The Toyota Tundra is one of the best full-sized, half-ton pickup trucks available. Toyota’s new Tundra has the size and muscle to compete with the Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, Chevrolet Silverado, and GMC Sierra based on a drive across lava-strewn terrain and undulating roadways.
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Do Tundras count as 3/4 tons?
A Ford F-150 is not a 3/4-ton truck, to put it simply. The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, Ram 1500, Nissan Titan, and Toyota Tundra are all 1/2-ton pickups, as are the Ford F-150 and others. In comparison to the bigger 3/4-ton trucks, these vehicles typically have lesser towing, payload, horsepower, and torque ratings. They fall into the 6,001 to 8,500-pound GVWR category.
Can a 2000 Tundra tow a lot?
As one might anticipate from a Japanese-born, 25+ year veteran of the automotive industry, Toru Tanaka, the project’s chief engineer, is courteous, obviously intelligent, and quite fluent in his measured delivery of English. He frequently shares the following tale, which undoubtedly represented a pivotal moment in the development of Toyota’s brand-new truck. A group of Toyota engineers and marketers held a number of dealer meetings early on in the project. So, are you guys planning to develop a V-8, or what? a local dealer inquired during one of these gatherings. Tanaka responded that, while he personally felt they should, the decision had not yet been taken and that there were, in fact, people at Toyota who felt a V-8 was not required. Dealer said curtly, “You might as well go home in that case,”
Tanaka did return home after considering the remark carefully, returning to his superiors in Japan. And what’s this? The Tundra is the first half-ton pickup with a Japanese brand to have a V-8 engine as an option. That is merely one of the distinctions between it and Toyota’s earlier effort to create something other than a tiny truck, the T100. There are actually no similarities other than the default engine offering, thus identifying them is simpler. The interior, body design, and frame are all new. In Princeton, Indiana, a brand-new assembly facility will be used to construct the Tundra.
The Tundra is being marketed by Toyota as a full-size vehicle. And as a result, it will try to butt grilles with some major (both literally and figuratively) players, like the broad-shouldered DodgeRam, the new Silverado/Sierra twins from GM, and Ford’s F-Series, which leads the market in terms of sales. About 2 million new trucks are sold under these four nameplates each year, and their customers are among the most devoted in the country.
In terms of size alone (for the time being), the Tundra is actually a full-size pickup to the tune of 95 percent. The chart that follows compares it to its Big Three rivals using a fictitious extended cab, short bed, and two-wheel drive configuration. However, to judge or criticize the Tundra only based on the premise that “larger is better” would be to miss out on a truck that is incredibly capable, well-designed, and of great quality. There will be various distinct Tundra configurations available. Both a conventional cab and a four-door Access Cab are available; the former has an 8-foot bed added, while the latter has a 6.5-foot box. Both come in two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive variations. Choose from the standard, SR5, and top-tier Limited versions, which will be available a little later this year. Although crew cab and 1-ton models are currently unavailable, the configurations provided undoubtedly cater to the most significant market groups.
The 3.4-liter/190-horsepower DOHC V-6 from Toyota is the base engine, and the new i-Force DOHC V-8 is the optional one (drum roll, please). The i-4.7-liter Force’s (284.6 cubic inch) engine produces 315 pound-feet of torque at 3400 RPM and 245 horsepower at 4800 rpm. This drive-by-wire engine is a next-generation version of the SUV engine, delivering an additional 15 horsepower, despite sharing its fundamental architecture and cast-iron block/aluminum heads with the same-size V-8 launched last year in the Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX470.
The new V-8 outperforms regular engines from Dodge, Ford, and GM (5.2, 4.6, and 4.8 liters, respectively). However, it actually produces more power than the Big Three’s half-ton truck optional engines (5.9, 5.4, and 5.3 liters), which have 245 to 270 horsepower. Simple options for the Tundra’s transmission include a four-speed automatic as standard equipment for the V-6 and a five-speed manual transmission as an option for the V-8. Toyota predicts that the V-8 will be standard on 90% of all sold Tundras.
The new frame design for the Tundra is said by the automaker to be the most stiff among half-ton trucks. Six robust crossmembers connect the two main frame rails to the fully enclosed front section. In the front, coil springs and low-pressure gas shocks are used for independent suspension. The solid rear axle is supported at the back by leaf springs and a staggered rear shock system. The V-8-equipped Tundra has a payload capability of 2000 pounds and a towing capacity of 7200 pounds. A Toyota Racing Development off-road suspension kit is an option for Tundra purchasers who are followers of Ivan Stewart. Progressive-rate springs are used in place of the stock constant-rate springs, together with BFGoodrich Rugged Trail T/A tires and high-pressure gas shocks from Bilstein.
Standard power rack-and-pinion steering is used, and in four-wheel-drive Tundras, electrical switches on the dash are used to control the transfer case. Power front and rear discs and drums are standard, while ABS is an option.
It is immediately clear from one glance at the style of the Tundrainside or outthat the F-150 was Toyota’s design blunder. Some people have always thought the T100 appeared a little feeble, but not the Tundra. Although from the profile, it looks like the Sierra/Silverado, its face screams Ford. Even so, it’s a gorgeous machine that looks much beefier than its predecessor. The traditional latches on the rear doors of Access Cab models are a particularly nice feature. They are a safer alternative to the single handle seen in the doorjamb on other extended cab trucks.
The interior of the Tundra is attractive, well-designed, and spacious with excellent visibility. The materials and assembly quality are excellent, as you would expect from Toyota. The speedometer and tachometer are positioned in the center of the optional instrument panel’s six gauges for a clear view through the steering wheel. The music system, heating/cooling, and a number of auxiliary controls are gathered in a binnacle that is high up in the dash and in the middle. Three additional power plugs are also present on the cab. There are five different audio systems offered, with the top model featuring a six-disc in-dash CD changer. There are three possible seating arrangements: captain’s chairs with integrated armrests, a 40/60-split bench with a larger storage armrest and two additional cupholders, and a bench seat with a fold-down center armrest.
The Tundra excels on the road. According to Toyota, the i-Force V-8 can accelerate a 2WD standard cab Tundra from 0 to 60 mph in 7.8 seconds. We have no reason to doubt this number, despite the fact that we haven’t yet taken the Tundra to our own test track. This vehicle accelerates quickly and has a lot of low-end torque in the American style. In an effort to preserve as much of the V-8’s burble as possible, it also has a fantastic sound. If it’s possible, the engine’s acceleration feels even smoother than Ford’s well-tuned Triton V-8.
The four-speed automatic’s shift phasing feels perfect, allowing for smooth, part-throttle upshifts or, if you keep your foot flat, a crisper shift just at redline. The Tundra is quiet aside from the aforementioned engine tunings. Although we’ll be testing it with our dB meter, our gut feeling is that it will be among the quietest full-size pickups. Minimal road rumble and low wind noise.
Do Toyota Tundra trucks weigh half a ton?
A: The Toyota Tundra is a half-ton pickup vehicle as of 2021. This indicates that the truck’s payload capacity is at least 1,000 pounds (half a ton). When fully loaded, the 2021 Tundra has a payload capacity of around 1,560 pounds.
Is a Toyota Tundra 6,000 pounds or more?
7,210 to 7,780 lbs. gross vehicle weight for the 2022 Toyota Tundra. According to the IRS, the Toyota Tundra qualifies for the 6000-pound threshold by employing both Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation.
What distinguishes curb weight from gross weight?
The curb weight of your vehicle when it is empty, along with the weight of your passengers, fuel, any accessories you may have added to the vehicle, cargo, and the tongue weight of a tow trailer (typically 1020 percent of the combined curb weight and tongue weight), is what is known as the gross vehicle weight rating.