Thanks for having me!

I bought my 2020 Tacoma TRD Sport 6-cylinder back in January in a panic. My rust sled 2003 F150 didn't pass inspection for the second year in a row, it was due, and I had to travel back to Muncie Indiana from Pennsylvania to get back to work from a few day's respite.

This one had 20k miles on it, cost $40k, which was WAY more than I felt like paying for anything. I was going to drive the F150 till the doors fell off- it only had 107K miles on it, after all. But, I had to bite the bullet, and if I was going to spend that kind of coin it sure as heck would NOT be on some domestic vehicle, despite just how backwards that really is to my way of thinking.

One day, I'll get back to fiddling with some unique, probably American, classic or antique money pit. For now, though, I'm selling my 2016 Harley FXDLS, (which can't see bad weather without some effect on the finishes of the bike, from fasteners to paint,) and enjoying the heck out of the Tacoma. Some things are like boat motors- you want to get in, use them, and NOT worry about them falling apart driving through the NE corridor cities and highways.

I've REALLY struggled with this truck's shift points. Specifically, I HATE the fact that it shifts in and out of 5th and 6th gears- just not enough delay on the shift to allow for a slight speed decrease without shifting. Also, its very clunky 1-3 gears, and gets downright squirrely when you stomp on the accelerator at certain speeds. I know there are tunes out there that take some of this, but I'm trying to learn to anticipate the routes I drive, drive them different, and turn off the GREEN mode and/or use the manual override. I just know that, somewhere down the road, the life of the transmission is going to head south with as much shifting as it does. And it has a detrimental effect on fuel economy, in my opinion, as well. (I live near Lancaster PA, which has a good mix of flat fields AND rolling hills with twisty routes... but currently travel WAY MORE than I want to- 2 hours to and from job sites, putting 9k on the truck since the second week in May.

My career had been over 15 years as a manufacturing engineer. I recently worked as a Sr Manufacturing Supervisor, an Application Engineer for an agricultural manufacturer, and am now a construction superintendent. (Use your skills and talent to reinvent yourself, and learn to do as many different things as possible, especially when the need comes to do it.)

My biggest gripe- like, apparently, MANY owners, is the sound system. I could not WAIT to hear it turned up! And, it IS balanced well with significant bass... for what I used to know in a new vehicle. The problem is, I drive with every orifice of the vehicle open as often as possible, and the stock stereo simply doesn't cut it for that much road and wind noise. Also, over time, I've noticed that the navigation "voice" and "text message" voice levels have dropped SO LOW that I have to have everything closed and OFF to hear them. I know there's a tweak there somewhere, but I can't recover the more audible level it had from when I bought it- and I don't feel like fighting with Toyota to figure it out. (The vehicle is under both factory and an extended, paid for, bumper to bumper.)

Also, coming from the F150 that I had outfitted with about 60W x 4 with two Rockford Fosgate R2D10, ten inch subs running 600W, (weak, I know, but my Wife can't stand bass, so I held back...) this thing sounded like a tin music box a hundred yards away.

I received my Crutchfield order yesterday (8/17/23) and CAN'T WAIT to get it all installed. I have a RF DSR1 with the iDatalink Maestro, and Infinity Reference series speakers for the doors. I'll be adding at least one of my 10's, and either a 12 or 15 much further down the road. I just can't do it NOW, dangit! I'm headed to a job further away, working on selling the house and searching for another... just too much going on.

Currently, (and the reason why I decided to finally join after seeing results on the web for this site,) I am trying to figure out the best route for my power feed. I'll go looking here to see what others have done, but I'll likely have to run at least two 4-guages to run the 400 and 600 D-Class amps that will do the four channels of doors and the sub(s). So that's where I'm headed now.

I know, its wordy, but I like to do this so people have more of a clue who I am rather than jam up forum posts with what ends up to be repeat Q&As. Some sites are better than others...

Glad to be a part, and will help in any way I think I can!

-S

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Ahh the sound system. It really sucks. I came from a 2017 Golf R with stock sub, and what I quickly learned was a downright excellent car stereo system.

but the Golf couldn’t handle hundred of miles of shale roads… Sand Dunes, and muddy trails.

So I crank it up; worst case, a speaker will blow and I’ll replace with something better. But… nothing ever blows. Truck always starts. People always tell me how nice it is.

it drives like something I’m happy to sit in the slow lane with. I too, live on the side of MtN. So the shift points make me crazy.

But, every now and then I hear how a tune is the suspect in a diff break or the like.

So im not help to you; but I’ll commiserate a bit.

 

Welcome to the TW

 

Welcome To TW Shawn..

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Welcome and don't forget to rust proof that truck.

 

Welcome lots to unpack glad to have ya

 

Welcome!