Author Archive for Benjamin
Benjamin Hunting is a freelance automotive writer who has been involved in racing, restoring and writing about cars and trucks for more than a decade. In his spare time he enjoys keeping the shiny side up on track days. You can find out more about Benjamin’s writing at his website, http://www.benjaminhunting.com.
Toyota Tundra Tire Survey
Tires are like opinions – everyone’s got a set. More importantly, everyone chooses that particular set of rubber for different reasons. Some owners are still riding on the stock Tundra tires that came with their truck, while others liked their stockers so much that they replaced them with an identical set when the originals wore out. Others decided to experiment with a different brand of tires in order to give their Tundra better comfort, more grip or a quieter ride, while some focused in on specialty tires designed for off-road adventure, maximum performance on the pavement or solid towing stability.
We’ve put together a simple tire survey to try and get a better idea of what TundraHeadquarters.com readers are running underneath their trucks. The idea is to figure out what the best or most popular brand of tires for the Tundra are. We realize that some of the brands listed don’t offer OEM replacement sizes for the Tundra, but there are many drivers out there who have gone taller, narrower or wider with their tire selections. In the end, all we are looking for is your own opinion on what you think is the best brand of tire for the Toyota Tundra.
Activated Charcoal Cabin Air Filters – Do They Live Up To The Hype?
Cabin air filters are intended to keep the air quality inside your Toyota Tundra as fresh as possible. Most vehicles on the road have at least one cabin air filter installed, with luxury models such as the Lexus LS sedan offering five or more in order to maintain spring meadow-like levels of passenger compartment freshness.
The questions is, can we improve the quality and/or performance of these cabin air filters by switching from paper to activated carbon? Is it worth it? Here’s our take:
Ninja Ed’s Custom SEMA Tundra
“Ninja Ed” might have started with a stock 2008 Toyota Tundra, but the mod bug bit hard. So hard, in fact, that he ended up putting together one of the most eye-catching custom Tundras in the country.
Ninja Ed's Tundra and its imposing front view.
Jason ran into Ninja Ed’s masterpiece at the 2010 SEMA show and after snapping some photos was able to get in touch with Ed and get some of the details behind the build. Check it out.
Tailgate Theft – A Growing Concern, and How You Can Protect Yourself
Is there anyone lower on the evolutionary chain than car and truck thieves? How about the lowlifes who steal your pickup’s tailgate right out of your driveway while you are sleeping at night?
That’s right – the latest trend in oddball vehicle component theft, after the recent run on catalytic converters (stolen for the small amounts of precious metals they contain), are tailgates. A recent report in The Detroit News chronicles the growing scourge of this type of theft that targets not just individual owners but also dealerships whose inventories contain hundreds of trucks.
The Auburn Pro LSD for the Toyota Tundra
Last month, we ran a post discussing the benefits of the ARB Air Locker differential for the Toyota Tundra. Today, we’re going to talk about a different type of aftermarket differential, the Auburn Pro LSD, which is also designed to help Toyota truck owners out wherever traction might be at a premium.
LSD = Limited-Slip Differential
Unlike the Air Locker, the Auburn Pro is actually a limited-slip unit, not a full-on locking differential. The Auburn Pro makes use of a cone clutch design that is capable of maximizing straight-line traction and efficient torque transfer from one axle shaft to the other during cornering and hard acceleration.
A look at the internals of an Auburn LSD.
Since the LSD clutch setup allows the inside and outside wheel to rotate at different speeds – up to a certain point – the chatter and binding that can be associated with a full locking differential is absent. This helps to make the Auburn Pro design very streetable in a daily driver while still providing the extra grip that Tundra owners are looking for.
Differences between Auburn Pro LSD and Toyota’s Auto LSD
To get a better idea of how exactly the Auburn Pro LSD improves over the electronic Auto LSD feature provided in the Tundra, I spoke with Ralph Traycoff, Sales Manager from Auburn Gear.
