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After Owning 37 Trucks I Started Changing The Oil on My Toyota Tundra At These Mileages

I changed the oil in my brand new 2022 Tundra at 1,000 miles, 3,000 miles, 6,000 miles, AND 10,000 miles! Now, I change it every 5,000 miles, no matter what the dealer says.
Toyota Tundra and oil change schedule

Save your truck's engine. This Toyota Tundra owner has a little secret on when to change your truck's oil in order to save the engine of your vehicle.

At what mileage should you change the oil in your vehicles? One Toyota Tundra owner, who says he had 37 trucks and a trucking company for 35 years, says he learned to change the oil in his vehicles' engines at these mileages and has prevented engine failures despite Toyota's recent decline of Tundra's reputation.

His name is Imad. He commented under my previous video about a 2024 Toyota Tundra owner whose truck's engine failed after 7,000 miles.

He says, "I can tell you from owning a trucking company and owning 37 trucks on the road at one time for 35 years, that changing the oil that comes in an engine at 1,000 miles is the smart way to do things, regardless, if the engine is diesel or gasoline. Everybody should do that to get rid of any Shaving that are left from assembling the engine, I’ve done that on my 2022 Toyota Tundra at 1K, 3K, 6K, and 10k. And now I change the oil every 5,000 miles without fail regardless what the dealer have advised me that Toyota recommends.

On a TwinTurbo engine, the oil loses viscosity much quicker than the normally aspirated engine. I have 21,000 miles on the truck now and the engine runs like a champ. Change the oil folks. This is like the blood in your veins. Oil is the blood of your vehicle's engine. Regarding Toyota engine failure, I’m not saying that Toyota didn’t screw up, but if you had changed the oil before all that debris ran through the rings nothing would have happened to the engine."

 

 

So, make your first oil change in your Toyota Tundra after 1,000 miles, then 3,000, then 6,000 and then at every 5,000 miles regularly. That's an interesting perspective! It's true that frequent oil changes can benefit your engine in some ways. Here's a breakdown of some points to consider:

  • Early Oil Changes: While some car manufacturers recommend an initial oil change at 1,000 miles for severe conditions, Toyota's recommendation for most Tundras is typically longer. However, there's no harm in doing an early change for peace of mind, especially if it makes you comfortable like it has for this guy with his trucking experience.
  • Break-In Period: Modern car engines generally have tighter tolerances and less need for extensive break-in periods compared to older models. Following the manufacturer's recommendations during this time is usually sufficient.
  • Oil Viscosity and Twin-Turbo Engines: Imad is right that twin-turbo engines can put more stress on oil, potentially breaking down viscosity faster. However, Toyota uses high-quality oil designed for these engines, and the recommended intervals should account for this.
  • Following Manufacturer Recommendations: Toyota engineers design their engines and oil change intervals specifically for their vehicles. Following their recommendations ensures proper lubrication and helps maintain your warranty. So what's true about Toyota Tundra, may not be right for Ford F-150. Thus, try not to pass the car manufacturer's oil change recommendations.

I think, at the end of the day, the decision is yours. If frequent oil changes work well for you and your experience gives you confidence, then there's no reason to stop. However, it's important to be aware that Toyota's recommendations are based on extensive testing and are perfectly safe for your Tundra.

 

Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Youtube. He has more than a decade of expertise in the automotive industry with a special interest in Tesla and electric vehicles.

Automotive News
Pickup Trucks
Toyota

Comments

Jeremy (not verified)    July 24, 2024 - 12:43PM

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I haven't owned a truck for years but I do have a 2014 Ford Fusion 2.5L with 218k on the dial. I've been religious about changing the oil at 5k miles, no oil usage, small valve cover leak.

Rick Mar (not verified)    July 24, 2024 - 10:52PM

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I've only been an auto mechanic for, oh 50 years now. ASE advanced, master. I've advised my customers to change there oil, conventional mineral at 3000 miles. And prople who use synthetic at 5000 miles. That's just my thing. And years of looking inside of engines. The advice to those who want to go to the moon and back is, change the filter with a high quality one, small partial filtration ability. I'm not going to get into advertising one or the other, and there are only a few that really do the job. Go on line and look up the spec. on different filters. What is the micron size of their filtration. But, even with that, high miles, change the filter, so there!

Turner (not verified)    July 25, 2024 - 10:17AM

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I have a 2006 Toyota Tundra that my son owned and he put an engine in it in in 2013 it did fine had regular oil changes .Then in 2020 he had to replace the engine again with used engine in 2020. My son died 2 days after getting the truck repaired. The truck has been sitting most of the time I would let my brother start it up and drive it for a day or two just to keep the battery charged and got the oil changed over the years. I started driving it this year around town and got the oil changed in January 2024 in April the engine has failed again. I really wanted to keep the truck because it was my sons ,but I can’t find another engine and I don’t have the money to put into a remanufactured one . I’m a woman and looking for suggestions I need help what can I do with the truck.

Dave Reuland (not verified)    July 24, 2024 - 12:57PM

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I have had Toyota for a long time and I worked for Toyota as a technician. I change my oil with amzoil even 25000 miles and I have never had an engine problem. So you are telling people to waste their money

Tundra Mechanic (not verified)    July 24, 2024 - 4:12PM

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There are plenty of people on the Tundra forums that have changed their oil at extreme intervals: 1k, 3k, 5k miles and every 5k after that. Even a couple of users that changed their oil at 500 miles and then again at 1k...and they STILL had engine failures due to machining debris. Does it hurt to change your oil more frequently? Not at all. However, claiming that will save your engine is giving false causation to an engine not failing. Remember: Correlation is NOT causation.

Robert Crockett (not verified)    July 24, 2024 - 11:49PM

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I’m 62 years old. My father was a mechanic all his life and taught me at an early age to perform the first oil change at 1,000 or less. If you cut the filter open like I did with my Duramax and look at the filter media, you’ll understand why.

Mark Smith (not verified)    July 25, 2024 - 7:21AM

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@Armen Hareyan: So this whole article is about how you should change your oil early to avoid failure, then you put at the bottom of the article that Toyota's recommendations are perfectly safe. What was the point of this article again?

John Ackerlind (not verified)    July 25, 2024 - 11:17AM

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What this article unfolds is right on the money. This guy knows his sh#t.
All manufacturers have their standards of removing milling debris out of their engines.
We all know Toyota doesn’t fool around, they have very high standards. Unfortunately for a period of time on the production line for this particular motor the process was not thorough enough . That’s why this man uses this oil change process to make double sure to rid the engine of manufacturing debri. Our full flow filter on all vehicles are to filter this kind of debris from our engines. In this particular engine the debris did its damage before being caught by the filter.
before getting filtered out by the full flow filter.

Kustomeyez (not verified)    July 28, 2024 - 6:06PM

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I have a ‘19 Tundra TRD off-road limited double cab, has maybe 50 miles on it when purchased. First few oil changes and tire rotations were “free” . They wanted the truck in every 5000 miles and they only changed the oil every other time, so first oil change and tire rotate at 5000 miles, then at 10,000 miles they only rotated the tires, then both oil change and rotate at 15,000 , and so on till the “free” service ended at I think 30,000… but.. after the “free” services expired, they literally wanted to change the oil every 5k . Which made no sense to me, and switched over to using AMSOIL & filter change both approx every 10k and I've got 109k miles on the truck with Zero issues . She still looks and runs better than new. Been running with the K&N intake also installed the "pedal commander" set to the #7 in the green mode. (The red "race" mode is too much for daily driving) the air intake installed around 30k miles or less and the pedal commander installed around 40k miles . But I’ve had Zero issues outside of breaking t steering wheel tilt lock while installing a steering wheel cover.. but that was actually fixed and covered under warranty. I’m 47 and have Zero plans on buying a new truck ever again in my life. As I see this truck lasting 4-Ever . You could not give me a new one. Unless it’s because I’ve put a million miles on this thing and an offer was made.. I’d be donating it to the art of technology at that point.. 🫶 my Tundra

Steve Owens (not verified)    September 11, 2024 - 12:54AM

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An Amsoil by-pass filter would remove the wear particles out as they are produced to two microns every ten minutes or so. Investigate if you don't know.