New user from Houston

Hello. I'm new to the forum, currently driving a 2015 F150 XTR 4x4.

I work in IT in oil and gas in the field so I do a lot of highway driving with some off road driving at the end of the drive to get to the sites some times. I put a lot of miles on driving back and forth across Texas and the south eastern US.

I have been spending a lot of time trying to decide what my next vehicle will be. I need something that is good on the highway, good off road, and able to carry electronics in a secure and covered compartment. In addition to that I'd like to be able to do more serious off road adventuring, over landing, camping, etc. for vacations, assuming I ever get to take one of those. >.>

I've been looking at another F150 or the F250 since both will offer a diesel option, and the Jeep mostly. I have since eliminated the Jeep after renting one and driving it on the highway. I also rented a 4Runner and eliminated it for some of the same reasons.

I've noticed in my research that a lot of the over landing and off road driving is dominated by Toyota. I have looked at the Tundra previously but never seriously as it isn't available with a locker from the factory. Now that I'm looking to buy and modify I am giving them a closer look and I came here to get some questions answered.

 

Welcome from AZ

 

Welcome

 

Welcome from Ca. I'm getting ready to add an ARB rear locker.

 

Welcome from CO

 

Some basic ones like what the hell is the difference between the Sequoia and the Land Cruiser? Aside from the electronics and creature comforts, most of the answers I've seen so far boil down to "25 yr parts service life" etc, which with average driving is about 375K miles. I believe the Sequoia is based off the Tundra and those have been reported to go a lot farther than 375k.

If I get another truck it's going to have a truck top, I tried the tonneau cover on a previous truck and hated it. Snugtop, Leer, or ARE I haven't done the research to decide which but I would welcome your recommendations.

For the Tundra, current rumor I have seen online is that a full redesign isn't expected for several more years which is a bit of a bummer but I guess it shows that they have confidence in their product and that they aren't having trouble selling them. I've been looking at lift options and from what I have been reading it appears that a long travel lift is the more durable for off road use option, as opposed to a drop brocket solution. I've heard of Total Chaos and a couple other brand names but I'd like to get advice from the locals here on their recommendations and experiences. I'd like to run the biggest all terrain tire I can which I believe puts me into the 35-37" range, I believe the Tundra comes with 4.30 gears and I'd like to know if you all have been upgrading them for similar tires or leaving the gears as is.

My goal is simplicity and capability, I'm not looking to build a bro dozer. I've looked at a SR5 crewmax and am not sure if I should get the TRD package as it seems like a lot of those parts I'll be swapping out any way. I do not want the sun roof. I would also prefer to keep the bench seat but that doesn't seem to be an option. The radar would be nice, but the only creature comfort I need is Bluetooth which I believe is standard.

I have more but I'm on the road at a hotel at the moment so this should do for now.

 

Welcome from SoCal sir
hopefully our more tundra savvy members can chime in to answer your questions. I just drive a tundra to be part of the cool kids
Basics of my knowledge is tundras last forever and the MPGs suck balls!
Hopefully you join the darkside of Toyota

 

Welcome from CO.

 

Welcome from CO.

 

Fortunately work pays for the gas, so that's not a problem. I don't really have a brand loyalty at this point. The last company I was loyal to was Saturn.

I looked at the Power Wagon but I don't consider the Ram to be reliable enough for my needs. My cousin has one and has had a lot of issues, though if I'm honest I'm sure he was a significant contributing factor.

I think the Chevy's are the best looking trucks with the high squared off fenders, but they are getting rid of those and there's the reliability problem and the I don't want to support a company that is too big to fail.

Ford seems to have turned their reliability numbers around over the last several years at least as far as the F150 goes so my last few and current truck is a F150. They ride nice and get the job done, but they are pricey and Ford doesn't seem to be putting the same attention to detail in their design and construction that I have seen recently high lighted with Toyota and the Tundra.

Two of my coworkers are Tundra owners and they like them. One traded his recently for a 4Runner and the other was thinking about trading for a Tacoma, but I need the larger vehicle.

 

That's an answer I'd accept, but I wanted to hear it from the experts. I believe they both have fully boxed frames and independent rears vs the Tundra. I saw that video Ford put out of the dancing Tundra rear end and wonder if Toyota did anything to address it. Seemed like Ford had to setup a rather unrealistic scenario to achieve that result.

 

Welcome from eastern CO!

If you’re using it for work, I wouldn’t go full long travel. A LT Tundra is at its best bombing through the desert at high speed, and will handle significantly different enough to make it not the best fit for a DD. A good mid travel setup will allow you to fit a 35 without too much issue, and if your offset is right you can get a 37. That’d be just fine for a DD, and still have the chops to go off-road when you wanted. Check out @TRON’s and @boardude’s builds in the 3rd gen build sections, and for guys running 37’s, check out @KevinK and @SoCalDave’s builds in the same section. And check out the suspension threads.

 

Welcome from Houston as well!

 

Welcome from Obx, I think the Chevy's are the best looking trucks with the high squared off fenders, mind as well saddle up on this. Good luck with your search

 

Welcome from Ohio!

 

Welcome from Ohio

 

Welcome from Arizona.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome from TN!

 

Welcome from CO. Reliability. Resale Value. Off-road capable off the show room floor. Tundra would be your choice, bud. Good luck in your decision.

 

It's funny how the old adage applies, now that I'm looking at them I'm seeing them everywhere.

 

Great questions - we also did a shitload of research before deciding on the Tundra a few years ago, and Ford was the only other serious contender (we've had 2 Fords and 2 Tundras. We won't have anymore Fords if that helps).

Our first Tundra had an ARE shell on it and was pretty good for what we were doing at the time. Ground tent camping a handful of times per year. Always staying in the same location for a couple days at once, not overland-style with a different location each night. Unpack the truck, stay a few days, pack and leave.

Now we do the overland style of camping and haven't even been to the same spot twice in the past 2 years. We have about 60 nights in our RTT in that time. The RTT makes it easy to setup and take down camp quickly since we change spots every day.

We mounted our RTT down low to the bed so it stays out of wind and low branches, and improves overall handling by keeping the center of gravity low. Since it's low, it acts like a tonneau cover, basically locking everything inside the bed, however secure the tailgate lock is. To make it easier to get shit in and out, we installed a bed slide.

Pictures explain it better...









As for suspension - LT is great for bombing desert whoops at insane speeds. I have a few buddies who do daily drive their LT/MT Tundras (LT front, MT rear). The only reason we chose not to go LT is overall width. We still like to squeeze down those "Jeep Only" trails, and the couple of inches added to each side of the track width might have impeded us there. For what it's worth, we have not yet gone through an obstacle that our LT friends got stopped by. We have done a couple of obstacles when our LT friends weren't there which may have been trouble for them.

Our focus was on all around handling while still being able to pretty much keep pace with the LT/MT trucks. So far we haven't been left behind on a whoop section or high speed trail. To that point, our MT setup is a little extreme - Icon 3.0 coilovers, bypasses and billet UCA, plus Total Chaos spindle gussets and cam tab gussets in the front, and Icon bypasses on the rear (soon to see it's next evolution, likely the Icon RXT springs, bypasses and bumps)

pictures are more betterrer...



And video is even betterrerrer.

Hard to tell, but some of these whoops are almost 2’ high. This is about 50 mph

https://instagram.com/p/BdGfr3KhcTV/


We’re runnig 37s on our truck and we’re only lifted about 2” in front and 1” in the rear. It just takes some trimming inside the wheel well. We’re also still on stock 4.30 gears with no immediate motivation to go to 4.88. 5.29 is a pipe dream for us 4x4 guys. We can still light up the rears on stock gears so see no reason to change until we put in a locker. It realistically, we’ve gone a lot of places without a locker already. The ATrac does a half decent job of getting you over obstacles once you learn to use and trust it.

Here’s my write up on 37s.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/kom...h-speed-overland-rig.16989/page-2#post-420330

And moooooar pics

I should say, this is my wife’s daily driver.






TRD packages... you’re probably gonna end up with one in order to get the options you want. Be sure to get the tow package if you’re gonna get 37s. That’s how you get the 4.30 gears.

You tryin to kill my eyes?

 

LC has full time 4WD and less cargo room, more creature comforts/techno stuff. You'll have to remove the 3rd row seats for a little more cargo room. Sequoia's have fold down third row seats, more cargo and cabin room and switch on the fly 4WD. but I still want a LC. Why?

 

My wife drives a 2012 Sequoia. It is one magnificent vehicle. More room than any other SUV, which we needed for a family of five that takes long road trips. The smoothest driving vehicle I’ve ever been in.

She’s at about 185k miles. Never had any issues whatsoever. The only work done has been brakes, tires, battery. I know I didn’t answer your specific questions, but I highly recommend a Sequoia to anyone.

That said.....11 years with no updates? Come on Toyota, WTF? We looked at 2018 Sequoias at the auto show a couple weeks ago. Exactly the same damn truck we bought in 2011, just costs more.