4 cylinder capability question

Wondering if a 4 cylinder tacoma could manage a roof top tent and a full bed of gear? Thoughts? 2000 tacoma sr5 manual.

 

Yes it can.. see below



Gearing might come into play, depends how you feel about being slow. 4.88s and 35s for me are awesome I'd never go back

 

4.88 and 35's FTW

 

Damn. She's taking heavy load with that bumper as well! Thanks thay gives me more confidence to play with my truck some more.

 

My goodness... hwy mpg must suck... RPMS have got to be near 3000 at 70? Maybe more....?

 

Our speed limit here is 55 so no problem there.

 

Hawaii is the only exception, lol. There is still 49 other states. Tons of open road you must navigate.

I always thought it was pointless to put that money into a 2.7L with gearing, etc, when a stock 4.0L/3.5L will pull it fine.

Someone explain to me why you would dump that kind of money into a 2.7L?

I love my 2.7L btw, just can't justify dumping tons of money into it. Im.all ears...

 

Very understandable. If I lived anywhere else, I wouldn't have done it. Why did I do it? I had the cash to buy an 86' 4Runner that was sas'd, geared, locked....you name it. The seller flaked and decided to move back to Cali and take it with him. So I said fuck it. I'll just lock n gear my truck with the cash. I geared as low as possible for the off-road benefit, I could care less how it handles on the road. Stock gears and 35's and this thing would be way too fast, even in 4lo.

 

Could be done with gears, no way I'd want to add a ton of weight to the 2.7 without regearing.

 

Its definitely not for everyone.

Regardless if it has a 4.0 or 3.5 or even a v8 swap...I'd still go with the lowest possible gearing to accomplish my main goal, build my truck to perform where it counts for me. Off-road and slow as hell hahaha

 

Calibrated ultragauge never drops below 19mpg

 

Next to lockers, the hearing was by far the most beneficial mod.

 

Works well for me...

Credit to @m3bassman for taking the photo
This was with a bed loaded full of spare gas, water, firewood, camping supplies, etc....

 

Hmmm...I see where you guys are coming from... here's the deal. I love the mpg from these 2.7L, and Toyota found the middle road for most tasks (errands, off road , camping , city/hwy ) and geared it accordingly?

I really don't want to deviate from the reliability/good MPGs... I think the biggest tire size would be 265s and a mid travel (icon)... preferably leave it with 245s but more aggressive tread.

Overland/DD vs. Rock crawling are two totally different forms of offroading.

Is there anything wrong with getting a campershell, aggressive 245s and call it good? Just trying to build a reliable slightly overland/DD vehicle, that's capable on the trails..

 

Nothing wrong with that, just to give you an idea of what these little engines can do, I have 265/75/16 BFG KO2s in Load Range E and my engine makes less power (roughly only 150HP) than the second gen 2.7L. You have 4.10 axle gearing, I have 3.58. Hopefully that helps you understand that you can go up in size a bit without taking a huge MPG hit. With 4.10s and a manual transmission you can comfortably run 31s or 31.75s (265/75/16) and still do very well in the mileage dept. You'll want the extra tire height because it is the cheapest form of lift and it allows you to not get stuck in little stuff as easily, plus you can air down further on rough roads for comfort and traction. Just so you know 265 is only tread width, so just saying that only tells people how wide of a tire you want.

 

2.7 L engine is the most reliable engine there is! 350k on mine original clutch, and tranny and still running strong. Im running 31s now on factory height without any problems and get awesome mpg... on the highway. Off road i have never had a problem even with a full bed but sometimes I wish I had a little extra power, but mpg makes up for it. She's my first car though so I'm not complaining.

 

Where in Washington are you from... lots of fun wheeling in our state.

 

Wow, thanks for the feedback guys! Really appreciate it. Can't justify the TRD Sport package on these new gen 2.5 Tacomas. Can't get the manual in a TRD OR anymore for Access Cab... might as well go with the cheaper 2.7L 4x4 5MT and get the same 4x4 TRAC as a TRD Sport that's $7000 cheaper.

 

Spokane baby! I know there's a lot of off roading out west, im not not too sure about out east. At least not a lot I know about! Normally I'll do some trails off of friends private land but that's about it. I would love to know of any spots!!

 

If it's not a manual I won't be buying it. That's about it for me. Unless it's a new 2016 tacoma. Those have me drooling, that is one good looking truck.