The Toyota Tundra is great vehicle, but for regular street drive with off-road package contain too much swaying for regular road use, and when the trucks turn it’s swaying strongly. After some research on Tundrasolutions website, which there are a lot of reader prefer Hellwig’s Rear Anti-Sway bar. At time I purchase the unit, there is a group purchase, and I order one. there are several colors present, but I choose the red one, because rest of the truck is black, and when I go off-road I can see more clearly under carriage.
I installed the bar within 2 hours, which include 15 – 30 minutes of break time. everything works great, come with one box, just bar and accessory, I installed fast and everything looks great after. The system works great, flatten the ride a lot, doesn’t sway as much. after 6 month, I retighten it and just left like that for next five years. Everything works great and highly recommended.
fuel: tank size / MPG city / MPG highway: 26 gal / 15/18
Options (copied from Tundra Brochure also): California Access Cab 4 X 4 Package A
All weather guard package – includes heavy-duty battery, starter and heater (include heated mirrors when power mirrors are offered).
V8 towing package – include Class IV (explained in rvtowingtips.com) towing hitch receiver, 7 – pin connector with converter, heavy-duty 130 amp alternator and supplemental transmission oil cooler.
TRD off-road package – include off-road-tuned suspension, Bilstein® shock absorbers, 16-in. 5 spoke aluminum alloy wheels (6 spoke for limited series) with P265/70R16 BFGoodrich® tires, color keyed fender flaires with integrated mudguards and fog lamps.
Works Great, drive really nice, big engine, and best of all, it will last.
The driver side of truck bed
The Passenger side of truck bed
Engine
The bed
from the side
Nice clean paint in the truck bed
the other side of engine
Hood
Nice truck bed
Tailgate
another front
Inside
Center console
other side of truck hood
Limit Edition
leaf spring
steering wheel
drivers seat
So far, this is my review.
Excellent:
Toyota quality, fit, and conservative design ( could be bad if prefer modern design)
Quite V8, smooth transmission
Size: full size compare to other manufactures
Made in USA except engine
Great looking track
Excellent optional package (package A) for 4×4 off-road
Drive like a car (unless prefer a truck feeling)
comfortable chair
Pre-wire most accessories
Clean engine compartment, nothing hang down
Fewer recall or TSB (technical support bulletin) for the Tundra since introduction of 2000
Reliable, reliable, reliable.
Limited series perks – power rear window, 6 CD changer, color trends, steering wheel radio control, power mirror, and excellent control and smooth system
LSD
ABS
4X4
Tow Package
Not so Excellent:
Not enough power compare to others
Not strong brake
Ride hard (Due to TRD package, as expected, but still is a bad)
Use lots Gas money
Could use better tires
Small rear space for seats, 90 degree chair
Bench seats front and back
No storage space
The Story ….
I drove this truck for about a month now, I went to few places, add few accessories in the truck, and have a wonderful time on it. I don’t pretend that I am a hard core Off-Road driver, because I am not, and I am worst driver in the world. but I do love occasionally get off the pavement and shake the leg off once a while without destroy the vehicle. I also love to make the ride different than others, so I often purchase something that others don’t do, but still maintain all the warranty, and I will review all the little accessories that I got in the future. The accessories & Prices that I added are following:
The Truck – $31500 out the door with registration and license
Toyota Hood Protector – $146
Line-x bed spread – $488
Westin Black tube Side Step – $270
Undercover Tonneau Cover – $700
Installation fee & tax for that – $118
Cargo Net – $20
Carpet (Dealer forgot to give some)- $16
Concave mirror – $4
So far the total on the Truck is about $ 33262.00. This is not include the expense on the wax, car wash soap, Mr. Clean auto wash and other items to maintain the truck with, it’s just the item for the truck listed. Which if I did my math correctly with my $0.99 calculator, the accessories are $1762, and that is a lot of money for the truck.
Which all these will be reviewed in the near future, but for right now, this is the Toyota Tundra Review Part II with basic light Off-road and the Tundra 2005 Brochure.
Review
Toyota’s Tundra is very great truck. Especially the TRD Off-Road Package, there are some horses power, torque, and large size. There are lots issues with other owner that generated through out years of Tundra 2005 model years, which my truck is too new to experience those issues, and the possible issue are following:
Break vibration, O2 sensor, slip yoke under greased, Early break usage, sound from center , engine ping, and rear window shake.
Ok, these sound a lot, but all of them are TSB (Technical Support Bulletin), which for any major manufactures is consider minor, they will fix them if you have that issue under warranty, but it is not consider recall (Federal Government mandate repair), and TSBs will not compromise the safety of vehicle.
The truck is very well built, it runs pretty good with the V8, and the Bilstine shacks doing very well absorb all the bump very well with Off Road package, they takes light off-road well, and the trip to the Anza-Borrego’s coyote canyon are mostly Rate 1 to 3 section on where we were going, but if going deeper down, then it will be difficult for the new truck due to the width.
Everything on this truck is good, a little noisy when start, but it will be quiet after a couple minutes after the pressure built up. The Computer in the Tundra controls everything, so it’s pretty advanced. The ride is harsh for some road if there are some pothole at that, and most time, it is pretty good. The Chair hold up pretty well with long time driving, but a captain chair is more preferred. The 284 hp @ 3400 and 310 really shows when drop the hammer to get into the freeway entrance, and really can pound in the pavement or dirt road.
This is very comfortable and good truck, but it does has one problem that need immediate attention, which it is the brake, it get soft too easy, and it would require some redesign. Also there is a minor re-grease on the slip yoke due to sitting in the dealer’s parking lot for 6 month. So far the mileages are averaging 15.5, but once a while it drops to 13.4, and up to 16.7. The reasonably installed Tonneau cover will increase the mileage by estimation of a mile or two in the long run.
Just in case you are wondering, here are the brochure.
