Winter driving and my Tundra's first "character marks"...

[chrispitude]

Well, I guess it had to happen at some point!

We got a few inches of snow here in eastern PA so I figured I'd meet up with my buddy and wander around to see if we could find some trouble. Well, I suppose I got what I wanted. I drove for awhile then let him take a turn driving.

We were driving around on some narrow unpaved roads in a wooded development. We got to a dead end and needed to turn around, so he went to back the Tundra into a driveway. (And by driveway, I mean a long narrow winding road through the woods with "PRIVATE PROPERTY" signs on the two trees to either side of the turnoff.) With the cap on the back, visibility is not too good so I told him to use the side mirrors. Well he kinda missed the opening and we felt a nasty thunk in the frame and the rear end dropped down about 18".

As it turns out, the driveway goes over a culvert pipe, and we dropped the left rear tire into the drainage gulley where a culvert pipe empties out. We both went "ummm" and he just put it in drive and the Tundra clawed its way back out. I was pretty sure with the depth of the gulley and all the snow, we'd be stuck but the truck did great. Here's the result:

http://www.chrispitude.net/view.php?...index=51&user=

The towing harness bracket and connector got snapped off, and there is a dent/scuff on the underside of the bumper which you can see over near the receiver. Oh yeah, and I think I have some new "pinstripes" down the cabin and cap thanks to some tree branches. I think I might do the driving from now on.

Does anyone else have interesting stories to tell?

- Chris

[Sanosuke]

Expensive christmas reminder. :P Never let anyone drive a near brand new truck until you've given it a good number of years on it.

Sanosuke!

[KenV]

Sorry to see, but I guess things could have been worse.

My fingers are crossed until February. We're in an apartment, and every new vehicle here has marks from the posts that support the carports in this complex. Our Tundra DC is only eight weeks ours and it takes a couple of tries to get it into a space. I swear they sized these for subcompacts...anyway, last night my wife needed three tries to get the sucker parked, because jackasses in other cars were hurrying to leave the complex and she had to abort and back out. When a security vehicle came through, its driver blocked passers-through for a bit and she was able to jockey the sucker home. The front bumper missed the near post by an inch, if that. I'd have done it but it's her daily driver and she gets to practice

We move into a house in February. That's why we're keeping our fingers crossed until we can get it into a garage. Well, a driveawy at least. No way is this thing fitting into a 2car with anything else in it. lol

K

[azbronco96]

Character marks huh. I have a good rash of Arizona Pinstriping down both sides from wheeling on Turkey day. Went yesterday and kissed some rocks with the front bumper. (Box canyon) Second week I had it I had to jacknife my trailer pretty tight between some pine trees and hit the propane tanks with pass. side tail light. Dogs love to claw the side of the bed trying to get in and out. Going to see if I can drown it at Pismo Beach in late Dec. ( I hope I am kidding ) Love my truck. I used to be paranoid about my vehicles and would get pretty stressed out over very small scratches, minor stuff. Hand wash every week-always nice and clean. I have decided that its a toy and I dont NEED it, I just WANT it to play with. Did I mention I love my truck?

[student's tundra]

[quote=azbronco96]Character marks huh. I have a good rash of Arizona Pinstriping down both sides from wheeling on Turkey day.

Heard that . I've got some faint Cali pinstripping down both sides of my truck. They start at the front turn signals and end at the tail lights. Although looking at them you can almost call them flames instead of pinstriping as they look like waves going up and down my truck . Oh well I try my best by washing it and waxing it .

[chrispitude]

Originally Posted by azbronco

Going to see if I can drown it at Pismo Beach in late Dec. (I hope I am kidding )

This got a pretty good laugh out loud from me. Thanks.

- Chris

[Eddie]

Not with my Tundra,but my dad just left some character marks on his Ranger. My parents' house is off a private road shared by four other houses,a neighbor's son comes around to plow the road and driveways when it snows.

So it snowed this morning and my dad moves his truck along the side of the private road so the guy can plow their drveway. My dad kept driving back and forth at this one spot when all of a sudden I hear a bang. I turned around and noticed his rear bumper didn't quite look right. He finally parks,I walk over and not only was the bumper bent,he crumpled the right rear corner of his bed (bumper pushed it in) and the right taillight was cracked. I asked why was he moving driving back and forth and if he realized he ran into the tree behind him. He wanted to flatten the snow a little (the snow wasn't that deep,sheesh) and no,he didn't know he hit the tree. And he wonders why I won't lend him any of my vehicles

[kwilson]

I think my '05 DC was about 2 weeks old when we were using it as a work platform to assemble a large playset for my friends kids, and my friend dropped a wrench from 10 feet up, grazing above the drivers side rear wheel. About 5 weeks later I was loading it with stuff to dump into a swamp, and a small log hit just below the rear window. It's a truck, and eventhou I love to keep it pristine, it's still going to be used for some work purposes, that's why I have it. Right now it's covered in snow and salt, and the beautiful red paint will be unrecognizable for the next 5 months anyhow.

[krodad]

Finally got a chance to do one of the things I got the truck for... bathe it in blood! Deer season and 4 buddies with 8 dead critters in the back...blood everywhere, 9" of snow on the ground, shotguns in the backseat. I am living a dream.

The Tundra gets along in the snow covered fields better than I could have expected...much better than all the other trucks, except, and I really hate to say this, my brothers quad cab Dakota. I hate anything Dodge, but man, that thing was like an atv it did so well. Maybe because it's a little smaller, I don't know, but it tracked beautifully, where the rest of us were really working the wheel and power to do what we wanted.

[TetTundra]

I'd say you got lucky pulling out of that. I've been stuck in less comprimising situations. The factory LSD is almost no good. All of the conditions must have been pretty good for you...this time.