Ken – I’m not telling you to do anything. I’m just explaining that it’s a normal sound.

They have changed that piston. The noise is GONE in the 2008 Tundra. I know. I have a lawsuit.

Cheri

In other words, because Toyota designed the 5.7 for a supercharger, the pistons have to be a little tougher in a stock truck. So, because of this stronger alloy, many 5.7 owners experience piston slap.

Part of the reason that slap isn’t universal is that the pistons can be checked for fit during assembly. Every cylinder and every piston are slightly different sized (just a fact of manufacturing), so matching individual pistons to individual blocks helps to minimize the gap (and therefore minimize the slapping noise). I would assume that some pistons simply fit better than others.

In terms of danger to the engine, old-timers will argue that piston slap automatically leads to ring wear and cylinder wall scuffing. However, this warning fails to account for the strength and characteristics of the materials involved. Modern alloys are resistant to any potential wear effects. GM trucks, which were notorious for slap during the late 90’s and early part of this decade, have been driven 100k+ miles consistently without any signs of damage. The alloys used today are simply much, much better than alloys used even 20 years ago.

As for fixing it in 2010 models, etc., I’ve definitely seen fewer complaints since the 07’s came out. My guess is that Toyota has done a better job of matching the pistons to the individual cylinders during the assembly process. Until Toyota stops building the 5.7 to accommodate the supercharger, all 5.7 engines will have the potential to make noise when they’re cold.

Chevy’s legendary 5.7l engine is good, but it’s not very reliable and it only produces about 230 hp, yeah chevy claims like 275, but thats an exaggerated claim.

i didn’t hate chevy until it happened to me, i had a 5.7l z28 camaro, it was fast but it had many issues at only 78k miles so i sold it and am never buying a chevy again(spent 5000 trying to fix many engine problems)

Also my dad bought a 96 chevy blazer(126k miles) and its been having issues, he’s spent 8000 so far on repairs and now it runs, but it does with very little power(0-60 in 1minute 25 seconds) and no one wants to buy it because its this slow and is very loud while running) So i guess he’s just gonna keep it until it dies (probably soon)

I recently bought a toyota tundra with the 4.7l v8 and its been having an exhaust leak at the manifold since 20k miles(i bought it from my uncle) but now it has 247,000 miles and still runs strong, it has the check engine light on because of the exhaust leak, but other than than, it runs great.