2nd Gen - becoming the last of the old-ish breed (after 1st gens)

2005 Tacoma 4x4
Bought it in 2013 with 29k miles and it currently has ~130k miles with the last 80k running a TRD supercharger. It's been a super reliable daily driver for the last 11yrs. It's the SR5 model so it's as basic as it can be. Besides your normal maintenance items, nothing has ever failed on me except for the center console latch that decided to snap last week.

My suspension is heavily modified, but it handles fantastic for what it is. The only thing I hate about the truck is that it averages 11mpg.

 

??? WTF 11mpg?

Do you mash the go pedal as a matter of habit?
Do you routinely cruise at 85 mph?

My loaded/heavy 2014 V6 6sp MT, with +600-700 lbs of accessories and tools, and a very un-aero outrigger lumber rack + A.R.E. contractor cap, gets 15 mpg at highway cruising speed of ~60 mph.

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EDIT: Nevermind. I just reread your post and saw "supercharger". That explains it.

 

2015 DCSB TRDOR 4x4 4.0 V6.......wow, that's a mouthful. It's been in the family since new, I've had it since 2017 and about 23k miles. It has 73k on it now, has been a garage queen for the last 5 years while I've had a company vehicle. About to retire and it will be a DD again, and I'll start some maintenance/upgrade things to extend it's lifespan. It's only needed normal consumables up till now like fluids, filters, tires, battery, etc. I did do the filter addition for the SAIS, that's the only part of the truck that concerns me about reliability moving to higher mileage. Hopefully it will last me until I have to give up the keys, don't have a problem being "that funky old dude with the classic Tacoma".

 

Look into the Hewitt Tech solution for your SAIS ... concerns....

 

LOL.

Well, I have a supercharger, 4.88 gears, and quite a bit of steel fabbed into the suspension/frame/armor that isn't always obvious to the eye. I do have a slightly heavy right foot, comes from my love of V8s, which makes for poor MPGs. On the highway , I'm often cruising at 70-75mph. I feel like I'm always in a rush going from A to B so I don't have the patience to cruise at 60mph.

 

My 2015 Limited. I got it at the end of july if my memory serves in 2022 with 176,600 miles on it. Pretty much, all i have done to mine is regular maintenance. Now, has almost 222k. My timing cover has been leaking for awhile. Nowhere near time for me to mess with it yet. One things for sure, you wont see me own anything else.

 

You have to cruise slower Vin so the people can eye those wheels man... looks great.

Be Safe...

Dan

 

2008 Tacoma DCSB SR5 (V6) 2WD - just turned 90,000 miles. I purchased it new with 12 miles on the odometer. Garage-kept and maintained at recommended intervals. Only after-market items added are a catalytic converter guard/anti-theft cover, a hard, color-matched tonneau cover, and a replacement after-market stereo system (I wanted Apple CarPlay).

I’d hop in this truck and drive anywhere with no concerns.

 

2009 TRD 4x4, original owner. 111,000 miles. Replaced front wheel bearing and the water pump. Never ever any other problems. Fanatic about maintenance. This truck gets me in and out of remote country on my hunting and fishing trips, never fails me. In a month heading out on a 2000 mile western US trip fishing. No worries, this truck gets it done.

 

2009 DCLB. 202,000. One A/C line blew a couple years back, new brake pads at 180K, OME suspension installed after the leaf spring recall a couple years back resulted in really soft springs. On 4th set of tires. Had one UJoint fail due to a bad grease fitting so I changed all of them while I had the drive line out. New serpentine belt last week, also just replaced front wheel bearings and hubs. RCI sliders yesterday. Doing brake master cylinder today, and waiting on CV axels and ECGS bushing to arrive. Probably have it repainted or line-xed this winter. Repairs and upgrades cheaper than down payment on a new truck.

 

2005 bought in 2019 with a new frame. Currently 89000. Woolwax every year now.

 

Not without upgrading the brakes…

 

Nah. It worked fine. Of course it doesn't stop as fast as when there is only 500 lbs in back, but it's well within the normal margin for braking. I'm not saying that it is legal, but subjectively, with reasonably conservative driving, I had no issues at all.**

(** This was on moderate to flat grades. In steep terrain of course it may be a different story, depending on type of road, length of grade if going down hill, average traffic speed, etc.)

For comparison:

CA state law is that trailers require brakes if they are in excess of 1500 lbs. So theoretically if you were towing a 1499-lb trailer with a tongue weight of 300 lbs, and had 700 lbs of cargo in the bed as well, you'd have added 1499 + 700 lbs = 2,200 lbs of additional mass for the stock Taco brakes to decelerate/arrest, alone. That would be a street-legal configuration, and no doubt the stock brakes are engineered with that in mind.

On the basis of the above facts, I'd say the cargo capacity (in the bed, not including a trailer) of a stock Tacoma is limited by the stock suspension, not the stock brakes.

This has been my experience in the past with bed-overloaded Tacomas in stock form as well: the two factors that make it immediately more dangerous are:

A) When heavily-loaded or overloaded, the stock springs/shocks cannot adequately damp roadway and maneuvering impulses (sharp turns, potholes, dips, etc.) and are apt to resonate dangerously.

and

B) When overloaded the stock springs in the rear allow so much rearward squat that the weight on the front tires gets dangerously low, leading to squirrely weak/slow steering response.