Tundra abuse

New to tundras, bought one because of the legend of reliability. Just curious how much abuse one of these trucks can take and still get to high mileage. Like if someone ignored maintenance, was always late on oil changes, towed and hualed with the truck, etc would it still last a long time?

 

Very subjective and there's no true answer to that. Could be 100k miles or could be 330k miles.

 

I've beaten the dog shit outta mine then again I'm always on time for oil changes which include engine, transmission, transfer case, and diff. Things that last 40k miles, I just change at that interval when they are due (spark plugs, transmission flush) and things will usually last for the duration in which they were designed for. Example: Water pump replacement every 100k miles lasted me 114k miles and I'm sure it could have lasted longer but I'm not risking it.

I run synthetic, which is apparently good for 5k miles, but I change it at 3K miles. Why? Well sure the oil might be good for that amount of time but what about the oil filter?

I know I didn't really answer your question, but I have put my Tundra through some shit and it's still strong AF. If you service your Tundra well, it will serve you well. If you neglect it...yeah it will probably last for a while but I can't define what a "while" means.

 

That's a really weird question.

 

WhistlinDiesel?

 

He's not too worried about it lasting a long time. That's what the Hilux are for

 

07 5.7L, I've missed a few oil changes here and there, due to long distance moves.... can't really pull your maintenance gear kit on the shoulder with kids in the car in the middle of nowhere... Then again, if it's preplanned it's probably pre-staged somewhere accessible then Walmart parking lot is probably the best place to do it and recycle used oil there, as I have done. I'm at 275k mainly original Engine/Trans...

 

I think tundras can last working and hauling long term as well as anything. I don’t think skipping maintenance is negotiable though if you want ultimate reliability in anything mechanical in nature. It may fare better than the other trucks on the market, but hard to say.

 

out of morbid curiosity I wish he'd do this. the hilux series was nice, but i'd love to see how our rigs fare with his abuse

 

this is an interesting question OP. I've been curious to know things like this ever since I saw a video back in the day from the "cash for clunkers" program where some ford v8's would run for HOURS with silica sand in the block instead of oil. obviously that isn't a widely applicable metric but there were naturally many engines that siezed in 15sec while there were multiple reports of fords just chugging along

 

I think, if I want my car/truck/vehicle to outlast me, or to outlast the general avg, I would take good care of it.
Yes, tow and load and miss the maintenance by a few hundred miles once in a while is fine. But missing two changes in a row would be a big no-no for me, I mean, oil/filter may not be ideal at that point anymore.
Plus, oil/filters are cheap, I even stock some in the house for 3K interval changes just because I would like to do that to keep it running smooth and not worry about the breakdowns and whatnot.
Tow and haul with the truck? Ain't that the number 1 reason trucks are made for? I think if you stay within reason, you should be able to drive to 1M miles.
Now, driving habits and have the car wrecked is another story and one that we can't help dictate how long it will last. 10 miles or 1M miles, they are the same when accidents happen.

 

How long do you think you missed the oil change by?

 

Probably no more than 500 miles.. cross country East West, North west, South..

 

I guess if he ever does a part 2 to the modern holiday test it would be probably pretty similar to what you could put a tundra through so that might be a fair comparison. But I completely agree, I tried to find torture test videos of tundras but couldn’t

 

Also side note i kinda have a tundra durability story of my own, I know this chick that is part of my circle of friends and we were all hanging out and she drove a tundra. Me being a Toyota guy complimented her on the truck as I’d never seen her drive it. She told me that it was her dads truck, I said “nice, looks like it’s in good shape” and she said “yea it’s pretty decent, I rolled it a few years ago though”. She then told me that she rolled it off an embankment (about 30 feet or so) and all it needed was some body work and a new bed. She said it has somewhere around the 230000 mile mark and still runs fine

 

Can't comment on a Tundra, but my younger brother... there isn't a human being on this planet more abusive to a vehicle – his 01 4Runner has 306k miles on it and still drives serious mountain passes almost daily.

 

LOL That is not "missing" an oil change.

 

lol... I was being conservative with that number, it's probably more like 1,000+ miles cuz all my stuff was gone or scattered like confetti between vehicles. Honestly, I just found my 1st skull cap oil filter adapter. After my first move, (10 years ago) I had forgotten where I placed it, so I bought that bigger one, it appeared improved but still has the same issue, it gets jammed up on the filter. Last year I started opening up more boxes and clearing stuff out and found my original oil filter adapter, LOL... It was safely tucked in my Dremel bag, don't ask me about the Dremel, cuz that has it's own cardboard box with accessories with it.

 

Yea, missing by 500 miles is not ideal but I would not think it will "kill" Tundra, it takes way more than that to kill it.
However, if I know I have a long trip/cross country coming up, I usually do a fresh change right before I leave, and depending on the length/distance of said trip, I will do another one half way and def one at the end of the trip when back at home. The one at home also gives me a chance to get a quick visual over the underside to make sure no damages (to the eyes).

 

Considering the price of even a base model, not sure i would suggest hard abuse. That said, not "driving" it is something I would also classify as abuse.

 

I would agree, not driving it hurts more than driving it.
But some people would argue that lower mileage = higher resell value.....
Not sure, but I am pretty sure the tipping point is maybe 10 years, then it is off the cliff down from there because too many parts have rot/dried/worn out just by sitting there.

 

I was really referencing using the skinny pedal while behind the wheel and exercising the transfer case properly. Cleanliness and lubrication is simply vital.

 

Bought mine for the same reason. If you plan on abusing yours like this, keep us posted lol.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/vhgFORchpnU?feature=share

 

I'm at 240 and have done all those things. No issues. Oh I had to replace a rear wheel bearing at 220. Last oil change was about 17k, and I just towed 12k with it a few days ago

 

I chat with a guy who has 400k miles on his and said he hasn't ever serviced the transmission. I'm not suggesting to do this and wil probably service mine every 30k.

 

Yeah, same here. Good piece of mind knowing that some of these trucks can handle not being maintained regularly but I don’t think I have the balls to skip regular maintenance.

 

Why spend good money on a quality vehicle and abuse it with poor maintenance? It's like stopping eating and asking how long you might survive.

Dan