Placing custom order any thoughts on the 2021 vs 2022? Also some random towing questions.

My 2021 SIERRA AT4 with the 6.2 gets better mileage than my Tacoma.

 

This is my truck with just a shade over a 1,000 Pounds in the bed, didn't squat as much as your truck.

 

My camper was 3300lbs dry (Starcraft 18DS) and towing was unbearable (for me). Constantly pegged out to maintain any speed here in the midwest. You'll get all the folks that say "all the power is made in the higher RPMs blah blah" but when it's all you listen to for hours I contemplate the longevity of my truck and sanity. My counterparts' JL Rubicon blows it away sadly.

 

Imo, the tacoma is a great truck as a daily driver and doing moderate towing when needed, and even carrying some good loads if you use them for work, but its no sub for a full size when towing larger trailers especially on winter roads.

 

I am glad that your didn’t squat like mine did.

I put an Ironman foam cell lift on my truck at 19k miles, the from coil overs where set in the middle, I only wanted about two inches of lift. Here are the measurements from the lowest part wheel lip to the fender.
FRONT
29.5” front (Stock, measured at a dealership, 2020 DC TRD OR)
29.25” (my truck with 19k miles on it measured at my friends shop with my Victory 4x4 1/2 Bed rack, 75lbs and Tuffstuff Alpha ll RTT 140lbs, everything else out of the truck)
31.75” (Ironman suspension on after a day of driving it)

REAR
32” (Stock, measured at a dealership, 2020 DC TRD OR)
28.5” (my truck with 19k miles on it measured at friends shop with my Victory 4x4 1/2 bed rack 75lbs and Tuffstuff Alpha ll RTT 140 lbs, everything else out of the truck)
35.5” (Ironman suspension on after a day of driving, with my old suspension in the back, my golf club, my bicycle, clothes and other minor stuff)

 

I have a 2021 4Dr Long TRDOR and tow an Intech Chase, with 3 to 5 bicycles in the bed. Air bags were a must! It does not climb well and needs to drop to 3rd on Hwy hills to maintain 65mph.
I have trailer brakes and they are a must in my opinion.

 

Just wanted to parrot what some have been saying about ‘custom ordering.’ Toyota doesnt offer this. Go to their site, put one together with options you like. Then take this info to the dealer. If they have something on allocation that is close , they will tell you what needs to happen to get it. Not all dealers have the same choices so it may take a few visits to several dealers.
Normally a dealer could swap trucks with another dealership to get you what you want, but with the current shortage thats not happening as much. If you find what you want , be prepared to pay MSRP and wait a few weeks for it to arrive.

 

What's the point of a Tacoma then??

Per this thread, towing sucks. After reading about the atkinson cycle motor that equates to "high rev, low output" (wtf? lol). And I'm about to pay MSRP for a '21 MT 500 miles away that I can't test drive, and is probably 2nd or 3rd choice color.

I'd wait for a '22, but it sounds like the MTs run later one after AT trans quotas are made. This purchase is sounding dumber and dumber for me as time goes on.

 

Sounds like you should get something else.

 

I like the way it looks; I like the interior. What does it do well?

 

I use mine as a work truck. I have no problems plowing snow, towing 24’ boat a few times a year, towing a trailer, hauling firewood in the bed , and general daily driving .
No real complaints here . Right now it’s difficult to get good deals on ANY trucks. The demand is really high right now, so you are going to pay. In addition inventory is scarce so it took me a month of looking , and 2.5 mos for the one with color/options I wanted to come in.

 

I don’t do much towing over 2000-3000 lbs and that’s a couple times a year, I use the bed to haul stuff all the time, but not a lot of weight except once in a while. MPG are close to what I expect.
I got this size truck over a full size, because of where I go with it. I have been on trails where a full-size trucks would have a problem. The size works for me.

 

Chris Duffin squatted over 1000Lbs....thats alot.

 

I was thinking about a small camper around teardrop size or a little larger for 2-3 people with a tent as auxiliary. I like the idea of adventuring a little off-road. Sort of trading in road racer for something a little different. 90% of it's life will be daily driver though. It seemed reasonable until I see numbers. I don't want a full size truck and I like the tacoma.

 

Its tops in reliability and resale value. As far as everything else its like a Swiss Army Knife as it does a good job at a little of everything.

 

In my opinion, it doesn't do a whole lot of things well, but it does most things okay. So for me, it makes a decent all arounder. It does all of the light duty stuff I need, like hauling bikes, short distance towing and stuff but is still small enough that it's not a problem driving/parking in the city. The community and aftermarket mods are also pretty big. And you can offroad it a lot better than a fullsize.

For my heavy duty things like towing heavy, hauling lumber I have an old school F250 with an 8ft box.

 

F-150 hybrid owner here.

This is by far the best truck I’ve ever owned. Comfortable and powerful. Good on gas. When we got this truck my last truck was valued about $4,000 less than I bought it for with 63,000 miles and 3 years old. The only downsides I’ve had so far is not knowing I could order the exact truck configuration I wanted and have it ‘custom’ built, AND the turning radius of the 4x4 is like 6 feet wider than the 4x2.

All that being said my wife drives the truck more than I do and she loves it too. I miss my little Tacoma from 2014 but that was a different simpler truck from a different era.

Two things I would make sure I get IF I were to do it over would be co-pilot360 with BlueCRUISE prep package for self driving and the 7.2kW inverter generator. Both of which would have cost me around $750/each had I custom ordered.

 

I missed my 2001 4.7 tundra for a while, but the more i use my 2020 tacoma the more i don't miss the tundra. I've found everything that i did with the tundra the tacoma has done just as well, and better. Gas mileage being much better.

 

I've been researching travel trailers for a while for myself. I believe you would be fine with a tear drop. they are small and light. you would also be fine with a pop-up or any of the tent options. For me, I live in the south where the humidity is 98% on the regular and it rains half of the year. I don't want a tent camper, and I want a full bathroom. I actually think the GeoPro 19FBS would be perfect layout, but another member on here said they had trouble towing with theirs, so now i am thinking maybe i need lighter or a hard side pop-up. anyways, I think you would be fine with anything smaller than 19' especially if its a pop-up.

I did see the TrailManor hardside pop-ups and I am temped on that one, but its quite expensive.

 

GeoPro 19FBS looks nice. Those are both high end in my eyes. I'd like to stay closer to 2000lbs.