New Gen Two Questions

Hey everyone,

I am going to get a Gen 2, regular cab, 6ft bed, 2.7 l, MT Tacoma from family soon and I was wondering if it is worth putting a bunch of money into. It currently has roughly 50k miles on it. So really fresh into its life. It's also been babied by my grandmother so it's in phenomenal condition. Since it's a regular cab I want to get a camper topper for it so I can have some more secure storage. I am just worried that me putting all of this weight on the car will make it less functional when driving up and down the passes of Colorado and Utah. Along those lines would it be able to still drive well if I put a rooftop tent on it also? I don't need to be going very fast but it would still be nice to go close to the speed limit. Finally, with all of this weight, how would it handle gentle offroading? Such as some BLM land in southern Utah and just pretty chill fire roads. Nothing too serious just enough to get me out there.

I know this is a little haphazard, I'm just trying to get a feel for the capabilities of this little truck and if it is worth investing a bunch of money into it.

Thank you all!

 

If you're talking just a topper that won't be enough to really make a noticeable difference.. . . With a camper top that might make it a little too heavy and maybe a bit wobbly at highway speeds.

Up and down mountain passes you'll be spending some time in 3rd and 4th but such is life with the 2.7L and wide gearing.


If I were in your shoes I wouldn't make any drastic changes to the truck itself (engine, suspension) just in case you did want to get into something bigger like an AC V6. A stock 4x4 (I'm assuming you're 4x4) reg cab manual with ultra low mileage would sell immediately at high dollar to an empty nest boomer. . .Once you get clapped out or modded you won't have that market.

 

The perfect machine. Congrats! I think you’ll be fine with a cap.

 

That's a good looking little truck!
I echo what @taco206 says and I would start with the topper and try to keep extra weight to a minimum. I don't know how aerodynamic roof top tents are but I would think the wind resistance would be more detrimental to maintaining speed, than the weight of it.
I'd do it in small steps and decide as you go, what you need.

 

Perfect, that's just what I needed to hear. I can always add more to it if I find out it's my jam but can never really take stuff back. Would it be a bad idea to upgrade just the head unit so I can have car play? I'm not sure how invasive that would be. Also, stock I'm sure it has enough gumption to get up some of those roads right? As you can tell I'm very new to this stuff. But thank you very much!

 

As long as you understand you are driving the slowest vehicle on the planet, you’ll be fine. Plan ahead; well ahead. See you in 20 years (maybe). Good luck.

 

Lots of people upgrade the head unit, there are several good options. There is a dedicated thread for the Joying head unit, for instance, and if you use the search bar and look for 'head unit' or 'carplay' I bet you can find lots of info.

This thread is a great place to see what people have done with their trucks
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/what-have-you-done-to-your-2nd-gen-tacoma-today.6499/

And you can check out the 'Garage' forums for specific ideas or advice about suspension, wheels and tires, performance etc.

My advice is to just browse the forum for a while and read stuff. Most questions have been asked and there are lots of posts about common issues like "what do I need to go off-road?", "what's the best suspension for xxx activity?", "can my truck handle xxx?"

 

3rd gen trd offroad suspension is a great cheap upgrade.