Toyota has issued a recall for around 51,000 2011 model year Tundras due to a possible issue with the rear driveshaft.

The slip yoke within the driveshaft could fail due to improper casting during production. Only one such incident has been recorded so far, with no accidents or injuries involved.

Notification letters will be sent out to owners next month. Dealers will perform a check on the driveshaft to determine whether or not it needs repair. Such a check takes about 10 minutes. If the driveshaft has to be replaced, it will be done free of charge.

Press Release

April 26, 2011
Toyota Announces Voluntary Recall on Certain Tundra Trucks to Inspect the Rear Drive Shaft

TORRANCE, Calif., April 26, 2011 – Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc, today announced it will conduct a voluntary safety recall on approximately 51,000, 2011 model year Tundra trucks to inspect the rear drive shaft. The rear drive shaft in an estimated 0.05 percent of the vehicles may include a component (slip yoke) that could break due to improper casting during the foundry process.

Toyota is aware of one drive shaft slip yoke failure in a customer-owned vehicle. There are no reports of accidents or injuries associated with this condition. No other Lexus or Toyota vehicles are involved in this recall.

Owners of the involved vehicles will receive a letter advising them of this recall by first class mail starting in May 2011. Toyota will also post this information on its website.

Toyota dealers will be instructed to perform an inspection to identify a specific “production lot” number located on the rear drive shaft. Based upon the inspection results, in a limited number of cases, the rear drive shaft may need to be replaced.

The inspection is estimated to take ten minutes. If the rear drive shaft needs to be replaced, the repair will take more time depending on the dealer workload. The inspection and / or replacement will be performed at no cost to the vehicle owner.

Detailed information and answers to questions are available to customers at www.toyota.com/recall and the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

Source: Toyota