as well (not that they sell many of those unicorns to begin with).

That and the price.

[nyryan2001]

9 hours ago, oldjeep said:

double or single wheel?  The doubles don't hold squat due to the way the wheels are cantilevered off the sides.  The wide single is pretty beefy.

The singles.

Not sufficient for a 8000lb+ boat.

The plastic caps on top of the jack break and allow the gear at the end of the handle to spin and rip out of its plastic stops.  

Those jacks say 1000-1500lb rating? Maybe under absolute perfect conditions. In the 800-1000lb load range the jacks will bend out to the side some... not perfectly vertical.  That kills these jacks.  The last 5 cranks or so would require 2 hands it was so hard to crank.

the fixed drop leg I have on there now is 5k rated.  

 

[Levi900RR]

That Million mile truck did not have the 5.7 

 

[leje0306]

21 hours ago, RyanB said:

@leje0306, you hit some of the features in your last comment.  Take a look at the interior amenities of a RAM Longhorn/Limited, a Ford King Ranch/Platinum or a GMC Denali or Chevy High Country.  Just the difference in the quality of the leather and infotainment systems.  

I'm not sure how you back up "most reliable V8"?  I have seen plenty of examples of high mileage engines from all the manufactures.  MPG is something you can't argue about.  They have the lowest output numbers vs the top engines of the competitors, yet get the worst MPG.  I would be willing to be that cylinder deactivation (which has actually proven very reliable in both GM and Chrysler) and 8 + speed transmissions play a large role in that

I could go on, but I will leave it for now.

I think empirical data shows that the Toyota is the least advanced of any of the trucks it competes with.  That doesn't mean that it is a bad truck, but there are some GREAT trucks that it competes with.  And, it is priced significantly higher than those same trucks.

The tundra platinum uses the same leather Lexus uses. The empirical data is that Toyota sells every truck they can make. 

[Tims]

This started out as a note to Toyota durability and the haters can't help themselves. There is a reason Toyota bounces back and forth as the #1 car company in the world while brands like Chrysler trade owners every 4 years. It has never been about having the latest infotainment screen, pleather padded dash or 8 gears instead of 6. They created a manufacturing culture devoted to quality and it shows in their products. Now they get to sit on top and command price. Is what it is. 

And the 5.7 is just as efficient as any other similar displacement engine. It's the 4:30 gears that kill the mileage in the Tundra. But hey, it's built to work, not hyper mileage.

There is a road on my hunting lease dedicated to ripping off front spoilers that the low rider domestics install to squeeze mpg. It's funny to watch. The owners get pissed, install a leveling kit, real tires, and what do you know, their mileage sucks.