Toyota is a world-renowned vehicle and vehicle parts manufacturing company based in Japan. The company is well-known for making tuning parts as well as cost-effective vehicles that are highly durable. Some household Toyota car model names are the Supra, Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Tundra, Celica, etc.
Among them, Toyota Tundra is well-known for being one of the best 4-seater pick-up trucks for more than two decades. The truck can carry up to 6 passengers as well as 1560 lbs. of payload on its bed. Getting locked out of such a strong vehicle can be problematic if you don’t know the right techniques to unlock the doors.
Brief Toyota Tundra History
Toyota Tundra is a 4-seater pick-up truck that started production in 1999 in the USA branch of Toyota. Ever since its inception, the truck has been a massive hit among its customers and truck drivers in general. The wide space and flexible design to carry loads, as well as passengers, pushed the truck to continue its production for more than two decades.
This truck model has undergone lots of upgrades including the two major next-generation upgrades with the third-gen upgrade right around the corner. The 1st gen had some issues and if you’re reading this article, you’re having trouble with the 1st gen version of this truck. Apart from the small problems, Toyota Tundra is a great truck for off-roading as well.
Types of Door Issues
Door jamming issues are a common problem for all kinds of trucks and it becomes more problematic for a Tundra since it has four-door. You can find yourself locked while inside mainly while sitting in the driver seat, locked outside while trying to open the passenger doors or both.
The main two types of door issues you might face are either being locked inside your truck or being locked out. Since all the doors have remote access to lock the truck, many variables may be involved in creating such problems. All those possibilities have been collected below:
Locked Out
The main reasons you would get locked out of your car is because you forgot your keys inside the car or your truck door is jammed shut. Either way, it’s a nuisance since not being able to open any of the 4 doors means you have been completed locked out of your car. It gets worse when you try to open your car and the sirens go off.
Locked In
Problems like dead battery, excess friction in the door mechanism, and bad weather can lock you inside the Toyota Tundra. Additionally, since the truck has remote access to all the vital parts of your truck, a dead battery means that you can’t open any of the doors or windows as well.
Techniques To Unlock Toyota Tundra Doors
Before starting this section of the article, please note that these techniques are provided only for Toyota Tundra owners who have legal ownership of the vehicle. Using these techniques to illegally break into someone else’s Toyota Tundra is highly discouraged.
1. Thorough Check
This is always the first thing you should do when locked in or out is to check the other doors of the truck. Unlike traditional pick-up trucks, Toyota Tundra has 4 doors and many people tend to forget that when stuck in or out. Before panicking and calling a locksmith or shattering your vehicle window, thoroughly check all the doors.
2. Slim Jim Technique
A Slim Jim is a thin steel tool that can open Toyota Tundra doors with some properly placed maneuvers. Since the tool can get between the intersecting rod and levers that are responsible for opening your car door, they can do the job. Follow these steps to open your Toyota Tundra door with a Slim Jim.
- Put the hook of the Slim Jim between the window and the rubber seal.
- Slowly take it towards the position where the lock is located since you’re locked outside the car.
- Hold the Slim Jim tightly and push it to the right.
- Then keep thrusting the Slim Jim until your car door finally opens up.
- Grab your keys from inside of your truck and put away the Slim Jim.
3. Wedge Technique
The wedge technique requires you to have a rubber band and a coat hanger. Since none of the two materials is something you travel with every day, you can just buy them from a convenience store. The price of calling a locksmith or breaking the window will cost you more than this technique.
- Try to slowly slide the wedge coat hanger through the locked door’s gap.
- Next, you need to get some additional wedge in between your body and the door by prying the door slightly.
- Once you open the door, put the coat hanger into the ‘unlock door’ button gap which is usually located at the bottom of the truck window.
- Press the lock button with one hand and use the straightened coat hanger to unlock the door button whenever you like.
4. Oiling The Mechanism
A common problem among trucks like Toyota Tundra is the lack of proper lubrication. For this reason, doors get stuck and don’t open without applying brute force. If you are having trouble with opening the doors of your truck, try to manually lubricate the mechanism. You will find it beneath the door panel.
The intersecting rods and levers that connect the four doors of the Toyota Tundra to the body of the vehicle can be lubricated to work properly. If you’re having trouble with the lock button of your door, try lubricating it with dirt-free oil for the best results. Using a straw to lubricate the exact parts is highly recommended.
Additional Precautions
Once you’ve successfully opened a jammed Toyota Tundra door, you can follow some suggestions weekly to keep your vehicle out of such problems. One of them is to repeat an exercise with your vehicle time and again. Insert your car key into the door and lock, then unlock, then lock again. Keep doing this exercise for at least 10 minutes so that the object that keeps irritating your car door gets out of the way for good.
Maintaining your truck from time and time will also keep it away from problems that originate from door jamming. Oiling your truck doors and their specific locks is also important since it elongates the lifespan of these mechanical parts. Finally, a professional to check up on your parts once a year.
Concluding Words
Toyota Tundra might have the flexibility of being a payload truck and a passenger vehicle at the same time but it’s a truck nonetheless. So having problems with jammed doors should be nothing to worry about. For this reason, the article provides the techniques that can help you to open a jammed Toyota Tundra door or help you get in your truck if forgot the keys inside.
Calling the locksmith or breaking your truck window should always be the last option you pick since the cost of repairing or paying a professional is quite expensive. So, these techniques will help you to unlock your Toyota Tundra doors in various situations.
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