any tricks for keeping truck cooler? AC wise.

This is the answer. Living in the 559, you gotta know how to handle the 110+ degree days. Windows down, full fan with AC, once air starts feeling cooler than outside (30 seconds) you roll your windows up, then once AC feels cold, then turn on recirculate. Gets my old truck feeling cool as I could ask for.

 

I installed dynomat. It's reflective so in theory, it would only help in areas with an air gap like the doors and only for reflecting heat back into the car.

Tint and a sunshade are going to be 99% of anything you could realistically do. I'm also not convinced that ceramic tint is any better here.

Maybe wrap your roof in chrome vinyl?

 

Something to be aware of is that the air conditioning system on a double cab is exactly the same one as an access cab (and probably even a standard cab). So with the sun beating down on all of that extra roof area, it really heats up the interior, and the A/C has a lot more work to do to cool it down to a comfortable temperature. I believe it was one of our resident experts who had pointed this out in another A/C thread sometime last year.

 

I've been doing some brief searches for vinyl wraps that reflect heat. I don't want to go with white and really look like an old man, but you know it would have to make a huge difference.
A few years back, my son was looking at new Jeep Wranglers. One of the trail editions they had at the dealership had a topographical map vinyl applique on the hood. It was white and light green and really looked pretty cool.
I've considered doing this between the rails on the roof of my truck, simply to reduce heat.
His first Wrangler had the satin black top. Man, you could have fried an egg on that thing.

 

I park it in the garage

 

Remember the the AC compressor barely cools when super hot at idle. It runs much better as you increase the RPM like when you are driving.

 

a high end ceramic tint is in fact the way to go. do your research, don't buy crappy stuff.

also, getting the windshield tinted is cheap (relatively) on this vehicle and makes a huge difference. i've had a couple sportscars done this way and the difference was crazy. a car sitting in the sun reaches stupid temperatures in the usual/obvious parts of the country so one of the best ways to handle this is stop it from getting that hot inside your vehicle to begin with.

for all the 'regular' glass in a vehicle i usually get tint that allows 35% light to pass through (sounds dark but still pretty livable) then for the windshield i get the stuff that allows 70 minimum and preferably 80% of light to pass through. its typical even in big metro areas to have to call around a few places to find out who has what, one guy will tell you yeah we do windshields but the lightest stuff we have is a 65/70/blahblah so you just have to put in the time to do the checking around.

the reason for getting the good ceramic tint is that the older metalized stuff can actually interfere with your electronics such as gps/mobile phone/etc, which can be a logistics and/or safety issue.

 

Thank you for all the tips.
I will check my ac. I have a shop nearby that can vacuum it all the old Freon out and put new one in for $40. While also checking for leaks.

and as far as the tint….I should of gone with ceramic. It is more expensive, but worth it on a car we are keeping long term.

 

You shouldn’t have to do anything. There’s something wrong with your A/C if it takes that long. I live in Northern California in the sacramento valley. It’s gets damn hot here in the summer. A couple days ago it was 108 here. My A/C was blowing cold air almost immediately, I was comfortable in 2 or 3 minutes. OP you need to have a pro check your A/C, there’s something wrong with it.
(Yes I know things like using a sun shade, parking in the shade, leaving windows down a little etc etc helps but no matter what your A/C should be cooling quickly, way faster than 7 minutes)

 

- Remote starter
- sunshade
- crack windows slightly
- vent visors
- park in shade if possible

 

Here in Citrus Heights. Lol.
That’s the day that it sucked. Saturday. We left the house to go to the rodeo in Folsom and my wife was in the back seat with the baby complaining after we were driving for about 5 min. Asking me if the ac was turned up all the way.

I will go get my ac checked out next week.

and I do have remote start…..but like people said, since I leave my windows closed, it is just recirculating hot air thru the system.

I will now leave my windows open about a inch all around

 

Cooling in the back seat, that I don’t know. Only one that rides in the back seat is my lab and he doesn’t complain. He’s just happy to be riding.

 

Good advice by all, lighter colored vehicle, windows down to expell the hot air. As for my truck, fully insulated cab with a two part sound deadening system, ceramic tint, cap or topper (blocks the rear window) sunshade for the windshield, an aux pusher fan and I use this coil cleaner for dead bugs and other road funk that accumulates in the AC condenser and radiator fins. The summer in South Texas has been brutal this year. On June 17th, the heat index hit 125 and was and still is hovering around 118 before and after that record.

You might also consider a 12v portable fan for the seat.

 

Move as much air out of the cab to start. Open the door, start the car. set AC, Notice the door is sill open. Put on the belts, adjust mirror, set up your tasty beverage. Oh, the door is open. close it just before you shift out of park. Teach your passengers the same.

 

There's supposedly an OEM e-fan kit that was spec'd for Tacomas in Mexico.

 

I used to drive a single cab F150 and it could literally freeze your balls off at highway speed on MAX AC. I often suspected it had the same tonnage AC setup as the Expedition which had probably 5x as much interior space to cool.

 

I bet the rubber to metal hose pipe on the high side has a leak. Mine did and was an easy fix for the shop.

 

175k so it wouldn't surprise me. It's a minor annoyance at this point. It always works, just takes longer to get cool. My 2023 TRD OR is like a meat locker in comparison.

 

One simple trick to help with the airflow. Make sure your cabin filter isn't clogged up or you will seriously restrict the air flow needed across the coils. It's not going to help heat in the cab, but if you're not moving air, nothing's going to work.

Just changed ours out and it was blocked off with lots of small elm leaves near where we park. After new filter, the A/C cooled the cab much faster.

 

I remove my cabin filter in the summer. I hate heat, I absolutely full power when I'm cooling off.

I park into the sun with my shade cover up, windows cracked, remote start and go.

I don't know how some people can live in places that see over 100F often.

85F I start getting grouchy.