The 2005 Toyota Tundra has 7 recalls, the most serious being multiple defects with the passenger-side frontal airbag inflator, where the inflator can rupture or explode and send metal fragments into the cabin, causing serious injury or death.
All of the top recalls center on airbag safety. The Takata-style inflator rupture issue appears across several filings covering different production periods and vehicle registration regions, including high-humidity areas like Florida, the Gulf Coast, Hawaii, and U.S. territories, where moisture accelerates inflator degradation. In each case, the passenger frontal airbag inflator can burst violently during a crash deployment, scattering sharp metal fragments toward occupants. A separate airbag concern involves the side curtain-shield airbags, which can deploy without a crash, raising the risk of injury to occupants who are not expecting deployment. There is also a compliance recall covering trucks built with automatic transmissions and optional front captain's chairs: an incorrect lens on the passenger seat occupant classification system indicator means the dashboard light cannot properly display whether the front passenger airbag is active or suppressed, leaving occupants without a way to confirm the airbag's status. Rounding out the list, certain trucks equipped with aftermarket seat heaters have a copper heating element that can short circuit if damaged, creating a fire risk in the seat itself.
