General Discussion and BS thread -Safe Haven

I have been patiently waiting for the 3rd gen Tacoma. I really thought they were taking their time to develop a great truck to bring to their throngs of loyal followers. Instead they bring us "this".
Toyota will find success in the smaller P/U segment because the others will continue to suck a little more. I had high hopes for the new Tacoma, instead I found it under engineered and pandering to the most common denominator. Go ahead and tell me about the Go Pro mount again, or that drum brakes are the best for off-roading, or that most buyers wanted the rear seats to fold down at an angle instead of flat, go ahead and I may imagine myself beating the poor salesman with a bag of Go Pro mounts I bought on Amazon for $5. They make some of the most capable vehicles on earth and rarely bring them to the States. Until they address some of the rushed engineering, they can park this rig alongside the FJ cruiser on the island of misfit rigs. Sorry but I'm pissed.

 

Lighten up a bit. It's a great truck but will not satisfy everyone. You can always buy a Nissan?

 

Harry, You're probably right , about lightening up a bit that is.

Thanks for being the voice of reason.

Nice build.

 

Wow, great first post! But you forgot to tell us how much better the GMChevy/Ranger/Hilux/Ram/150 Duramax diesel is. Where you been for the past 6 months. These kind of rants are old hat by now.

 

KBill, Admittedly, I am behind the times. Taxation without representation still gets my Irish up but how could my comments be old hat by now? The truck has just started arriving on the dealerships lots. I had to get my hands on it and check it out for myself and then begin to develop my own thoughts. I'm sure it will be better than the others. My point is they have the means to make it great but instead they did just enough to placate the masses and eek out a victory.

 

I know it just came out, but folks have been griping about the very same things you were griping about since it was introduced in January. You're just late to the party, that's all. This particular thread is a combination of several different threads, bemoaning for the most part, the inadequacies of the upcoming 3rd gen. Go back a couple of hundred pages and see what I mean.

 

Wait. What? Drum brakes? My damn 50yr old Scwhinn has drum brakes!

 

And if it was your favorite sports team...you'd be celebrating the victory.

 

I'm not really sure why people are so upset about drum brakes. Yes they are old tech but when you think about it why would they update them when there is no weight back there? If you have better brakes, the tires will just lock up easier. Tacomas were not designed with hauling in mind either, which is the only way they would get enough weight in the back end to warrant better rear brakes.

 

I have a disk brake conversion in the rear of my 05. I bet you a box of beer my truck stops faster than your truck, especially after a water crossing.

 

Which conversion? I've heard mixed feelings about them to say the least. You're the first person I've heard with a flat out positive review.

 

boom.

 

Mine are 2004 Tacoma front rotors and calipers on a 9.5" diamond axle with a wilwood proportioning valve. I also have a 1991 FJ80 with drum brakes, and they suck when they get water or mud in them. It's interesting to note that the FZJ80 had disk rears in 1993+. Why would a world market heavy duty landcruiser have disk rear 20 years ago? Drums are good at stopping large loads, but poor at dispersing heat, and just not as precise as disk. Once drum brakes "cam over" it's hard to feather the pedal for threshold braking and I feel they have a poor bias compared to disks. I also like not boiling my brake fluid, but I understand most people don't drive like I do. That said, the 3rd gen brakes will be A ok for 97% of the drivers out there, but for me, with ABS/TRAC disabled and my driving style they didn't work out that great.

 

Ah, I see. Nice setup .

A custom proportioning with a custom setup would work well. For a second I though you were going to mention that random Chinese swap that people were posting links to for a bit but no one I found decided to try it. In general, without disabling the ABS and rebuilding a custom system, it's damn near impossible to swap out the rear Tacoma drums and get a good result. It's a bit unfair to compare your setup to stock braking though. If anything, for the average non desert runner, even changing out the front brakes with better performance pads can make a huge difference.

Now for the Tacoma versus Colorado braking discussion, I think it's been said a million times. 4 wheel discs are better. The current setup works too.

On a weird note I still haven't figured out why after every water crossing my front brakes make the weirdest noises. So do a lot of second gens. It almost sounds like something is stuck on the back shield plate but when I check it looks clean.

 

Oh yeah I'm sure it will. I am not putting down all 4 disc brakes at all. I would much rather 4 wheel disc if I could, but like you said, most people don't need 4 wheel disc. Discs are easier to fix as well. I just don't think it is the end of the world that they don't have all disc the way people are complaining about it. I bet if toyota put disc brakes back there and covered them up, the average person would not be able to tell the difference. Braking also depends on if you have good tires too, which Toyota doesn't seem to like putting on either. lol.

 

Why doesn't Willwood make a conversion? I want better brakes.

 

Pick up EBC rotors and Green Stuff pads. More than enough stopping power. If you prefer more, get the Red Stuff pads....Much, much cheaper....and great performance.

 

Probably because of the E-brake. Up front I have powerstop drilled and slotted rotors with porterfield racing R4 compound pads. I can squall 37's at highway speeds.

 

I have also had very good results with Hawk HPS on my Si. Not sure if they make them for Tacoma.