Toyota Announces Safety Recall on 2000 through 2003 Tundra Frame Rear Cross Member

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. will launch a Safety Recall involving approximately 110,000 Tundra vehicles sold in the United States.

Certain 2000 through 2003 model year Tundra vehicles operated in cold climate areas with high road salt use, may exhibit excessive corrosion on the frame rear cross- member. In the worst case, the spare tire stowed under the truck bed may become separated from the rear cross member. Spare tire separation will create a road hazard for following vehicles and increase the likelihood of a crash.

Eventually, excessive corrosion of the rear cross-member may also affect the functionality of the rear brake line at the proportioning valve. If this occurs, it can lead to the loss of the rear brake circuits which will increase vehicle stopping distances and the risk of a crash.

In addition to the District of Columbia, the involved cold climate states with high road salt usage are: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

Beginning in December 2009 through early 2010, owners of the involved vehicles will receive a Safety Recall notification via first class mail asking them to take their vehicles to a Toyota dealer for an initial inspection of the rear cross member. During this inspection, the rear cross-member including the surrounding components such as, the brake line at the proportioning valve (which is mounted on the cross-member assembly) will also be inspected. Based upon the inspection, Toyota will do one of the following at no charge:

Tundra

If there is no significant corrosion of the rear cross-member assembly or the rear brake line at the proportioning valve, owners will be notified of that fact and requested to subsequently bring their vehicle back to the dealership so that a corrosion-resistant compound can be applied to the rear cross-member. Toyota will notify the owner when the corrosion-resistant compound is available.

If significant corrosion is detected such that the rear cross-member can no longer safely support the spare tire and replacement components are available, the cross- member assembly will be replaced. In the event replacement components are not available, a temporary solution, such as the removal of the spare tire and securing it to the truck bed, will be performed until parts are available.

In those relatively rare cases where the rear cross-member is significantly corroded and can no longer safely support the spare tire, but the rear cross-member cannot be replaced due to excessive frame corrosion at the mounting location (e.g., if the side rails are too damaged), Toyota will develop an appropriate remedy for those vehicles on a case-by- case basis.

This inspection will take approximately 20 minutes depending on dealer scheduling.

Until your vehicle is inspected, you may minimize the risk of the spare tire separating from the rear cross-member by removing it. If you choose to do so, please be sure not to be under the rear cross-member or spare tire carrier during the lowering process. In addition, if placing the spare tire in the truck bed or other area of the vehicle, it should be secured when driving.

Customers with questions are asked to call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1 800 331-4331.

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[Toyota via PickupTrucks]

Tailgating credentials:

• Slide-out cargo box
• Grill N Chill cooking space
• Infrared barbecue
• "Beverage" tap
• 42-inch flat- panel TV
• Complete sound system

All that's great, but really, we're still fixated on those ridiculous door handle appliques. For further details head over to PickupTrucks.com.

Poor Nelsinho! Not only did he have to drive under the shadow of a famous father and suffer the intrigues of an unhinged Flavio Briatore, someone has now assembled an unflattering compilation of his short career in Formula One:

While making a crash-laden video of any racing driver is a walk in the park these days, it is a particularly easy job in the case of Piquet Jr., who never distinguished himself with particular car control or outright speed during his year and a half in Formula One.

Apart from a lucky second place at last year’s German grand prix, he failed to finish on any podium, going so far as not scoring a single point in the current season. After 28 races with the team, Renault dropped him after the Hungarian grand prix—in turn, Piquet set in motion the chain of events which led to the uncovering of a sordid episode of race-fixing and the end of Renault’s team principal Flavio Briatore and team engineer Pat Symonds.

So what’s next for the young Brazilian? Perhaps NASCAR: he is set to test a Toyota Tundra for Red Horse Racing next Monday at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina. A close reading of his Twitter feed will perchance also reveal how to say YEEHAW! in Brazilian Portuguese.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images, Elsa/Getty Images for NASCAR, Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

The sordid tale is over at Consumerist, but here's the skinny: After several unsuccessful attempts to get satisfaction over previously pilfered coinage, our hero placed a camera in the passenger side door and turned it on when he left the truck at the dealer for service. What the unflinching eye caught was pretty salacious. Not only did it see a Hampton Toyota service rep brazenly cleaning out his coin door, they also rifled through his center console, glove box, and ash tray, as well as checking his key-ring pill holder to see if there was anything interesting in there. Oh, then a rep plugged in a laptop and started watching porn in the truck. After sending a DVD of and letter regarding the misdeeds to the dealer and copies to the local newspapers, news station, and Toyota regional rep, he managed to get some satisfaction.
[Consumerist]

UPDATE: Since the incident was initially reported, the dealership has addressed Jason's complaints and the owner of the dealership, Mark Hampton, has produced this video to address the public regarding the three employees shocking behavior.

After the bodies on Toyota pickups of the 70s and 80s turned into little piles of brown dust, you'd think Toyota would have figured out how to build a pickup capable of standing up to the elements. It seems you may have thought wrong. Owners of Tacomas and Tundras from between 1995 and 2002 have lodged complaints with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration over dangerously corroding frames, with some examples so weak you can poke a finger through crossmembers. Stories of large sheets of corroded metal falling off the truck, shackles and spring mounts rusting through, frames so bad you can't weld replacement brackets on make it sound pretty bad. These allegations are very serious, and may lead to NHTSA investigating whether a recall might be in order. [The Boston Channel]

The accident took place during a Championship Off Road Racing event last March and we're amazed Huseman walked away unscathed. We're actually more impressed with this than we are with Rhys Millen's backflip, which was performed in a similar vehicle.

TOYOTA TUNDRA DIESEL DUALLY PROJECT TRUCK
“Road Warrior” exterior combined with luxury Interior

Making a bold and adventurous statement about the contrasts between rugged “Road Warrior” performance and opulent luxury, a Toyota Tundra CrewMax diesel dually project truck, which made its debut at the 2007 SEMA Show, is back again for SEMA 2008 in Toyota Vehicle Coral.

At its core, the Tundra light duty pickup’s stock engine was replaced with a medium duty diesel powerplant plucked from a 35,000-pound commercial truck. The 8.0-liter inline six-cylinder high-torque engine, made by Toyota affiliate Hino, is mated with an Eaton five-speed manual transmission and a Hino back end. Toyota Motorsports Technical Group heavily modified the Tundra to accommodate the beefed-up driveline.

A host of custom exterior treatments point to the off-the-charts muscle under the hood. Prominent examples include forged aluminum alloy 22.5-inch wheels custom made by Alcoa, a diamond plate-lined bed, a charcoal gray metallic flat paint finish and a fifth-wheel hitch rated at 24,000 pounds. The muscular theme on the outside shifts dramatically to that of luxury on the inside with hand-sewn ginger leather seats, suede pillars and headliner and dual rear captain’s chairs with individual DVD entertainment systems.

PARTNERS:
Engineering by Motorsports Technical Group
Interior by Fast Ed’s Interiors
Paint by Focus on Cars
Wheels by Alcoa
Power steps and fuel door by Amp Research
Sound system by Kenwood
Sound installation by Beach Auto Sound
Lighting by PIAA
Exhaust by Magnaflow
5th wheel hitch by Reese

[Source: Toyota]

TUNDRA/DUCATI TRANSPORTER

The Ducati Desmosedici RR is the only street legal MotoGP bike ever produced. The ultimate track day bike requires the ultimate transport; that’s where Toyota comes in with the 2009 Tundra Ducati Desmosedici transporter. The Tundra/Ducati Transporter is built on a Tundra CrewMax, which has been modified to accept a 6.5-inch bed. The transporter is tied thematically to the bike, incorporating Ducati Corse style along with high tech materials and execution to create synergies for two companies obsessed with quality and performance. Additional features include major bed innovations such as flip up bedsides, a motorized loading ramp by Rampage, integrated tool and spares storage, and popup solar panels for accessory power. Performance is enhanced through the full catalog of TRD Performance
parts such as supercharger, exhaust, intake, suspension and brakes. The interior treatment by Fast Ed’s Interiors combines high tech style with Italian flair.

TUNDRA/DUCATI TRANSPORTER FEATURES

• Ducati Corse Exterior by Focus On Cars
• Custom fabricated seats, sewn carpet, suede headliner by Fast Ed’s
Interiors
• Seat Massagers by In Seat Solutions-Relaxor Massage Products
• Rampage Powerlift Ramp
• Alcoa 22” custom forged aluminum wheels
• Pirelli Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico tires
• CarriageWorks Rear Roll Pan
• Toyota Racing Development Performance Parts
o TRD Boost Gauge and Pod
o Big Brake Kit
o 5.7L Supercharger (500HP/550TQ
o TRD Lowering Kit
o TRD Dual Exhaust
o TRD Sway Bar
• USAG 526V ToolBox (Official Tool Supplier to Ducati)
• RockBlocker protective light films
• VIS Racing Carbon Fiber hood

Ducati
• 2008 Ducati Desmosedici RR Motorcycle
• Ducati Corse Racing Suit by Dainese
• Ducati Corse Helmet by Arai
• Ducati Corse Boots
• Ducati Corse Gloves

[Source: Toyota]

The green Mitsubish Lancer Evo X is boasting 650 HP. The Bentley Continental GT (yes that's what's hiding under that awful body kit) brags of 800 HP. The Tundra? Well it's a huge lifted truck with green tribal grpahics...need we say more? And to think this is just the tip of the SEMA iceberg. [via MotorAuthority]

But what should anyone expect? Tundra sales are in the doghouse and with diesel prices sky high, Toyota doesn't foresee a return on investment for an oil-burning engine.

Although we're told the A-BAT plans could get the axe if production prices come back too high, the idea along with the Tundra anti-plans come together to form a pretty clear picture: Trucks are going to shrink, at least from Toyota. No surprise to us as the current crop of pickups, while very capable, are also gigantic and thirsty. All we ask of Toyota in this new small truck is that they avoid building the beds from pre-rusted steel, as it would go a long way to keeping our highways cleaner in this second malaise era. [Pickuptrucks.com]

We sort of actually admire what Toyota is trying to do here, and we don't disagree with some of their suggestions. But the whole exercise reeks of marketing. The thing is, in this age where "going green" is the flavor of the day, they're marketing better than the competition.

Consider it like this: Toyota is promoting conservation strategies in a direct, forthright manner on its corporate blog at the same time Chrysler is offering to subsidize your conspicuous gasoline consumption. This, despite the fact that equivalently-equipped current Toyota Tundra and Dodge Ram pickups get almost identical mileage (16 MPG combined vs. 15 MPG combined — although we hear the new 2009 Dodge Ram supposedly blows those numbers out of the water). But who's going to win the perception game in the era of $4-and-up gas? After all, perception is everything. [Open Road Blog]

The car is 502 feet away from home plate and 65 feet above the field level. A little math by the folks at Red Reporter determined that on an average calm day the ball would have to be hit at 134.5 mph off the bat, which is damn near physically impossible. Furthermore, the folks did more math and determined that on a balmy 90-degree day, a strong right-handed hitter with a 15 mph tailwind could maybe get it to the truck. Way to go, Toyota. Earn those advertising dollars! [Red Reporter via Deadspin]

The design is symbolic, but we forget what the symbols are, and we were so cynically dismayed utterly starstruck by Pentastar Bob that we forgot to write 'em down—something about angles and a magical orb that seduces customer into car loans.... It was all incredibly juicy. Hummer was among the winners in this competition for laurels among nationally aired TV spots.

Hummer, with creative supplied by Modernista!, won for "Most Liked Ad" ("Like, it was the the ad that those in the vast IAG survey most, um, liked, you know"). It was that one of Hummers engaged in all manner of video game awesomeness (watch it here.) Obviously, the award you wanna win, if you're the standard-issue low-self-esteem marketing big shot.

Subaru won the very special "Green" award. Lexus and Chevy won for Best Overall Luxury ad and Best Overall Non-Luxury ad, respectively. Toyota Tundra won for Most Effective ad, and Hyundai Veracruz won for Most Effective New Nameplate Launch.

It was all incredibly moving. And then Nardelli started dispatching the neologisms.

Thing is, it turns out the trendy payload was only skin-deep. We're thinking it was plywood, but you judge for yourself. All we know is — to hold aloft that prestigious award you don't need something as strong as steel girders. Nah, you only need it to look like it.

High Performance: Chevrolet Corvette - 50% Sedan: Honda Civic - 52% Coupe: Infiniti G37 Coupe - 52% Convertible: Mini Cooper Convertible - 50% Wagon: Scion xB- 52% Hatchback: Scion tC - 52% Luxury: BMW 6-Series - 50% Pickup: Toyota Tundra - 41% SUV: Acura MDX - 49% Minivan: Honda Odyssey - 39% Hybrid: Honda Civic Hybrid - 45%

[KBB via CNN Money]