2001 Extra Cab Square Feet in Bed

Hello-

I'm trying to figure out what part of a cord of split firewood I can load in my 2001 Extra Cab Tacoma. A cord is 4 x 8 x 4 or 128 square feet. Please help me as I am mathematically challenged.

Thank you!

 

Length times width equals square feet! Length times width times height equals cubic feet!! So 4’x8’x4’= 128 cubic feet...

 

This is two faces (16" logs) in my bed with a topper obviously. So the equivalent of 32" x 96" x 48"

There was some left over logs from the previous season in the second picture.

 

Thanks for both these replies. I now know there's a difference between square and cubic feet, and the visuals of the wood in the truck is also very helpful.

 

He wants to know what will fit in his bed, not the volume of a cord (he already did that math)...

But OP, you're not going to fit a cord, or likely even half a cord in a tacoma without completely overloading the suspension. It's not teh volume, but the weight.

 

the bed is 72" long, by 50" wide, inside measurements, but you also have to account for wheel wells. Depending if you have a cover on will determine how high you can stack. but like @jbrandt mentioned your limiting factor will be the amount of weight you can safely transport. you will probably "overload" before you "overfill" unless you have airbags or a heavier duty leaf pack

 

Here's the bed dimensions from the 1998 Toyota Catalog for a long bed.

 

FYI - a cubic foot equals 1,728 cubic inches
Using Tylers's pic above - the bed has 68,585.4 cubic inches (15.9 x 74.5 x 57.9)
Or 39.69 cubic feet (68,585.4 / 1728) - less intrusions, such as the wheel wells...

500 lbs will probably negatively arch your stock rear leaves... Most definitely will ride the bump stops with 1,000 lbs.

Probably not buying balsa wood..........

 

What bed weight are the Tacomas rated for stock?

 

Something like 6 or 7 pounds...

Kidding, but not really. These trucks were never designed for hauling stuff, at least a sizable amount of stuff...

But it actually depends on what truck you have.

IIRC, the GVWR is something like 5100 pounds (all models), but when you have a doublecab like I do, it starts out heavier (~3700), so the total payload is reduced.

My Dblcab weights about 3700 lbs, so that leaves ~1400 pounds which INCLUDES the fat guy sitting in the driver seat, all the other junk inside, bigger tires etc...

I don't think any of us would ever try putting that much weight in the bed, though.

I put 4 or 5 60 pound bags of cement mix in the bed, and that things is already sagging pretty bad...

 

^ everything he said minus the tires, they are already on the ground so it only affects acceleration/stopping not payload. but I would think the "compact" pickup would do OK with 1/4 ton (500lbs) safely in the bed. Just give yourself extra room to make sure.

 

Payload is more than just how much your springs will compress. Payload = GVWR - dry curb weight

You can throw some airbags in there to help the springs compress less, but (at least legally speaking) that doesn't mean you can add more weight to it.

 

Hey, cool! So my '96 2wd single cab should be good for 1,900 lbs. Yikes! I would not want to see what 1900 lbs in that truck would look like. So are there overload springs that you can buy to increase the weight hauled? Or stiffer spring pack?

edit: Just saw that you can get air bags. Is that the only option?

 

Is your's a 5 lug or prerunner? Because those are difference GVRW's iirc...

Just looked it up, and a 5 lug single cab GVWR is about 4250...

But I wouldn't even try coming close to that. Remember, the GVWR includes everything, so that's fuel, people, everything. The dry weight I saw likely isn't the weight of your truck, either, look on your door sticker to see it's (stock) weight. I thing even a 500# cargo weight is lofty for these trucks, but it can do it.

Airbags are not the only option, but IMO the "best" option. You can get "heavy duty" leaf springs, but all that does is give you a stiff ride when you're not hauling. There are overload springs, too, but when a set of airbags cost like $200 (minus a way to inflate them), they really aren't that expensive. If you have shop air or a portable compressor, you can make it work pretty easy. Just need to install them.

something like this might work...

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index...nomSH8SQK1RSTUFMk7sI3VE5gVmBPWRRoC95MQAvD_BwE

 

Yeah its a 5 lug. Ok thanks, that makes sense now. I thought 1900 was a bit high and I realize that GVWR includes everything.

Can you convert something like an AC compressor or air pump to fill the airbags?

 

I wouldn't use the AC compressor. It' easier to just use a dedicated compressor, like a hand held, or if you want to go the route of an on-board air syste,, you can integrate the whole thing together.

The airbags don't require very high pressures, so you could probably use a handheld compressor to fill it. I've seen a lot of people put the fill valve inside the gas filler door. It's well protected and out of the way, but easy access, and still fairly close to the rear axle so you don't have to do a ton of plumbing.

Something like the

$91 VIAIR 88P Portable Compressor Kit (12V, 120 Psi, Forup to 33" Tires)

VIAIR 88P is like $60, iirc...

 

My truck still has original leafs (I wish I'd have them replaced before the move) but I am comfortably loading about 400lb under the 170lb camper. That is close to 600lb total. I think 1st gen Tacomas are originally classified as "half ton truck" that is 1000lb load capacity, but I wouldn't do that. Regarding the original load the heaviest load I ever had was oak firewood (already seasoned) filled up to the roof of my camper. It was a "long drive", I did not dare to go faster than 35mph.

 

I haul around garden tractors occasionally that weigh 7-800 lbs, so maybe I need to look at getting something for the springs. I have found some hellwig helper springs for 100 bucks, seems like they would do well. Most people said they dont affect ride quality much when I was researching it. Plus you dont have to worry about a compressor, air lines, and air bags that can blow or leak or dry rot. It seems like helper springs would do just as well and be more reliable than air bags, no? Maybe I am missing something.