JDR76

Same here. My dad has a new Tacoma as well. He's had it for over a year. He's at around 13k miles with no issues whatsoever.

Toys4RJill

Well done and good choices. You can't go wrong with Toyota body on frame products. Only issue that I have with the new Tacoma is lack of fully boxed frame and lack of seat height adjustment which is simply not acceptable.

Toys4RJill

It's too bad you don't like the Sequoia. It's way too old. The ride on the platinum uses the same adjustable hydraulic suspension as the former LX470 I believe. It will be interesting to see what Toyota does with the Sequoia, LC and LX. I think they are going to consolidate all three into one design.

Aron9000

^ The unboxed frame thing isn't a big deal to me, medium duty(think Penske box truck, fire truck, bucket truck) and semi trucks have c-channel frames. With the extreme loads these trucks are under, the frame is designed to flex and give, a boxed frame in those applications would crack. I trust that Toyota engineers know what they are doing, as the frame does act as part of the suspension and gives a little bit instead of remaining completely inflexible under extreme loads.

Although I will agree with you on the seat placement and lack of height adjustment. I could get used to it, but I actually like the upright, base bench seat in my reg cab 2004 Tacoma over the bucket seats in the new Tacoma. In my old truck, you sit bolt upright, like in a chair, legs at the knee are closer to a 90 degree angle with your thigh. In the 2016+ Tacoma, your legs are closer to a 180 degree angle at the knee, it feels like you're sitting in a Corvette or an old 4th gen Camaro/Firebird. Your legs stick straight out in front of you, it isn't as comfortable.

Toys4RJill

I don't buy the extreme loads. All domestics full size and HD models, Nissan all have gone to fully boxed frames. Yet Toyota is the only one that has a serious frame recall issue. Toyota trucks should have fully boxed frames. Toyota Hilux has a fully boxed frame so I do think the flexing is a positive.

Aron9000

^ The frame recall issue was due to rust, not structural integrity. Toyota goofed up big time and let Dana manufacture their frames for the Tacoma(and early Tundras) The frames were junk in northern climates due to improperly applied rust proofing/paint. Now if Dana did what Toyota speced or didn't correctly apply the rust proofing coatings/paint Toyota recommended is a good point of conjecture. Personally I'd think Toyota would've learned their lessons with rust on 1980's Toyota trucks. 1984-1994 truck frames were never subject to recall, even though the bodies were way more prone to rust than the newer 1995+ Tacoma bodies. Really I think Toyota got a raw deal from their supplier not properly coating the frames, still sucks though for people who own those trucks. BTW my southern owned 2004 Tacoma doesn't have one speck of rust underneath it, it looks like a new truck underneath.

JDR76

^^^ Agreed. The frame rust issue had zero to do with the C-Channel frame. Even as a mechanical engineer, I have zero issues with a C-Channel frame. It caused me no issues on mine, and there's no reason why it should have.

But anyway, back to the Sequoia...

mmarshall

Don't want to take the thread too far off-topic, but, if you remember (and I know you can remember a lot of stuff back then, like I do), that was because of politics. The Reagan Administration, even though they believed in free trade, placated the Big Three at the time by imposing a 25% tariff on imported light trucks (somewhat like what Trump wants to do today...even more). To get around that tariff (which applied, in the letter of the law, only to completely-assembled trucks), Toyota built the chassis, cabs, and powertrains in Japan, then shipped the entire assemblies across the Pacific by boat to its West Coast warehouse here in the U.S., where the beds and tailgates were welded on and attached. Legally, that made the trucks exempt from the tariff. Problem is...they used crappy, poor-quality welds that corroded from the inside out....they would rust and corrode even if you kept them clean and salt-free. You'll notice that all of those 80s-vintage Toyota trucks (with virtually no exceptions) started rusting out in exactly the same place....the horizontal line around the rear end of the truck where the bed was welded onto the frame. And, from there, the rust would go on to consume the bed and rear-sheet metal....yes, often while the truck's powertrain and general running condition we're still in good shape.

Toys4RJill

I agree we should get back to Sequoia. But a c-channel frame is not convincing as the Hilux uses a fully boxed frame while the Tundra and Taco do not. I am convinced Toyota is just to cheap to offer a full boxed frame unlike the all of the competition who use it now including the HD models.

JDR76

What specifically is the issue you see Tacomas experiencing by having a C-Channel frame?

Toys4RJill

Look at their payload rating compare to the domestic competition and even the Toyota Hilux, look at the bed bounce flex videos of the Tundra. Ride quality should be superior with a fully boxed frame.

JDR76

Thanks for your response.

The Tacoma has a max payload of up to 1620 lbs and the Colorado maxes out at 1581 lbs.

However, it does seem that most of the 4x4 configurations of the Tacoma do have a lower payload rating than the cooresponding Colorados (the 1620 lb rating is on the 4x2 Tacoma). Given that the Tacoma can handle 1620 lbs, it leads me to believe the lower ratings on the 4x4 versions may not be a result of the C-Channel frames being able to handle that kind of load.

Toys4RJill

Good research and info. But how does the Tundra C-channel stnad up to domestic competition? If I remember correctly, past Toyota trucks and T100s had a higher load rating when they were fully boxed compared to the current C channels. Seems like they have went backwards compared to forward. The Hilux has a higher payload rating that the current Tacoma by quite a lot of I'm correct.

Just looked at the payload ratings of a 4X4 Double Cab. It comes in around 1175ish lbs give or take. That does not seem very good once you add in one driver and a passenger. Not much is left. A Double Cab 4x4 Hilux with a fully boxed frame has payload of 2200lbs using the same 4.0 as the 2015 Tacoma, so I know Toyota can do it.