A Tundra For Everything

A Victory & Reseda review of the 2024 Toyota Tundra

This 2024 Toyota Tundra you are about to read our review of represents the state of the pickup truck in this country.

Over the past several decades, we went from four brands selling full-size half-ton pickup trucks to six. Soon, that will dwindle down to five. Driveline technology has evolved to include gasoline-electric hybrids and battery-electric systems. 

We even raised the bar in terms of what retail consumers expect in a pickup truck. They wanted comfort. OK, leather seats, high-end audio systems with large touchscreens driving them, driver assistance technology that includes trailering control, semi-autonomous driving systems…the list goes on. 

When you peruse the dealership lot, it appears that almost every pickup truck available for sale is a four-door crew cab with a five-and-a-half-foot bed with four-wheel drive and a mid-spec engine. I will not get into how much they cost these days…

Yet, Americans purchased over two million pickup trucks last year. Mostly by commercial and fleet consumers, but retail sales continue to drive its popularity. 

Popularity. That’s a loaded word. It’s like high school, if you’re not popular, you must be doing something right to not get bullied or in trouble with the assistant principal. We all can’t be the head cheerleader or the all-state football hero. 

The advantage of the San Antonio, Texas-built Toyota Tundra is that it does a lot of things very well. It competes spot on with the Southeastern Michigan-based manufacturers. It also brings plenty of innovation based on experience to the table. 

The result was a 20-percent increase in sales for the entire calendar year of 2023 over the previous year. 

This third run with the current-generation Toyota Tundra yielded a different kind of specification. The CrewMax cab – the roomy four-door cab that retail consumers love – is paired a long six-and-a-half-foot bed. The latter is a full foot longer than the average truck configuration sold to retail consumers. 

The longer bed addresses a problem most people have with “standard” Crew Cab pickup trucks. How many times have you loaded up the back with loads of sheetrock, plywood, studs and boards at their full length – which, based on my previous experience working at a home improvement center some decades ago measures to eight feet long? How about moving your home – perhaps an apartment – and finding you cannot fit your bed, along with your other furniture?

These are some key questions that might be addressed with this specific Tundra. 

This Platinum tester gives you everything you really want in a Tundra. Including the i-FORCE MAX driveline. That consists of a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6, an electric motor, a 10-speed automatic transmission, and, on this tester, a real four-wheel drive system with a two-speed transfer case. All told, this driveline yields 437 horsepower and 583 pound-feet of torque. 

Let’s talk some other numbers – the more important ones! Truck people want to know about maximum towing and payload capacity. In this configuration, this Tundra can tow up to 10,960 pounds and haul up to 1,595 pounds. 

When you select the six-and-a-half-foot bed, you get a ten-inch extension of your wheelbase. The longer wheelbase balances both ride quality and load management. While some truck folks may point to wheelbases around 145 inches as already yielding a smooth ride, the questions comes with how the rear suspension is configured, and the compromise that a shorter bed may affect what you put into the bed. 

Longer loads need a more balanced chassis and configuration. Toyota combines a fully beded high-strength steel ladder frame and a rear multi-link coil spring suspension set-up. Up front, you do have an independent double-wishbone setup. This tester came with an available TRD Off-Road Package, adding a set of Bilstein shocks for better off-highway dampening. 

That TRD Off-Road package also adds a set of black 20-inch alloy wheels, all-terrain tires, along with skid plates to protect what’s underneath. The four-wheel drive system gets the additional assistance from the Multi-Terrain Select system, along with Crawl Control and Downhill Assist Control. You can select your Tundra to go through mud, sand, rocks, and snow. 

Given all of these features and capabilities, I was hoping to put it to the ultimate test – to answer the questions stated earlier in this story. The plan with this Tundra was to transfer what I had left in my storage unit a few miles away into my current home. My landlord/roommate was anticipating a new renter to come about the time of this pickup truck’s arrival. Instead, he asked me to get my stuff out sooner than that. 

The load would’ve included a queen-size bed set, its frame, and a rug. Fit-wise, it would work perfectly. Luckily, the Tundra tester had a bed liner to protect the bed from scratches. We could’ve waited to test it out, but, alas, no…

Even with the combination of the CrewMax and six-and-a-half-foot bed, it can be a challenge to do everyday tasks. Parking, for example. Most truck folks will park out on the edge of the lot not to interfere with everyone else. But, what if you can’t help taking your truck to a more convenient space closer to the entrance? 

This truck sticks out like a sore thumb. Yet you will find it very maneuverable to get in the space without having to inconvenience everyone else. Not to mention how much the 360-degree camera helps in making sure you fit in that parking space. 

While it is capable to move larger items in the bed, there is one little problem when you have this configuration – the length of the vehicle. At 245.6 inches long, this is not the longest Tundra available. You would have to get a Double Cab with an eight-foot bed to achieve maximum length – over 252 inches!

An expert pickup truck driver will know their way into tight spots. Or, to avoid them as much as possible. Then again, I always love a challenge. With that said, the longer Tundra did its best to make life easier for me through mundane and practical tasks.

By the way, I averaged 16.3 MPG in this Tundra for fuel consumption. The twin-turbo V6 i-FORCE MAX hybrid is a very powerful driveline, but it could do better than this number when it comes to your own experience.

Another reminder of the reality of today’s world is how the Toyota Tundra is priced. This specific “long bed” 2024 Tundra Platinum arrived with a sticker price of $75,401. However, the entire lineup starts from $39,965 with seven trim levels, four drivelines, and four cab/bed configurations available. 

I like the Toyota Tundra. As I said in the past, this generation cracked the code for the automaker to make a popular form of transportation on par with its competitors. In some respects, they made some things better. The hybrid driveline, for example. 

In all, the Tundra is a solid pickup worth considering. That is, if you’re not married to a single brand or manufacturer. While conquests are a rare feat in the pickup truck world, Toyota has an argument for switching to a Tundra. You just have to give it a deep examination when shopping for a new rig. 

Do you really need an extra foot of a bed and a ten-inch longer wheelbase? Well…you can get the shorter bed, if you want. However, if you’re thinking of hauling more stuff – get the longer bed. 

DISCLAIMER: Vehicle provided by Toyota Motor North America

All photos by Randy Stern