2020 Toyota Tundra: Spied
Our spy shooters caught some interesting images of what is likely to be the next-generation Toyota Tundra. Those who were hoping Toyota was going to do something visually dramatic to better compete with the likes of the luxurious 2019 Ram 1500 and GM's tech-leading half-ton 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2019 GMC Sierra 1500 — all new — the photos here might be a bit of a letdown.
Related: 2019 Toyota Tundra SX Photo Gallery: Value-Driven Style
However, the way the Tundra is camouflaged indicates the possibility of interesting details and could be a strong hint of what we can expect when the pickup truck eventually debuts. Here's what our shooter sent us.
"Today we caught the 2020 Toyota Tundra undergoing testing in Ann Arbor, Mich., alongside the current-gen Ford F-150.Toyota is giving the Tundra a major refresh for 2020 while preserving the 11-year-old cab from 2008.
"We expect the new Tundra will get all-new looks from the A-pillar forward, along with an all-new interior, updated bed and a new tailgate. These changes should keep the Tundra fresh for another couple of years. Some engine tweaks may also be in the works. A new 10-speed automatic that first appeared in the Lexus LC and LS models are slated for all of Toyota's rear-drive vehicles, including the Tundra.
"The most interesting part of this prototype involves the street sweeper camo disguising the rear axle and rear suspension. Could Toyota be taking a page from Ram's playbook with an air suspension option or coil springs? Or even wilder, an independent rear suspension? Right now, we're left to speculate, but we can say the engineers were extremely concerned when we tried to get a shot near the rear of the bed and did everything they could to block our view."
Spiedbilde and Brian Williams images
Comments
I'm guessing rear wheel steering. Kind of a let down cab is the same as the past 20 years.
Going back to 6 lugs.. Hmm. I think the current cab is pretty good sized. But improvements is frame, drivetrain should be their priority.
Also, if Thast is a 20" rim which it looks like it is, the rotors is definitely bigger. I also think they're using the current cab just for testing.
Could be they are trying to hide the hybrid motors that is at the wheels. One of the picture shows what looks like a trailing arm... coil spring perhaps.
That last picture of a rear wheel doesn't match the previous pictures above it at all.
Wow, this has to be a huge letdown for Tundra fans, an 11 year old platform, and it looks like they are only doing a refresh? I would guess it is getting a new interior and possibly a new frame as well.
Cab looks the same. I agree looks more like a refresh than all knew. Hopefully they up HP/TQ, cogs on trans, and better FE
papajim | Jan 24, 2019 3:56:55 PM
FAKE PAPA
The RH rear wheel is hiding a REGEN system. The carwash bristles are hiding a hybrid drive train.
Toyota cannot sell half ton trucks with a standard drive train---why in the bleeping world are they preparing to complicate matters this much.
If the Tundra was selling like hotcakes and it was decided to offer an alternative to standard V8 auto drivetrain that might make sense.
If there is a plus for Toyota in all this, it's the fact that their hybrid systems are among the better ones.
Did GM give Toyoda their square fender dies?
Posted by: papajim | Jan 24, 2019 5:33:55 PM
FAKE PAPA
@Uh huh
I noticed the same thing, looks like a trailing arm, probably for coil springs. Toyota switched the 4runner to coil springs a while back, maybe they're planning on it for both trucks now as well, probably to the detriment of their already-low payload capacity.
Here comes the fake news from the leftists again...
Quick to trash but if this was any other full-size, you can bet, oh wait the leftist media is on their bandwagon.
Put it this way, the Tundra is the ONLY conservative full-size out there while the others are bragging for most high-tech, most luxurious bla, bla, bla aka liberal trucks!
Might as well call the Ram, Silverado or F-150 the transgenders of trucks, the activist liberals of trucks that demand socialism and the like. Keep it conservative Toyota with trucks and let the liberals have their social media bullshyt!
Photos yes, but nothing of value.
Rear steer, you can clearly see an angle in the rear wheel in the photo of the wired black wheel.
Manufactures are known to use current cabs while testing out new trucks. Seen it done before.
Looks like a quality problem already with the missing lug nut in the second to last pic.
The ford is to tow it back when it breaks down
Oxi,
What in Sam Hill are you blathering about?
If anything is the Transgender of trucks, it is Honda Ridgeline.
Toyota has a LONG way to go to build a better full-size
Their corporate engine programs are rather, well, soft.
But no matter, I’m not really a half-ton kind of guy. So you ladies can squabble about it in your sewing circle.
In the picture above, Toyota is leading Ford. Look out! It's 2008 all over again. This new Toyota will put Ford solidly in 5th place as the oldest full size truck line-up. Geez.
2007 not 2008. Expect this truck around September 2020 as a 2021 model. IRS? Why? They are hiding hybrid components which they are the best in the world at making.
Going to be interesting how they differ with Ford in executing the next great leap forward in truck manufacturing.
The rear skirt is hiding a large battery pack. The hybrid components will be in the front end. Should be able to travel about 30 miles in EV mode before switching to hybrid mode. EV Charging plugin near gas fill panel. No suspension changes.
Look out Big 2 + Fiat. Toyota about to change the game again and put all the others to shame.
Come on Toy
Now is the time to Strike.
Chevy is making big mistakes and on its heels, the Titan is a market dud, and the F150 is in mid cycle.
A new rear suspension would be a good start but we also need modern materials, some modern engine offerings (small diesel, turbo 6, modern DOHC Vari timing DI V8 please) and a new cab.
Get the "all new" Tundra out there.
2020 f-150
Why does the tail pipe stick out driver side?
the "broom" hanging underneath sweeps up the falling parts
Hoping this is a mule--that cab is the old truck.
That's not IRS. You'd see negative camber on those wheels.
Sorry to burst anyone's bubble...
@ oxi
Toyota is definitely keeping it conservative to your liking. The sales numbers show what that does for them...👍
Additional info
https://2020suvs.com/2020-toyota-tundra/
Did anyone noticed that the passenger side rear wheel is different? It looks kind off odd and considering how big the brake rotor is on the driver side wheel, it doesn't seem that it would fit on the side with the weird rim. Could it be some sort of hybrid system?
Geez...about time Toy, proves once again they know who the bench mark leader is. Even the 1st generation Tundra was basically a copy of the F150 at the time & here we go again; history repeats it self, keep following the leader!!
"Did anyone noticed that the passenger side rear wheel is different? It looks kind off odd and considering how big the brake rotor is on the driver side wheel, it doesn't seem that it would fit on the side with the weird rim. Could it be some sort of hybrid system?"
@Tommyboy
From what I've read on other sites, that's a special diagnostic torque-sensing wheel that provides input for test personnel. Won't be part of the production vehicle.
"...2020 Toyota Tundra, expect a refresh rather than a redesign"
@PUTC
I agree that would be Toyota's signature approach with the Tundra, but I don't remember PUTC saying this about the last F150 or the new Ranger.
Ford bought a whole trainload of lipstick and face-paint for those trucks and the entire car/truck media has erupted in joy. Take a look at the Mustangs. Or the Taurus. Or the Expedition (which they finally got around to doing some real up-dating). I can go on.
The RH rear wheel is hiding a REGEN system. The carwash bristles are hiding a hybrid drive train.
Posted by: Bob | Jan 24, 2019 5:17:21 PM
I hope not. If it is, I hope Toyota doesn't plan to sell this thing in "cold weather states" or they can plan on a ton of lawsuits when road salt inevitably finds its way inside and destroys it. Then again it's Toyota, they don't pay any attention to the corrosive nature of road de-icers in those cold weather states.
Reliable source: rear coil sprung suspension!
Reliable source: rear coil sprung suspension!
Posted by: oxi | Jan 26, 2019
@oxi
You're probably right, but I wish you were wrong. If Toyota's executive team really wanted a 25% improvement in Tundra sales all they'd need to do is build a Chevy half ton with better reliability and customer service. Ninety percent of what the current Tundra does is fine for anybody that really wants a good, solid half ton truck. GM and Ford cannot bear to let a design sit on the market more than a year or two without big changes.
The 1960s era VW beetle proves you can build and sell a capable car for 20 years, with only the tiniest changes, and people will flock to it if the price is right and the quality is even half decent. During that same period Ford and GM dumped mostly awful crap on the customers and it sold like crazy.
If they want to sell me a truck, they need a 6' standard bed or larger with a crew cab.
I said WITH a crew cab.
Tacoma has it. Titan has it. The US tax code requires it for a full business tax deduction not to mention 5' bed is for babies.
@macgyver
I'm a short bed pickup kind of guy but I'll agree---less than six feet is dumb.
Keep deleting my posts, but it doesn't take away from the fact your writing is subpar and not good journalism in the least.
This isn't a 2020 model nor a refresh. The new Tundra with the new cab has not yet been seen, as this is just a TNGA-F mule with the new front end (sans LED headlights).
Some are saying this is a mule. Almost all test mule uses old cabs and beds to test new drivetrain. This is not a refresh. I don't know how true it is but it is said that it will be coil spring, hybrid, new frame(don't know if box or not), one configuration to get 30mpg and 400hp+ and 500tq+. This will be a 2021 model.
Keep deleting my posts, but it doesn't take away from the fact your writing is subpar and not good journalism in the least.
Posted by: Carmaker1 | Jan 27, 2019
There is NO connection between the "quality" of the journalism here and their antique web site software that you can't seem to figure out.
Simply refresh the session following your post. There are junior high kids who regularly put comments on this site with no problem. Good luck.
Yes, "uh huh" it will be a 2021 model. This is a TNGA-F mule, using the front fascia of the 2021 Tundra as well, with placeholder headlights.
But the old cab of the incumbent generation. The first mule with some elements of the final design. The first spy shots were posted by this site, back in 2017.
The real deal will be seen in some months, although still covered up. But this time it will have the new cab on it and 100% final design.
The final design was frozen roughly a year ago and the basic design was set by the end of 2017. It will be the first Toyota on the modular TNGA-F, which the Sequoia will move to it 1 year later.
Production start is set for August 3, 2020 at TMMTX outside San Antonio, but that is a tentative date and can change based on unforeseen delays.
Stupid though to redesign parallel to the P702 2021 F-150, as bench-marking the outgoing P552 won't do much.
Besides that, the Tacoma gets a major refresh for 2020, following the mini refresh for MY 2018, and "redesign" for 2016. An all-new Tacoma using TNGA for BOF is 45 months away. EOP of the Tacoma is July 2022.
Ditto for the 4Runner, being refreshed for 2020 and redesigned in under 4 years on TNGA-F.
‘Besides that, the Tacoma gets a major refresh for 2020, ’
You’d better hope there is a better engine.
That 3.5 is a major joke.
As is the rear seat room. I can’t fit my 3 car seats, 2 reverse facing, and place the driver’s seat in a comfortable position.
"... expect more of a re-fresh than a re-design..."
I mean yeah... its a Toyota and the platform is only 14yrs old, I took this more as a given rather than an exception.
Am I missing something?
"... expect more of a re-fresh than a re-design..." I mean yeah... its a Toyota and the platform is only 14yrs old, I took this more as a given rather than an exception. Am I missing something?
Posted by: devilsadvocate | Feb 1, 2019
No, you nailed it. Now if they offered a supercharged pushrod V8 and a slick auto trans, then they'd really have something. As it is they are limited by their current drivetrain so much that the only exciting new stuff they can do is "electric" or hybrid or stop/start
None of that is very exciting considering their competitors started doing those things more than 10 years ago.
What about a big six cylinder diesel in the Tundra. Ooops, RAM's been doing that for what, about 30 years?
About engines: Toyota needs to kick up the horsepower and torque several notches in order to beat Ford, Dodge, Chevy, etc. I would say that Tundra needs a 5-5.5 Liter diesel engine, and the power of the legendary 5.7 liter iForce needs to go up higher than it already is. However, fuel economy also needs to be improved. I would recommend that Tundra offers a hybrid version of this masterpiece.
About Cab models: Standard, Double, and Crewmax are all great. However, the Crewmax needs to have a 6.5 foot bed option, and even possibly a 8.1 foot bed option. Imean, you've got guys like me who plan to live on a farm and realize that you need lots of cargo space AND passenger space.
About Towing Package: The Toyota Tundra's towing package needs to have the larger, more reliable towing mirrors included. I also personally think that the towing package needs the orange marker lights on the roof of the truck. If Tundra comes out in a dually version (A wise decision in my opinion), the orange marker lights should come standard issue. Speaking of duallys, I think that Toyota needs to release a dually version of the Tundra. It will be a revolution to farmers, contractors, and many others, due to the fact that it will bring both strength AND reliability in one package.
About cosmetic appeal: The Tundra needs a few more color options, like a shade of green or something. The interior is already pretty decent in my opinion, but there is room for improvement. The informant screen needs to be a MINIMUM of 7 inches, not maximum. The larger screen should be 10-12 inches. The interior lighting and tail lighting need to switch over to LEDs, due to the fact that they are brighter, more efficient, and more reliable, not to mention modern.
Hopefully all of these will be issued in the 2019, 2020, or 2021 Toyota Tundra. I appreciate the quality of the Toyota Tundra. You know it's good when you know someone who has had only 2 Tundras in nearly 20 years.
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