El Taco [Operation: Not A Build] - 2024 TRD Off-Road Journal

Pic first for those who don't want to read:



Hey, I'm new to this forum but a longtime survivor of many other forums (Pirate4x4, Irate4x4, iH8mud, others).

The goal of this truck is consolidate my GX470 and F250 into one vehicle, to serve as a capable but civilized daily driver. I live in the PNW woods and drive logging roads, Forest Service roads, and powerline roads somewhat often. I regularly drive in 12-24" of snow during the winter. My hardcore wheeling days are behind me; while I considered adding steel rock sliders to this truck, I don't want the temptation to wheel it hard. That's the same reason that I skipped the SDM option - in the 8 years I had my GX470, I was never held back by the swaybars even when I wheeled it a bit harder and I never felt the need to disconnect them. On my old 3rd Gen 4runner, I built disconnects and then never even disconnected them.

My other goal is for this to be the opposite of my past trucks; AKA, NOT A PROJECT. Factory build and OEM parts/accessories everywhere possible, and no DIY. At most, minor bolt-ons that take an hour or two. My time is my limited resource these days. I have turned every vehicle I've owned into a project, to the point that I couldn't trust any regular shops to work on it; therefore, all the maintenance fell to me. I'll happily work on my dirt bikes that I ride for fun, but being required to maintain my trucks became a chore and lost its luster. I'm going to try this "new truck" thing for a while with dealer maintenance - it's been great for our 2023 RAV4.


I don't really name my trucks, but I've taken to calling this one El Taco (Anyone else remember the 7-11 tacos from the 90s?).

2024 Toyota Tacoma
Bronze Oxide
Long Bed
TRD Off-road
Premium Package

Falken AT4W, LT275/70R17 Load Range C
Method 703 ET35 Bronze
OEM TPMS Sensors
Black Method ET Lug Nuts

Spare tire:
Atturo Trail Blade AT, LT235/80R17 Load Range E
Stock spare wheel

OEM:
Trailhunter Steel Skid Plates
Hard Tonneau Cover
TRD Cast Aluminum Running boards
PPF
Spray-in Bedliner
Mud Guards
Black Tailgate Logo Insert
Black Grill Badge Overlay (from the Limited Overlay Set)
All-Weather Floor Liners
Black-Chrome Exhaust Tip

AJT Key Fob Cases
Weathertech Rear Seat Cover (doggo)
Weathertech Passenger Seat Back Protector (kiddo)
Rokblokz Mud Flaps

To do one of these days:
Rough Country Rear Fender Liners (sitting on a shelf - the TRD flares need to come off to install the liners, and I'm not in the mood to do that)

To do soon:
I just ordered a ZPrecision cupholder! That will be an easy install once it shows up.

To do at dealer:
Turn off "Windshield wiper linked headlight illumination"
Increase lane change turn signal tap to 4 blinks
(I'm very hesitant to try Euro Global Techstream with my knockoff mini-vci j2534 cable on this truck, so I'll have the dealer do this at my 5k service.)
(I also emailed Carista to see if they have the "Wiper linked illumination" feature; they don't.)


That's it for now! My plan is to enjoy this truck and work on it as little as possible.

One thing I have planned for the future is the addition of some auxillary lighting to the front end. My GX had some awesome lighting and I already miss it. I'm waiting to see what light mounting options hit the market over the next 6 months or so, and I'll choose something later this year. The upside is that the Auxiliary Switches and wiring make this an easy job - it will almost be plug-and-play.

I've found a lot of valuable information on this forum already, and look forward to sharing things I learn about this truck.

Brief 1500 mile review:

Power:

Straight from the dealer, the truck felt a little slow. Throttle response had a lot to do with that - in Normal Mode, it felt like it needed more initial throttle to get into the boost. I drove it gently for a full 1k miles to really break it in before I pushed it hard. After that I learned how to drive this truck, and as a result, the ECU/TCU adapted and now provide better power delivery in Normal Mode. Sport Mode is where this engine really shines. It has much more aggressive throttle response (just like a "Pedal Commander" would do - quicker throttle opening with less pedal travel) and it really feels like the boost curves are more aggressive too.

Based on the recent dyno tests that have been discussed here, I just switched from 87 octane to 92 octane. The difference is noticeable: Idle is smoother, power delivery is more crisp, there is less of the low-RPM "chugging". There is more power than a RWD truck with an open diff can put to the ground. In dry weather where the tires can actually get traction, it's definitely faster than my old GX470 (4.7L V8 AWD SUV).

Empeegees:

The truck is easily capable of the rated fuel economy in stock form, if you put it in ECO mode and drive at the speed limits, including going 60mph on the freeway while everyone passes you at 70mph.

No surprise here... But that's not how I drive. I live in the mountains and commute into the city once or twice per week. I saw 21mpg on a couple commutes with mixed country roads, highway, and city traffic. And easily hit 24mpg on flat highway at 60mph.

Fuel economy is also highly impacted by wheel and tire setup, so my change from the 36.2lb 31.6x10.7" stock tires to my 58.1lb 32.2x11" tires doesnt help. The tires are 2% taller so my odometer is off by 2%, but the speedo is pretty much spot-on.

I don't really pay attention to fuel economy on a day-to-day basis. We'll see if I notice a difference with the switch to 92 octane though.

Chassis:

Big improvement from the 3rd Gen! It's much more composed and a significantly better daily driver. Granted, nothing here is really groundbreaking for Toyota. But it's a solid refinement of the proven Toyota chassis technology that we know and love.

The TRD Off-Road shocks felt a little crashy when new, but now feel smoother after breaking in.

Interior:

HELL YEAH. This is one of the main reasons I bought this truck. We have a 2023 RAV4 XLE Premium so I was already familiar with some of the tech, but this Taco has more features and some great design elements. Yeah, a couple things could be improved, but that's how it is with any vehicle. And it's still a huge improvement over the 3rd Gen.

The JBL audio is perfectly acceptable to me. I'm not a super elite audio snob... just a casual audio snob. The bass is better than my old Lexus Mark Levinson system, but the midrange sound isn't as "full". I listen to Spotify most of the time with albums download in the highest quality available.

Truck looks great, sounds like you have a great plan for it…thanks for sharing
David

Airborne said:

Truck looks great, sounds like you have a great plan for it…thanks for sharing
David

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Thanks!

It's been great so far, and perfect for everything I need.

The only things I miss from my GX are the rain sensing wipers, and AWD. But the MPG hit of the AWD was rough, so I'll just need to remember to pop it into 4H on icy roads.

Nice truck! I too have a tendency to turn every vehicle into a project at the expense of being a good daily driver. I'm trying real hard to keep my Tacoma civilized and focus on daily comfort.

I just realized that I forgot to mention the Rokblokz mud flaps that I installed to replace the dinky and useless American OEM flaps.

They have pretty good coverage, and the material quality is decent. But I can't say that I'd recommend them... I definitely wouldn't buy them again. They have some design issues and hardware issues, and their customer service kinda sucks.

bigd9247 said:

Nice truck! I too have a tendency to turn every vehicle into a project at the expense of being a good daily driver. I'm trying real hard to keep my Tacoma civilized and focus on daily comfort.

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Historically, I am my own worst enemy for that!

The only time I didn't go overboard was when I was younger and had no money to spend.

But since then I have been far too ambitious about what I can get done (from a time and motivation perspective), and I've also been too demanding/discriminating about what I really need.

Here's my old GX:



Icon suspension with lots of other aftermarket parts, sliders, skids, lights, little mods everywhere. I loved it. But it became more than I really needed.

I won't even go into my recent Tacoma crawler project..... (1st Gen Taco, 9.5" axles, duals, 39s, lots of fab). It sat for 5 years and I only drove it three times. I'm so glad I sold it.

Had an 05 4Runner with the 2-UZ in it, glad know i'm not just gaslighting myself that this truck is Great write up!

JakeJoeBob said:

Had an 05 4Runner with the 2-UZ in it, glad know i'm not just gaslighting myself that this truck is Great write up!

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Thanks!

Both versions of the 2UZ were magnificent engines. The early non-VVTi engines were punchier, and the later dual-VVTi engines ramped up and then kept on pulling.

I bet it was even better in your 4runner with a little less weight. My GX was around 5100-ish lb, with pretty good weight distribution (55/45 or something like that). The AWD gave it killer traction. I could drive it harder than I needed to. I'm actually driving a bit mellower now in the Taco, which is probably for the better...

For anyone who has ever looked into the hard folding tonneau cover options...

I shopped aftermarket and OEM accessory versions, and read install manuals for both. I definitely did NOT want to drill holes in my new bed for drain hoses. Luckily the Toyota cover includes hoses that are supposed to fit in the 1/4" drain holes at the front of the bed. This is in stark contrast to aftermarket Bakflip and other brands with larger drain hoses.

My bed has the optional spray-in liner, which I like for traction and protection. It also makes the drain holes a little smaller. I could have used a tapered reamer to clean up/widen the holes a bit. But I also wanted to link both drain hoses into the center drain holes in order to leave the two outer holes free, in case more water gets into the bed.

2ft of 1/4" ID vacuum hose and a 1/4" nylon hose tee made this work. I previously had shorter sections of vacuum hose and didn't like how it looked, but finally got it situated last night:



I really like this Toyota accessory tonneau cover. It's not 100% watertight, but I'd say it's easily 95%. Last weekend I had the bed completely full of household stuff to donate, in cardboard boxes and a few paper bags. The 30min drive to Goodwill (with a stop along the way for a donut) was solid rain, and everything stayed dry enough.



(Pic from when I installed it on the week-old truck, back in October)

For a 32” tire that looks sick. Nicely done.

Ran across these pics from my install of the Trailhunter skid plates...


What came on my TRD:



Not bad, and probably adequate for 90% of truck owners. But we can do better...


That's more like it:





Install was super easy with just a pair of Rhino Ramps and one socket. 30min at most. I also used an M8 thread chaser bolt to clean up the mounting holes that hadn't been used before but that's probably not necessary.

These were a bit cheaper than the equivalent coverage aftermarket skid plates. My main motivation was to stick with OEM parts so the dealership techs know what they're looking at, and won't get confused. They know how to work with OEM stuff, and usually ONLY with OEM stuff.

tacorancher said:

For a 32” tire that looks sick. Nicely done.

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Thank you, I agree 100%. I'm super happy with how the tire and wheel combo worked out.

10mm wider on the tire and 20mm less wheel offset, resulting in 25mm more "poke" than stock, made a perfect change to the stance of the truck. And the ~12-13mm tire diameter increase was enough to notice, but not enough to completely throw off the truck.

Older pic from the fresh tire/wheel install, but pre-mudflaps:



I loved the Falken AT3W and the AT4W is just as good, if not better. It's a smooth, quiet tire for an LT C-rated All-Terrain. And so far, traction is excellent. They took a few hundred miles to break in, and have since been my new favorite tire.

My only other AT option in C-Rated LT275/70R17 was the Yokohama X-AT, which is supposed to be a good tire as well.

Toyo also makes their new RT Trail in that size, but it's an XL rated tire and the tread is more open/aggressive than I really wanted. I also have a negative opinion of Toyo tires in the PNW... they have a history of terrible traction in ice and snow. Maybe that's changed, maybe not.

Yotota said:

Thank you, I agree 100%. I'm super happy with how the tire and wheel combo worked out.

10mm wider on the tire and 20mm less wheel offset, resulting in 25mm more "poke" than stock, made a perfect change to the stance of the truck. And the ~12-13mm tire diameter increase was enough to notice, but not enough to completely throw off the truck.

Older pic from the fresh tire/wheel install, but pre-mudflaps:

I loved the Falken AT3W and the AT4W is just as good, if not better. It's a smooth, quiet tire for an LT C-rated All-Terrain. And so far, traction is excellent. They took a few hundred miles to break in, and have since been my new favorite tire.

My only other AT option in C-Rated LT275/70R17 was the Yokohama X-AT, which is supposed to be a good tire as well.

Toyo also makes their new RT Trail in that size, but it's an XL rated tire and the tread is more open/aggressive than I really wanted. I also have a negative opinion of Toyo tires in the PNW... they have a history of terrible traction in ice and snow. Maybe that's changed, maybe not.

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My 33.43” Falken AT4Ws are great except too hard riding (E load). Thinking to switch to C, but really surprised yours look as big as they do. It’s harder though to fill up the TH wheel wells.

tacorancher said:

My 33.43” Falken AT4Ws are great except too hard riding (E load). Thinking to switch to C, but really surprised these look as big as they do. It’s harder though to fill up the TH wheel wells.

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Yeah, I forgot to mention E-rated tires...

LT275/70R17 is also available in many E-rated options. I don't like E-rated tires on any truck that's not a fullsize, or weighs more than ~6k lb (such as an 80-series Land cruiser). It's almost impossible to find a tire pressure that let's an E-rated tire flex enough to ride well under a lighter truck.

For your Trailhunter, the options are also limited with the 18" wheels. If you changed to 17", there are many more options on the market.