Considering a 2003 Single Cab 4cyl taco / manual as a work daily, advice required

Good day gents and gals,

Over the years I've had a few tacos, all V6s, Scabs and Screws.... never a 4cyl or a single cab. Looking at on that has 190K+ on it, seems well taken care of, but have a few questions before I make the journey to even bother looking at it close.

These had a 5 speed, asking with this tranny and 4Cyl combo is it super high revving and annoying or such on highway at 110KMH? Not looking for a power house, nor a speeder here but curious.

I will be using this if purchase to compile 250-400km daily, and around 100KM of that is on some real crap backroads, mud and rough etc....

It has a canopy, so I am not worried about interior room a bunch, I can throw my tools etc in box. It has a bench seat and I wonder if that is somewhat comfortable or are these a sheet of plywood to ride in? LOL.


Any input on whether folks have used these for work or dailys with that kind of miles and what to expect I'd appreciate to hear from you! Many thanks!

Shawn

 

A big difference in handling and off road capability will be in what platform it's on - prerunner or 2wd base aka 5 lug by counting the lugs on the wheels - 5 vs 6 lugs each. Seats can be swapped out easily. I see a lot of bucket seats on Craigslist and bout a pair of buckets from a 01 that need a little love for $50. Just make sure you're not too tall for the cab.

 

Sorry yes it's 4x4 I should have mentioned this. Also I'm 5' 9"

 

my first job used 95-99 taco 4 cylinders for delivery vehicles. best things ever made. we'd carry 55 gallon drums of oil, 24 golf cart batteries (which weighed 70 lbs each), and would bottom out the suspension carrying parts 300 miles round trip a day.

id say d on't worry.

 

That's an endorsement lol.

When you were on highway at 70mph was she wound right out? That's really all I need to go for speed anyhow and on average maybe carrying 200-300 lbs of tools in the truck bed.

 

Wound right out? What do you mean? Do you mean to ask if the trucks were seemingly at their limits under load while on the freeway? Not at all! I drove those trucks 85 mph average on the freeway, loaded or not. If I needed to pick up speed real quick, I'd just drop to fourth and go without coming close red. 4th gear i think took me to 90. 5th was just the cruising gear.

But did you mention that you have a 4X4? I can't vouch for one of those since my current 4x4 v6 is very sluggish no matter what. I wouldn't honestly try and do what I did with the little 4 cylinders in my 6 cyl.

 

Yes that's what I meant "taxed" basically. And great info thank you!

 

OP,
You will be fine with the configuration you mentioned, especially with the manual trans.
My RC Prerunner has the 3RZ and auto trans, weighs in @ 4300 lbs and does fine.
Ditch the bench seat and go with buckets.

Hope this helps you.

 

I have the exact combination you describe on an 08 with 110k. I've only had it for 6 weeks and have yet to carry much of a load, but am loving it so far.There seems to be a nice synergy between the 2.7 and 5-speed MT. Cruises at 60 mph nicely turning a little over 2k RPM. My only complaint is stop and go traffic gets a bit tedious as 1st-2nd shift seems a bit rough and asynchronous.

I have read several complaints about the bench seat, but I actually find mine comfortable ...one mans pain is another mans pleasure. I did install a nice padded custom fit seat cover which helps. At 6' with longer than average limbs I still find leg room and cabin space more than adequate.

Hope this helps.

 

Pardon my inexperience on this exact topic but are buckets hard to find for these trucks? Are there several modifications required to fit them?

 

Buckets are readily available.
I ditched my OEM buckets for Corbeau's, twice, and ended up with ProCar's by Scat.

 

Here is a photo. Dual locking brackets are awesome too.
I wouldn't think there would be any mods required.

 

Those look great! Even came with the Center console pieces to? Mind sharing a link?

 

With being 4cyl/5speed how are these things when you're wheeling through mud and terrain? Obviously 4cyl not a power house I get that but is daily mudding a non issue?

 

Don't want to hijack this thread, so feel free to PM me, though I'm sure many people have similar questions - I'm always looking for members who have real world Corbeau experience. Which models did you have in your Tacomas, and why did you switch to ProCar's?

 

I just recently picked up an 03 regular cab 4cyl and I love it. I'm a roofer so I don't generally carry around too much weight but I put a couple square of shingles in her Thursday (around 700-800 pounds) with a bunch of tools and didn't bottom out the suspension once on pretty crap Vermont roads. As for driving on the highway I just took it on a trip to Boston which was about 4 hours away and the rpms didnt really bother me, around 3k in 5th going 75-80 mph (120-130 kpm). So far I've been getting around 20 mpg and 23 mpg highway with a totally stock setup. Only complaint about the 5 speed is going from 1st to 2nd gets kind of annoying when at a stop light, seems like I'm shifting into second before I even complete the turn. The cab is a little noisy but I've seen some threads of people putting HVAC foil tape all around the inside of the cab and it really helping out. As for the bench seat can't really complain but its also not the best, definitely looking into putting bucket seats in. If you can get it for a good price I would definitely jump on it, hope this helps.

 

Seating position similar to original? How much modding to brackets to install? Seat cost?
Details please, i need new seats

 

I have a 2000 3RZ (2.7L 4 Cyl) 4x4 Manual that is my daily driver (roughly 30 miles 1 way). I have never had an issue with highway speed and it doesn't run hard at all. Averaging about 20 MPG with it and some offroad tires. I would not hesitate to drive it 100-200 miles one way loaded. Towing a trailer is when I notice the 4cyl the most. My ranger or golf cart and a 12' trailer make it work (I never go into 5th gear when towing the UTVs).

Edit: I have a secondary vehicle (1 ton truck) for my towing needs, so I rarely tow with the Taco unless it is a short trip to the duck blind, etc.

 

My 1st set of aftermarket seats were the Corbeau GTII's and I also purchased their dual locking brackets.
The seat foam broke down quickly and the fabric began tearing. I then went to the Baja RS version, saving cash by not buying another set of brackets. Very uncomfortable.
The ProCar seats are very nice. They have a lumbar knob for adjustment which is nice. Their dual locking brackets are superior to the Corbeau version.

I paid $1200.00 for the pair.

 

Neither ProCar or Corbeau brackets needed modification to fit.

Hope this helps.