Just sayin

Well, I will be 70 this year and for the last 55 years I have purchased a NEW American made car every 3 to 4 years. This is my first NEW non American made car. Hopefully it will be my last. I purchased a 2023 Tacoma TRD Off-road 4x4. Now you would think that an old fart like me, would not need an off road 4x4 TRD, but, in my own defense, I live in the mountains at about the 4500 foot elevation, I have an 185' gravel access road to get up the the main paved road into town. Not to mention we generally have snow and ice on the roads 4 months out of the year. Mail delivery and trash pickup to the house is non existent, so i needed a truck to make my weekly dump runs. and a 4x4 able to navigate the terrane through the rain, sleet and snow to get my mail. pun intended

The only thing I didn't like about the truck when I bought it was its lack power. It felt like a very heavy and slow loping dog. So I installed a Thorton Tuning chip which promised to increase my horsepower by 60 horses and increase my mileage by 5 MPG. while I haven't seen much of an increase in mileage yet, this chip has really ponied as advertised.

I installed a Garman mini dash cam 2, so I could record my daily driving experiences. Last year I was getting off the freeway in Acadia (SoCal). Traffic was heavy I stopped for a red light and the Gal in front of me, backed up and hit me in the front of my 2021 bronco sport. We exchanged information and a few days later I got a call from her insurance carrier claiming that i didn't provide my insurance information (in California not providing your insurance info makes it automatically your fault. and can be considered hit and run under some circumstances) and the driver that backed into me insisted that i rear ended her. Then she proceeded to rack up medical bills that exceeded $2000 for her and a non existent passenger that wasn't in her car. (my car wasn't damaged at all, not even paint transfer) my new Garman mini dash cam 2 should solve that problem should that ever happen again.

Yesterday i installed a BAKflip Mx4 Bed cover. very nice. now I have a very big trunk. :>

When I bought my truck the sales guy told me to keep my tail gate locked because people like to steal Tacoma Tailgates. For added security I have purchased a tailgate lock from christian06. I will install it as soon as it arrives on Tuesday.

And Last but not least. I purchased a MillerCAT stainless steel cat shield to deter would be thieves from stealing my catalytic converters. I recently read in the local paper that the theft of catalytic converters is becoming a real problem especially with trucks like the Tacoma. my next door neighbor is a mechanic and he said he had 3 cars come in last week with stolen cats.

I normally don't modify my cars, I just drive them until they start to become a problem and then I trade them in. I had a 2016 Escape i bought new and the engine blew at 78000 miles just after the extended warrantee expired. I planned to make it my last car but that didn't work out so well. I then bought a 2021 bronco sport and at 30,000 miles the the rear end had to be replaced. It was under warrantee so it was replace for free. Another problem with my new bronco sport was I would be running errands zipping around town and I would get a message on my dash "reducing power to protect engine." Apparently this is the Ford Motor companies fix to their already underpowered problematic turbo charged engines (ecoboost) to turn off the turbo charger if the engine had to work for a living. and now I am ranting.

I knew, I made the right decision buying my Tacoma, when my mechanic next door neighbor exclaimed when he first saw my truck "that thing will last forever"

If you have gotten this far into my monolog, then I have accomplished my primary goal and that was not to bore your to tears, while sharing a little of me with you. Thanks for hearing me out!!!

 

Welcome! Yes bored to tears. Lol

 

Welcome to TW. The 3rd gen is a good truck, but definitely high reving and down on low end power. The best modification I’ve done is re-gearing to 4.88s.

 

Thornton Tuning hmmm??!! I may have to look into this. Congrats on the truck. I’ve had 4 Toyota trucks all had at min 350k on them when I got the next one.

 

Welcome to the TW

 

What just happened?

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW, Carlos!

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW and explaining why the OR was the good choice.

The living conditions you describe make it a good decision...hats off to you!

Retired Navy? Thank you for your service.

Enjoy your truck!

 

wouldn't re-gearing hurt you gas mileage?

 

That's what I like to hear, I will be totally stoked if my trucks lasts 350K miles. As far as the thorton tuning chip goes they are on sale right now for half off. this is their website: https://www.thortonchiptuning.com/product/toyota-performance-chip/ I did some research on this chip before I bought it . The only issue i found is that it won't do much for you if you have clogged injectors or other performance issues typically caused by age. And I was very reluctant to spend $89 dollars on their stage 3 chip, even though it was 50% off. but I really didn't like having to floor it just to take off and getting on southern California freeways is challenging enough without having to deal with a truck that seems so under powered. So i got the chip and plugged it into my ODB2 port (plug n play), it came pre-tuned for my year and model truck. I noticed a little improvement right away but I wasn't sure if it was all in my head. But up here in the mountains their aren't many places where you can really stand on the gas peddle. Right away i noticed that it no longer had the lag that seams so typical for the Tacoma. I had driven with the performance chip for almost 200 miles when I had to go down the hill and pick up my new bed cover. when I got to the freeway I figured I had chance to test out my power gain. well let me tell you, getting on the freeway was a surprise. I stepped on the gas peddle to get up to speed and it accelerated beautifully with no hesitation, till it hit about 3000 rpm and from their it took off like a rocket. The first time, it scared the hoot out of me. I wasn't expecting that type of acceleration. Needless to say I really love this performance chip.

 

Nope, because our transmissions are geared like complete trash out of the factory they hunt and down shift erratically going up even the slightest grade, causing them to rev high unnecessarily. Re-gearing the diff(s) allows the transmission to drag out its gears, remain in the correct gear without downshifting (specifically 6th gear), and turn much lower RPMs. For example, my truck turns 2150rpm at 70mph on heavy E load 285/70/17 tires, and full armor, averaging 19-20mpg highway.

If it doesn’t bother you then it’s not worth touching and can be driven as is for the life of the truck. But, watch how many times the transmission double down shifts to 4th gear going up a hill, or how it won’t hold 6th if you’re not on a perfectly flat grade. Being able to hang out in 6th gear is the big fuel saver. Toyota blew it with these transmissions, but it also created a huge market for companies like Nitro Gear, Sierra Gear, Yukon, etc. Best $2400 I spent on the truck.

 

Gotcha, that makes sense.

i will keep an eye on the down shifting but, I am not sure I will have the same issue because the performance chip i put in also controls the shifting. But then again I haven't been watching for it.

 

Welcome to TW! Great that you found a truck and trim that meets your needs. If you keep it stock and well maintained it should last you a long time. Some good info here. And here.

 

I love Stealing Tacoma Tail gates just kidding, i did not know that was an actual thing. Welcome to the Show