Hi Scotty,
Last year I bought a a 2019 Tundra with 7200 miles. Not cheap but I know it's a truck I can drive into my grave.
This time of year I'm doing snow blowing, not plowing, on the side. On days where I go out it idles for up to 15 minutes and there is a lot of stop/ go and turning the engine on and off. In the town I live we use cinders in residential areas but salt on highways and main roads. I don't often hose off the undercarriage inbetween storms because they hit us almost weekly. I'm also at about 7000 ft elevation where the air is thin. Temps in the morning are in the negatives or single digits. I am confident the Toyota build quality can stand up to the abuse, I see a lot of old trucks in the business take the same beat down year after year.
Is there anything I can do to minimize the wear and tear in this situation? Fuel additives, antifreeze recommendations, sooner spark plug change interval? I keep up on oil/ filter changes every 5k miles. Right now it has an interstate battery. I plan on doing the the transfer fluid at 20k miles. Toyota recommends every 25k miles but the fluid is 5 years old this year.
Thanks for the constant flow of advice and videos!!
Did your Tundra come with a block heater? Everybody up here in the cold parts of Canada use block heaters.
Antifreeze is important. Get one of those concentration checkers if you don't already.
Always keep the battery topped up (sounds like shouldn't be problem for you) because they can freeze when depleted.
You might consider an underbody treatment like fluid film or crown to help with the salty highways.
See our how-to on car maintenance from the FAQ:
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/howto/maintenance/
Thanks Joe!
I do not have a block heater. I live in Arizona, our most populated city is always warm and dry but when you high up the weather changes drastically. I've seen some diesels where I live with heaters, do you have any brand recommendations?
I will pick up a concentrate checker, looks like they are pretty cheap. I have a multimeter so I can keep an eye on the battery.
I have not looked into an undercoating but I guess this is my sign. I was under the impression we didn't use salt on the highways until this season.
Check the "severe service" maintenance schedule for that vehicle. Don't forget transmission fluid changes.
Thanks Chuck!
I checked my owners manual, both short trips in freezing temps and long idle are met with frequent (5k mi) oil and filter changes. Phew! I also learned I need to torque and grease the u joints on the drive shaft at the same interval. Thanks again!