Kablooey? You Won't Believe What Happens Taking the 2019 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro Up Gold Mine Hill

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[austincato]

Is it just me or do the Trundra’s and Tacoma’s have the best paint color choices in the truck segment rn

[BernonCars]

As much as I like Toyota, I think it’s kinda lame that you pay $50K+ for an off road truck, and you don’t get a true locker.

[ratman]

I have those exact same tires on my Z-71 Silverado, and they actually perform surprisingly well for a non-agressive tire off the beaten path. The best part is how smooth and quiet they are on the highway. Great test guys!

[Treeplanter]

I own a 2016 sequoia. It's got the 5.7, leather wrapped steering, and guess what....I can lock the diffs. Sucks gas, but it's got balls and dependable. Hope they keep making it, they never advertise it.

[jamesschlup]

No, I believe it title. Stop with the stupid click bait.

[kingpin]

Love the trd pro! Great honest truck. Hope to see more videos in the future boys. Great work as always!

[VincePGallant]

TIRES! TIRES! TIRES! YOU NEED AGGRESSIVE TREAD DOING WHAT YOUR DOING! THOSE ARE ALL SEASON SNEAKERS!....NOT WINTER BOOTS!😎

[mbiker]

Man that looks big going up that trail. I have a tundra, so I’m used to it but it still looks big.

[uTubed]

Love it when Andre gets down to do his inspection. What a happy soul.

[nodak]

Love the comments whining about how old the truck is and that it's not luxurious enough. You guys need to turn in your man cards, and go get yourself a shiny new Soccer Mom SUV and probably some tampons too.

[shawnlevin]

That isn't what I would really call testing in the "snow". Especially compared to the three year old video in the beginning. Had it been the same conditions, those street tires would have for sure let you down.

[j.r.b.]

Gentlemen, I happened to watch this video last night while researching possible replacements for my 2013 Ram 1500. Given the snowy conditions, like you, I was impressed with TRD Pro Tundra's performance running all three stages of the route successfully. It's actually even more impressive when you consider that you managed it with an open rear differential. You mention the Tundra's Auto-LSD at one point as one of the traction control aids the truck offers in addition to a 2-speed transfer case. However, unless something has changed recently (as in the year or two) the Auto-LSD feature wasn't a factor in your success.

The Toyota Auto-LSD operates only in 2WD mode, not in 4WD. While it is a traction improvement tool situationally, on slick highways or on a wet boat ramp when in 2WD, it's not helpful in the situation you guys tackled in the video. I see lots of comments to the effect that it doesn't have a "true locker". In truth, when in 4WD mode, it has no locker of any kind. I also see comments about the on-road biased on-road/off-road Michelins. Both true. But abra cadabra, you got where you were going and it actually looked kind of easy. Well done.

In the larger context, all modern (I use "modern" charitably in the Tundra's case) full-sized pickups are handicapped off road anyway - they have big breakover angles and substantial width. I'm reminded of that fact every time I lose a side stirrup to a boulder or listen to the nails-on-chalkboard sound of creosote branches removing long stripes of paint from my doors and fenders. If my main pursuit was off-roading, I would not pick a big truck to do it. When I off road it's almost always to get someplace hard to reach to do some other activity like archaeological surveys, take a backcountry hike, photograph something under just-the-right light, observational astronomy, etc. For all of these things big cargo capacity is a must. The Tundra has big second row cargo space and with a shell, big enough bed cargo space.

It has slowly crept up my list from the very bottom (on account of the usual gripes - no locker, horrendous fuel economy, last-century gear box, etc.). For my intended use it's better than my current truck - better ground clearance, fancier factory suspension with the Fox set-up, LED headlamps and fog lights, much better range-per-tank with it's 38 gallon fuel tank (my Ram has the stock 26 gallon, but even if I swapped in the optional 32 gallon, this Tundra would still have more real-world range as my Ram averages only about 14.5 mpg in mixed driving with a 5.7L Hemi and a 3.91 rear) and for those LONG highway slogs getting from home here in Napa Valley in California to the 4 Corners region to play, it has radar cruise-control for those 12-14 hour driving days.

I also think the price is actually pretty good when you compare apples to apples. Ignore the marketing that would have us think this Tundra is Toyota's answer to Ford's Raptor or the Ram Rebel. It's not. The Tundra TRD Pro at ~$52-54k has a feature mix you can't match with Ram or F-150 for anything close to that price. Try it. Price a Ram or F-150 (haven't tried it yet with a Silverado/Sierra) with the following: 4WD, crew-cab, SB, leather seating surfaces, LED headlamps and fog lights, fancy factory performance exhaust, V8, auto-LSD or alternative, sat-Nav, auto-cruise, stock skid plates and a big fuel tank.

A comparably equipped 2021 Ram 1500 Laramie Crew Cab short bed 4x4 lacks a fancy suspension option (unless you want to treat the $1800 air suspension as a Fox suspension alternative, which pushes the Laramie price even higher) and comes in around $58k in MSRP, about 4k more than the Tundra. F-150? Ha, ha, ha, ha. Overpriced compared to alternative in any apples-to-apples trim comparison - You're just over $60k MSRP. Toyotas tend to have better resale value than Fords or Rams (or Chevy/GMCs), so economically you pay less going in (apples-to-apples in feature terms) and get more of what you paid coming back out after 5-10 years.

No decision yet, but as I said, the Tundra has slowly climbed from "almost didn't consider it" to "I could see buying one to replace my current truck".

[haseebahmed]

Absolutely love my Tundra. My gf drives the Tacoma. Happy Toyota buyers here 👍🏽

[truckguyjoe]

Tires make all the difference...the tires on that Tundra were literally all-season tires. Those Michelin's just won't cut it in serious mud or snow. Maybe some Goodyear Duratracs?

[Poconojoeg]

I have a 2018, TRD limited and love it. I live in PA and have the same tires. Through the last couple snow storms they are surprisingly good. I will be switching to a set of Goodyear Duratrac's as soon as these wear down, but all in all not a bad tire at all. I love this truck, i've owned many fords and gm's, and yes GM and Ford have nicer interiors and more high tech features available... but each and every one of those I spent many visits to the dealerships. This toyota is just rock solid. It works, it does everything well, even as the oldest design on the market right now I would pick my toyota time and time again over the competition. Anyone that talks bad about a toyota hasn't owned one. Once you go toyota it's hard to want to go back to anything else. Did I mention this motor is a beast!

[bnewburn]

Roman, give Andre a Christmas bonus. He’s the best.

[NismoSupra]

Good review. Truck looks great and seems great. The exhaust sounds good but not great.

[fmikeyboy]

Personally I like the Tundras interior. But I am as old as the truck. Lol

[rben]

I like that you showed the area where it hit on the break over. Love the tundra!

[mforce]

One of Tommy's roller traction videos comparing the auto LSD to a Mechanical one would be interesting.