BigMike’s Big Journey: New 2016 Tacoma

As the truck is built in Texas and I had originally planned for the factory tour, there was no way I was gonna skip at least going to the factory after having come all this way!!

Welcome to Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc.



This place is huge with multiple gates!



The original plan was to go to the visitor center but missed it's closing time of 4pm by a mere 30 mins. It's okay, I plan to be back through Texas with the Tacoma in October for this year's Southern Cruiser Crawl.

Here we are outside the Visitor Center





And behind me is the birthplace of this very truck! Can't wait to return for the factory tour in October!



I was hoping to get a sweeeet picture of the Tacoma in front of the Alamo Mission but the road was closed off and there were a few police cars in the area so no chance. My wife grabbed this pic of it while we drove by slowly.



And one last pic at our hotel before going in side in case I forget just how good looking the truck is



That's it from yesterday!

Truck is running G-R-E-A-T. Power delivery is very smooth and entering freeways at 80 MPH before merging is not an issue. The six speed is a breeze to accelerate from green lights via 1st -> 3rd -> 6th as I do so often in my MR2.

Also, got a small list compiled from the second day of driving

The curious things... Part II

• The Hazard button is nicely located in front of and slightly to the left of the shift lever. Great location.
• Regarding the Alarm, the truck does indeed know if the door lock lever has been manually flipped by hand because it won't try to auto-lock once up to speed in this case.
• I cannot adjust the climate temperature when the blower fan is turned off. Why? Every older Toyota I've driven has this feature: When operating with only the outside vent, I can go from heater or ambient air temperature. I can't believe the Tacoma does not allow this. So if I want to have warm outside vent air, I'll have to first turn the blower fan on, adjust the temp up, then turn the fan off. Very silly.
• Driving lights turn off when the high beams turn on. Same thing occurs with our Yaris. I don't care about the Yaris, the wife drives that. I will fix this issue on the Tacoma soon enough
• The center/main interior dome light cannot be disabled, it only has two positions: 'On' or 'On when door(s) open'. Just thought this was weird.
• The stock exhaust seems to be waking up just a tad. Seems to be more noticeable which is nice.

Ok, off to sleep now in New Mexico. Got more pics from today's progress that I'll try to post tomorrow!

Regards,
BigMike

 

You are certainly taking the scenic route. Hope you went to Gruene. Or Salt Lick.

 

Three days now Mike. Update?

 

Wish I would have known y'all were that close I would have offered you dinner on me. I'm 25 miles north of Marlin.

 

If someone hasn't already answered, I believe the alarm is only for glass breakage, but I could be wrong.

 

Let me know when you crack open the transfer case I really want to know if the manual shifter and rails from a short housing FJ auto t case can be modded to get rid of the stupid shift knob on the dash. Have seen this done on a second gen case just wondering if it can be done on the 16.

 

Thank you for this info! Good to know

Nice Toyota returned to a Round Fender design.

Too bad the 2nd gen Tacoma never got the dual VVT-i 1GR-FE. I assume that is the engine most Tacoma owners would want since it's already being used in the FJ C and 4Runner. The 2nd gen Tacoma V6 makes only 5.5% more HP and 2.9% more TQ per liter than the non-VVT 3.4L 1st gen V6. I'd expect a decade of development and technology would yield a better engine than the Tacoma 1GR. (The 3.5L is 42% and 17% better, respectively.)

Ahhh! Missed Gruene as I exited I35 just before it. Looked it up just now and wow that would have been awesome. I should have gone there instead of that dang Pecan haha

Just looked up Salt Lick. Yup, missed that awesome looking place. Ok now I know where to go when I return this October! Thank you thors.hammer!

Thank you for the offer! We did feel this hospitality from many Texans during our trip. Was impressed!

A customer of ours told us he believes there is a 30 second timer before the alarm is set. I have not confirmed this yet.

Will be looking into this soon

 

Thank you for the patience! On with some updates!

Had a couple more from San Antonio I forgot to post

First time in a parking garage



Another night outside a hotel



Thursday, April 21, 2016: Boerne, TX to Deming, NM

On Thursday we drove from Boerne, TX to Deming, NM. Marlin had warned me of how incredibly boring the drive is but somehow the single 8 hr stretch just to get out of Texas didn't seem that bad.

The GRN305 about to wake up for it's third day ever with me



Stopped at The Magnolia Pancake Haus for breakfast (https://www.yelp.com/biz/magnolia-pancake-haus-san-antonio-3), food was excellent.



Some A**hole bird defecated on the new truck!



But fortunately we were soon driving through the heaviest downpour I've ever driven in. It was insane. Wipers were on high and we still couldn't see anything. Everyone had slowed down to about 25 MPH and some drivers had pulled off the interstate to wait it out. If there was ever a time I needed some Rain-X... This picture was before it got crazy:



Went over to the Cibolo Nature Center which promised such beauty as this and this but it was still raining pretty good when we got there so we did a fat muddy burnout and split. Sorry no video. Wife grabbed this pic on our way out:

 

Some shots along side Nimitz Lake





Figured I would check out the 2GR-FKS again. Was impressed how little water had gotten in. True, any water contacting engine parts would have evaporated, but that rain was craaazzzyyy heavy. Thinking about it now, I should have checked the air box.



Door VIN tag. Made In Texas this very same month! I plan to weigh the truck soon.

 

Stopped at USA's Easter Island and Stonehenge





Guadalupe River

 

Texas travel centers are the closest I've seen to the amazing variety Japanese equivalent road-side "quickie marts" have. But American travel stops still have a looooooooooong ways to go.



More misc pictures

 

Second tank of gas. No lock on the fuel door nor the fuel cap. I'll get a locking cap.



Finally got to the El Paso area and we stopped at the Cattleman's Steakhouse at the famous Indian Cliff's Ranch, http://www.cattlemansranch.com. Food was most excellent. We walked the entire ranch while waiting to be seated and checked out a lot of animals. They were even breeding Rattlesnakes. Had like 10-20 rattlers all in one cage. Was really neat.

Found some coveted shade in Texas



Checking out the awesome Llamas



Inside they had a small Texas El Paso History Museum and a ton of Hollywood related memorabilia. This is the hallway leading to the bathrooms...



Which included such brilliant Hollywood classics as Lone Wolf McQuade, filmed right on this ranch!



Was really neat reading all the history of this place.

 

Finally at our hotel in Deming, New Mexico. Day #3 in the books!





Averaged 20.8 MPG doing 85 MPH (speed limit out here is 80 MPH). I thought that was pretty amazing for 85 MPH....however these 265/65R17 tires are tiny.

 

Friday, April 22, 2016: Deming, NM to Flagstaff, AZ

When I was planning the trip this turned out to be the toughest decision: Should we enjoy all the amazing native American history and sites of New Mexico, which would be more for us and less for the Tacoma, or go the more populated route through Arizona where there are a bunch of things to park next to for cool pictures.... In the end I decided to go through Arizona. New Mexico offers Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Petroglyph National Monument, Bandelier National Monument, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Aztec Ruins National Monument. I'd like to return to New Mexico very much someday!

Driving near the astronomy center of the world (southern Arizona) the speed limit was reduced and we were making some great gas mileage





The wife really enjoying the new truck, especially her heated seat



Stopped here but don't worry it was only for the picture They didn't sucker these tourists with some misrepresented movie prop!



Beautiful Mission San Xavier Del Bac, built in the late 1600s!

 

The failed Tech Facility Domes! I had heard about these growing up so we had to check them out. Originally intended for circuit board manufacturing to rival Bay Area companies!

I was hoping to actually drive inside one but the entire area was fenced off and, um, lets just say it wasn't the best place to be with a shiny, fancy new truck without any sort of "personal insurance".



Entirely out in the middle of nowhere. Definitely got a weird vibe from the place.



Next checked out the Mystery Castle...



...and this was when the trip was finally catching up to us. Apparently I just planned too much and things were so spread out... It was taking forever to drive around to visit things. I was planning to see the Estrella Star Tower, Humpty Dumpty Statues, Goldfield Ghost Town, Hobo Joe Statue, and the Pioneer Living History Museum. Earlier in the day we had also planned to visit the City of Rocks State Park and cruise through the Cactus Forest Drive but knew we had to skip it. Should have planned minimum two extra days for all this.

But I didn't let this stop me from compiling...

The curious things... Part III

• There is no "Defrost Only" climate mode. There is only "Defrost + Feet" mode
• Also because the climate controls are digital, you cannot manually select a mode slightly between two modes. For example, with my Hilux, if I'd like air on my feet but not so much, then I could slide the lever slightly right diverting as much of a percentage away from my feet as desired. Not possible with this all this fancy pants Tacoma stuff.
• What's worse is the dumb A/C compressor turns on with the defroster. Same thing happens with our Yaris. So dumb and such a waste. I don't need "as dry an air as possible." I can afford to wait 10 more seconds for my windshield to defrost. Seriously, what is the harm in giving the driver the option here? There is an individual A/C button within reach. Even the green A/C light doesn't turn on yet you can hear the compressor cycling. Maybe this is a must in climates that never drop beneath 90% humidity. All of my other A/C equipped vehicles defrost fine without summing the A/C. Will be disabling this.
• There is no passenger door exterior key hole. If the battery in the key remote dies then I'll have to go through the driver's door to unlock it. (I do like the improved security aspect of this however.)
• If the Headlights are switched to the "AUTO" mode and it is dark outside, then both the parking and head lights will turn on as the key cycles to the ON position and remain on during cranking. Horrible! Poor battery and also poor little starter contacts, which, if located under the intake manifold, I'd rather not have to service for as long as possible
• There is a second power outlet (cigarette lighter) within the center console and ample room for a power cord to escape with the lid closed. [Borat]Very nice![/Borat]

 

No trip to Phoenix would be complete without visiting the Cock Rock



Conveniently located 1 mile from the largest Sun Dial in North America



Next we needed to get moving as we still needed to throw mud over the streets of Arcosanti... and get up to Sedona to see the beautiful red-rock buttes... and walk around Montezuma Castle National Monument... check out the massive Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff along with the Geronimo Trading Post... and the Walnut Canyon National Monument... and the Sunset Crater Volcano area... and you can see how this was a huge mess. Definitely tried to take on faaaaar more than we could visit. This actually ruined most of the day because instead of relaxing and enjoying ourselves we (and when I say we I mean "I") were scrambling driving around place to place like idiots. Thank you Misato for putting up with me today!

So we crumpled up my plans and switched to "let's just enjoy the drive and time together in this awesome new truck". We have already discussed revisiting many of these areas and will set aside some real quality time to take it all in.



Got some amazing dinner

Young beet salad



White fish dish for me





Seafood dish for her



Gazed into each others eyes for a while while enjoying some ice tea and the nice Arizona weather, and slowly made our way up to Flagstaff.

 

While leaving the restaurant parking lot I saw a fellow Tacoma owner getting out of his truck and I rolled down my window and said "Nice 2nd gen" (spoke clearly and boldly) and he just stared at me as I drove by even turning his head to gaze at us as we continued through the parking lot...

...And this was the moment I finally realized that Tacoma owners are real stuck-up jerks. Here I am all excited about finally becoming a Tacoma owner....I was not expecting this at all.
(Edit: Please read this with a smile and then see my reply below )

When I'm driving my Hilux and I see another Hilux I almost can't get my hand up for a Thumbs Up sign and the other driver is already doing the same. Smiles and waves all around. Same experience with my MR2, which is more understandable as MR2s are quite rare. Over the years I've pulled over a dozen plus times with complete strangers just to chat about each others MR2 and what mods we've performed. Marlin's truck is the golden standard for this of course as we continue to have Police Officers pull us over just to ask what cool mods have been done to the truck and "can I see a demonstration of how slow it is in 1st gear."

I've been waving and giving Thumbs Up to each and every Tacoma I've passed and NONE have returned the same. Especially the drop-bracket lifted ones with unnecessarily wide tires. It's like they are genuinely pissed off and want to fight me. The rest either look away after making eye contact or stare at me and do nothing. Do Tacoma owners even realize there are other Tacoma owners? It's like everyone saw the same TV commercial and went out to buy a Tacoma to "hit the dunes and play in the mud, bro." Bunch of zombies. I suppose if I owned a Honda Accord I'd get the same reaction. But this isn't a Honda Accord. This is a bad to the bone Toyota truck. Certainly plenty to be proud and happy about!

When we got to our hotel in Flagstaff -- along Route 66! -- I found my very first Tacoma to park next to! The owner of course looked at me and then proceeded to his room without saying a single word.

I was very excited to take some pictures of the new Tacoma parked next to its same kind for the first time. At least the guy didn't come back out and demand I erase all my pictures.





So cool to be parked next to another Tacoma! The best way for the truck to spend the night



It was a lot of climbing to get up to Flagstaff, AZ. Was nice to see some actual trees since leaving Portland. Most of the drive was in the dark however. These projector headlights work amazingly well!

Good night from Flagstaff!

 

Sounds like an awesome trip and not all Tacoma owners are like that. You must have encounter the bro ones with the mall crawlers. Around here every other Tacoma I've seen gives a nod of approval when I pass them or sitting at a light next to them. Except for the really old drivers.

 

Unfortunately there are so many Tacoma owners out there with many not partaking in the camaraderie of our trucks. They are clueless. The curse of our very popular, but personal trucks.

 

I'm sure it's been a combination of just encountering the wrong ones plus me being overly excited just to see another Tacoma. I need to realize also that there are many more Tacomas on the road than compared to the older Hilux/Minitrucks and this greater commonalty leads to less excitement when one is spotted by another.

Wasn't meaning for any hard feelings either way, after all, I'm now a Tacoma owner too Going through my notes for that day I recalled how negative that encounter felt and knew I had to write about it.

Regards,
BigMike