help!!! save the Taco

It's an absolute necessity to have a truck in a household. I've got two girls, currently driving a crew cab 1500 Z71, Tacoma DCLB is coming soon! Girls are 8 and 12 and we do the camp thing, road trips, etc. Wife HAD a Honda van, now has a small SUV - you'll be just fine.

 

Yep I agree

 

Keep the truck and get a camper shell (soft or hard top) and even a roof rack if you need to carry more stuff. If your dog doesn't do well with infants then your dog can sit passenger and your wife in your backseat with the baby plus a camper shell is perfect for...CAMPING!

 

Plenty of room in the truck - I've got a 2.5 year old toddler, and have had a 4x4 Blazer since he was born. I've always needed something with a bed, so I got the Taco a couple of weeks ago. I think there's as much room in the passenger compartment, if not a little more.

I've got an undercover SE hard tonneau - but if I had to put one of the dogs (Both of mine are near yours in size, I'd leash them to a d ring and run around with the Lid open. If I carried them around more often, I'd upgrade to a shell, and build me a lift system like they make for Jeep hardtops.

 

Reading through your situation and what appears to be a family decision, I would sacrifice the Tacoma, trade it in for a Rav4, get some equity on it and lower your payments.

Her being short, if she likes the Camry so much, a Tacoma might be hard for her to get used to, especially with two children and 2 pets. Might be difficult for her to see two little ones + dogs in the back seat. I don't like the idea of having the dogs in the canopy myself, my goes in the back seat.

You might want to look into the Highlander opposed to the 4Runner in this situation, I have a feeling she will not be as resistant and more open to it as it is a very convenient, smaller suv. Might be a compromise situation for both.

If you are in a financial situation for keeping a Rav4 and a Tacoma, then that is my advice.

If you are tight on funds, I would encourage you to trade the Tacoma for a Rav4, drive the Camry for a year or two yourself and then get a Highlander opposed to a 4Runner.

Sounds like you have some compromise to do, the truck is awesome, however family happiness might have to come first here.

 

I just did the math. It would have cost $703 more to drive a 5.7 liter Tundra for the distance you stated.

I just wanted to know what the real numbers were. The Tundra suggestion is off the table. My wife is short, too. She hates driving the Tundra.

 

I have the bak fibermax trifold hard top. I chose this top since it folds up against the rear window when necessary to give me full access to the bed. I also installed a Popnlock to improve security.

 

If you love your truck and want to keep it, get a shell and be done with it. Yes it isn't exactly what you want, but if you want to keep your truck, keep your newborn and dog separated, and keep your dog dry...you need a shell. Add in some roof racks and you will be able to carry all you need.

 

aren't those dogs made to be in the wather though? id say fck it, dog can stay in the back and if you're really concerned get a traveling crate and it'll keep them dry enough.

 

I felt I was in the same situation except I bought a Tacoma to solve our problem. My Rav4 and VW TDI wouldn't carry all our bikes, camping gear (there is a TON of it when bringing a baby), baby stuff and pup so I bought a dc Tacoma long box. My wife was hesitant and thought that a taco wouldn't be enough, however after our first trip she is totally loving our new truck.

I have a 15month old son and a dog as well and equipped mine with a Truxcedo soft cover and a pop lock and it has worked wonderfully for us in the short time we've owned the vehicle. I do plan on putting roof racks on and throwing my Thule box up there when needed if the situation arises, however with that I can't see many situations where the taco won't be big enough.

For your pup, a decent kennel can be secured in the back your truck box quite safely, and easily and keeps it away from the child if thats a concern once the child comes home. We found it best/necessary sometimes for my wife to sit in the back with our son to console/settle him sometimes, so it might be nice if the pooch is in the back safe in a kennel, though our dog still rides in the back seat.

Don't to anything to rash (i.e: getting rid of your taco) until you try it out, babies have stuff for sure, car seats, diaper bags, millions and millions of toys and changes of clothes, but if set up properly I think you can manage. We managed with our 2011 Rav4 really well until we started taking a lot of camping trips this summer.

 

Roll-n-Lock makes a cool tonneau cover. Gives you full access to your bed.

But again, not sure why you don't like the canopy, but with such a big dog, a canopy would be perfect. Use the cab space for your family.

 

I hope you don't have pets