Tips/Tricks for Truck to Last 20+ Years? (Now BS, too!)

̶I̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶2̶0̶2̶1̶ ̶T̶a̶c̶o̶m̶a̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶V̶6̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶g̶u̶y̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶t̶i̶p̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶k̶e̶e̶p̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶r̶u̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶2̶0̶+̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶ ̶r̶o̶a̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶i̶l̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶s̶p̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶w̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶w̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶5̶-̶1̶0̶k̶ ̶(̶m̶o̶s̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶h̶i̶g̶h̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶m̶i̶l̶e̶s̶)̶.̶ ̶I̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶e̶d̶a̶l̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶i̶l̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶(̶2̶5̶ ̶d̶e̶g̶r̶e̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶)̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶5̶5̶m̶p̶h̶ ̶r̶o̶a̶d̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶g̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶6̶5̶+̶.̶ ̶I̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶r̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶w̶a̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶a̶r̶g̶e̶ ̶g̶a̶p̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶v̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶3̶k̶ ̶(̶h̶i̶t̶ ̶5̶k̶ ̶R̶P̶M̶ ̶n̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶a̶i̶l̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶)̶.̶ ̶D̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶i̶r̶r̶e̶p̶a̶r̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶d̶a̶m̶a̶g̶e̶?̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶u̶c̶k̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶b̶a̶b̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶o̶o̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶a̶n̶k̶s̶!̶

Let the BS begin!

 

It’s a Toyota. Your truck is just fine. Keep driving it and enjoy!

 

Delete your account on tacoma world and drive and maintain you taco. Lmao

 

Great advice, save my wallet while I'm at it!

 

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

 

Just maintain it.....and drive the shit out of it!

My 2012 will rollover 600k by this time next week.

 

Be sure you have the 3rd Gen Maintenance Map bookmarked.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2-7l-update-3rd-gen-maintenance-maps-get-300k-miles.789809/

 

Not getting on it when oil is cold is way overblown and isn’t really required. As long as the parts are lubricated, it is fine. You didn’t hurt anything. Best way to take care of it is just drive it, change fluids on a decent schedule and replace whatever breaks when it breaks. There is no certain trick that just makes it last longer.

 

I'd stick to changing the oil at 5k no matter what the listed service interval is.

 

Vehicles don’t wear out - just parts do.

 

Woolwax it! It will keep your steel chassis nice and rust free. That's an important one for longevity...

it only takes a splash of salt water or snowmelt chemical to make the underside start to look horrible. You never know what you might splash into on the road.

I'm in quite a benign environment (re: corrosion) - but do hit the snow yearly. The woolwax seals it all away.

 

You can make any vehicle last 20 years if you are willing to continue to buy parts for it. However, at some point you have to ask yourself if it’s worth maintaining a dinosaur.

 

At new car prices, yea it's worth it to take care of, unless you have lots of money.

 

no gas in 5 years ....... all vehicles will be electric or wind powered.......use it or lose it

 

Just follow the severe service maintenance schedule and use OEM parts and you'll get there.

OEM parts can be had from places outside of the dealership for far less.

Aftermarket parts may work but unless it's a consumable part like brake pads, fluids or bulbs, you can almost bet that the OEM part will work better and last longer. Nothing keeps your vehicle driving like new expect for using the same parts it was made with when it was new.

Plus I don't know whats going on but aftermarket parts in general seem to be taking a very steep downhill in quality over the last few years.

Honestly even for consumables though, unless you know what you're looking for as a "upgrade" you can't go wrong with putting the factory part back in when the original wears out.

 

Got it, thank you. I have been changing it somewhere around 7.5/8k miles as 4k of those are highway miles, and the short trips I try to keep running long enough to get the condensate out of my oil. Luckily, I live in Georgia where the worst we get is red clay, so no salt or anything.

 

Irreparable damage from driving?

 

It seems like regular maintence and care is really all that’s needed, and the occasional replacement part once you start passing 200K miles. That’s just what I’ve noticed based on reading all the high mileage threads around here.

Bigoldbeef’s truck is a prime example although I know he said he does a lot more highway miles than most people. Plus age is a different factor than highway miles on a relatively new truck. Didn’t want to bother him with a tag haha.

My goal is also to get mine past 20 years and we have the same year/engine! I’ve already got 62K miles on mine so we’ll see how it goes lol

 

Best of luck! I'm sure these will easily make it 20+ years. Sure, you see more problems with the third gens but the number of these sold is unimaginably large. Also, internet forums weren't nearly as big during the launch of the 2nd gen, so you didn't see as much of those first model year issues.

 

I assumed that the high RPMs at low temp weren't great for it, but apparently it's not as big a deal as I expected. Hard to squeeze out of my little driveway and get to 65 before getting rear ended without going over 3k RPMs.