My favorite 4th gen Tacoma upgrades over the 3rd gen

[ajkitebrder40]

Sweet Bronco! I have a 1UP hitch rack also but nothing has been easier than throwing the front tire over the tailgate . I have carried two at a time so far and they are rock solid secured at the down tube with a velcro strap they don't budge at all at highway speeds. I also agree that even though my hitch mount hold the wheels securely I do have a strap to secure it just in case. No way do I want to see my all carbon Fuel EX tumble on the road!
A 5 foot bad is fine with this method but a 6 foot bed seems like it would be better with surfboards & longer boards. Agree with you 100% I only wanted SofTex seats (they are bomb proof) and the bigger screen but jumped on mine even thought it had a lot of stuff added that I was not looking for but ok with. Just need some good all weather mats from Weather Tech or Tux Mat when they come out!

Yeah, Transition Spur here.......I'm tempted, but being able to take the top/doors off, and washout interior helps a lot. I can fit my bike with the front wheel off pretty easily in the back. The 6mt in the Tacoma helps.....I really like the manual in the Bronco with the 2.3L Turbo, I'm guessing they probably are similar from that aspect.

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[TexasBlueCrush]

It looks similar and probably would fit. If I was a routine off roader, I would probably get the TRD skid plate. About all I do is jump the highway to the access road when there is a wreck on I-35! lol!

Careful there Planoman, the last time I made my own exit off of i-35 here in Denton the police officer called it an "illegal exit off a major thoroughly fare" and it set me back $400.

 

[Planoman]

Careful there Planoman, the last time I made my own exit off of i-35 here in Denton the police officer called it an "illegal exit off a major thoroughly fare" and it set me back $400.

I know you can get busted and fined. Luckily I only do it when it is a serious backup on the highway and I make sure there are plenty of offenders.

 

[Planoman]

Ok I have a random question. In the third pic down of your center console I don't see a stop/start override button? Am I just not seeing it? Would be the far right button of the of the five.

The forth button would be the sway bar disconnect which I don’t have and the fifth is the clutch start cancel button which I think that button is only for the 6 speed manual transmission. I could be wrong though.

 

[Planoman]

Update on MPG with 2nd tank of gas on normal mode. Interesting that I went 350.5 miles and averaged 20.3 MPG on this tank which was better than the 350 miles & 19.6 on ECO mode! These were both in city driving. I drove very ECO in ECO mode and normally in normal mode. According to the fuel pump, I had about .9 gallons left in the tank when I filled up at 350 miles.

Doing this tank in sport mode and it definitely revs the engine higher. I noted at 45 mph I was about 1700 rpm in Normal and about 2200 rpm in Sport mode.

 

[PYLDRVR]

Bronco for reference, has anyone gone from a Jeep or Bronco back to a Tacoma, any thoughts?

I am. Currently drive a 4 door Rubicon and it's a great rig but I really want a truck again. I don't need to haul 4x8 sheets of plywood (when did that become the standard by which doing "truck stuff" was measured?) but I do a lot of Gravel/CX riding and having to take the wheels off and stuff the bike in the back is getting old (especially when it's covered in mud). I have a hitch mount but I don't keep it on all the time and find myself just riding from the house rather than hassle with it; which means I ride a lot of the same set of routes over and over. Aside from that, there's the occasional Home Depot run as well as hauling miscellaneous stuff (I don't really tow). It would just be a lot nicer to have a truck bed.

 

[ridetime]

But if you ever did need to haul plywood the Tacoma bed has a molded in place above the wheel wells to place 2 2x6's and lay the sheets flat on top.

 

[sopranojam]

The only real negative has been the dash cam. The dash cam itself is sweet, but the Toyota app is pretty bad. It is rated at 1.5 stars on the app store. It is confusing to connect and requires multiple attempts. I used a garmin previously and it was so much easier to use!

Yeah. The pros of the dash cam:
The video quality is quite good. The timestamps and GPS coordinates appear to be correct, so it is a very low effort camera that requires no setup, that records reliably. You do have to press the microphone button and be sure it is illuminated in amber, or it won't record audio. And even if you give up on trying to use the crappy mobile app to connect to it, you can always pull the SD card out and transfer video to a computer manually if needed.

Biggest con of the dash cam: The app
The app is only meant to transfer video files over. The app is awful. I had this same dash cam on a 2023 Tundra and had a hell of a time getting my dash cam to connect. I had to reset the Wi-Fi password on the camera itself, which is a secret button combo not in the manual. You press and hold the Microphone and Action button for 10 seconds, then reconnect using the default password of 1234567890. You have to reconnect manually by pressing the Wi-Fi button for 2 seconds, opening your phone's Wi-Fi settings, joining the dash cam network, then opening the ToyotaDashCam app, and transfer what you need. Don't expect the connection to last. It disconnects every few minutes, so that makes it hard to transfer video clips over. I had to re-connect twice to complete a transfer. Fortunately, the file transfer did not start over, but it just resumes where it left off.

The other quirk is if you hit a hard bump on the road, the camera may beep loudly and kick into ACTION mode. This is alarming if it happens, but is expected. After all if it was something more serious, I would want the video of that event to not be overwritten.

 

[Planoman]

Yeah. The pros of the dash cam:
The video quality is quite good. The timestamps and GPS coordinates appear to be correct, so it is a very low effort camera that requires no setup, that records reliably. You do have to press the microphone button and be sure it is illuminated in amber, or it won't record audio. And even if you give up on trying to use the crappy mobile app to connect to it, you can always pull the SD card out and transfer video to a computer manually if needed.

Biggest con of the dash cam: The app
The app is only meant to transfer video files over. The app is awful. I had this same dash cam on a 2023 Tundra and had a hell of a time getting my dash cam to connect. I had to reset the Wi-Fi password on the camera itself, which is a secret button combo not in the manual. You press and hold the Microphone and Action button for 10 seconds, then reconnect using the default password of 1234567890. You have to reconnect manually by pressing the Wi-Fi button for 2 seconds, opening your phone's Wi-Fi settings, joining the dash cam network, then opening the ToyotaDashCam app, and transfer what you need. Don't expect the connection to last. It disconnects every few minutes, so that makes it hard to transfer video clips over. I had to re-connect twice to complete a transfer. Fortunately, the file transfer did not start over, but it just resumes where it left off.

The other quirk is if you hit a hard bump on the road, the camera may beep loudly and kick into ACTION mode. This is alarming if it happens, but is expected. After all if it was something more serious, I would want the video of that event to not be overwritten.

These steps help connect to the dashcam in the app:

1. Turn off your phones Bluetooth setting and be away from your home wifi so it is not connected to your phone.

2. Press the wifi button (2-3 seconds) on the dashcam until the wifi light is blinking.

3. On your phone, connect to the dashcam wifi in the wifi settings, it will say not conected but just go back to the app. it should connect. If not, try again.

If you do connect and want to view or download a clip, it takes a while so give it time to transfer the file.

If all fails as stated above, turn off the car and remove the micro SD card and view on your computer.

 

[Toy-truck]

Yeah. The pros of the dash cam:
The video quality is quite good. The timestamps and GPS coordinates appear to be correct, so it is a very low effort camera that requires no setup, that records reliably. You do have to press the microphone button and be sure it is illuminated in amber, or it won't record audio. And even if you give up on trying to use the crappy mobile app to connect to it, you can always pull the SD card out and transfer video to a computer manually if needed.

Biggest con of the dash cam: The app
The app is only meant to transfer video files over. The app is awful. I had this same dash cam on a 2023 Tundra and had a hell of a time getting my dash cam to connect. I had to reset the Wi-Fi password on the camera itself, which is a secret button combo not in the manual. You press and hold the Microphone and Action button for 10 seconds, then reconnect using the default password of 1234567890. You have to reconnect manually by pressing the Wi-Fi button for 2 seconds, opening your phone's Wi-Fi settings, joining the dash cam network, then opening the ToyotaDashCam app, and transfer what you need. Don't expect the connection to last. It disconnects every few minutes, so that makes it hard to transfer video clips over. I had to re-connect twice to complete a transfer. Fortunately, the file transfer did not start over, but it just resumes where it left off.

The other quirk is if you hit a hard bump on the road, the camera may beep loudly and kick into ACTION mode. This is alarming if it happens, but is expected. After all if it was something more serious, I would want the video of that event to not be overwritten.

Do you still have the 2023 Tunda or did you get rid of it for a 2024 Tacoma?

 

[sopranojam]

Do you still have the 2023 Tunda or did you get rid of it for a 2024 Tacoma?

I do not have a Tundra anymore. My reasons for not having it are not really relevant to this thread, but I am hoping for a 2024 Tacoma and am on a waiting list.

 

[ToEkUttEr]

We are a Tacoma family, to be specific Silver Tacomas! I came from a recent model Off Road Tacoma to my 2024 Off Road and my son had a 2019 SR5 4X4 in you guessed it, silver!. I agree with other owner's sentiments on the ride quality being much improved. Night and day! My previous Tacoma even had the Overland Torque Tune on it and this new 8 speed transmission is silk! I went with the premium trim and I love it. The tech is a bit overwhelming initially. The instrument dash is a 1000% improvement over the 3rd gen.

My Favorite upgrades over the 3rd gen

1. Rear suspension and effect on ride quality​

2. Rear disc brakes​

3. Auto Hold that holds you in position at a stop light until you hit the accelerator​

4. Electronic Parking Brake​

5. 360 view cameras with so many modes! Love the birds eye view when backing up!​

6. 14 inch infotainment screen and wireless Apple Carplay, 10 JBL speakers- FLEX removable​

7. Powered up and down tailgate​

8. Acoustic glass on front windows for quiet cab​

9. USB C chargers all around! (my iphone takes USC C) but I have some USB C to lightning cables for my slow adopting friends ;)​

10. Speed limit sign reader that shows the speed limit on the instrument panel!​

11. Safety sense 3 and the auto steer assist feature! It is really good!​

12. SoFTex heated and ventilated front seats. Also power adjustable front passenger seat! The ventilated function is ok and a bit noisy.​

The only real negative has been the dash cam. The dash cam itself is sweet, but the Toyota app is pretty bad. It is rated at 1.5 stars on the app store. It is confusing to connect and requires multiple attempts. I used a garmin previously and it was so much easier to use!

Digital rear mirror also takes some time to get used to as CATOY said. Still not using it full time. But love the home link for garage doors!

Some pics

Love all those things... Don't forget the HUD and that awesome hybrid max motor. That torque!

 

[TheGreatWhiteNorth]

Rear suspension and brakes are one of the biggest improvements. Tacomas always had the worst rear end.

You forgot to mention the incredible engine/trans combo, that tows like an 8 cyl, and has pretty wild low end torque.

I still cant believe how well this thing tows.

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