Toyota took a very long time to redesign its Tundra full-size pickup. Now it’s taking a long time to reveal the new one, piece by piece. A new piece came today – photos of the truck’s undercarriage – hinting at some major changes in store.
The 2021 Tundra currently in showrooms is a 2007 design. It has received several styling makeovers since then, but the bones of the truck date from the Bush administration.
An all-new, ground-up redesign is on the way for 2022. Toyota has been unveiling it slowly, with a long series of teaser shots before a full reveal this fall. They’ve shown the truck’s blocky new exterior. They’ve also given us glimpses of the seat fabric, shown a tightly-cropped shot of the drive mode selector, and shown a phone charging wirelessly in its cradle.
It showed a time of 9:19. Some of us in the newsroom think that is Toyota hinting that we’ll finally get details on the truck in late September. [Others in the newsroom think the slow reveal has given us all too much time to think about these things. – ed.]
The latest round of teasers consists of three photos. Like all the others, they show the top-of-the-line, off-road-oriented TRD Pro model.
One shows a front skid plate, revealing …well, that the truck has a front skid plate. Can’t really get much out of that one.
The others show suspension elements, including a coil spring rear suspension. That’s news.
The last time Toyota redesigned the Tundra, every truck on the market used leaf springs in the rear. But the last time Toyota redesigned the Tundra, Apple was about to release the first iPhone, and most of us were carrying Nokia bricks. Since that time, the Ram 1500 and the Ford F-150 Raptor have gone to coil springs.
Coil springs mean a smoother on-road ride, especially when the bed is empty. They used to mean reduced towing and payload capacity, but the Ram has proven that modern suspension designers can get just as much hauling and pulling power out of a more comfortable multi-link rear setup. It may mean more expensive repairs down the line, as this new setup is considerably more mechanically complex. But with more Americans treating a truck as a daily driver, that future concern may not worry buyers as much as the smoother ride impresses them.
It’s worth noting, however, that the teaser shots only show the TRD Pro model. It’s possible that less expensive editions won’t get the coil spring setup. The Raptor, after all, gets coil springs, while every other F-150 gets old-fashioned leaves.
We’ll know more when Toyota finally decides to reveal this thing in full (possibly September 19). [possibly not. You’re doing it again. Go for a walk or something. – ed.]
