Vehicles of almost every sort have been getting bigger and bigger over the past decade. In fact, even the entry-level cars offered by companies like BMW are nearly the same size and weight as their mid-size cars of ten years ago. Nowhere is this gigantism more visible than in the pickup truck segment, where even previously ‘small’ trucks like the Dodge Dakota have inflated until they now dwarf their predecessors. In turn, full-size trucks have fought their own battle of the bulge, getting heavier, wider and taller.
Toyota has not been immune to these market forces. The first generation Toyota Tundra was a mid-size pickup marketed to the full-size crowd, and when Toyota realized that they could cram more buyers into a larger vehicle, the 2007 Tundra re-design greatly increased the capacity of the truck in almost every dimension. While size does matter, all of that increased mass is nowhere near as easy to park as it used to be. Aren’t pickups supposed to be parked on vast, empty mesas with nothing but tumbleweeds and the occasional herd of cattle for miles? Well, Tundra commercials might want you to believe that, but in the real world, most trucks are parked in driveways and city streets with very real obstacles and space constraints. Anyone who has looked out the rear window of their truck trying to judge how car away they are from the car behind them when all they can see is its roof knows exactly how frustrating parking can be. …click here to read more →
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