Watch A Toyota Tundra Tow Space Shuttle Endeavor

12 years, 2 months ago - 16 October 2012, Autoblog

There are publicity stunts, and then there's using a Toyota Tundra to tow the 145-ton Space Shuttle Endeavour across interstate 405 in Los Angeles.

That's exactly what happened Saturday night when Toyota lent a hand pulling the retired spacecraft over a bridge en route to the California Science Center. As it turned out, the Manchester Boulevard Bridge couldn't stand up to the weight of both the shuttle and the traditional tow vehicle, which sent organizers searching for something a little lighter to cover the five-minute drive across the bridge. As a 20-year sponsor of the science center, Toyota stepped in to help out.

The company developed a special tow dolly with Sarens Group, an engineering and heavy-lifting firm, just for the effort. A bone-stock 2012 Toyota Tundra CrewMax 4x4 did the deed, though something tells us this little stunt greatly exceeded the machine's tow rating.