The recently redesigned Toyota Tacoma pickup is still a sales darling for the Japanese automaker, and it remains one of the most popular trucks in the country. Now, however, it seems you can play too hard with one, and cause some braking issues in the process. That's the latest according to a recall notice filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this week, claiming over 106,000 pickups could have mud or dirt build up — you know, not an uncommon scenario for Toyota's more adventurous customers — and wear down an important part. Here's what we know:

So far, NHTSA documents show 12 warranty claims and five field reports of issues potentially related to the recall. According to NHTSA documents, Tacomas equipped with 16-inch brake systems positioned inside 17-inch wheels have a tight tolerance, and if mud and dirt build up on the interior of the wheels when off-roading, eventually contact can be made with the components and the intruding mud, which could lead to damage and wear through the brake lines, causing a fluid leak, and eventually a decline in braking performance and stopping distance, which could lead to a gnarly crash.

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Toyota says it's still investigating this issue on its other braking configurations for the Tacoma but has nothing to report so far. Again, it's only four-wheel drive Tacomas equipped with 17-inch wheels and the 16-inch braking kit in the rear; Toyota specifies that it's exploring "2-wheel drive and a combination of 16-inch brakes with either 17-inch or 18-inch Toyota wheels, and other 4-wheel drive Tacoma vehicles with 16-inch brakes and 18-inch Toyota wheels to determine whether there is a potential for a brake fluid leak."

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Toyota says it was first alerted to a potential issue back in July of 2024. Owner notifications will be sent out by April, and the remedy is to reattach the brake lines or move them. It goes without saying almost that this sprays a little mud in Toyota's face, since, well, the Tacoma — like other midsize trucks — is marketed as a rugged, go-anywhere personal adventure machine.

On the other hand, though NHTSA's posting is somewhat confusing. No Tacoma has 16- or 17-inch brake rotors, the braking components most often referred to by a measurement in inches, at either end, only 12.6- or 13.4-inch front rotors or 12.2- or 13.20-inch rears, so the measurement's size reference is odd. Extrapolating a relative comparison, though, from NHTSA's filing, we take it to mean trucks with the smaller of the two available brake packages, 17-inch wheels, and four-wheel drive are affected. Diving into the Tacoma's specs, that suggests this issue affects only certain basic SR and SR5 trim levels, which aren't off-road-specific variants like, say, the (rear-drive) TRD PreRunner or four-wheel-drive TRD Off-Road, TRD Pro or Trailhunter models.