Is the Tundra Exterior all metal?

Just a question, my mechanic said you can tell the type of material from what it sounds like. Lower panels (rocker panels, lower rear bedside panels) have a more dull sound so they're plastic, and higher body panels have a more hollow sound so are metal.

Any thoughts on this from more expert tundra owners? Are in fact any parts plastic, or is my mechanic just full of BS?

 

More parts on the exterior of the 3rd Gen Tundra are plastic than they are metal, yes.

 

I don't buy it. Most of the Tundra exterior structure is steel. Grab any magnetic thing and see for yourself. Toyota hasn't, that I'm aware of, began using aluminum like Ford, and plastic body panels are attached very differently, which you will notice quickly.
You can't really tell the difference between some grades of aluminum and steel by tapping on them; the acoustics change dramatically by how the part is bent and shaped, and how stiff it is right where you tap.
Trim, dressings, and other things have been plastic for decades, but these are designed to be replaced, unlike the welded body panels.

 

Not entirely accurate. The tailgate, fenders, and rear doors are steel. Hood, front doors, and bedside panels are aluminum. Only the front and rear bumper panels are plastic. Underneath them is a steel frame though.

 

Google "tongue in cheek".

 

Magnet won’t help much as @wxman91 mentioned, aluminum up front. The bumpers have plastic covers but the front has a very stout aluminum crash bar behind it. Rear uses the tow bar covered in plastic. The bed is composite with a steel skin outside.

Most 1/2 Trucks these days are using steel, aluminum, composites, and plastics these days.
If you want the safest get a Rivian. Lol
If you want the safest Full Size truck, it’s the Tundra

https://realtruck.com/blog/safest-p...Y40sR3kdd_qzY-naZNKg8ynaxAxTf1YQWbX5C00QNyhz1

 

I dig the composite bed so far

 

This is how I found out what panels were what.



Getting fixed now to the tune of 14k. I guess aluminum is tough to fix which is good as I wanted new metal.

Rear doors- steel (replacing)
Front doors - aluminum (very small dent)
Rear fender panels - aluminum (replacing)
Cab- steel (replacing the “D” ring)
Hood- aluminum
Tailgate- steel

 

From the Toyota Chief engineer Mike Sweers with an interview with SAE

https://www.sae.org/news/2021/10/engineering-the-2022-toyota-tundra

 

Now that the composite bed has come up; I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it's made of. I'd love to know before I figure out what fasteners to use in it.

 

Google answer all sorts of questions like this...

https://www.zjmdc.com/IndustryNews/...olding compound,be produced in different ways.

 

I read that earlier, and it does me no good. I work in aerospace, and the term "composite" is non-specific to me. The molding takes place before the resin has fully cured, which allows for making a permanent shape. That's all I know for sure.
From the article: "Due to the different properties required by the materials, including process properties, mechanical properties and other special properties, and different preparation processes, there are differences in the selection and proportion of components"

Thus the fastener question. I don't have a spare truck bed or tailgate to experiment on, so more useful information is needed.

 

Its built to deform. Since the mid 00’s everything is built to fail. Sure, that jackass deer might have to suffer longer, at the cost of keeping insurance companies running. They quit fixing things and started replacing things in the early 90’s.

 

I own a '23 Tundra and was surprised too. The lower rocker claddings are definitely plastic, same as the fender flares. They do it to help with rust since road salt tends to eat those spots first. Doesn’t affect durability much, but yeah, you’re not wrong to notice a difference

 

This is all an AI overview, so it may be full of shit, but it's more specific. Asked google "What is the tundra composite SMC materials"


The Tundra Composite SMC material is a durable, lightweight composite material used by Toyota for the truck beds of certain models, including the 2022 and later Tundra and Tacoma. It is made from a Sheet Molding Compound (SMC), which combines a thermoset polymer resin with chopped glass fibers. Toyota adds aluminum reinforcement to the SMC bed for increased strength.
Composition of Tundra Composite SMC
The Tundra's composite bed is a version of a standard SMC that includes:

• Fiberglass reinforcement: Long, chopped glass fibers are dispersed in the resin to provide high strength and dimensional stability.
• Thermoset resin: The resin, which is often a polyester or vinyl ester, acts as the binding matrix for the fibers. When cured under heat and pressure, it forms a rigid, solid structure.
• Inert fillers and additives: Materials like calcium carbonate, pigments, and stabilizers are added to control costs and enhance specific properties like surface finish, color consistency, and fire resistance.
• Aluminum reinforcement: Unlike a pure composite bed, the Tundra's bed is reinforced with aluminum cross members for added structural strength.

Advantages of the Tundra's composite bed
The combination of materials in the Tundra's composite SMC bed provides several benefits over traditional steel beds:

• Durability: The material is highly resistant to dents, scratches, impact dings, and rust. It does not corrode like metal and is stronger than steel under certain types of impact.
• Lightweight: The use of composites and aluminum makes the truck bed significantly lighter than a comparable all-steel bed, which helps increase payload capacity and fuel efficiency.
• Integrated design: SMC can be molded into a single, complex piece, which reduces the number of seams and welds required during manufacturing. This allows for excellent part-to-part consistency.
• Corrosion resistance: The polymer resin makes the material impervious to rust and other types of corrosion, which improves the longevity of the bed, especially in wet or salty environments.

Potential disadvantages

• Slick surface: Some users have noted that the smooth surface of the composite bed can be slippery, requiring extra care when securing cargo.
• Repairability: While crack repairs are possible with specific adhesives, a composite bed may be more difficult or expensive to fix than a steel one in the event of significant damage.

 

This is an asinine take. It's designed to crumple and break, yes, but not for insurance. It's to shed energy in an accident, because every bit of energy shed in this manner is energy not transmitted to occupants. It's why vehicles are safer now than the steel boxes of yester-decades that could hit a wall at 40 and only have minor damage, but lacerate the occupants spleen and liver.

 

At least it’ll make a good platform to be a flatbed.

 

how old were you when you learned not to play on busy streets? Busy street being 45mph or more. My truck will jump up and over traffic jams.
https://youtu.be/xxdpKopak8o?si=bLbHmmAK17FOE7YH

 

WTF does playing in the street have to do with this? Not tracking where this originated from.


Your truck had nothing to do with safety regs for stock vehicles and how they are tested.

 

I think my hood is cardboard with shiny paint. At least over 50 mph.

 

Rocker panels aren't plastic. They are part of the cab and that is metal. Your 3rd gen bumpers are plastic along with the front end (grille, surround, bumper, valence, etc.) but your front and rear fenders are metal, cab is metal, tailgate is metal, hood, and your doors are metal. Some will be aluminum, some steel, but those are all not plastic.


Here's a video of the process and you can see some of the parts being stamped. Anything stamped is not plastic. Interesting watch.

https://youtu.be/En0Ft5GY-DU

 

With all the safety, luxury, 4 doors, look at me I am tough stuff added to these trucks, if they were all metal as thick as 30-40 years ago the cargo capacity would be 50 lbs.

 

And we'd be back to 8 MPGs.

 

It’s not nearly as black and white as some portray. “Old cars good” vs “new cars bad”. Domestic 80’s cars were abysmal in quality compared to today. The Japanese forced the US domestic market to appreciate reliability. I remember (I know, I’m old) when a domestic car was pretty much used up at 60k miles. You didn’t buy a car over 60k miles unless you had no other choice.

Safety standards evolved and so did the cars…along with prices. Add to that emissions mandates and the market today is vastly different. It’s all about perspective.

You can be disappointed with the current state of auto manufacturing, but the only thing you can do is vote on Election Day and vote with your wallet. Everything else here is cathartic, but it changes nothing.

 

What is the purpose for making the front doors out of aluminum and the rears out of steel?

 

You save some weight with aluminum up front but the weight of steel toward the back contributes (probably barely) to weight over the rear axle which is good for traction and handling.

I’m speculating

 

Thanks. The reason I asked is the fronts have a distinct "hollow" sound to me when I close them. It contributes to the overall flimsy impression I get from my Gen 3 compared to my previous Tundras.

 

I’m fairly certain I just discovered yesterday that the rocker panels on my 2011 4Runner are plastic, but now I need to confirm. I’m 99% sure they are because I was surprised when grabbing them when I was looking at my frame.

Yeah one of the immediate things I noticed when I moved from a 4th gen 4Runner to a 5th gen how flimsy the doors sound compared to the 4th gen - and those are both steel. Can’t imagine how the aluminum sounds…

 

And how is that relevant to the 3rd gen Tundra rockers?

 

More so providing a data point that Toyota has used plastic rockers and that if the Tundras were plastic, it’s not something new to Toyota.