Looked at a new 2023 today-

I'm upgrading my 2009 TRD pre runner access cab to a new truck & will give the old one to my son.
Dealer has a new 2023 TRD 4wd (not the pro I wanted) but it has the crawl feature I want. V6 auto.
Negative is the cloth seats & comparing to my 4.0, this thing is gutless. Plus going from a 6 ft to 5 ft bed. Sadly a DCLB won't fit in my garage.
But you can't have it all. I guess next year they will all be hybrids.
Dealer is giving me 2 grand off MSRP. Includes 2 yrs maintenance. It has a whopping 5 miles on it- we put 3 on it doing test drive I'm not 100% sold on this one yet but it's alot cheaper than a TRD Pro. The more I look at the pics, the more I want it. I can put leather seat covers over these.
Plan is to keep it stock. Too old for crazy off road so it's dirt roads, mud & snow now. Need to get to those fishing spots!

So my questions
My old truck has a Leer Trifold hard tonneau cover.
It's been ok, I've had to replace the rods twice in 5 years when the plastic levers broke off. The gaskets are shot after 5 yrs, I'd give that high price cover a 3 out of 5.
With the 5 ft bed- I feel a rack is a must. I do some handyman work still so I am worried about carrying lumber. Is there a rack that will work with a trifold tonneau cover? Is there one that can be extended above cab for lumber & then lowered for everyday? Garage kept, not parked outside.

We do the snow often. 2wd is a PITA but I rode in a friends FJ Cruiser Trail Teams with crawl. That thing was awesome in snow! I know the truck will be different but I'm thinking double cab & short bed will put more weight over rear axle. Sick of dealing with sand bags. Is this crawl feature a swear by or swear at feature on a truck?

Now here's an odd thing. This new truck is easier to get in than my 09 is. The sill plate seems lower. I always smack my head getting into the 09. I swear these doors on new truck are taller with more headroom. Sales guy didn't know if there was a difference.

 

That's a nice truck. I like the color too. From what I'm reading $2000 off MSRP is a good deal too. I owned a 2013 TRD and now have a 2021. There's a lot more to the 3.5 than you think. It's all above 3400rpm though.

 

@KB Voodoo

 

Here’s my two cents, crawl control works great but in the six years of owning my truck I’ve only used it a few times and I probably didn’t need it when I used it (more of a I’ve got it might as well use it thing). I can’t imagine living with a five foot bed as I often think that my six foot bed is too short.

 

And that's what is keeping me from pulling the trigger. I'm so used to my 6 ft bed, Im afraid I will hate working out of a 5 footer. Plus, my fishing poles fit the 6 ft bed perfect! Last week, I brought home some 12 ft flagged lumber. That was sketchy but wouldn't work with a new truck w/o a rack. This is suppose to be a no brainer!

 

Well, I only drove it 3 miles but it's definitely less peppy from a stop. Everything out there is dark colors. Lots of grays & blacks. Black in the desert- no thanks. Hell, the neighbors wouldn't even know I got a new truck if I got silver.

 

I looked at the OR models
I bought a DCSB Sport….I have an ‘08 TTSE FJ for trail work

 

I use a device like this if I haul things too long for my 5'. Attaches to hitch. Not perfect but it works if I'm careful.

 

You're 100% right on the low end. Toyota dummied the 3.5 down at lower RPM. I guess it was for better emissions and or mpgs. I'm able to work around most of that because of the manual. They use the same 3.5 in their minivans and they're quite peppy. At around 3400 RPM there's one hell of a power surge. The stats on the 3.5 and the 4.0 engines favors the 3.5 for HP and about the same for torque.

 

As far as the snow is concerned, it still is a little squirly in 2WD. It is however much better than the two Access Cab 2nd gens I had. Honestly if there's snow on the road and it isn't too twisty, just let it in 4WD HI. Upgrade the tires and you'll see an improvement.

Never used crawl control in the automatic truck I had. I tried it out in a dirt alley behind the old house to see what it what do. Kinda goofy IMO. I don't have that in my current TRD OR which is stick.

Yes, power does seem down compared to the 4.0. However, top end is much better once you get on it. Also returns much better fuel mileage. I estimate 4-5mpg more with the 3rd gen compared to the 2nd gen.

 

Silver is an underrated Gen3 color. It shows off the lines & shadows very well, and looks great with the OR wheels.

Crawl control is an excellent piece of engineering that you’ll rarely need. In fact, you generally hope you won’t need it.

I’d guess your access cab weighs less than that new crew cab. The 3.5 gets off the line about the same as other Toyota trucks w the 4.0, but you’ll need to use more pedal. It kicks in surprising power at higher rpm’s, right where my old 4.0 would start wheezing. Just different, and you can get used to it. However, if you’re planning on towing trailers or a lot of hauling, proceed w caution b/c a dealer test drive won’t give you a good idea of how it’ll perform under load.

2k off is a pretty good deal compared to other Gen3’s, and you can bet that a Gen4 similarly equipped (w/o a V6) will be a whole lot more. Great time to pull the trigger on the right Gen3. Good luck.

 

Interesting. I haul lumber w/ tailgate closed so if that could be rigged to extend up, that would be perfect. Most of the time, I'm hauling 2x's 8 ft long but a recent fence job had me hauling 2x4x12 footers. I pick up drywall to but it's usually patches so I cut the sheets in half.

 

You can haul longer stuff in the short bed, just gotta bite the bullet and do it!

 

That's inspiring! I always haul with gate closed, worry about stuff sliding out the back.

 

That was about only 18 miles of a trip. I was looking in my mirror the entire time, but nothing moved. Just gotta give that ratchet strap a hard crank and say "that ain't going nowhere" and you'll be good!

 

I, like you have the manual. I could work around the 'poor' acceleration under 3000 RPM. I recently purchased a camper that weighs just under 4000lbs and pulling it wasn't much fun. I really missed my 2nd gen manual at that point. One of my neighbors started doing tunes on these trucks and told me he could make a huge difference especially pulling my camper. He talked me into it. It did make a big difference. The torque between 2000 and 3000 RPM is similar to my 2nd gen now. I never thought a tune would be worth it with a manual but pulling my camper it sure is. Didn't affect my mpgs either. I was and am still surprised why Toyota didn't do this in the first place.

 

I've hauled 12' boards in the short bed. It takes a little creative stacking and weight distribution, and tie downs, but it can be done.

I thought about the hitch extender, but was concerned about the tail swing with 16' boards. One possible solution if you don't mind lifting the boards overhead is a roof rack and matching height bed rack. That would give you most of the length of the truck to use. I've done it once with two 16' boards. A friend on here as a nice set up, if I can find the link I'll post it.

The bed rack would also provide a constant weight for snow traction. I think I have about 150 lbs of weight on the bed now and haven't had traction issues. And I've got a Sport without the traction control or rear locker.

Pic just show the how close the height is between the two with my tool box on the bed rack. Bed rack is mid height. A full height would be pretty close.

 

I honestly don't mind the acceleration too bad. My first 3rd gen was a '21 TRD OR with the automatic and it definitely left things to be desired. Traded it for the '22 manual and couldn't be happier. The 3.90 (AT) vs. 4.30 (MT) gearing makes all the difference where I live. This truck is a rocket ship compared to the 2019 Subaru Outback with the 2.5L and CVT I drive.

 

That's exactly how I felt. I was more than happy to live with it. That camper is what pushed me over the edge. A lot of these tuners will let you try them and if you don't see a benefit will reinstall your factory tune no charge. I'm a GM 'factory' master tech, retired, and I just didn't buy into the tunes for the manuals. Kinda considered them Kool aid drinking. My neighbor sure proved me wrong and I'm glad he did.

 

Yakima roof racks along with home made bed rack hauling 16' treated 2x8's.