1st Gen Tundra Owners Weigh In (Over GVWR?)

[HNewman]

So I've been searching all over to see how much weight all of you 1st gen owners throw in the bed!

If you could give your set up, weight, and any mods it would be appreciated!

Many people love these trucks and I think this info is great for a growing following. No shaming for overloading or not buying a 3/4 ton! In fact I want to know how overloaded your are and how you and your truck cope with the weight? I believe a short camper with less weight far from the rear axle will make a big difference, do you? I want to launch a custom build this summer so I appreciate any advice from experienced users.

 

[simple]

Are you interested in opening this discussion to 1/2 tons in general?

 

[HNewman]

Are you interested in opening this discussion to 1/2 tons in general?

I don't see any reason not to

 

[slowtwitch]

We had an 06 DC for a number of years and did a lot of family camping and wheeling in it. We just had a tall topper and a kinda heavy sleeping platform/drawer setup. With gear, even with airbags, it was pushing it. The front end felt light, the traction control system would kick in out of the blue on the hwy usually when cornering *terrifying*. I ended up disconnecting it by pulling a wire at the master cylinder.. made a bunch of lights stay on permanently, but we lived with it. This was in spite of the Yota techs trying to reset the sensors. The braking also left a lot to be desired. I would never run a camper in one personally. The suspension is too light. The welds on the bed also starting coming apart lol.

We now have an 08 Tundra and the rear susp and brakes are night and day better.

 

[HNewman]

We had an 07 DC for a number of years and did a lot of family camping and wheeling in it. We just had a tall topper and a kinda heavy sleeping platform/drawer setup. With gear, even with airbags, it was pushing it. The front end felt light, the traction control system would kick in out of the blue on the hwy usually when cornering *terrifying*. I ended up disconnecting it by pulling a wire at the master cylinder.. made a bunch of lights stay on permanently, but we lived with it. This was in spite of the Yota techs trying to reset the sensors. The braking also left a lot to be desired. I would never run a camper in one personally. The suspension is too light. The welds on the bed also starting coming apart lol.

We now have an 08 Tundra and the rear susp and brakes are night and day better.

Wow I haven't seen a bed come apart on one of these! Luckily the 1st gen AC models never got traction control to my knowledge. In my case the bed is an aluminum flat bed and super strong.

 

[slowtwitch]

There's a lot of info here and other places about Tundras and weight. I would keep it very minimalist.. like a topper and your stuff, or get a different truck. I wouldn't want to do a custom camper and then have it married to a Tundra. Maybe if you could put it on something else down the road. That's a lot of effort...

Our old topper was prob 200 lbs... I could stand in the bed and move it on my back. Sleeping platform was maybe 200 lbs. So not much weight at all, dry. No way I would have run even a FWC that's basically 1000 lbs with nothing in it over our setup other than a stove and sleeping pads. Even a Project M (which we have on order) will necessitate beefing up the rear susp.

Things get heavy real quick...

They are great rigs. Load carrying isn't a strong point.

 

[HNewman]

I've been driving through the mountains with probably 1000lbs of camper and gear this winter in Alaska. Handles great with weight except for the weak leaf springs. I've got a Hellwig overload spring set but it leaves a little to be desired. My bigger shocks probably help with stability as well. I would never describe the ride as "Terrifying" it just drives like a loaded truck, and that is sketchy on 65mph ice washboards. Also 07 and 08 are both 2nd gens so maybe different suspension anyway?

I hear a lot of people who don't haul often say these trucks don't carry loads well however every guy with a FWC, steel armor, and 500lbs of gear seems to do just fine with a good spring upgrade. Maybe this question should have been posed in the FWC forum.

 

[turbothrush]

I have a Gen 1 (2Wd) and carry a NL 610 I added air bags first then homemade stableloads . Only need 25 lbs in the airbags bags now to take it back to factory ride height. Setup works great. Had it weighed and I’m under weight

 

[HNewman]

I have a Gen 1 (2Wd) and carry a NL 610 I added air bags first then homemade stableloads . Only need 25 lbs in the airbags bags now to take it back to factory ride height. Setup works great. Had it weighed and I’m under weight

Nice setup! Thanks for the info

 

[slowtwitch]

My bad.. our ... DC was an '06.. I edited previous post.

The terrifying part was having the traction control come on on a dry twisty hwy for no reason. That was an issue probably unique to that truck.

I'd say 1k lbs is about max.. which is why I would never put a camper on as you are at that # dry and without gear.

 

[tacollie]

Rear spring upgrade and rated tires go a long ways. We had issues with traction control kicking on when it didn't need to. A rear sway bar solved that and helped handling on our 08. We were close to 8,000 lb loaded for trips. I think the biggest thing is driving like your truck is overweight. A buddy we travel with has a light Tacoma set up. I didn't try to keep up with him on rough roads We are happy with how the tundra performed. We stepped up to a 3/4 ton because we're going to add more weight.

It wasn't a camper but we had a 2000 Tundra that we used for construction work. It was constantly overloaded. We were young and didn't do a ton of preventative maintenance. It was problem-free for almost 200k miles. It did eat brake pads and rotors though. I think the later trucks got bigger brakes.

 

[HNewman]

Wow this traction control issue seems like something Toyota should have addressed back then. I miss the 2000 tundra I had, they drove way better before the switch to electronic throttle!

 

[slowtwitch]

Wow this traction control issue seems like something Toyota should have addressed back then. I miss the 2000 tundra I had, they drove way better before the switch to electronic throttle!

That gets to the heart of it. When you start modifying a vehicle's suspension and hauling more than its designed for, things can happen.

 

[HNewman]

^^^

This is somewhat of a misleading answer for whoever reads this in the future. I have modified and loaded up many vehicles. Most any rig that gets used to its full potential will benefit from stiffened rear springs. Tons of vehicles drive great with of a heavy loads and modified suspension and the Tundras do just fine.

Lets not call a traction control issue that may have been caused by a heavy load a serious failure. I have yet to find anyone with axle or frame problems due to overloading (rust on the other hand is no joke) on a 1st gen tundra and I have been searching for weak points. I've hauled wood with the tundra on the bump stops and we both survived.

Lets find someone with more experience who may have found the limit to advise. I know someone's out there because if seen these trucks cursing the highway with big campers many times.

 

[slowtwitch]

Ok buddy....lol.