Author Archive for Jason Lancaster

A Parable About Poor Management

Thanks to David for sending us this…it’s a great story about poor management at your typical American automaker.

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford/GM/Chrysler, take your pick) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was, the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing. Feeling a deeper study was in order;

Toyota Tundra Leveling Kit Review: TundraRacing.com Rear Leveling Kit

As we all know, new Toyota Tundras have a pretty substantial forward rake:

This is a picture of a 2008 SR5 Regular Cab 4×2 with the 5.7 V8. If you look at the building behind the truck, you can see that the ground is roughly level. The truck, however is not. The rake (or forward tilt) of the truck is pretty severe. You can also take a look at the amount of space between the tire and the fender in the front and compare that to the rear. It’s pretty significant.

Before, we’ve discussed different options for raising the front end of the truck in order to level out your Tundra. Today, we’re going to blow your mind – what if, instead of raising the front end of the truck to make it level, you lowered the back end?!

New Toyota Tundra Problem – Bumper and Lug Nut Rust

UPDATE: After our blog post and press release, Toyota dropped a TSB stating that the rust spots seen on many chrome parts are actually brake dust particles that have stuck to the bumper, lug nuts, etc. and then rusted. The TSB recommends a good clean and polish to get rid of the spots.

While we have seen evidence to support our original theory, this is a possible explanation as well.

In what may be old news for some people, there is growing evidence that Toyota Tundra bumpers may be rusting much faster than they should be. While exact numbers are hard to guess, it’s safe to say this problem affects a very small percentage of Tundra owners. Based on our correspondence and the handful of forum threads we could find, this problem is mostly confined to areas of the country where rust is already an issue.

Here are some pictures of the typical types of rust being described – the first was sent to us, but the rest were found searching TundraTalk.net and TundraSolutions.com. It’s fairly minor rust, but totally unacceptable for such a new vehicle.

These spots are pretty small, but they’re consistent with other photos and descriptions we’ve read. We think they’re the most typical.

More examples of rust found on popular Tundra forums.

What could it be?

Tundra Grade Keyless Entry Question

We received an email last week from a new owner of a 2008 4.7 DoubleCab “Tundra Grade” Tundra. The new owner is very happy with his truck, but he’s got a problem – no keyless entry.

As I’m sure everyone knows, Toyota began offering the “Tundra Grade” package on the Tundra for the 2008 model year. The package, designed to compete with work truck packages offered by Ford, GM, and Dodge, strips the Tundra of a few standard features in exchange for a discount. Here’s what’s taken off the standard truck when you buy a Tundra Grade:

• Black grille surround (replaces chrome grille surround)
• Manual outside mirror (replaces power outside mirror)
• 2-speed wiper (replaces variable intermittent wiper)
• Deletes Cruise control, remote keyless entry, and the glove box, door courtesy, and overhead map lamps.

Tundra Grade trucks also qualify for special rebates and incentives that drop the price some more. So, if you don’t need any of that stuff, it’s probably a great deal.

But what if you bought one and you decide you want keyless entry after all? What if you want Toyota’s keyless entry system installed? Well…you can’t. In order for the factory keyless entry system to work, you need to have the factory keyless entry module installed at the factory.

So if you want keyless entry installed on your “Tundra Grade” Tundra, consider visiting your local Circuit City, Car Toys, or similar. Any good car stereo install shop will be able to add a decent after market keyless entry system for as little as $100. For $200-$300, you can also have an alarm and/or a remote starter. You can also ask our dealership if they recommend anyone and if they can get you dealer price – most sales managers are happy to give you this information.

NOTE: When we were initially asked, we made a mistake here at TundraHQ and told this person that he could get keyless installed, provided he had a V8 Tundra. Our apologies.

Toyota Tundra With A Custom 12″ Lift, 37″ Tires, and KILLER Stereo

What’s cooler than a custom 12″ lift on an 07′ Tundra Doublecab with the big motor?

WOW. Awesome.

Probably a few things – but we can’t think of any right now. We’re too busy thinking about how cool it would be to cruise this truck. It’s a 2wd with a custom built 12″ front end lift, 10″ rear lift that took 54 days to create! The custom work includes Fox 10″ x 2-1/2″ coil over shocks with Fox 14.0 remote reservoirs, 18″ x 3″ Eibach 700lb Coils, Atlas 2008 Toyota Tundra 8″ over stock rear leaf springs on 2″ lift blocks, a modified drive shaft, 30″ front rebound limit straps, Motorsport tech adaptors 5×150-6×5.5, Total Chaos 07+ Upper “A” arms, and a really sweet looking logo for the shop that built it – Custom Motorsports in Riverside, California.

Custom front end suspension with too much to list.