Testing Toyota’s Tough Truck in the Tundra: Part 2

Upon arrival in Goose Bay, the mood was somber. We didn’t come to Labrador to drive 75 percent of the road. We changed our minds and decided that leaving the drive incomplete was not an option. That meant the return trip would have to be accomplished in about half the time it took us to drive it the first time.

The southern portion of the Trans-Labrador is the newest section of the road and also the worst. The potholes can be more than a foot deep and most are hidden by thick mud. It gets so bad that the locals in Goose Bay told us that there was no chance our trailer – with its six-inches of ground clearance – would make it. So we unhitched the dead weight and left it behind in the care of a local hotel.

Up until this point, both trucks had remained on the road and the pile of tow straps, jacks and tools we brought were unused. That changed when a ditch swallowed up the passenger side wheels of the 1794. Because of the way the road was ploughed, the ditch looked like solid ground because it was completely filled in with snow.

The truck was nearly able to climb out by itself, but the more we tried, the deeper the wheels sank.

Thankfully the recovery hooks on the front of the Tundra are easy to access. A quick tug from the 2007 model in its four-wheel drive low setting had all four wheels back on the road without damaging either truck.