New Toyota large truck

[Blake Sobiloff]

I have an irrational desire to replace my QX4 with a Titan. The Titan seems like one very impressive pickup, and it'd save me from having to hook up a trailer when I want to transport my motorcycle somewhere.

However, if you read the titantalk forum you'll find that there have been a lot of teething pains with this truck, including self-destructing rear pumpkins and flakey brakes. (Kind of similar to the disaster that is the Nissan Armada/Infiniti QX56, except that most of the problems that have plagued these SUVs have been blamed on the new assembly plant in the US.) I'm pretty sure that these issues will get sorted ASAP, but a buyer should always beware when buying a brand new design!

If I had to buy today I'd be really torn between a Titan and a F150 or F250. That's a pretty good situation to be in as a consumer!

 

[JHZR2]

the rear on those trucks did seem small...

I think the pumpkin is about the same size as the one on my 91 BMW 318i!

I think my 83 MB diff is bigger by a fair amount, and the one on my 98 S-10 ZR2 is HUGe comparatively...

Not that Ive measured, and just eyeballing can be misleading... but given the issues Ive read about, I might be right.

JMH

 

[1sttruck]

Dana 44 axles on the rear of the Titan ? If Toyota does the same they'll end up with a black eye too.

http://fourwheeler.com/projectbuild/129_0506_titan/

"...the stock Dana 44 axle assembly under the rear of the truck. Like an Achilles tendon, these lightweight axles plague Nissan’s first attempt to capture America’s healthy 1/2-ton truck market.

We have already destroyed two of them on our watch."

 

[Lumberg]

quote:

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If I had to buy today I'd be really torn between a Titan and a F150 or F250. That's a pretty good situation to be in as a consumer!

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B lake:

What a great attitude to have!

 

[Hirev]

I can't believe Dana used a dang roll pin on that set up. What a cheesy way to do it.

 

[JohnBrowning]

No worse then GM copying almost all of the new Malibu's styling from Toyota Camry. THe redesigned Corvete took a lot of styling cues from Acura NSX. THe newer style Vipers look more like a Ferrari then then previous Viper designs!

 

[cousincletus]

Most problems are with the LSD rear axle. Dodge has the same issues with the Dakota/Durango.

[ February 16, 2006, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: cousincletus ]

 

[Bryanccfshr]

1sttruck,
A dana 44 is fine for a jeep or a mini truck. Something between a larger than a 44 but maybe not as heavy as a 60 would be ideal for a half ton truck.

 

[Jimbo]

I dont know what the new Tundra will use, but the old one uses a Toyota axle similar in design to the old Ford 9".

The Dana 44 may be considered weak in modern terms, but they were used on F-250's in the past. It was a "heavy duty" version, whatever that meant at the time. The Ford/Sterling 8.8" also comes in different versions, leading me to believe there is more to axle strength than ring gear diameter.

 

[jsharp]

quote:

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I see a Dodge front end with a different grill. Blatant copy infringement.

Of course if you cant beet em, copy em. Ask Bill Davis racing and how Toyota copied Dodge for their Craftsman truck development.

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Nascar is a "spec racer" series. Every car on the track has virtually identical underpinnings with different engine brands and bodywork. I'd bet team Penske is still running chassis that started life as Fords.

The lawsuit has to do with doing work for one manufacturer while being under contract by another. What Davis was doing with Dodge might well have been "confidential", but it was hardly unique. And given their recent record in Nascar, if I were going to "copy" someone, it sure wouldn't be Dodge...

 

[1sttruck]

I bought the truck that I did for the powertrain, knowing that there wouldn't be 'design' problems with it. When I showed it to a friend who owned several older GM trucks the first thing that he did was look at the front axle. When he said g** d*** I asked what was wrong, and he said that the front axle as big as the ear axle on his trucks. It's an AAM 9.25in, about like the Dana 60 I guess. He couldn't beleive the rear axle, which is an AAM 11.5in, about like the Dana 80. I only have a 3/4 ton, but evidently the only difference compared to the 1 ton is that the 1 ton has more leaf springs.

Putting a Dana 44 on a truck advertised to be a heavy duty mongo hulk hogan terror on the roads is like Brandon Fraser in 'Bedazzled', where being the huge basketball star he finds that he has a little problem :^)

 

[Lumberg]

jsharp great synopsis of the BDR/DC issue.