Author Archive for Jason Lancaster

Updated Part and Accessory Review System – Please Test

In an effort to improve the speed and responsiveness of the site (which is unfortunately a work in progress), I’ve moved TundraHeadquarters.com to a new server. Unfortunately, this move “broke” the parts and accessories review system.

This prompted me to create a new system more similar to the main site that is also hopefully much easier to use. Features include:

• Over 500 products can be reviewed
• Product reviews include a star rating system, the opportunity to share your comments, and a chance to share your vehicle year, make and model – however
• Anyone can leave a rating on a product without logging in or sharing any personal info
• The top-rated products will always be listed first – as more and more people review products, the best ones will “rise to the top”

Instead of reading a post today, please take a couple of minutes to rate a product or two – check out the new Tundra parts review system here. We’ll be adding more products over the course of the next week or two, but any testing or feedback you can offer now will be appreciated!

Thank you!!

Interstate Battery Giving Away Tundra With Wrong Horsepower

Interstate Battery has decided to promote their “Outrageously Dependable” product right alongside a brand-new Tundra. Between now and the SuperBowl, Interstate is running a contest to give away a Tundra “carrying case” for a brand new battery. As if that clever promo wasn’t funny enough, check this out: Interstate’s advertising people have no idea how much horsepower a new 5.7 Tundra has.

Interstate is giving away a 5.7L V8 Tundra, which has just a touch more than 270 hp (try 381)

Whoops! Here’s the full ad and more details on the contest:

New ‘Ejection’ Safety Rule – Saving Lives or Idiot-Proofing?

Lately, it seems as if NHTSA is on a regulatory binge. In addition to proposing mandatory back-up cameras, NHTSA has recently announced a new rule that is intended to prevent “ejections” during a rollover. While this new rule could save nearly 400 lives each year, some critics argue that rollover ejections are limited to un-belted passengers, and that the new mandate amounts to “idiot-proofing.”

These critics  may be surprised to learn that, in many cases, someone using their seatbelt can be ejected during a rollover…but there’s more to the story than that.

Fleet Sales Don’t Compare to Retail Sales – Even With Trucks

If you’ve been following the auto industry long enough, at some point you’ll hear someone talk about the negatives of fleet sales. What follows is a basic review of the difference between a fleet sale and a retail sale and an explanation of the fleet buying process. If you’re interested in why fleet-heavy truck sales figures from Ford, GM, and Chrysler should be discounted when compared to Tundra sales, this post might be interesting to you.

If not, you might want to skip it (there is some math involved). Here we go.

Ford’s EcoBoost Tear-Down Stunt Is Gimmicky

At next week’s Detroit Auto Show, Ford will be tearing-down an EcoBoost engine live in front of the public as an attempt to prove how tough and reliable their new twin-turbo V6 truck motor is. While this sounds like a great way to demonstrate the toughness of this particular motor, it’s really just a gimmick.

Ford's "live" EcoBoost tear down is more of a gimmick than a predictor of engine reliability

To be sure, Ford’s plan sounds impressive:

Ford powertrain engineers will tear down an engine that…has the equivalent of 160,000 miles and 10 years of rugged use. Engineers punished it in temperature and load extremes simulating nearly 10 years of use – a regimen tougher than any consumer could ever subject a truck to….It hauled 55 tons of lumber…It ran at full throttle for 24 straight hours towing 11,300 pounds [and] completed the world’s toughest desert endurance race, the SCORE Tecate Baja 1000 in Mexico

The thing is, there’s a difference between simulated wear and tear and the real world.