2024 Tundra Limited I Force Max

Hi guys, ok, have had my new truck a month and a half, 2200 miles. Just completed a couple 600 mile trips. One to northern Wisconsin when truck was new. Got 12.6 MPG on that trip with cruise set 70-75. Came back last week, first 200 miles pulled my son’s 12’ trailer with ice fishing equipment, not a heavy load. That 200 miles got me 9.6 MPG. The remaining 400 mile portion of the trip I got 12.2 MPG. I do have the 35” tires and 3” suspension lift. Just picked it up from the dealer as I wanted them to check it over, said nothing wrong with it…. Is anyone else getting this poor of mileage? Would have never bought it knowing this, as window sticker said 19-22 and it is a hybrid. Thanks.

 

Hey David, welcome from West MO. From what I've read you're right in the average for the tire size. You'll see some threads in here talking about the same thing.

 

At the risk of sounding harsh, there is nothing wrong with your truck. You are simply experiencing what is known as the consequences of your own actions. You raised a vehicle with all the aerodynamics of a Lego brick up into the air, creating more drag. You added larger tires that are around 25 lbs heavier each. It takes more work to accelerate from a stop and to overcome the higher rolling resistance of your new tires. Your turbos are spooling more, creating more boost, using more fuel.

Let go of the expectation that you can still touch EPA numbers, and enjoy your truck.

 

Definitely takes a lot of extra work to get those big tires spinning and with the added lift that sounds about right. If it makes you feel any better, I have a 3 inch lift as well with almost a 34 inch tire and I'm getting about 10mpg with mixed driving. Best thing you can do is embrace it and enjoy making the truck how you want it.

 

35 inch tires and a lift is surely going to get into the mpg.


Plus it is a V6

 

You’ll probably experience better mileage if you keep it under 65mph

 

no complaining here - stock Gen3 non-hybrid average 20+ combined city/local/highway. Highway on CC at 75 is 18mpg - drop that to 65 and the mpg is 24 - drop that to 55 mph (Yellowstone leg) mpg over 26. Add a camper and tow 400 miles one-way up to SD at 70 mph and the mpg was 16 - return trip downhill 17.5.

comparison with Ford 350 diesel towing a toy-hauler - 8mpg = F that, the truck and toy-hauler.

 

Have you factored in the speedometer error due to the larger diameter tires?

 

I'm with you. Lifting a truck 3" and jumping up to a 35" tire should not take you from 19-22mpg down to 10-12mpg.

I lifted my V8 GX470 3", added 35's, added a rooftop tent, fridge, winch, sliders, steel skid plates, drawers, steel bumpers and about 100 pounds of tools and recovery gear and went from about 18mpg hwy, to 13.5mpg. that's a TON of weight for 5.5mpg. giving up 7-10mpg for nowhere near the same level of extra burden on the truck is ridiculous.

People need to stop justifying the terrible fuel economy of these trucks to make themselves feel better about their investment.

 

I have seen pretty good mileage with my heavy 34" tires and leveling (1.75" up front) still getting around ~20 mpg on the highway. more like 12 mpg when towing the Airstream or utility trailer. So not too bad. I don't have a hybrid but would expect it to give you a bit more help to get the tires turning and ultimately use a bit less gas.

 

Hey, just back from the dealer again. Since I returned from my long trip a bit over a week ago I’ve gotten 10.8 driving around town. The service dept put it on the computer and said everything was normal…. However, this afternoon their tech/sales/engineer came out and spent an hour and a half with me… he agreed something is not right, the battery power is not coming on as it should. He has suspicions that the lift and the tires are preventing the battery from operating like it was designed… he is in the process of talking with Toyota. He assured me he is going to work through this process with me at no charge as it is a newly designed vehicle. He said hibrids do not perform optimally in cold weather. Hah, I live 20 miles from Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin. Snow and cold are the norm there. I said so I bought a Toyota four wheel drive, lift, big tires, capable of handling those conditions but I should be living in Florida!! Anyway, a lot more to learn going forward, I will keep you posted. Thanks for the feedback guys…

 

I think there was a limitation to the recommendation of tire size with the 3" TRD Lift so you may be looking at toyota saying the mods are outside our problem if your over that size. I cant remember what size it was, someone can chime in

but winter blend fuel, cold weather, idling, 35 Load E heavy ass tires, 3" lift, towing and hauling, I mean I think I can see why its getting lower MPG, lol.

just my .02, but I don't think modding hybrid trucks is a good idea, too many factors

 

12.2 MPG is not bad. 0.1 more than my 2005 Volvo has.

 

At 9 to 12 mpg that would not be possible for me. Oof.

 

I think the largest tire was around a 285/XX but that was to do with the nanny sensors.

There will be a hit with the larger tires and heavy tread to get them turning.

I would ask if the boost gauge is showing much activity? Boost is fun but not nice for mileage.

 

You have a combination of literally everything you could do to kill mpg. Cold weather, lift, big tires and probably some idling to defrost, etc. that all work significantly to reduce MPG. As someone said as well the big tire overall diameter also gets you further per revolution of the tire, so the odometer, speedometer and MPG gauge on the truck is off by a significant margin now meaning if you use the trucks readout for MPG it will likely be .05 to 1 mpg or so off from actual. Need to be calculating actual GPS mileage by actual gas from pump entered.

Taking it to a dealer to me is risky as they can document that you have a lift (is it the OEM lift kit?) and big tires and gives them to opportunity to deny warranty.

I agree your efficiency seems low, but there are so many factors at play that seem more likely than a problem with your truck. I have 34.5" tires and my hybrid system works just fine and I don't see much of a way that it would be affected by the lift and tires. After the bigger tires mine sure doesn't engage to full EV mode as often as it did stock, as it is now trying to push the heavy ass tires and worse gearing along but that was to be expected. It isn't an efficiency type hybrid system......the battery and motor are there to provide torque fill but that is a whole nuther conversation.

 

I would be more than suspicious. What everyone has said that could affect mpg sure.
But did this Sales person, Tech and Engineer (3 people?) not tell you that the "Hybrid" here is not for better mpg, but for increased power, no turbo lag and a better experience towing. I have read about moments running under battery only with this Hybrid system in good weather cruising on the highway (coasting along) Thats after the battery is able to build charge on a stock truck in good weather. But under your weather conditions, the extra load you have placed on the truck with the lift and tires; I am pretty sure you have greatly reduced the ability to charge that battery. And what that means is you are carrying the "Hybrids' increased weight as well - which includes all the battery (stuff) under your back seat.

 

From the TRD Lift Kit instructions:

 

thanks, thats what I was referring to

 

I really find these disclaimers annoying.

It's a 4x4 but you can't take it off road or risk losing your warranty! If you put tires on it that are larger than the little 265's we can void your warranty! If you drive the truck in the rain or sun, we can void your warranty, etc... If you park it on the North side of the building...

Put our expensive lift in your truck but keep those tiny highway tires on it! We took the tow hooks off to discourage you from off roading

Sorry to rant!

 

isnt the 285/65/20 they are stating 34.5" , thats not bad

it doesnt say anything about not going off-road.

they probably just dont want to get stuck paying for people putting stupid big and heavy tires on that rub all over and break shit

 

Ya I know, I am just ranting about the last line stating OE wheels and tire sizes.

That maximum size tire is great for most people.

 

ya, but do you really expect Toyota to warranty non-Toyota parts like aftermarket wheels?

they are actually allowing larger than stock I think as I don't think the pro comes with 34.5"s does it?

 

Not at all, and same for the tires. There are things out of Toyota's control.

But, if they say the wheels caused my engine to grenade!

 

if they are OEM they wouldn't , I think the stock pro wheels are pretty nice anyway, not sure why anyone would swap them.

pretty pricey to buy them as well I think forged BBS

 

Alright math time lets assume this comparison tire wise is what you did going to 35's

So your tire size and circumference are 8% larger so your miles traveled in the computer are off by about 8%. Just need to adjust those MPG up by 8% to get your real mileage. Which takes that 12.6 mpg to 13.61. A typical non lifted truck traveling 70-75mph you should be looking at around 17-18 mpg in the winter with winter gas and cold air, so I would say you're right on point for what you did to your truck going with 35's and a 3" lift. You're about 3.5-4.5mpg less than a stock rig, which for those modifications seems about right. If you re-geared slightly you might be able to improve the efficiency to get the truck to stay out of boost, but hard to say and options for a re-gear don't' exist yet that I know of. Welcome to the magical land the EPA uses to come up with their ratings that rarely line up to real world. Do a couple hour trip at 55 or 65 mph and see how far off you are on the EPA rating after upping it 8%.

 

Plus 35 inch tires probably gives you a final gear ratio of about 2.70 or so. You may never be getting to 10th gear.

 

Those wheels would be great but hard to come across in the used market near me. I would have a hard time spending $800 per wheel for 5 wheels!
Mine are aftermarket with tires that are 34" diameter. My dealership has already seen them at my last service and didn't say anything about them. The wheels are about 12 lbs lighter than the ones that came on the truck! That weight savings is taken up by the heavy tires.

I guess I need to spend a bit more time getting to know the dealership and how they view little changes like tires and wheels etc...

 

2023 Limited on stock tires no lift and at 80mph cruise control across SE Idaho and Montana I get 18.6mpg. If I slow down to 60-65mph I get easily 23mpg. We're driving large boxy bricks.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, makes sense!