Let's see the Toyota fleets

Bump

 

The local crew (minus a few)

 

Sold my 2011 Tacoma and bought a new 4Runner.... was hunting a first gen Tacoma but found a Tundra!

 

I liked the '16 Inferno TRD Sport so much, I got another one.... That way I'll always have a nice clean one to drive....
Makes sense to me..!!

PS... there is a 2014 Corolla LE ECO in the garage..!!

 

My wife and I might have a Tacoma Problem.

 

This is my dream fleet... all generations

 

Very nice! The only problem I see is you are running out of drive way to keep all of them in. Great picture.

 

My Voxy in Japan.


Serves it's purpose as my toy hauler:


and my Taco in the states.

 

My semi-matching (The Tundra is NOT a PRO) Big and Little Toyota's.

I had to take the picture in such a manner to hide my wife's stupid Ford Explorer that should have been a 4 Runner. I got to give her the "I told you so" when she spent all day Monday at the Ford Dealer....

 

How does your truck tow? I've considered doing exactly what your doing.

I currently just drive my pickup to the trail and back.




Nice flat bed btw!

 

Definitely. There's several cars I wouldn't mind taking back to the states.

 

Picked up my Taco this past Tuesday, and my wife decided she wanted a new car as well and got her a Highlander Limited. We're both new to the Toyota community. Sorry for the bad pic. Cheers!

 

Nice pair..!! Welcome Don....

 

It tows the crawler better than I expected for a mid sized truck. I have always owned a 1 ton that I used as a dedicated tow pig but I decided it was time to down size my fleet. I gave this swap a lot of thought and figuring. After I purchased the Tacoma I gave it a couple of test runs towing my Hilux as well as hauling material for my small fabrication business. I was happy enough with its performance that I decided pull the trigger on selling my Cummins, 25' tandem float, 32' stock triple axle trailer and 32' tandem dual dovetail.

Parting with my Cummins and all of the subsequent equipment I had for it was a tough pill to swallow. That rig had power on tap and great fuel economy loaded or unloaded. The cost of maintaining the truck and 3 trailers year to year far out weighed the Tacoma and the 2 smaller trailers I have now. I also greatly reduced my registration and insurance costs annually by downsizing.

I ordered my truck with the manual transmission and the towing package. The manual transmission and its lower ratio in the differential I believe is the key to the trucks ability to satisfy ME as a tow rig. I firmly believe that automatic transmissions have no place in a tow vehicle this is my opinion and I am not going to argue my point with any of the naysayers on the issue. I have spent most of my life with a trailer in tow behind me at both work and play. This truck works as designed for towing. It is not a 600hp diesel 1ton it is a 278 hp mid sized. Load and haul according.

Towing with the Tacoma has been better than I expected as I stated before. When I load it to take the crawler out I typically am rigged out for camping as well. Crawler, trailer, RTT, camping gear, generator, portable AC unit (when wife goes), tools, spare parts. All said and done I am at about 5500lbs. Fuel mileage is typically about 11-12 loaded. I tow in 5th gear unless on flat ground then I'll use 6th sometimes. The truck holds speed fine with cruise set. Yes I have to down shift in the hills but that is the same on just about any vehicle when you load it down. You have to keep the rpm in the proper operating range for the load.

My only complaint about it while towing or being loaded has been with the rear suspension. I rectified my complaint with an add-a-leaf as far as the load carrying ability. I plan on installing some better rear shocks in the near future as well. The stock shocks seam to fade out after 100 or so miles of towing or hauling heavy. I have not decided on which ones I will get as of yet.

Hopes this helps. Sorry for being long winded on the explanation.

Thanks for the compliment on the flat bed.

 

Sweet. That answers my question exactly. I too had a Cummins tow rig that I sold for similar reasons.

I do have the auto but I'm not too worried as I only tow a couple of times a year. I've actually been considering just flat towing.

As far as the add-a-leaf, were you able to find one that didn't add lift? I've been looking but they all seem to add height. I'm also considering air-bags.

 

I actually had a new set of OME D6XL add-a-leaves in the garage that I cut to length and installed. This worked well for me but is not a designed part for our trucks.
I have had air bags fail on me in the past leaving me in a bind. This has resulted in me not trusting them any more. Timbren and sumo spring extended bump stops however will be my next step if the add-a-leaves don't work out in the long run. I replaced my air bag on my 1ton with timbren bumps and loved them but I believe the sumo springs are a better fit for the Tacoma.

 

Me and my ride out partner.

 

This is our toyota family... @TX_Lucian lasted 6 days after I got the taco before picking up his T4R