Earlier this year, a Toyota exec said that the automaker could have a Maverick-fighting pickup truck “when the market’s right.” There are signs that suggest the time is right now, because CarBuzz has just found a new patent for a truck-specific suspension mounting designed just for a unibody-style pickup.
It’s also a new mounting that could make this truck as strong as the company’s big trucks, especially when you’re trying to do real truck things.
Unibody Trucks Can Fold Like A Taco. The Corn Kind, Not The Toyota Kind
Render of a Toyota Corolla Cross-based Pickup Truck.CarBuzz/Valnet – Generated with AI assistance
In a typical unibody car or truck, the rear suspension is mounted to the body in the wheel well. The strong mounting point is usually called the shock tower or strut tower, because it’s a strengthened tower for those parts to attach to.
Toyota points out that when a load is transferred through the shock into the vehicle, the towers can be pushed inward. If there is heavy cargo in the back or a heavy load from a dip – or going over a jump – then the towers can actually start to bend the chassis inward. It’s a temporary bend, like trying to push the ends of a leaf spring together, but over time it can permanently deform or become less rigid.
In a car or even a crossover SUV, this isn’t normally a problem. In those vehicles, the forces are transferred into a bulkhead or into the roof structure, preventing long-term issues. Sports cars sometimes need more strength, so the automaker can put a brace between the two shock towers.
In a pickup, there isn’t any structure running across to take the load. That, Toyota says, can lead to too much deformation.
Can Adding A Strainer Make A Minitruck Tougher?
Toyota unibody truck patentToyota
Toyota’s fix isn’t exactly complicated. In the patent, the company describes welding what it calls a “strainer” to the truck bed. The strainer isn’t to drain your ramen; it’s to spread out the strain of the suspension loading.
The new part has multiple beads, the creases you put in a metal panel to add bending strength. There are more new beads on the rear arch itself that are there for the same reason. Toyota’s design also mounts new welded nuts to hold the rear shock to the body in one of those strengthened beads. The extra strength is enough to keep the wheel arches pointed the right way even when the vehicle is fully loaded.
This is where things get interesting: The patent also describes how the same design could be used in a crossover. In those situations, the strainer would be left off, and a rear cross-member would be installed instead. That adds flexibility. Though this part of the invention doesn’t seem worthy of a patent, it does show Toyota is looking at building a crossover and pickup on the same platform. RAV4 pickup, anyone?
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Press image of Toyota EPU ConceptToyota
The invention matters because it shows Toyota is working on a unibody pickup. It also shows that Toyota wants the truck to be able to do real truck work. Toyota’s pickups are legendary for durability, and it’s not likely going to sacrifice that just to build something smaller.
Adding strength isn’t just good for payload or towing; it’s also good for off-roading. A compact Toyota truck might not jump dunes like a Ford F-150 Raptor or Ram 1500 TRX, but it might still be used as aggressively as a TRD Tacoma. Beefing up the suspension will help it do that more safely and confidently in the short term but also more reliably in the long term. Is the new Stout on the way?
Patent filings do not guarantee the use of such technology in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of production intent.
Source: US Patent & Trademark Office
