In the last installment we made a few small changes to our 2007 Tundra Double Cab 4x4 as the parts for the all-new Toyota became available. This month we continue improving Project Deepwoods’ utility and performance with our goal at the end to have a truly unique 4x4 for the avid off-road adventurer.
It’s funny how the note of a good performance exhaust exudes a certain level of intimidation to those within earshot. You can have two vehicles sitting together and the one with the throatier exhaust gets the appreciative looks from the performance- minded — even if it’s the less powerful of the two. If it sounds strong, it must be so.
That’s where our Deepwoods Tundra falls a little short; it has the most powerful 5.7-liter pickup V8 on the planet, yet you’d never know it by the understated exhaust.
We want those within earshot to know there are close to 400 horses just waiting to pound the road when we lay the throttle down. So we went to Magnaflow Performance Exhaust for a little thunder down under.
What they gave us is a true dual-exhaust cat-back system that definitely gives the new Tundra a distinctive growl on throttle and a deep rumble in cruise mode.
Designed for the Double Cab/Standard Bed or Crew Max/Short Bed, both single- and dual-exhaust Magnaflow cat-back systems exit behind the passenger side rear tire and utilize mandrel-bent tubing and MagnaFlow’s uniquely designed 22”-long polished stainless steel muffler.
Tucked inside each muffler is an exhaust scavenging “Tru- X” crossover pipe for maximum performance and sound control. The systems finish with either a single 4” or twin 3.5” polished stainless steel double wall tips. We chose the dualin, dual-outlet version because that gives the best sound and performance. (The stock exhaust is dual-in, single-outlet.)
As the photos show, installation is a breeze — especially on a lift. We had the upgrade done in a half-hour. All it requires is unbolting the stock exhaust and bolting in the new Magnaflow system. Warren Spears used our GearWrench hand tools and an air gun to make short work of the exhaust upgrade.
Our dyno testing at JMS Chip & Performance, in Lucedale, Mississippi, showed the dual-exhaust Maganflow cat-back system added 16.5 peak horsepower and 21.6 lb/ft of torque to the truck’s already healthy V8, giving it 316.5hp at the rear wheels at 5700rpm — or a power increase of 5.5 percent. The average power gain across the rpm range was 9hp/11 lb/ft from the improved exhaust scavenging.
Now Deepwoods is the one doing the intimidation number both in the way it performs — and the way it sounds.
BED BUDS
Wise Industries and Tuffy Security Products — a good pairing for the Tundra’s bed.
It’s nice to be able to toss a sleeping bag in the bed to catch a little shut eye without feeling the grooves of a plastic bed liner imprinting their linear ridges from head to toe. It’s equally comforting to know you can carry just about any type of cargo in the bed without fear of having it slide around or being harmed by the bed liner — or vice versa.
We upgraded our pickup’s bed with a Wise Industries’ Bed Rug. The soft liner is actually made from a polyester spun to look and feel like soft carpet with a polyethylene closed-cell foam backing — it’s also molded to each pickup model’s bed for a nice form fit.
We plan on using our Deepwoods Tundra for a lot of offroad adventures. Some of those will undoubtedly result in using the bed as a makeshift motel room to catch a few winks. A thick, smooth, padded surface is an excellent surface to toss a sleeping bag. It also makes a great surface that keeps cargo from sliding around, damaging either the cargo, the bed, or both. The liner is unaffected by mud, oil, grease, gasoline, battery acid, solvents or anything else one can find to dump or spill in a pickup bed. In fact, Wise Industries guarantees the liner will not soak up any liquid and the foam backing will not crumble, dissolve, degrade or dry out. If it gets dirty, simply hit it with soap and water from a garden hose or high-pressure washer.
We popped off the factory cargo rails, pulled out the factory plastic bed liner, and installed the Bed Rug. The sides zip together with the floor piece, making it a one-piece liner. Then the front, sides, and bottom are stuck securely to the bed with industrial-strength hook-and-loop fasteners supplied with each kit. The upgrade, from start to finish, takes about 30 minutes.
Another useful bed upgrade is the addition of locking side storage units from Tuffy Security Products. The Truck Bed Storage Boxes that use the space around the Tundra’s wheel wells, are manufactured from aluminum with a polished diamond plate lid. Each box can be swapped left or right, and is fitted with a 10-tumbler key-lock and rubber seal around the lid.
The installation requires removal of the sliding side rails and drilling two holes through the bed to secure the boxes to the floor. But we felt that this added bed storage, for now, trumped tie-downs. (The boxes can be quickly removed, if needed.)
Our Deepwoods’ build-up plan includes the installation of a bed cap. We’ll rethink the placement of the bed storage units when that time comes. We might remove one if we find the need for a little more living and bulk storage space under cover.
PROJECT DEEPWOODS SUPPLIER LIST:
* Magnaflow Performnace Exhaust: 949.858.5900; www.magnaflow.com
* Tuffy Security Products: www.tuffyproducts.com; 800.348.8339 (bed storage units)
* Wise Industries/Bed Rug: www.bedrug.com; 800.462.8435
* Bushwacker: www.bushwacker.com; 800.234.8920 (fender flares)
* Interco Tires: www.intercotire.com; 337.334.3814 (TRXUS STS tires)
* N-Fab: www.n-fab.com; 281.880.6325 (nerf step bars)
* ReadyLift: 800.549.4620; www.ReadyLift.com (suspension leveling kit)
* Spears Auto Repair: Long Beach, MS; 228.863.1878 (installation center)
* Garmin International: www.garmin.com; 800.800.1020 (z_mo 550 & Rino 530)
* Toyota Motor Sales: www.toyota.com; 800.468.6968 (Tundra)
* LLumar/CPFiflms: www.llumar.com; 800.255.8627 (Axcess window film)
* Tint Works: Long Beach, MS; 228.365.5905 (window tint installer)
* Gulf States Toyota: www. toyotateamdealers.com; 713.580.3300 (OEM accessories)
* GearWrench: www.gearwrench.com ; 800.688.8949 (hand tools)
* A-1 Radiator Specialists: Gulfport, MS; 228.863.5782 (front-end alignment center)
* JMS Chips & Performance: www.jmschips.com; 601.766.9424 (chassis dyno services)
* Gulfport Dragway: www.gulfportdragway.com; 228.863.4408 (track testing)
