Can a Tacoma be comfortable & have a decent ride?

I'd say if you need a truck look at full size. Rams always have good reviews. If you want a smaller truck look at Ridgeline. I had one and it was like a suv for ride. Maybe you need a suv or crossover and rent a truck when needed

 

Take a look at the Honda Ridgeline. just check it out! mid size truck with 6 cyl and in case you haven't noticed the stupid slanted bed sides are gone.

 

I'm guessing they're the stiffest shocks money can buy, lmao. I'd bounce out of my seat and hit my head on the ceiling! Like that one time!!!

 

I never understood why people feel the need to muck up a thread... Thanks for your wonderful insight...

Back to the adult discussion - My current Tacoma is a '13 TRD Sport double cab. It doesn't ride any better than my first gen Taco. As mentioned, I understand Toyota making very subtle changes over the years, but the ride should have improved after all of these years. My '06 Tundra was a double cab SR5. I should have never sold it, but I digress.

I do need a truck, and I don't know that I will buy anything without a 6' bed. Most of the time, a Tacoma is enough truck, which is why I hesitate to go back to a full size. If the newer Tacomas were any more comfortable, that would be great news. I am guessing that my suspicion is correct - a full size is the only way to get the better ride.

Once again - thanks for those offering genuine thoughts.

 

Coming from 2 Frontiers…they both rode significantly better than my ‘23 DCSB OR taco. Maybe give that a drive…

 

Very little discussion here about MASS on the ASS.

Put in less vulgar and more pragmatic terms, Tacos in stock form are very light on the rear end. Combine with Toyota needing to put in stock rear leaf springs that are capable of handling ~800-1000 lbs when fully loaded, what you end up with in stock form is an over-sprung rear that rides hard when empty because the leaf springs aren't flexed down into their sweet spot.

All springs have a pre-load zone, i.e. a sweet spot of the ideal amt of force on them which makes them capable of maximum resonance (flex). It takes X amount of force (in the case of suspension springs, weight,) to get them into the sweet zone. Departing either side of that (higher or lower mass) gradually moves them away from the flexy sweet spot towards being either overloaded or underloaded.

Particularly in the underloaded condition, truck leaf springs in general are extremely stiff and will not allow the rear axle to move enough (up and down) to allow the shock absorbers to do the work of absorbing & smoothing out bumps.

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I put $6,000+ into a FOX 2.5 PE DSC mid-travel setup on all 4 corners, with heavy-rated Deaver U402 leafs in back. If the rear end isn't properly loaded (MASS on the ASS,) the $6K suspension rides like shit. Bumpy and jolty.

When I load up the rear properly (with, in my case, a contractor cap, full size lumber rack, rear plate bumper, and either +300 lbs of ballast or (in my case) tools & job materials -- then it rides more or less like a dream. Probably equivalent to or better than a half-ton / F150 / Tundra in stock form, though I haven't ridden in one of those for comparison.

Aside from simply flexing the leaf springs down into their "sweet spot" working zone, the additional major benefit of adding weight in the back is that it increases the inertial reaction mass against which the entire rear suspension operates.

When the rear tires hit a bump, an impulse of X amt of force is transmitted upward into the vehicle frame & bed, and whatever else is in the bed, i.e. hopefully an appropriate amount of dense cargo. (I estimate at least 400 lbs for a stock Tacoma.) Other things being equal, when the same bump impulse pushes upward against a total rear mass that is 50% (or more) heavier than stock, basic mechanics dictates that the entire rear will move upwards less quickly (duller impulse) and not as far (lower peak movement,) which further contributes to a nicer-feeling ride.

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Some people have crappy rides in their Tacos because the suspension has failed due to age, i.e. the shocks are bombed out and/or the springs have sagged.

Others have suspensions in mechanical good working order but have no weight in the back. Anyone with Taco ride-quality issues should try putting at least 400 lbs of ballast in the bed, over or behind the rear axle, and see what change that makes.

400 lbs isn't a sand-bag or two, it's five x 80 lb sacks of concrete. That's about $30-$35 at Home Derrpot in Calif, or free if you just test-drive them for a few weeks and return them without any major tears leaking out powder.

 

I’ve run Michelin 265/75-16’s on my 2015 Off Road, and the little extra sidewall on those tires made a huge difference in comfort. I ran Wildpeaks for the last 5 years, but in the Fall I’m going back to the LTX MS 2’s.

 

Right, yeah, in my long diatribe I completely neglected tires.

People running around on heavy-duty light-truck-rated tires (vs. stock P-rated tires) without a great deal of weight in back are also going to have their ride quality suffer.

Even people on stock tires who run them overinflated (for whatever reason, maybe trying to chase better gas mileage?) are going to feel moar bump. 30 PSI is on the nameplate of my Taco, but with all the weight I've added (around +800 lbs, ish) I run my P-rated Yoko G015 ATs, P265/70/R16, at 35 PSI.

 

Oh sorry, did i offend your feelings dog dad?

 

You’ll likely prefer an OR over the Sport. I was fortunate to have access to a 2022 OR for an extended test drive. Sales manager friend gave me the keys to his personal truck for the day while he was at work. I took it on a wide variety of road conditions, paved and dirt. Relative smoother ride over the Sport over bumpy pot hole strewn roads and dirt roads. I found it too soft in cornering such as highway off ramps. I preferred the handling of the sport for my use case - “off payment” = logging roads, maintained and unmaintained dirt roads, and pavement. I’m retired so I don’t have a daily commute. As others have posted, tire model matters too. It’s personal preference so you’ll have to compare for yourself. You can’t go wrong with the Taco. A few months ago I was offered almost a $1000 more than I paid, so you can always sell it if you don’t like it. Enjoy the process.

 

Ram 1500 Classic, rides better than any Toyota truck ever made it has rear coils, can't recall a single complaint anywhere when it comes the Classics ride. The cab is bigger than Ford and GM. You can get a 5.7 Hemi V8, America's V8!

I'd say Ram 1500 Classic and 2nd gen Tundra will probably go down in history as two of the world's best pick ups of all time.

 

F150. I had a company issued 2016 XLT F150 in 2016, quieter than most luxury cars. It had some niggling faults in the controls, but it always ran.

 

When I had the original shocks on my F150 it rode night and day better than the Tacoma. After putting some Fox 2.0s on it still rides much better than my old truck.

 

If we're being real, there are better riding trucks...

If we're talking smoothest rides of trucks my vote is the newer F150s and Rams. The manufacturers are focusing on comfort over design of trucks of the past since we're using them as commuters dailies and family haulers, using them for everything. Tacoma still got that old school truck dna.