Reliability called into question (1 Viewer)

[Jetboy]

Me brain small. Are you saying the 3rd gen tundra has the strongest transfer case in the full size pick up market?

I don't know enough to say either way. Not sure what's in RAM or GM. Half ton? I think it's very likely the biggest by quite a bit.

I think the original idea was supposed to move tundra and Sequoia to an HD platform but they ended up on the GA-F instead - maybe some components were kept despite going with the lighter platform.

My speculation is that neither aisin or Borg Warner makes a planetary center differential that meets Toyotas durability requirements for the hybrid TTV6 and that's why we don't see an AWD Sequoia or Tundra.

 

[LCQ]

Edit - Go to 14:50 in the video.

New front diff installed because Toyota wanted to "study" what went wrong. I'm sure this is case closed for TFL, unless something breaks again. Sounds like Toyota will have the initiative to improve the design . Haven't heard of any other issues, but time will tell. Maybe it was just a one-off. Good to see no hiccups on warranty repair, but they weren't going to let that happen with TFL anyway.

 

[Jetboy]

This was a missed opportunity for TFL to show a little more depth. TFL owns the truck. They could have either worked with Toyota or ideally stripped it down themselves and pulled the diff apart to show exactly what if anything was broken internally. That would be super informative. Instead they ended up with basically a black box failure that no one other than Toyota will know what really happened. I really enjoy the content created by Dave's Complete Auto where they do pretty deep dives into engine failures. I know that's not TFL's thing - but maybe they could team up with a mechanic to do it. Or in a more perfect world - team up with Toyota to make a video about Toyota pulling it apart, testing it, and what happens internally at Toyota as they review a failure like this and go back through the process to fix it.

 

[Phillyd2]

This was a missed opportunity for TFL to show a little more depth. TFL owns the truck. They could have either worked with Toyota or ideally stripped it down themselves and pulled the diff apart to show exactly what if anything was broken internally. That would be super informative. Instead they ended up with basically a black box failure that no one other than Toyota will know what really happened. I really enjoy the content created by Dave's Complete Auto where they do pretty deep dives into engine failures. I know that's not TFL's thing - but maybe they could team up with a mechanic to do it. Or in a more perfect world - team up with Toyota to make a video about Toyota pulling it apart, testing it, and what happens internally at Toyota as they review a failure like this and go back through the process to fix it.

I do admire that sweet innocent view of that world but sadly they are yet another arm of marketing and it's not good for business to bite the proverbial hand. They may indeed have more than one goal but one of them isn't open and honest information sharing.

 

[jwbc84]

That would be great to see Sheldon and the Toyota team release a video showing the failure and what they are doing to correct. This would put ease to me as I plan to buy a new Tacoma. Leaning toward the Trailhunter that is full time vs the part time system on the SR5. Does anyone know of a video that thoroughly depicts the two systems and component differences?

 

[Jetboy]

I do admire that sweet innocent view of that world but sadly they are yet another arm of marketing and it's not good for business to bite the proverbial hand. They may indeed have more than one goal but one of them isn't open and honest information sharing.

TFL is captured by Toyota. Not as badly as the rolling infomercials like XO, but the deal is pretty clear in both cases: You make negative content, you don't get access to Toyota press events and inside info.

 

[jayp2]

That would be great to see Sheldon and the Toyota team release a video showing the failure and what they are doing to correct. This would put ease to me as I plan to buy a new Tacoma. Leaning toward the Trailhunter that is full time vs the part time system on the SR5. Does anyone know of a video that thoroughly depicts the two systems and component differences?

Its almost certain that we will never see it because of the layers upon layers of legal, marketing, management and other entities that would need to sign off on it

 

[mkennedy009]

I thought TFL was captured by FMC?

 

[Jetboy]

TFL is captured by all the OEMs. It's the nature of the industry I think. They need clicks. New product reviews are big money makers. And the way to get new reviews is to curry favor with the OEMs. Kinda the opposite of the media channels like Dave's Complete Auto. Think TFL would do well to push diversity in its drivers of clicks. Being the most credible real world tests and info is one good way to do it.

And we're all going to find out if there's a weak link in the ADD anyway. The new Taco fits 37s with minor trimming. They're going to be tested heavily by users who all have access to broadly disseminate info, and failures spread fast.

 

[Rednexus]

I watch TFL's videos (sometimes) and take them with a grain of salt. They aren't really in the weeds technically, and honestly they are kind of a goofy bunch of guys. There is a reason they usually rely on others to actually work on and build their vehicles. I do, however, enjoy the Ike tow test videos.

So far their Taco reviews aren't making me want to buy one. Towing MPG.....equal to or worse than my GX470. Broken front diff/ADD system....not a problem at all in my GX470. Since the GX470 platform dates to 2002, you think Toyota would have moved the needle forward more and not have had these teething issues.

 

[Phillyd2]

I thought TFL was captured by FMC?

She don't care who pays to play as long as they pay.

 

[URJ150L]

…They aren't really in the weeds technically, and honestly they are kind of a goofy bunch of guys…

And thats putting it politely.