I have a fairly heavily modified 21 Tundra double cab with a lightweight (362 pounds) poptop camper (shell) on it. I’m running 34s with 4.88 gears. The GVWR is 7100 pounds. Loaded for a trip with 10 gallons of water food, gas, two occupants totaling 285 pounds, all the build out mods, rear seat platform, and all the added build out I put into the camper my rig weighs 7680 pounds on the CAT scales.
I built this to wheel really hard, and I’ve taken it tougher places already than my well-built previous Tacoma. Please note this was supposed to be a lightweight build and it actually is, all things considered. It handles and performs far better than my Tacoma ever did loaded for tent camping. On my recent trip to San Rafael Swell and the Maze, with around 200 miles of off-road (mixed higher speed dirt and rock crawling) and plenty of mixed highway in between I got between 14 and 15 mpg, hand calculatedacross several tanks. Prior to re-gearing I was getting 13 to 14, but it drove like crap and couldn’t handle winds and hills given the weight and the larger tires. FYI I’ve had close to a year and a half experience with this rig over 5 or 6 trips, though the gears and lockers only got finished in Jan. Got about 11K miles on on. Not daily driven.
Here’s my logic on why the 2nd Gen Tundra vs F250 etc. from another thread (
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/ovrlnd-fwc-worth-it.227423/#post-2955366):
4 – I spent the eight months from order up to Jay starting the build in December obsessively researching trucks. At one point I was pretty interested in the new F250s, but it took too long, and I was convinced they were too unwieldy off-road. I also became convinced from numerous sources that the Tundras were pretty capable off road. I knew I was going to build out the suspension, and put lockers in and that I would be able to go nearly everywhere I want to go and have gone with my Tacoma. It helps I am in the Southwest (Phoenix) I don’t have a lot of tight treesy type trails.
5 – The Tundra is an extremely reliable platform. People gripe about the age of the platform and the architecture, but nearly every bug has been worked out. It’s also much heavier duty than the Tacoma. My opinion is any stock truck needs a modification for Offroad, but its a great platform. The beauty of the Tundra is it has a nearly three-quarter ton rear axle (an adaptation -not full float- from Toyotas true three-quarter ton Hino commercial trucks). I looked and looked for a late model used double cab so I could have a 6 1/2 foot bed, but to no avail. That was partly because I insisted on having a 38 gallon fuel tank and the upgraded SR5 seats. In the end I bought a new 21 with all of that using Costco‘s buying program. I got it cheap enough I can afford to do all the suspension upgrades and add lockers and 4.88s. Based on your use case, you won’t need to do all that stuff, but if you do you’ll have an extremely capable truck. They can easily carry all the weight of the camper (mine weighs 360lbs) and provide plenty a room for your crew.
This is dead on:
The other thing that sucks about the Tundra 3g is the axle ratios. Its 3.31's. If you start throwing 35's and a camper on it I bet it doesnt see much of 9th or 10th gear. My F150 Ecoboost with 3.73's and the 6 speed trans, which is shorter ratios than the 10 speed, shifts a bit more on 35's without a camper on the back. If I was loaded to 8000 lbs all the time and had the aero drag of a camper I don't think it would wanna use 6th much at all.
My rig had 4.30s and that wasnt sufficient in any way for the weight, camper aerodynamics and larger tires. 6th was damn near unusable. Given my weight and mods, I probably could’ve gone to 5.29‘s even, but I’m glad I went with the 4.88s for highway travel. I still use the tow haul button in some cases, but I think it’s the most fuel-efficient set up with the 34 inch tires.
You do not need 35s! I know everybody thinks they need them but they kill your mileage. My Cooper XLT AT3s are actually 33.8 inches in diameter. I have no problem climbing 2 foot ledges and rock crawling through Boulder fields, and I still havent scraped. IMO a good suspension lift is it gonna do a lot more for you than the extra half an inch of clearance 35s are going to get you. If you’re gonna be traveling on the highway you’ll hate 35s, especially if you don’t regear.
I particularly did not want a 22 Tundra. Toyota has had problems with the first year or two of every new model. The 05 Tacoma‘s had problems with their rear diffs, 07 Tundra‘s had multiple problems, and the 16 Tacoma‘s had problems. In a couple of years the new Tundras will probably be great, but do you wanna wait that long?
I second the opinions that if you want a heavy camper with flatbed don’t even think about a half ton truck. I almost went that route, but realized that what I really wanted was the ability to go as far off road as I needed and wanted to go with some comfort so I chose the Tundra with a much tighter turning radius and the independent front suspension and a lighter weight camper. I also ended up with a platform that has been tested tweaked and improved over 13 years, which is really important to me as I always end up wheeling solo with just my wife and myself. I don't trust any other vehicle to get me there and back.
I hope this helps. Its a tough decision to make, good luck with it!
