Skid plates and air dam on SR5

Hello!
I was looking under my ‘22 Tundra SR5 TRD Off-road 4x4 and was looking to see the air dam and TRD skid plate but didn’t see either. There is a small all-black black skid plate in the front; I was expecting something larger and TRD badged.

Should there be a TRD-branded skid plate and an air dam? This is the off-road package in the spec sheet for my vehicle:

TRD-Off-Road Premium Package
TRD-Off-Road Premium Package—includes 18-in. TRD Off-Road alloy wheels with all-terrain tires, TRD grille, "TRD OFF-ROAD" bedside decal, off-road suspension with Bilstein® shocks, skid plates, mudguards, red TRD engine start button, TRD leather shift knob, aluminum sport pedals, electronically controlled locking rear differential, Multi- Terrain Select (MTS), Crawl Control (CRAWL), Downhill Assist Control (DAC), SofTex®-trimmed seats, 8-way power- adjustable heated front seats with 2-way power lumbar, dual zone automatic climate control, and color-keyed outer door handles.

Thanks!

 

The good skid plate is an accessory you need to buy separate. The air dam is removed on Canadian TRD OR packages.

 

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It’s removed on the US TRD OR packages as well. We also get the black ballistic nylon “skid plate”.

 

If you are speaking of the air dam being removed on US TRD OR, that is incorrect for Limited TRD OR, as mine has the air dam.

Only Non-TRD trucks seem to be getting the aluminum TRD skid plate too, which makes now sense, while the TRD OR trucks get the ballistic nylon.

 

So my SR5 TRD OR black skid plate in the front should “plastic thud” and not “metal clink” when hit with a wrench?

 

Correct!

 

Sorry, you are correct. Mine is an SR5 TRD OR. Those do not have the front air dam.

 

It can get super confusing and I might have this wrong...

Active Air Dam: Only the Limited trims & up will have the active air dam. I believe, that is regardless of the TRD OR package or not....it's standard on all trims above the SR5. The SR5 and SR do not have the active air dam at all, regardless of how the truck is optioned (?).

Skid Plate(s): All trucks (minus the TRD Pro) come standard with some type of fabric, maybe fiberglass reinforced, cloth "splash skirt" where a skid plate would be. If you upgrade to the TRD Off-Road package, then that fabric "splash skirt" is replaced with a hard "ballistic" nylon/plastic type of "plate." The only way to get the TRD metal skid plate is to buy it separately as an accessory or, I believe, it comes standard on the TRD Pro.

Side note: This info is US focused. I know the Canadian market is different.
Second Side Note: As I think about the whole "Active Air Dam" thing...since it's put on as a way to improve fuel economy...shouldn't they have different MPG ratings for trucks with it and without it? I believe the MPGs listed on the window sticker of my SR5 are the same as a Limited with the active air dam (non-hybrid of course). Is that right? Fueleconomy.gov doesn't breakout MPGs by trim (i.e. Limited, SR5, Platinum, etc). It only separates 2WD, 4WD, Hybrid, Non-Hybrid, and TRD Pro.

 

Maybe it is added to offset the extra weight of various accessories in higher trims? Like sunroofs, premium speakers, etc. I could be making that up

 

See, just when I thought I had it all figured out....... nope.

Good info there KroppDuster. It is confusing. Almost as confusing as Toyota's choice of mixed materials for the different trims.

 

Interesting. Hasn't thought about it like that, but may very well be the case.

 

Yeah. That's totally possible. I know sunroofs add a fair amount of weight. Individually, speakers and seat ventilators are negligible, but added up might affect MPGs in a measurable way. Your line of thinking makes sense to me. Certainly as much or more as anything Toyota has done lately. haha.

Very true. I love Toyota, but some of their choices lately have left me wondering what's going on. Odd things like the removal of HomeLink on the SR5 or the lack of a locking gas door on lower trims. Just small things. Mainly QOL items that used to be available on the SR5. I'm sure all done in the grand scheme of cost savings and trying to push people up into higher trims. Seems like the Limited is now what the SR5 used to be 10 years ago.

 

To confound this even more: My brothers limited TRD OR does not have the air dam. He has the hybrid and I don't. Other than that our trucks are almost identical, but I have the air dam...

 

Oh yeah...the hybrid throws a whole different wrench into things. Some of the hybrid stuff is odd. I've heard some hybrids also eliminate the active grill shutters as well. Does your brother's truck have the grill shutters?

 

My SR5 has the air dam and digital mirror with home link. I know the mirror is part of one of the packages, not sure about the air dam.

 

Interesting. What packages was your truck spec'd with? I'm guessing it's part of the "Advanced Technology" package that includes the PVM since that's the only package on the SR5 that includes the digital mirror. HomeLink isn't listed as a detail on any any package so it must just be naturally part of the digital mirror.

What skid plate do you have?

 

For what it's worth, I have an SR5 with the active air dam, but no home link or digital rearview.

 

The digital mirror is needed for the SPA (straight path assist).

 

Correct, I do have the Advanced Technology package.

Skid plate is the fabric. Wish there was an economical metal option. I’d be fine with metal skids similar to my 4runners.

 

Yeah my SR5 TRD OR has HomeLink (as part of the digital rearview mirror). The digital rearview mirror is part of the Advanced Off-Road Technology Package which includes the Straight Path Assist.

 

Tell me about it. There were a couple of things I wanted that are only available on Limited and higher trims. The main one is seat memory. Not available on SR5 even as an option. This is 2022, come on. Cooled seats would have been nice as well. An almost $60k truck and you can't have seat memory......

It's obviously done to push buyers to the higher trims, but seat memory??? C'mon Toyota. Can you tell I'm a bit butt hurt about the seat memory thing? LOL.

 

Haha. So true.

My wife purchased a 2022 Bolt EUV in June and for $35k brand new...I'm shocked at the amount of features it has that my $55k Tundra doesn't. Heated & Cooled Seats, Power adjustable seats, heated steering wheel, digital review mirror with 360 degree cameras, etc. It's got loads of tech and creature comforts.

Side note: I know those two vehicles are an Apples to Oranges comparison. Just thought the feature set was interesting given the $20k difference.

 

I just had a look at my SR5 with OR premium and advanced tech packages and it does not have the air dam. As for the MPG ratings being the same without it, it could be that the skid plates provide some benefit by smoothing the airflow underneath and keeping it from becoming turbulent around the covered engine components. My accessory TRD skid plate sure seems to cover up a lot of extraneous parts that could create turbulence. In any case, the air dam and skid plate effects on MPG have got to be very small.

 

Is the oil drain plug and filter accessible with this skid plate? I know on my old 2021 it wasn’t.

 

Nope. Some cut a hole in it for access to the drain and use a valve instead of a plug. But IMO the filter needs to be changed too so what's the point.
That plate comes off easily on a floor jack in 5 mins.
Also gives you a good eyeball on any other trouble that could be brewing down there.

 

Yeah, and chevy loses money on the EVs. The price isn't reflective of the cost to add the features. It's not even apples and oranges, it's apples and dental floss. Sure, both go in your mouth, but they aren't even remotely the same in purpose.

 

Whatever you say, boss.

 

Not me saying it, "boss."

 

Ok man.

Not arguing with you about Chevy losing money on EV sales. I disagree with your other statement about it being totally different uses cases, but I don't have the energy to debate a post that is nearly a year old. Edit: Not almost a year old. Over 18 months old.