Looking for advice on making my Tacoma more fuel efficiant

Drive w your tailgate down. Drive easy.
Get highway tires.
Get a commuter vehicle.

 

lol just relized that i had my truck for 50k miles and the best mpg i ever got, was 19.6 mpg. long drive at 65mph.

 

LOL. I can't believe nobody suggested ditching the windshield wipers and using RainX or car pooling.

Tape up the edges of the headlights.
Remove the fog lights.
Remove the radio antenna.
Empty the windshield washer bottle.
Lighter battery.
Fiberglass hood.
Remove 1 lug net from each wheel.
Who needs a jack?
Chuck the radio.
How much junk has accumulated in the console and glove box?
Does anyone really use the visors?
That passenger seat's gotta be good for 50 lbs.

It is what it is. You can pick up a bit, but it's still a brick.

 

beater is $1-10k.
Or you can get a motorcycle.

-engine
-trans
-wheels/tires
-aerodynamics
-weight
None of these on the Tacoma are efficient

max 10mi drive each way to work? Probably fine. Especially if you took a pay raise to move to that new job. Or got better at that job and got a raise there.

But huge long drives, like people living 50mi away from work? Not the ideal vehicle for it.
Knew a guy who, even in snow, still daily drove a VW Jetta mk4 5spd 2.0L-8v (1999.5-2004ish?) fwd. Reliable, probably 25-30mpg. There's even AWD turbo Audi's doing 25-30mpg.

Also, if you live where there is winter, a beater means keeping the Taco free of rust.
Rarely is sand used. More often it's mag chloride or salt.
"Underbody spray washes" are a lie as well. They reclaim the water.
All the salt rinsed off your truck goes into their collector, which sprays it back up onto the frame underneath.
There are tools to use a garden if you live at a house. Hose, attachments, pressure washer, fluid film, even sliding a sprinkler under the frame. I tried the sprinkler thing, that didn't help.

Also, in winter, houses usually get "winterized". I believe the outside water lines get blown out with air and then closed for the winter, to keep water out of them, so it doesn't freeze/expand and break the pipes. Which means, no way to wash outside.

Beater solves that. In addition to higher fuel efficiency.
You can do basic maintenance on the beater. Hopefully insurance and reg will be cheap.
Then if you feel done with it later, you can sell the beater. Maybe even at a profit.
Plus this gives you the luxury of time to shop around for one, not run into the wrong one in a weekend.

I mean IDK what kind of job you have but I'd hope they'd pay enough to cover gas to do the job.
If not, time to switch jobs.

 

It's a recumbent trike with a carbon fiber fairing. I can pack my tent, sleeping bag, and gear behind the seat. It's a tight squeeze but fine for a week-long bike-packing trip.

On my Catrike 700, I can average about 16 mph, toss on all the gear, and aero drag means 12 mph. Sixty miles is a long day. Repeat that with the velomobile and the same power; I am at 25 mph. So it's possible to cover 200 miles, but realistically 120 miles is good.

The photo should give you an idea; both have 20" front tires. 26" rear on the velomobile, and 700cc (27") on the Catrike 700. Little wind resistance, so I'll take the lane downhill at 60 mph (it's a thrill) but climb hills at six mph (good workout!)

https://www.katanga.eu/waw/

 

You, sir, are with the program!

 

Tailgate down will yield worse gas mileage. Counterintuitive but true.

https://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/pickup-truck-gas-mileage-tailgate-open-closed.php

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/will-dropping-your-tailgate-improve-your-trucks-gas-mileage/

https://explore.rumbleon.com/posts/does-driving-with-the-tailgate-down-increase-gas-mileage

 

Wife's Corolla gets 35 plus miles per gallon,twice what my Tacoma gets.