Following up on this, I ended up buying a gen 2.5 instead. I hate the poor fuel efficiency of the old 5.7 already. After the first 400 mi or average is 15.5. totally stock truck. I definitely like the interior layout and size of the older truck better. Much better space in the rear seat. The turbo 6 is smoother than the V8, or better isolated. It feels a lot like the V6 getting my rx350. Meaning that you basically have to look at the tach to see what RPM you're at. You can't really hear it or feel it. With the 5.7 it's pretty smooth but you definitely know when it shifts and you can both hear and feel the vibration more. The 5.7 is much louder outside of the truck also. The 3.5 is pretty quiet. To me - quieter is better.

The truck I have has the OEM Bilstein TRD off-road shock setup. They are not very good. The rear end when empty is pretty unsettled over rough highway. Especially potholes. I probably won't lift this truck. But I do think rear shocks are coming soon. I already have a set of air helper springs on the way. My first trip coming up is towing my camper from Utah to Alaska. So towing comfort is a big goal and I'll be loaded pretty heavy. The new tundra was substantially better in that respect. It had air suspension. So that probably helps some too. The front end feels actually pretty comparable. The suspension design up front is similar so it makes sense.

I'd love to see somebody make a good turbo kit for the 5.7. I don't need more power. But it's nice to avoid the nvh of dropping a gear out two up every hill. My powerstroke was really nice in that respect. It rarely ever down shifted. The boost just goes up and it pulls harder. I'd guess the TTv6 is similar. The 5.7 drops down a gear or two pretty quick.

My other thought is that the paint quality on my gen 2.5 isn't very good either. I didn't realize how bad the paint was in the tundra's until I looked a little closer. It's more uniform than the new one on my old one. It has medium heavy orange peel everywhere. So I guess it looks the same everywhere. But it's not very smooth. My 4Runner was significantly flatter paint. It may just be the case that the paint operation at the Texas factory just isn't very good compared to what they do in Japan.