Author Archive for Jason Lancaster

A SMART Heavy-Duty Truck Tarp

We were contacted by Load Control Systems a few weeks ago about their product TarpX. Intrigued, we did a little investigating. Here’s the low-down on TarpX.

TarpX on a full-size truck.

• TarpX is a combination of a simple tarp and a basic tie-down system.
• It’s available for pickups with small, medium, and large beds, as well as many trailers.
• TarpX goes on simply in a few minutes, and there are no snapping bungees, no ropes to untangle, no junk falling out of the rig, no flapping blue tarp.
• It’s always with you because it is an all-in-one system that stores under the seat.

Toyota Tundra Super Bowl Commercial – Killer Heat

During the Super Bowl halftime show, Toyota debuted a new TV commercial for the Toyota Tundra.

Here’s what we like about it:

• The demonstration is completely ridiculous – the situation shown could never happen – but it still made us say “Whoa – cool” when we saw it. The immediate impact is excellent.

• It’s true that truckers know about heat killing transmissions

2009 Tundra vs. 2009 F150 – Part Three- Ride, Handling, and Comfort

Here’s the third and final portion of our 2009 Tundra vs 2009 F150 comparison, where we compare ride, handing, and comfort, and announce a winner. Make sure to read part one, a mechanical comparison, and part two, comparing features and pricing, before reading the overall results.

RIDE:

For 2009, Ford added six inches of length to the F150’s leaf springs to enhance both capacity and ride quality. Ford seems to have emphasized compliance in this suspension – driving off the highway and onto a gravel access road we couldn’t feel any difference in terms of noise, vibrations, bumps or jerks. Frustrated, we slowed to a crawl and found erosion ruts at the road’s edge before we felt any difference in the ride quality. Even then, the difference didn’t come in the form of any perceptible bounce.

The Tundra gives you more feel for the road with a stiffer suspension tuning, but that better feel results in a few more bumps and jolts. Still, for a truck, the ride is excellent. Neither of these vehicles will impersonate the ride you get in a new Lincoln Towncar, but the F150 is just a little closer.

Winner:

2009 Tundra vs 2009 F150 – Part Two – Features and Pricing

Here’s part two of our 2009 Tundra vs. 2009 F150 comparison. This time, the focus is on the features and pricing of the two trucks. Read part one, the mechanical comparison.

INTERIOR:

Ford re-designed the interior of the 2009 F-150, and while it maintains a solid, uncomplicated truck aura, the finishes are improved, as is space in the SuperCrew (engineered with a flat floor for better storage) once the seats are flipped up. The headroom in the Ford SuperCab and CrewCab is slightly larger than the Tundra, the legroom slightly less. Both trucks offer a variety of nifty options and features, but the coolest options for the F150 are the Tool Link that uses Radio Frequency Identification so you can run inventory on the tools you’re carrying from the front seat, and the handy variety of steps available to get in and out (be it in and out of the cab or the bed).

The Tundra’s dash and interior finishes aren’t great: modern and clean, but not really on the same par with top-of-the-line luxury rivals. The smaller, recessed gauges on the dash disappear once you put on your sunglasses, and some of the center stack controls can be hard to reach. Seats are comfortable, however, visibility is great, and storage is superb. This is one of those nebulous areas where personal taste comes in. If your truck interior is doomed to dust, your seats covered with dirt, dog spit and spilled coffee, who really cares what it looked like in the dealer’s lot.

Tundra makes selection simpler with only the basic model in three cab and two bed configurations and the SR5 and Limited packages.

Winner:

Rejected Toyota Superbowl Ad

Here’s a Toyota Superbowl TV ad that DIDN’T make the cut:

Spoiler – it’s a fake! What do you think – funny or just plain stupid?