---
title: '2026 Toyota Tundra | Love It or Hate It'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=1dAqNJ5eE_A'
video_id: '1dAqNJ5eE_A'
date: 2026-06-29
duration_sec: 746
---

# 2026 Toyota Tundra | Love It or Hate It

> Source: [2026 Toyota Tundra | Love It or Hate It](https://youtube.com/watch?v=1dAqNJ5eE_A)

## Summary

The 2026 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro review explores the love-hate relationship owners have with this truck, focusing on its price, design, mechanical updates, and driving experience. The reviewer highlights the twin-turbo V6 hybrid powertrain, Fox passive shocks, and the truck's balance of off-road capability and on-road comfort, while noting ongoing reliability concerns with the non-hybrid engine.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the Tundra's Mixed Reputation** [00:00] — The 2026 Toyota Tundra has a love-hate relationship with owners due to growing pains of a new generation.
- **Price Range and Trims** [00:29] — Poverty trim starts at $40k; limited trim with twin-turbo V6 hybrid (iForce Max) around $60k; TRD Pro and Capstone push $75-80k.
- **Design and Paint** [00:56] — TRD Pro gets a new Miami blue paint; heritage grille and unique tailgate design make it stand out.
- **Bed Construction and Utility** [01:34] — Bed made of sheet molded composite (SMC) for lightweight; power gate prevents wrist strain.
- **Interior Updates** [01:49] — ISO dynamic seat option (separate cost) for off-road; rear vents with explicit control in upper trims; massive back seat space.
- **Cabin and Controls** [02:14] — Physical HVAC controls; Toyota connected system works well; audio system is underwhelming with boom on road.
- **High-Level Technical Overview** [03:06] — TRD Pro designed as affordable off-roader vs Raptor/TRX; Fox passive shocks (not active), open diffs, two-speed transfer case, rear locker; no adaptive sway bars.
- **Shock Technology Breakdown** [04:03] — Base: twin-tube damper (good for towing); mid-trims: Bilstein monotube; Fox shocks with internal bypass valve for progressive damping.
- **Optional TRD Performance Package and Exhaust** [05:08] — True dual output exhaust with single tip; improves sound and throttle response.
- **Larger Fuel Tank Across TRM Levels** [05:39] — All trims get larger fuel tank for longer range without refueling.
- **Drivetrain Options and Hybrid System** [06:07] — Twin-turbo V6 and twin-turbo V6 hybrid (iForce Max). Hybrid uses small e-motor between trans and engine, NiMH pack under rear seat for efficiency and smoothness.
- **Reliability Issues with Non-Hybrid V6** [06:22] — Manufacturing debris on crankshaft caused bearing failure; three recalls, over 3,600 warranty claims. Manufacturing changes effective August 2024. Hybrid versions less affected.
- **Driving Impressions and Character** [07:46] — Turbos hiss, wastegate sounds; performance exhaust adds rumble. Dual air boxes create 360 ambiance. Damper soaks up medium impacts well; feels controlled and not jouncy.
- **Final Comparison and Verdict** [10:14] — Vs F-150 and Silverado, Tundra is competitive in interior and packaging. TRD Pro's Fox shocks are standout for on-road daily driving and off-road capability. Hybrid power more than enough. Towing over 10,000 lbs. Caution on used non-hybrid engines; recommend accelerated oil changes.

### Conclusion

The 2026 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro offers a compelling blend of on-road comfort and off-road capability at a lower price than rivals, but potential buyers must weigh the reliability concerns of the non-hybrid V6 against the truck's strengths.

## Transcript

The 2026 Toyota Tundra, this is a truck that many people have a love-hate relationship
with, including its owners. Any new generation of a product goes through some growing pains and this is no different. I'm going to talk about some of the changes to this truck, the quality of life things and take it for a drive. Let's start with price point.
Believe it or not, the poverty trim starts at 40 grand, which I can't believe it's that cheap for this thing, but clearly, you're not getting a lot for your money there. But the good thing is, as you pay upwards of 60 grand, you can get the twin turbo V6 with
the hybridization or the iForce max, which you get a lot of features on the limited. But if you want to go to the TRD Pro like this or the Capstone, which is maxed out, you're pushing like 75-80 grand. I'm in the TRD Pro, which gets a new paint color this year.
For your Porsche fanboys, it's essentially Miami blue. It does stand out. When you look at this truck at every single angle, namely with the heritage grille and some of the kind of the decals or kind of the shapes that they put in, like the tailgate and all
that, it does look very unique. It stands out in this color. I think it's very, very well suited for a truck like this, along with its power gate in the back so you don't have to hurt your wrist, lifting it up and down.
I mean, it does look the part and it's not really faux. I've tried to keep things more simple here, which I'll talk about in the shop. The bed is great. It's made out of SMC, which is a sheet molded composite, super lightweight, and with a cover on
it, I didn't scratch any of my forged wheels for all my performance vehicles. Again, it's trying to balance the lifestyle thing with the off-road mentality. The big changes for all of these cars, TRD Pro first, you get the ISO dynamic seat option,
like you had in the taco. Of course, this car does not have it. It's a $1,000 option, but it kind of keeps you from getting jostled around in off-road courses. Then, all the cars now get rear vents, and if you get the upper trim level, you get explicit
control of those rear vents and the back seats are just enormous. This is what happens when you get these big cab vehicles. I can almost lay down just sitting there, and I've had great pleasure in the back seat, believe me.
The rest of this cabin, honestly, it's just classic Toyota stuff, things they do in the regular cars and trucks really well, big, clunky, physical controls, not clunky, but clicky physical controls.
Everything feels really good in here. The HVAC controls are mostly in the physical domain, and Toyota connected as a whole works. Very well, pairs up to your phone accurately. The audio system is pretty abysmal in here. It's got a lot of boom on-road when you're driving.
Testing it, it's better with surround mode off statically, but when you're in motion, surround mode sounds better, just subjectively, so keep that in mind. If you're looking to use the Toyota connected subscription, don't do it if you are using
it for the anti-thep features, which we'll get into more later, but long story short, great interior space, good usability, and overall, some of the updates have made it better. Let's head in the shop, and we're going to talk about some of the technical things about
it. Now I'm going to give you some of the high-level overview changes of the Toyota Tundra, and of course, the TRD Pro. My last video on this was over two years ago, which feels like forever.
So let's start with the TRD Pro. This is designed to be one of the more affordable off-roader trucks, and I know the price is crazy for this, but when you compare it to the Raptor R, the Raptor, and of course, the TRX, where
those trucks have gone well over $100,000, that's crazy. You can get this for far less, and how they've done it is kept things a bit more simple. You still have amazing Fox shocks here, but they are passive. They're not active dampers, which balloon the cost up.
This does not have crazy electronic limited slip differentials in the front and the center diff. It's just opened-if, two-speed transfer case, and then the rear has electronic lockers. So that's how they've done it. It does not have adaptive sway bars or disconnecting sway bars.
So again, this looks and feels more old-school, and that's why the price point reflects it. Now let's talk about shock technology. When you get the base truck, you have a twin-tube damper, which is great for towing, not great for on-road character.
You get the middle trims where you get the Bilstein monotube damper, which, again, improve ride quality, better for a little bit of off-roads and trails. Then the Fox shocks here have an internal bypass valve, which on a traditional damping curve
on a regular shock, you just get this linear curve where you can valve them differently. You don't have a much flexibility with the bypass valves, depending on the stroke of the damper. So you get a little bit, it does better on-road with containing some of those high-frequency
low amplitude impacts. Just think normal pavement and concrete surfaces. Then that mid-range, when you're getting a little bit more wheel travel, starts to firm up, control some of that travel, and then when it gets extreme stroke, that shock can go
really, really firm to prevent you from bottoming out and hitting the bump stops all the time. So the shock, despite it not having a lot of control, they've done trick-velving in it, and just smooths out the ride quality, which I'll talk about during the drive.
So it has armor in the front, this massive TRD sway bar. This has the optional TRD performance package, which you can see on the exhaust. How the exhaust is much different from the regular TRD Pro. It is a true dual output from both banks, and it goes into a resonator where there is
a collector on the regular TRD Pro. It just gives it more throat, it sounds better, and it has a single tip outlet exhaust versus the dual tip. Everything else is shielded quite well here, and there's plenty of space to get at, things
like getting at a radiator if there's any front end damage. I mean, they've given some good thought to where you need accessibility. The big change here for all the TRM levels is you get the larger fuel tank. There's no smaller fuel tank option across the TRM levels, which is going to help you for
telling, you know, you can go longer distances without having to fill up. It's a major, major advantage. So the drivetrain options, this is the fine print. There's two of them, a twin turbo V6 and a twin turbo V6 hybrid, like the I-Force Max
in this thing. The hybrid system uses a small electric motor between the transmission and the engine powered by a nickel metal hydride pack, located in the rear seat. It's easy to change. More affordable, believe it or not, gives you more power, more torque, more smoothness from
the drivetrain, and of course, it should be more efficient for towing and such. Now the regular twin turbo V6 has been the hot point for this. Since it came out, they had manufacturing issues with the crankshaft, which had debris,
which ate up the main bearings. A lot of people just came in with locked up engines. They've had three recalls on this. A total of over 3,600 warranty claims since this thing came out. Their studies have found, yes, they needed to change or clean up manufacturing on the crankshaft,
but now they're replacing the number one main bearings and they've changed howlances in it to give the engine more flexibility or livelihood. So consider after 24 August 24 is when they rolled in those manufacturing changes of the main
bearing one and keep in mind all of those warranty claims, at least from Toyota's case, were on the non-hybrid versions of this. So if you have one of the earlier trucks you're looking at it, it used 100% know this and
100% keep your oil changed and definitely do accelerated oil changes and always replace that filter on time to get any debris out of the engine. If you're running one of the newer ones or the hybridization versions of it, less of an
issue, but we're going to take this for a drive and see what it's like.
Ask and you shall receive all listed to that hissing from the turbos and the pissing from the waste gait, it's always making some noises and with the performance package you get
the ridiculous exhaust which is rumbly enough to satisfy and then you get the dual air boxes. So there's just this kind of 360 ambiance that this truck creates and I'm going to be honest
like this is definitely feels very lifestyling to me, but not in a bad way. I feel like it's kind of checking the boxes of do everything and one of the better parts about this is when you get into some of these esoteric trucks, it just feels, it doesn't
feel like it's trying too hard, the damper is doing an amazing job of soaking up stuff like this, just all terrain driving and then on the street, little tights things that you typically get with trucks that makes it feel bouncy and jouncy, this doesn't have as much of it,
it's got so much control, those kind of medium amplitude impacts or hitting like this type of stuff which is medium just soaks it up. I mean that's the best part about this truck, if you're going to pay a lot more money for the TRD Pro, a lot of what you're getting here is the terrain modes which do a good job
of getting you out of shit with the rear locker. It is a big vehicle so you're not going in the tight spots but it does a good job at doing everything really well but it doesn't particularly excel at some of the things that the luxury
like the LX or the GX has, it doesn't have disconnecting sway bars, it doesn't have the ultimate in quietness but it does, you know, kind of the utility thing better, it toes more, so it's like a jack of all trades, even though jack's not here, he's busy counting
his goal bars but I really appreciate kind of what this brings to the table and not just that, I feel like it's the character of this thing, it does have a shit load of character and the more you drive it, the more you kind of appreciate that, I just hope that some
of the reliability things have been sorted out, I know they're prioritizing it and it's taken them a while to kind of figure it out and get it in production but after a few years of them kind of getting this right, I think people are really going to like this truck long
term, I don't like it as much as the V8 but it's got benefits to the V8, something we always talk about, I don't know, I'm going to leave it to you, we're going to get into the final thoughts.
So at the end of the day, the Tundra is an interesting truck, is it better than the Americans? Hmm, the F-150 is really good, even the Silverado's way better and you could argue interior
packaging and all that, but what is this going to deliver? And I think for the price point and typical longevity of the hybrid max system and the residuals on the Tundra makes it appealing, is it the most refined experience to know
and I think there's a level of truckishness here that you still want, the TRD Pro's big difference here is the shock absorbers, I say this all the time, it makes such a massive difference because it improves your on-road feel which is what you want 90% of the time
gives you so much more capability even though it's an off-road shock specifically, it still just feels better day in and day out and then when you take it off-road, it's incredible what it can do without having adaptive or electronic suspension.
So I think this finds a really good middle ground and the hybridization, truthfully as I talked about on the drive, it's got more power than you need, I think when you get to the Raptors and the TRXs, yeah, the engines are incredible, right, I mean, it makes the experience, but
after a while, like you're not really using it on a day-to-day commute unless that truck becomes like your toy that you just if you're weak on truck or whatever that even means, I get why you would have that if you had the money but really, I feel like this is that
off-road or truck that does your on-street stuff really, really well along with the towing capacity being over 10,000 pounds, it's going to be a truck you're going to keep with you to do the real things day in and day out for a long time without super, super complication.
If you're buying this used, you really got to watch out for the twin turbo V6 on the non-hybrid versions, really again, the only thing I could suggest is accelerated oil changes and filter changes just in case there's debris in the oil, other than that, I'm going to say, check
it out if you're interested in it, it's definitely a unique product.