The Return of the Tacoma

Once upon a time...
I'm on my 3rd Tacoma, which I'm both excited and a bit melancholy about. You see, when a vehicle does you well, it's hard to say goodbye. My first Tacoma, a 1994 extended cab V6 was ushered out with over 310,000 kilometers on it, and all it ever needed was new tires and a battery... honest, the brakes didn't even wear out.

Tacoma number two was a 2000 extended cab V6 as well... almost the same in dimension, but sporting the newer 3.4L V6. It was not nearly ready for the pasture, but I'm a big boy now and needed a bigger truck.

Along came a new Tacoma...
Fortunately, Toyota was ahead of me on this one. In 2005, they introduced a redesigned Tacoma. This time, it was more than just a bit bigger engine and some curvy bodywork - it's a whole new truck. Well, new to the Tacoma name, but the guts of the Tacoma share their heritage with the 4Runner and several non-North American models - so you are getting a tried and proven engine and tranny combination.

What makes it go...
I've heard the base 4 cylinder model is quite peppy... but in my neck of the woods, you'll never find a 4 banger - everyone goes 4x4 and the 2.7L, 159 horsepower 4 cylinder is not available with the 4x4. The only other engine option is the new 4.0L 236HP V-6.

The new 4.0L is available with either the 6 speed manual, or the slick 5 speed automatic. If you think it looks a lot like the setup in the V-6 4Runner, it's because it is! The 5 speed shifts are nearly inperceptable it is so fast and smooth. You'd expect some jerkiness with that much power on tap, but it is smooth like butter. So smooth, that the automatic is rated higher for fuel economy than the 6 speed manual.

The new Tacoma is put together in California, and although the fit and finish is typical Toyota quality, it's not as tight a package as the previous made in Japan models I've had. There were great lengths of stray electrical tape all throughout the engine compartment, as several of the wire looms were apparantly hand-wrapped with black tape that was either coming unraveled or there was just excess tape ends left. It looked quite sloppy, and pulled away from an otherwise clean and tidy engine compartment, but was easily fixed up. All the serviceable items are front and centre, and the oil filter is mounted right on the top of the engine block. Both my previous Tacoma's required removing the lower engine guard and quite a bit of patience to remove and replace the filter. The new arrangement is a very thoughtful idea.

A bit less thoughtful is the air filter, which despite being easy to open, is located very near the intake manifold itself. It makes it difficult to reach, and the air duct that leads to the airbox is so stiff, I can't actually pull it back far enough to get the air filter out. My old Tacomas had it right up front, and it slid in and out like bread from a toaster. So, a bit of a miss on that one...

The rest of the motor is a big mystery - covered in a large plastic shroud that screams "big bill ahead when it's time to change sparkplugs". But, like most new vehicles, there's nothing to service on the motor for 100,000km or more. If you are a bit of a home mechanic, I'm sure the Tacoma will baffle you.

Looking around the engine compartment, it's hard not to notice the tires. The tires?!? Yup, the front suspension intrudes into the engine bay, leaving no shielding between the front shock mount and the exhaust manifolds. It's really, really wet where I live, and I'm wondering how dirty the engine bay is going to get once the weather warms up. Worse yet, if I blast through a puddle, is the manifold going to get hit with water and crack? Time will tell...

On the inside...
The new Tacoma is a huge step up in interior design. With so much more room to work with, you'll find larger and more comfy seats, a centre console that two drinks will fit side by side on, and a dash that looks very sport-uty compared to the very spartan dashes of old. You are stuck with the Toyota factory radio/CD player, because the whole unit is integrated high on the dash. My TRD model came with the 6 CD internal stacker, and steering wheel mounted audio controls. Really folks, if you are a hard core Toyota off-roader, it's touches like this that make you realize Tacoma has gone up-scale. While the factory sound system sounds quite good, the CD player doesn't support MP3 or WMA playback, and there is no auxiliary input. Several oter Toyotas of the current model year sport 6 CD changers with MP3/WMA and aux inputs, notably the new FJ cruiser which is also built around the same 4.0L motor.

To give the Tacoma a swoopy look, the roof line drops well before it hits the windshield. For taller drivers, it will make you feel like you need to duck down to see out the front. Yet, the hood is so much higher than before that you feel like you need to stretch your neck up to see ocer it. Compared to a full-size truck, visibility is good, but compared to the old Tacoma, it's quite a bit different. It took me a few weeks to get used to, but now it seems nimble and just like my previous Tacoma.

There are plenty of thoughful storage cubbies, and the back seats in the Double Cab fold down to provide access to underseat storage, and give a fairly flat loading surface. My TRD came with an external temperature guage, digital compass, and auto dimming rear mirror. I just hope that stuff keeps working. The beauty of the old Tacoma's was there was nothing to break. It either ran, or it didn't... nothing in between. There are way more gadgets to malfunction now, including the push-button 4wd selector, electronic vent controls, and even a built in 400W AC converter.

On the outside...
You can look as well as I can - you'll either like the direction Toyota went with the styling of new Tacoma, or you won't. It's bigger, and in the case of the Double Cab long box, it's much longer. Gone is the sports-car like manouvering in the city... you've got to take a good look around before you start moving in tight spaces. It has a very full-size feel to it.

The box is now a composite assembly with built in box rail caps and tie-down rails. It's quite nice, but now you don't have the option of getting a spray-in liner (or the cost of it either). There are some storage bins in the back, but they don't lock, so all you might want to store in them are some tie-downs or a tow rope. The rear bumper is horrible... it is a very thin sheet metal assembly that provides no protection for the rear corners at all. I can push the rear bumper into the box corners with 1 hand.
(note from winter 2007 - bumper was dented slightly from backing into frozen snow drift)

The built in trailer hitch of the TRD provides some protection from the rear, but without the hitch, there's nothing behind it but frame rails. Boo Toyota, boooo.

TRD Off-Road?...
OK Toyota, you've missed the boat completely here. While the new Tacoma has great ground clearance and good power, the extra money for the off-road package doesn't get you anything for off-roading. Well, almost nothing... you do get a limited-slip differential on the Double Cab, and a locking differential on the Access Cab - but really - a TRD package should include a full locking differential, and even a front locker.

Tires? Oh my... the tires on my TRD are barely gravel road worthy, let alone get you through any mud. The 17 inch wheels don't help, as while they look sharp, you'll pay big bucks to replace them with more meaty, off-road capable rubber. Why not give us the old faithful 15" wheel, 31" tire option Toyota? A modest lift, and 33" tires looked great on the old truck. Now, I'll have to buy a lift kit, and 4 new wheels as well as new tires?

The only other TRD feature is the bump on the hood - a fake hood scoop that does look cool - maybe. Oh, and the 'Bilstein Shocks'. Wow, like I can tell the difference between shocks that are made in China vs. those made in Korea. So, while I bought the TRD for its accompanying trailer hitch and LSD, if you are a real off-roader, you might be further ahead with the base model and putting the money into some locking differentials. It's a $6000 spread between top and bottom models on the Double Cab.

Upscale...
There is no doubt Toyota took this truck upscale and aimed deeper into the 'utility' truck buyer... the snowboarding, kayaking, haul-my-mountain-bike-out-of-the-city crowd. 75% of the time, that's me, so I stuck with the Tacoma. But, 25% of the time I'm on deactivated logging roads, driving through snowy mountain passes, and boldy going where no man has gone before. For this purpose, you'll need to invest even more money to make the truck practical for off-road use. Really, Toyota has taken a born to off-road truck and turned it into a Camry with a box. We're a one vehicle family, so we'll deal with it. For those with true off-roading passions - buy an old Tacoma and save your new one for driving to church.

I'll be back...
I'll keep you all updated, because while I love the look and comfort of my new Tacoma, I have a feeling we're in for rough times ahead. A feeling I really shouldn't have after spending over $40,000 on a truck.

One month later...
Well, I have to admit that the Yota is growing on me by leaps and bounds. The first big trip was all the way back to Saskatchewan, a 5500km round trip. The truck handled great, was very comfortable, and carried oodles of Christmas presents back and forth with no problems. The tires are performing better than I expected as well, although I doubt I'd consider them as replacement tires.

No mechanical problems of any sort, altough the brakes squeal a bit backing out of the driveway in the morning. Many others have complained of this, and were told the same thing I was - the wet mornings and light application of the brakes makes them squeak. OK, but why didn't my old Tacoma squeak then?

The cruise control is a bit numb-skulled on the hills, which are abundant here in the mountains. Where the roads were good enough to use it, it was very quick to gear down and rev like crazy up the hills. Yet, the same grade of hill with the cruise off and I can hold my speed just fine without it gearing down. I imagine it's not a very smart system that uses engine vacuum to figure out if it is working too hard...

On our frosty winter trip, I also quite missed having heated side mirrors. OK, it's a picky thing, but it sure is nice to have. The rear window didn't fog up too bad, which is good because there is no rear defroster.

Stay tuned for adventure!

Three months later...
All is well with the Toyota, so far we've been to the dealer with it maybe 6 times... just to visit! Actually, once we got an oil change, one time they swapped my 1 7/8" ball for a 2" ball on the hitch, and the rest we were looking at the new Yaris and looking for accessories to add-on.

The Tacoma has an interesting bed rail system that has a lot of options, and one of them is a set of cross-bars that let you use Yakima rack mount attachments in the box. The cross-bars mount at the top of the box, allowing you to use bike mounts, ski mounts, kayak mounts... and still have the full depth of your box available for cargo. It's a pretty neat system, but for some reason Toyota Canada doesn't have them here yet... I'll be ordering it from a US dealer and let you know how they work.

I've also added the 'Vent-visors' window trim from Wade. There are a few styles of them, some that use sticky tape to stick on the paint, the 'Toyota' ones that stick on the window frame, and the Wade ones that actually stick inside the window channel. It's not extremely cold here, but the dealer said they had a few of their window visors blow off on the highway because the tape lets go when it's cold. They've been given paint prep kits and have been told to scuff up the window trim so they'll stick better. I'm not into that type of damage, so I got the aftermarket Wade ones off Ebay... they were actually a little bit less than the Toyota brand.

Mileage wise, I've been keeping it all in a spreadsheet and we're averaging around 24 city / 26 highway right now. I'm pretty happy with that, as most of our driving is in town, or slow speed.

I've pulled our 12 foot utility trailer a few times, and you don't even know it's there. Really! The box is so high that I can't see it at all unless there is something in it. I think I'll be adding some flags to the back corners...

Nine months later...
Things are find and dandy with the Tacoma for the most part. In my old Tacoma, as in many fuel injected vehicles, the injectors made the familiar 'tick tick tick' sound as they cycled on and off. It seems the newer the vehicle, the easier it is to hear this because the rest of the drive train is so quiet. I thought that same ticking sound on my new Tacoma was just injectors, but it turns out there was a design problem with some of the exhaust manifolds and that's where the ticking came from. It took a couple of weeks to get the replacement parts because Toyota Canada only had 1 set of them on hand... not expecting a 'Service Bulletin' to be issued.

In Toyota-speak, they have TSB's - a Technical Service Bulletin. They aren't recalls, and some of them are just simple information bulletins like 'How to service a tire with the inflation pressure device installed'. But, some of them are directed to mechanical or appearence related issues. In this case, customers who complained about the noisy exhaust manifolds got them replaced with the design change. Only a certain range of production was affected, and only a certain number of those have the problem. So, if you don't notice or don't complain, you'd never know there was a problem.

There are web-sites you can go and view all the TSB's for whatever model you want. Without this information, you are really at the mercy of your service advisor if they are up on the latest bulletins for your vehicle. In my case, the service manager had the exact same truck as mine (same colour too) and after they fixed mine (I guess I was the test-run), they fixed his.

In any case, after a short break-in period after the repair, the tick-tick-tick of the exhaust is gone, replaced with the always present tick-tick-tick of the fuel injectors.

I've added another accessory, the Toyota cross-bars for the bed. They bolt on to the existing moveable tie-downs, and give you the equivalent of a roof rack in the bed of your truck. Why would you want that? Well, now we have a pair of Thule bike racks and can carry the bikes above the bed, leaving the whole floor available for other camping cargo.

The interesting thing with the cross-bars is they have the same channel setup as the side and front rails, meaning you can move any rail accessory to the cross-bars (like extra tie downs) giving you a lot of options for load configuration. Once winter gets closer, we'll get a ski/snowboard carrier as well, as our ski gear doesn't quite fit inside the cab.

All of these things can be added to the Toyota roof-rack of course, but we didn't get the roof rack, and I wouldn't want to try load bikes on the roof... too high... A canoe or kayak, or your skis would be fine on the roof rack, but the only thing that won't fit using the bed cross-bars is a canoe.

We'll be making another 5000km+ trip in September - I'll update you all with the 1 year anniversary.

Twelve months later...
We had another epic drive from BC to Saskatchewan - this time on nice dry roads and sun-shine filled days. Again, the Tacoma did very good on gas - plenty of 600km+ tanks. We added a gizmo to play our iPod through the stereo for the trip, and my wife borrowed a portable DVD player. We threw a drop-in tool box in the back to carry some extra cargo.

My only complaint now is the rear brakes on wet or damp days. Almost every morning, they squeal loudly when backing out of the driveway. After a little bit of driving, they won't do it again. I got the standard "they all do it" routine from my dealer, but they said they'd service the brakes my next oil change (on warranty). The rear leaf springs also squeak if they aren't clean... kind of annoying... lubricating them doesn't do a thing.

We still love the Tacoma, but man, that new Tundra looks pretty sweet!

An update on the rear leaf springs...
There have been a couple of 'upgrades' for the rear leaf springs. The first is a slide pack that goes between the leafs to get rid of the squeaking that some leaf-packs seem to get. The other is a complete replacement of the rear-leaf packs with new springs. The new leaf springs have an extra leaf. I'm not sure if it does anything for the squeaking, but it is meant to address some owner's complaints of the rear bottoming out with moderate loads in the back. Mine are on the way, as I've noticed with more than about 500 lbs in the back I can get it to bottom out on frost heaves. Hopefully, the unloaded ride isn't compromised. That is always the balancing act with trucks - making them civilized when they are empty, but still capable of hauling a lot of stuff.

Further update on the rear leaf springs...
The new springs are in and it made quite a different. With the extra leaf, the truck sits about 2 inches higher in the back. I'm sure the springs will settle a little bit, but it looks much better than the old ones where the truck sat lower in the rear - even unloaded.

The ride is stiffer, but not harsh. The truck definately corners flatter, and is much better behaved when we are towing.

A new co-worker was impressed with my Tacoma and bought one himself - exactly the same but blue. He's been doing a lot of commutes to visit his girlfriend about 600km away, and he's loving it.

2 years later...
You're kidding me? 2 years already? Well, the 2007 and 2008 Tacoma's have joined the 2005 and 2006 models with no substantial changes. The big change at Toyota is the new Tundra (2007 model) which has joined the ranks of the mega-super-extra-huge trucks. Who cares about the Tundra? Well, the low-end Tundra is cheaper than the high-end Tacoma, so it owe it to yourself to take a look and make sure you are getting all the truck you need for the $$$.

As for my Tacoma, this year the big expense was putting some actual winter tires on. We drove home again for Christmas (5000km round trip) and I expected the mostly worn summer tires would not be adequate. Wow, was I ever right - we got freezing rain and snow the day after I put the studded winter tires on, and the roads on the trip home were very poor. I managed to get 4 rims locally from a 2006 Tundra, and get the pressure sensors and center caps from eBay. Pressure sensors aren't essential, but without them you'll have a flashing tire on your dash all the time... until you put your summer tires back on.

Let's see, what went wrong with the Tacoma this year... hmmm... oh yeah, nothing. 2 years and nothing has taken us back to the dealer as far as mechanical breakdowns. They did replace the cabin air filter last oil change though...

We now have 4 Tacoma's just like mine where I work. All the same, except one guy went with the 6 speed manual. 2 of us are putting light lift-kits on in the spring... I'll update you all again then.

Lift me up!
Summer 2008 and I just had the Revtek 3 inch lift kit installed. This is a very simple kit that involves a spring insert for the front coils, and an aluminum block spacer for the rear leafs. I also opted for the larger Revtek rear shocks and front differential spacer kit, which should take care of any back or front end problems. It looks fantastic, but was a bit expensive at $1000 at my local dealer. It is installable in a decently equipped home garage, however it is a 4 to 6 hour job and requires some specialized tools.

I haven't put the new tires on yet, as we are just making a big trip and I want to wear my old ones out a bit more. However, with the 3 inch lift, I'm told a 285/65 series will fit with no problems.
3 years later... 
Happy Birthday Tacoma!  At three years I'm happy to say the Tacoma is doing just fine.  The 2009 model finally brings the electronic stability control to all Canadian models, and leather is an option for the first time as well.  With our mini-surge in the Canadian dollar, I was tempted to get an 09 last fall.  But, I 'invested' instead in a set of 18 inch TRD wheels and some big BFG 33 inch tires.  Combined with the 3 inch suspension lift, this is an entirely different looking, and handling, truck.  The wheels are a big enough off-set to allow the tires to clear, which gives the truck another 4 inches of track (width).  It gives it a much more 'truck-like' ride, which when other Tacoma drivers have driven my truck, they comment that they like it.  I find the ride to be a bit too stiff, which I think is partially due to the heavier multi-ply tires.  But, they'll likely last forever.
I also spent a lot of money ($450) on the TRD cold air intake.  It is a beautiful kit and installs easily.  The idea is, you get about 15hp more after you put this on, and you can just clean and reuse the filter.  I can't say I really noticed a difference in the power... but the truck is a bit louder now when you step on it.  I am hoping to put the TRD exhaust on in the spring and perk it up a bit more.  
I also ordered the WeatherTech floor mats.  They are also pricy ($250 for front and back) but are a very precise molded mat that basically cover the whole floor area with a nice mat.  It is a bit thinner material than I though, and doesn't have very deep channels, but it looks fantastic and fits exactly.  The back mat is 1 piece and covers the centre hump which is nice.
We now live in a remote area where it is all gravel roads, steep hills and lots of curves.  The truck performs fantastic and I don't expect any problems to pop up given our first 3 problem-free years.  We bought a small travel trailer as well, but it hasn't been delivered yet.  I'm eager to see how it performs with the Tacoma.  Did you know that towing kit for the Tacoma includes the wiring harness for a brake controller?  Well, it does!  All you have to do is wire the pig-tail provided by Toyota to the brake controller, and plug it in under the dash.  Sure beats trying to find 'the blue wire with the yellow stripe' and piggy back connect your controller.
Stay tuned!