2014 reg cab 2wd taco putting in the work.

My dad used his tacoma today instead of his f350 because it's at the dealership for no ac. It's a 2014 reg cab 2wd with a cap and 190k miles. The load capacity is 1150lbs but he has the cap that's about 500lb with tools then he had 3 people up front equaling about 650lb. Right there your at capacity. But wait there's more he has 13 80lb cement bags in the back equaling 1,040. Then towing a 950lb cement mixer behind. Not to mention it's a 2.7l. So in total he had 2200 pounds in the truck. So 1,050lbs over the capacity. Plus towing. It did very well and this proves that the 2.7l is more then power full enough and no need for the the V6. And while getting 23mpg with unloaded with 2 people.

 

Congrats and all but GVWR is a thing for a reason. Those brakes, tires, or suspension aren't engineered to deal very well with all that extra weight. Heaven forbid your dad got into an accident and someone else got hurt because he couldn't stop - liabilities from that kind of event would be "life-altering" for everyone involved, to put it mildly. Be safe out there.

 

I understand what your saying. But he made sure that he wasn't over doing what he felt was ok. Like it stopped just fine even though being almost on the ground in the rear. But yeah it's a tacoma. We all know the slang for the Ranger but how about the tacoma being just as capable. It seems my dad uses the tacoma for everything because the fords are always something wrong. He has 2 f350 and 2 f250 and like today neither of them were up to the task.

 

So. How was the steering & handling at highway speeds? Tight as a Porsche 911 I expect.

Also check the leaf springs at the rear axle. Probably damaged (reverse-arched / sad-face shaped) from all the overloading.

 

If it had bigger springs in the rear it's sure it would have been better. But I will definitely check the springs because it probably could use some helper springs anyway due to the cap being permanently mounted. As for the steering right about 60mph it was quite loose in the front. So we stayed off the highways and just took the backroads.