Not all new Toyota Tundra pickup trucks are built with off-road packages. If you don’t want to spend money on the TRD models, you’ll love this Toyota option.
The Tundra came into 2022 as a brand-new model, entering a new generation while offering new and impressive features and qualities to give us a much more capable truck than before. This new half-ton Toyota truck is only powered by a V6 engine, which comes in two flavors, and it has a ton of new tech to make it an advanced truck with a much tougher build.
Not All Tundras Are Off-Roaders, but Yours Can Be
Usually, when the desire for an off-road pickup truck hits you, we would recommend the TRD Pro version of the Tundra. That’s not the case any longer. While the TRD Pro is still the king of the off-road truck market for Toyota, there’s a new option that can change one of the non-TRD Tundra trucks into a true off-roading machine.
The Toyota Racing Development team created a kit that provides more of the off-road stuff you want for the Tundra. This optional kit doesn’t require you to spend more than $70,000 for the TRD Pro while still giving you a full package of trail-riding gear.
What Can You Get for Less than $4,000?
This new off-road kit for the Toyota Tundra adds 2.6 inches of ground clearance thanks to the new Bilstein monotube shocks in the front and rear of this pickup’s suspension system. These shocks balance high-speed stability with the low-speed body control to make the ride much better out on the trails.
Other items included in this off-road kit include taller front coil springs that are painted red and tuned by the TRD team and a set of forged upper control arms from Roush Performance. This kit also has extended driveshafts, rear spring spacers, front stabilizer links, new lower knuckles, bump stops, and outer tie rods.
This Toyota Kit is Different from other Aftermarket Kits
Adding most aftermarket kits to modern vehicles changes things for that vehicle. Often, these kids aren’t compatible with the driver-assistance features, which means those items that you’ve paid to have in your modern vehicle won’t work properly.
Thankfully, the new Toyota lift kit is compatible with the Toyota advanced safety systems. This means you can turn your Tundra into an off-roader and still enjoy the necessary alerts from systems, including forward-collision warning.
How Does this Toyota Lift Kit Change Things for the Tundra?
Most full-size trucks offer at least one off-road variant in the lineup, but not all automakers develop kits that can change the functionality of their trucks to be off-road machines.
This new lift kit for the Toyota Tundra does more than add 2.6 inches of lift. It also changes the approach angle from 21 to 26 degrees while the departure angle increases from 24 to 25 degrees. These increases allow anyone using this kit to travel over higher obstacles and handle more difficult angles while out on the trails.
What are the Powertrains of the New Tundra
This full-size pickup truck has two powertrains, offering different power levels across all trims. These two powertrains are:
i-Force
3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6, 10-speed automatic transmission
389 horsepower, 479 lb-ft of torque
Max towing: 12,000 pounds
Max payload: 1,940 pounds
i-Force Max
3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 hybrid, 10-speed automatic transmission
437 horsepower, 583 lb-ft of torque
Max towing: 11,450 pounds
Max payload: 1,680 pounds.
The fuel mileage of these two powertrains maxes out at 22 mpg combined from the hybrid i-Force Max powertrain.
What Features Will You Admire in this Full-Size Toyota Truck?
In addition to the impressive i-Force Max hybrid powertrain, the Toyota Tundra offers some impressive features to make it one of the best new trucks in the market. Some of what you’ll find include:
Power Running Boards with Power BedStep
The power running boards have manual and automatic settings to extend and retract when needed. There’s also a BedStep that extends from under the rear bumper, which also uses power to deploy and retract for you.
14-inch Touchscreen
If you want a pickup truck with a massive touchscreen, this Toyota has what you’re after. The center of the dashboard features this massive screen in the upper trims and is an option for the SR5 model. This screen offers controls for the audio systems, which are either a 6-speaker version or a 12-speaker JBL system. Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included in the infotainment system for the Tundra.
Multi-Terrain Monitor
Even if you don’t drive the TRD Pro version of the Tundra, you can enjoy the Multi-Terrain Monitor that uses a surround-view camera for off-roading. This system aids you in handling tricky terrain without a spotter, which is great when you’re off-roading alone.
Toyota Safety Sense
The standard package of safety features for the Toyota Tundra is the Toyota Safety Sense package. These items are still functional if you add the Toyota lift kit to this truck. The safety items in this package include:
- Forward collision warning
- Automatic emergency braking
- Pedestrian detection
- Adaptive cruise control
- Lane-departure alert with steering assist
- Lane-tracing assist
- High-beam assist
How Can You Add this New Lift Kit to Your Tundra?
If you’re buying your new Tundra at the dealership, this kit can be installed and will come with the standard three-year/36,000-mile warranty when it’s installed at the time of purchase. If you want to add this kit to your Tundra after you’ve bought it and driven for a while, the kit comes with a 12-month warranty.
This new lift kit isn’t available for the TRD Pro or TRD Sport models. Additionally, Tundras with an air suspension and the optional adaptive dampers are not eligible for this off-road kit.
For $3,995, you can add the off-road qualities desired to your lower trim level of the 2022 or 2023 Toyota Tundra. This kit adds this small bump in price to the truck but can keep you out of the high price range required for the TRD Pro model of this full-size Toyota truck.
