'14 Tacoma Limited...Yea or Nay?

[eyemgh]

A friend of mine is selling his Tacoma and I started a thread in the camper section to discuss pop-ups. We are intrigued by both FWC and ATC. That thread is morphing though into is the Tacoma even the right vehicle? It seems to be very payload limited and to suffer from bad brakes.

So, if you were starting from scratch, looking to buy a platform, new or used, for an ATC or FWC, wanting to spend something in the lower $20k range, and interested in getting off the beaten path (reasonable two track at worst), mostly in the summer, but needs to get around to ski areas, but not interested in anything extremely technical or deeply remote, would the Tacoma be on your list? If not, what would be? Thanks!

 

[AWG_Pics]

No to the Tacoma. The cab is really quite smallish for me at 6 ft, ~200 lbs. Check out consumer reports for reliability stats and used vehicle values on various trucks. That is what eventually pushed me into a Tundra, though I ended up buying new -- the 1% loan interest rate over 6 years was hard to beat. Paid cash for the new Hawk.

 

[JaSAn]

I am a advocate of getting enough truck to do a job. I have a Ram 2500, hemi, 4X4, standard cab, 8' bed pickup. With a Grandby on the back loaded for 2 weeks boon docking I am ~ 800 lbs. under GVWR, evenly balanced front to rear. The truck and camper sit level and handles all the back roads I want to travel without any added suspension stuff to make it work; the truck is stock.

I like a 3/4T for the beefier axles, stronger frame, bigger brakes, full floating hubs, and stiffer springs.

My 2¢

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

My 2¢ worth... go full sized. In your other thread, It didn’t sound like you were going to be in tight places. With a bigger truck, you can consider campers from other builders. An Alaskan is one that I find impressive, and it is by far the most comfortable camper I have ever been in. If you’re staying mid sized, the ATC and FWC campers are the two that in my opinion best fit that niche.

 

[rando]

As I mentioned in your other thread, unless you need the off road capabilities or smaller dimensions of the Tacoma, then an F150 sized truck is probably a wiser choice. However, be wary of mission creep, if you go to a bigger truck, it is easier to talk yourself into a bigger camper and ultimately end up back in the same situation you started with. An F150 with a standard Hawk configuration is a great combination. Here is some further discussion:
https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/15582-f150-with-a-2150-lb-payload-for-a-hawk/

 

[eyemgh]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Cottonww]

Over the last 15 years I have had two Tacomas, a 2005 and a 2011. I had a Phoenix camper on the 2005 and pulled a 16' Chalet folding camper with the 2011. I recently sold that set up and bought a 2013 Tundra with 6.5' bed and put a 2017 Hallmark Milner on it. Both Tacomas were reliable and did OK with the camper loads, although not spectacular performance on Colorado mountain passes.

The Tundra is hands-down more comfortable to ride in, and its performance is outstanding. With Firestone airbag shocks it handles the Hallmark Milner very well. Neither have great gas mileage, but the Tundra has about 2mpg lower gas mileage than the Tacoma with the camper and without. I got my 2013 Tundra with 66,000 miles on it for under $25K. It is like new to me!

Bill