Increasing Tacoma's GVWR

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Followed shortly by, Tacomas sure are under powered, aren't they?
I don't think that my Tacoma is at all under powered. My 22R-E was reliable but it was under powered as an all around truck. It was fine on dirt roads and 2 lane but on Interstates by the middle 2000s it was pretty much dangerously slow, especially trying to merge or pull long high altitude passes. So I think power of the 4.0L V6 is more than sufficient. It holds Interstate speed safely. It doesn't have exceptional power but I don't pray for the Holy Mother of Acceleration not to fail me getting on the highway either.

But then I also try to be reasonably with expectations, enough armor to do what I do with it, a fairly simple truck camper, backpacking ethos generally. I don't exceed GVWR fully loaded for a week much less just in base truck with stem to stern skid plates and all of it. I do bump over with the bike rack and two bikes hanging from the bumper, though. But in that case I also don't push it as hard on trails rather find a place to base camp and do the difficult stuff on MTBs.

I also think it's possible to balance a reasonable ride with load handling. I don't expect my truck to ride well unloaded though, which is what I think the bias for a stock suspension is. I also acknowledge that my tuning and configuration has met my expectation for good ride loaded over medium speed degraded roads and on pavement it's very stable. It does not ride as well as I would like in very slow speed technical situations. Maybe a higher grade shock with bypass and multiple damping options could help but that brings up value. Everything is filtered by cost and I can tolerate the harshness in rocks because I haven't an unlimited budget to address every variable to full satisfaction.
 
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luthj

Engineer In Residence
Sure, my under-powered comment was mostly in reference to the complaints of very heavy vehicles. I find that 40hp per ton is sufficient for safe and comfortable operation in the vast majority of cases.
 

tacollie

Glamper
From the "most popular articles of the decade" link above.
"Jon had the truck weighed and realized that his Tacoma was 2000 lbs over the factory rating. This explained the sag he was beginning to feel in the OME Dakars. "
IMG_20160531_093137-1600x900.jpg
If it's worth doing it's worth over doing!
 

rruff

Explorer
If it's worth doing it's worth over doing!

I knew he was overweight, but didn't think it was that much. The camper weighs very little; it's all the stuff. And I wonder if he included occupants in that weight?

I had fantasies that I'd stay under GVWR with my Tundra. That's a light but big camper mounted to the frame, and I know how to make light "furniture", but then I started adding things up, and... no way in hell.
 

phsycle

Adventurer
Which is why if I ever go slide in camper route, I’m going straight to a 1 ton. Too many compromises with a 1/2 ton set up IMO.
But is set it up with a single cab to keep the length shorter. Although an ext cab might go over better with the wife.
 
The new Ranger with all it's 4wd related weight has a payload of 1600 pounds. A 2wd AC Tacoma has a payload of about 1400 pounds, while a 4wd AC Tacoma 6 cylinder has a payload of about 1050 pounds. Say 400 pounds of 4wd add ons.
Based on those numbers, the Ranger has not been modified for North American tastes. It looks like the new Ranger without all the 4wd related add ons could have a payload of about 2000 pounds; Ford just took the rest of the world Ranger and dropped it in North America. Why can't Toyota do the same with the Hi-Lux?
 

shade

Well-known member
A timely companion thread:

 

shade

Well-known member
The new Ranger with all it's 4wd related weight has a payload of 1600 pounds. A 2wd AC Tacoma has a payload of about 1400 pounds, while a 4wd AC Tacoma 6 cylinder has a payload of about 1050 pounds. Say 400 pounds of 4wd add ons.
Based on those numbers, the Ranger has not been modified for North American tastes. It looks like the new Ranger without all the 4wd related add ons could have a payload of about 2000 pounds; Ford just took the rest of the world Ranger and dropped it in North America. Why can't Toyota do the same with the Hi-Lux?
They could, but decided long ago that wasn't going to happen.

I'd guess that the next opportunity to rejoin the midsize Toyotas would be when the 4th gen Tacoma is nearing release, and it'd make more financial sense to change over NA plant tooling since it'd have to be done anyway. I don't predict that happening, though.
 

luthj

Engineer In Residence
You will find that most MFGs will reduce ratings for the north american market. Probably related to folks putting big tires, overloading, and putting much higher miles than is typical elsewhere.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
They could, but decided long ago that wasn't going to happen.

I'd guess that the next opportunity to rejoin the midsize Toyotas would be when the 4th gen Tacoma is nearing release, and it'd make more financial sense to change over NA plant tooling since it'd have to be done anyway. I don't predict that happening, though.
I think there's a more than zero chance the 4th gen Tacoma merges with the Hilux in some non-trivial ways. There's been talk of moving all Tacoma production to Mexico and Toyota likes when factories can build models for multiple markets. I can't imagine they'll ever give up the Tacoma brand name, especially here. But being able to plug-and-play Tacoma and Hilux production to meet regional demand seems smart. Maybe they could even introduce a Hilux to the U.S. to sell regular cabs, dropping the Tacoma SR trim completely. I think they could also sell Tacoma as a high end trim in a lot of countries outside the U.S. and Canada. Tacomas get imported I understand into places in Central and South America because the stylized aggressive appearance has appeal.
 

shade

Well-known member
I think there's a more than zero chance the 4th gen Tacoma merges with the Hilux in some non-trivial ways. There's been talk of moving all Tacoma production to Mexico and Toyota likes when factories can build models for multiple markets. I can't imagine they'll ever give up the Tacoma brand name, especially here. But being able to plug-and-play Tacoma and Hilux production to meet regional demand seems smart. Maybe they could even introduce a Hilux to the U.S. to sell regular cabs, dropping the Tacoma SR trim completely. I think they could also sell Tacoma as a high end trim in a lot of countries outside the U.S. and Canada. Tacomas get imported I understand into places in Central and South America because the stylized aggressive appearance has appeal.
I think it's more of a question of logistics than anything else. If they can get their parts catalog to overlap enough, and get them produced & delivered where needed cheaply enough, maybe it'll happen. I just don't think they'll be in a position to do that mid-product cycle.
 

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