Author Archive for Tim Esterdahl
Associate Editor Tim Esterdahl is a married father of three who enjoys all things automotive including wrenching on his collection of old pickups. He also plays an absurd amount of golf. Like really absurd.
Is that Big Mac Costing You MPG in Your Truck?
A new infographic by Allstate and Cars.com says that the biggest factor facing automakers trying to increase MPGs is you. All of you. The trend toward increased obesity is really making it hard for automakers to cut more weight. Put down the Big Mac and check this out.
Apparently, if everyone weighed 150 lbs (like the test driver automakers use to determine max towing capacities), we would all gain 1 MPG.
Toyota Recalls 2007-09 Tundra Trucks Over Power Window Glitch
As you have undoubtedly heard, Toyota plans on recalling 2.47 million vehicles in the U.S. (7.43 million globally) to fix a power window issue that some news agencies are erroneously reporting as a “fire risk.”
Toyota has recalled 337,100 2007-2009 Toyota Tundra pickups to fix a power window glitch caused by an uneven application of special lubrication.
UPDATE: A new statement has been added to some news reports stating “documents filed by U.S. safety regulators show customers have reported 161 fires and nine injuries.” We have found that this “fire” is really classified as an “electrical fire” such as when the switch gets hot and smokes. Further analysis of the report shows that there were 161 incidents of smoke out of 2.4 million vehicles which is 0.0067% of the total recalled. Not really a big fire risk.
This is unfortunate – and borderline irresponsible – because while the recall effects all switches, the risk of fire is limited to switches that:
- Are “sticking” (this isn’t every switch…not even close)
- Have been “fixed” with a conventional lubricant like WD40
- Because the switch was never, ever designed for conventional lubrication, there is a chance that switches which have been lubed with something like WD40 could catch on fire
This explanation of Toyota’s massive recall is detailed, nuanced, and entirely too difficult to explain in 2 seconds. SO, most media outlets are reporting a global vehicle recall number (7.4 million) along with the phrase “fire risk” and leaving it at that.
This is BS, no?
UPDATE: Toyota Tundra Shuttle Tow Plan Adjusted
The Toyota Tundra will still tow the space shuttle Endeavour, but it will be a different part of the trip. The new plan is to tow it over the 405 freeway on the Manchester Boulevard Bridge in West Los Angeles.
The Toyota Tundra Endeavour towing plan has been slightly altered.
Ford’s New Small Truck Strategy – Cheap-Sell the F-150
A source from Ford recently told us that they are going to switch gears in their marketing away from the big, luxury trucks and focus more on their basic F-150s. This is in response to what they see Dodge doing and might also been in response to Ford losing a significant amount of compact truck sales. Will this new strategy pay off in fending off Dodge and moving compact truck buyers into full-size truck owners?
Can Ford make it for lost compact truck sales by cheap-selling the F-150?
Search terms people used to find this page:
- a and f cheap
2007 Toyota Tundra with 666,803 Miles on It!
A 2007 Toyota Tundra made an appearance at the 2012 State Fair of Texas Auto Show. The 2007 Tundra isn’t that exciting by itself until you consider the odometer reads 666,803 miles. Holy cow!
This 2007 Toyota Tundra with 666,803 miles on it still looks in good shape considering it gets driven around 200,000 miles per year!
