VIDEO: Stupid Idiots Ruin Trucks with Tug-O-War

I’m a Tundra fan, but I definitely wouldn’t mind having a cool lifted 80’s domestic pickup with a big block and a gigante (pronounced he-gone-tay) set of mudders. That would be a fun truck to own.

What I’m saying is, you wouldn’t see me ruining my truck like the Rhodes scholars below…

About two years ago, I railed against the stupidity of “tug-a-truck” competitions because ultimately they’re about destruction. While one driver appears to win, the truth of the matter is that both trucks are damaged by the competition. As you can see in the video above, something broke on the truck on the right at the 16 second mark. At 18 seconds, the shirtless referee starts waiving off the “competition”. Nearly 7 seconds later, the other driver finally becomes aware that his buddy’s pickup is destroyed.

What, exactly, was the point of that little exercise? The loser just ruined hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of parts and accessories. The “winner” just ruined someone else’s vehicle…and truth be told, the winner also strained some of the components in his truck’s powertrain, suspension, and frame. How these strained parts will hold up long-term is a question mark – one that the winner brought upon himself. Read more…

The Eliminator Project Begins – Initial Dyno Test

The Eliminator started out as a phone call. Mark, a contributor to the site, had a chance to get his hands on a nice little used 2007 Tundra regular cab 2wd with the big motor and only 57k miles. The question was, would I interested in putting the time in to making this an official TundraHeadquarters.com project truck?

I said, “Uhh…ya. Let’s do it.” Little did I know it would become the biggest TundraHeadquarters time-soak ever. Bigger than writing/editing posts and moderating comments. Bigger than heading to SEMA in 2010. Little did I know that not one but two different companies would promise parts but then never deliver.

But listen to me complain.

Thanks to the generous contributions of BedRug, Extang, DynoMax, Belltech, and AIRAID, plus generous help from Mountain States Toyota, we have a nice little dropped Tundra with even more power than a factory truck at our fingertips. Of course, mad props to Mark for making this happen and doing so much to move it along. Very grateful for that too.

Here’s our initial dyno test data: Read more…

Ford and Toyota Reach Hybrid Agreement – Who Wins?

Straight from the “you’re not gonna believe this one” news pile, we learn today from CNN.com and PickupTrucks.com that Toyota and Ford have agreed to co-develop hybrid systems for trucks and big SUVs. From CNN:

Rivals Ford Motor and Toyota Motor announced an agreement Monday to work together to develop a new hybrid light truck. The agreement is expected to produce hybrid rear-wheel drive pickups and SUVs sometime later this decade. The agreement brings together Toyota, which has been a leader in hybrid technology, with Ford, which still has a leading position in the pickup and SUV portion of the market, where hybrids are still less common.

Over at PickupTrucks.com, Dave Thomas writes:

If there was any doubt that new fuel regulations would make an immediate and widespread impact on the automotive industry, it evaporated this morning. Today, Ford and Toyota announced an agreement to jointly develop — as equal partners — a new hybrid drivetrain specifically for light trucks and SUVs. This new technology would go on sale by the end of the decade.

Let that soak in for a moment…Ford, arguably the world’s leader in pickups, working with Toyota, arguably the world’s leader in hybrids. Why? Read more…

Announcing the Eliminator

We’ve been absent over the last two weeks, and the Eliminator is partially to blame.

It’s our project truck, and it’s been a bit of a time soak. Here’s our initial press release – more posts to follow over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks!

Press Release: Read more…

Camaro Deploys Airbags During Spirited Driving

First, we showed a documented instance of a Camaro suffering from unintended acceleration (where’s the LA Slimes on that one?). Now, for your enjoyment, we have video of a Camaro blowing the side curtain airbags while the driver tries to do some donuts:

A few thoughts…

1. Why is this high horsepower car so hard to break lose? Me thinks the driver didn’t shut off the electronic nannies… Read more…