Toyota Recall of 110,00 Tundra Trucks
110,000 Toyota Tundra pickup trucks are being recalled. The announcement was made the day before Thanksgiving, a good time to hope something goes unnoticed.
The problem according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is that road salt used in the winter can cause the underside of the Toyota Tundra’s frame to corrode.
That is the area where the spare tire is mounted and a falling spare tire can cause road hazards. That is also the area where the rear brake lines are located and corrosion can lead to a brake system failure, according to NHTSA.
Tundra trucks from model years 2000 through 2003 can be brought back to the dealer. 20 states are affected where they use chemical de-icers or road salt including: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Tundra trucks, model years 2000 through 2003, can be brought back to the dealers to be repaired.
Toyota says it will contact owners.
However, the bigger story is Toyota’s announcement that it will reconfigure the accelerator pedal in 4 million recalled vehicles in the U.S. to avoid the pedal from becoming stuck under the floor mats causing unintended acceleration. The pedal will conform with the floor mat and in some models the shape of the floor surface will also be reconfigured.
In addition, the company plans to install a brake override system in the Camry, Avalon, and Lexus ES 350, IS 350 and IS 250 models as “an extra measure of confidence.”
The system will cut engine power in case there is a simultaneous application of the accelerator and brake pedals.
In September, Toyota announced it was planning its largest recall ever of nearly four million vehicles over the issue of loose floor mats that appeared to be interfering with the accelerator pedal in several models.
Ever since then, questions have been raised by NHTSA and others whether that was the only problem. The sudden acceleration problems seem to escalate when Toyota and Lexus adopted a drive-by-wire system that uses sensors, microprocessors, and motors connecting the driver’s foot to the engine, instead of the more traditional cable.
Toyota denies the electronic systems are to blame after an exhaustive review of unintended acceleration on Toyota and Lexus and is turning instead to the floor mat and redesigning the pedal. That may help, but with 2,100 cases of unintended acceleration, a slow response and even slower fix, Toyota may be continuing to put consumers in jeopardy as well as its company’s future.
