New or newish truck for my Eagle: mileage, power, fit questions

[2thdr]

Yep, the manual shift feature on the auto 6 spd is nice going up or down those grades.

Thus no need for a manual transmission any longer IMO. I've been very happy with my 2016 Tundra 4 x 4. Really didn't consider the Tacoma very long due to only slightly better economy...

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

I agree that the new Gen 2 (or 3)Tundras are really great......however the Eagle is only 69 inches wide while the Hawk is 80 inches. There is only about one -" HALF" inch of side overhang clearance beyond the fender on our 2013 Tacoma (76 " wide). On the pic below the sheet metal curves in . The white aluminum strip (part of the camper) is the only portion extending past the fender.

Four Wheel Campers has a "Fit Guide" on their website. I didn't see the Eagle listed so email Stan - stan@fourwh.com give him the year of your Eagle and he will tell you what truck manufactures it fits.

 

[CharlieW]

Thanks RC. I'm set on Tacoma (gen2 or 3) or Frontier. I've measured these out carefully and all are good fit (except gen3 I have to lift 1" extra for the 19" bed wall).

Frontier wins by a wide margin on price for a V6 and edges out Tacoma on Consumer Reports (mechanical issues seem to decline as a particular build gets older, and Frontier is very old). However, I have to say that the Toyota dealers have all been straightforward and the the Nissan dealer (only 1 so far) was very dishonest. The price listed on a particular Frontier was only for "active duty military that have received college degree within the last year". (As it happens, I'm a veteran and a college professor, but that didn't afford me the privilege of buying that vehicle for the listed price.) If that pattern holds then Toyota will get my business even at a much higher price.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Also the upside of the Toyota is "resale value" (at least in the southwest). When we sold our 1999 in 2013, we were the original owner with all the repair receipts. Milege 162,000. Still on the original clutch and rear brakes. The front brakes went 92,000. Selling price $6,000 we didn't sell through Craigs list. We had a list of 10 folks that wanted it. Extrememly reliable. In 14 years other than consimables (oil, services, tires, battery's), we replaced the starter at 120k, upper transmission bushings - around 130K, exhaust manifold around 150K.

Charlie, You might look down in Texas. Maybe San Antonio...Or Denver Colorado. Someplace the snow has low moisture content. and they use sand NOT salt on the roads.

 

[moveinon]

Just as additional information, Consumer Reports provides unbiased good information on consumer satisfaction from thousands of owners who have owned different trucks for years. Owners have rated Toyota trucks close to or at the top for years (why higher resale value) and rated Nisson trucks at close to or at the bottom for many years (why dramatic depreciation). If your only consideration is price these ratings would not mean a lot, but if long term satisfaction is also very important it may be worthwhile for you to read why these trucks were rated so very different by long term owners. You can also get long term repair and model defect information from them but need to be a subscriber or go to a library to get that information.

 

[CharlieW]

Consumer Reports wasn't very kind to new 2017 Tacoma. It seems a little strange though: they have reliability "poor" for 2017 and "good" for 2016. That's hard to understand given that both are gen 3 (maybe it's due to lack of data points for 2017?). Nissan benefits on the year-by-year maintenance record due to many many years without a major update. I'm calling it a wash between those two. CR's favorite by a wide margin is the Honda Ridgeline, but that truck doesn't even have a usable bed -- it has a sort of elevated faux-bed that hides a trunk.

Rough total out-the-door cost including taxes, fees, etc.:
Tacoma I4 (SR, manual): $25000 (from Sam's Auto Buyers Club dealer)
Frontier V6 (SV, 2016): $27000 (from Sam's Auto Buyers Club dealer)
Tacoma V6 (SR5): $32000 (my current guesstimate; might be optimistic)

I've ruled out the I4. I'm still depressed that I can't have manual transmission w/ V6 in either maker (not without stepping up to super expensive trim level) but maybe it's time to get over myself about that. Tacoma wins on "wow" factor. But I've test driven and am quite happy with both V6s. Neither my wife nor I are bothered by Nissan being "dated". Nissan has better visibility, especially over the hood since they haven't updated (yet) for an aggressive front grill. (Nissan is doing major update for 2018. I expect visibility and camper fit will be worse after that due to new styling requirements.)

I do appreciate the lower depreciation of Tacoma. The flip side of that is that used aren't (in my mind) discounted enough, and car dealers won't discount much at all on new Tacoma (they will on I4, not on V6). Frontier already has lower msrp and dealers seem to be ready to come down $3500 below that for 2016s. At the end of the day, a stripped-down V6 Nissan is at least $5000 less out the door than Toyota. I can do a lot of camping for $5000.

Got a good offer already on 2016 Frontier. At the risk of loosing that, I think I will wait till later this week, or maybe even Monday next week, to take advantage of end-of-the month sales pressure. Still about 6 or so 2016s on lots in a 150 mile radius around me.

 

[ski3pin]

If the Lady and I were buying a new/newer truck, we would buy the Frontier over the Tacoma. Consumer Reports is a very good source for information but they always knocked the Ford Ranger for being too "truck like", one of the reasons we like ours.

 

[2thdr]

Just depends on your location I guess. Toyota dealers here meet the Costco car buying price which translated to a substantial discount off the sticker for me on my 2017 Tundra. I understand Tundra is out due to fit, but I think you are kidding yourself that Nissan and Toyota have no differences besides price. In the end, it depends on what works for you and I'm glad you are zeroing in on your new truck! The Japanese engineering in both is a win for most people. This could become like a motorcycle "Oil thread"...

 

[CharlieW]

Thanks for the input everyone! That little push may have tipped me on the V6 over the I4. Other thoughts welcome even if contrary to what I do. Going for the Frontier. I'll post picture.

 

[Squatch]

My best friend has a Frontier DC with over 200k trouble free miles on it. It pulls my bass boat like it's not even there. His is pretty much a downsized Titan. Not a bad thing at all.

 

[moveinon]

I was only looking at the consumer satisfaction information which comes from over 17,000 people who have owned and driven the trucks over the last few years, not the CR review of the trucks. Although you can get some OK information from CR reviews themselves I know what you mean about the information, they have kind of limited or no information on hauling a camper or off road capability and some other areas that I am sure interested in. But I do tend to trust the people who have bought the truck, driven it for years and then give their opinion - that was just what I was talking about in the earlier post. That the people who bought Toyota and bought Nisson had very opposite opinions about how satisfied they were with the truck they bought after they owned them for some time. There are clearly lots of differences between the two. Clearly the Toyota depreciation is only good when you want to sell it. It really sucks that most dealers, at least in my experience, will hardly negotiate on them at all when you want to buy one. Hope you find just what you want.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Movin-
Which is one reason I bought the new 2013 Tacoma. I found one used 4WD 2006 Tundra in 9 months of looking. I could find a lot of 2WD models not the 4WD Access cab (looking in 2012). The dealer was asking $24,000 for it with 118,000 miles. And wouldn't go below $22K at the time. Checking back a week later it had sold in 3 days.

 

[CharlieW]

Picked up my new Frontier! Thanks all for the advice!

Ordered Firestone airbags. Now puzzling over where to drill holes in bed for eye-bolts...

 

[buckland]

FWC video of eyebolt install
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/14010-eyebolts-installation-video/?hl=bolts#entry165061

 

[ski3pin]

Picked up my new Frontier! Thanks all for the advice!

Ordered Firestone airbags. Now puzzling over where to drill holes in bed for eye-bolts...

Congrats and we need pictures!

 

[CharlieW]

Here it is...!

 

[ski3pin]

Great! Here's to years of good service to you.

 

[Squatch]

Picked up my new Frontier! Thanks all for the advice!

Ordered Firestone airbags. Now puzzling over where to drill holes in bed for eye-bolts...

Sweet new truck! Congrats!

FWC sent me a general guide to mounting the eyebolts. I marked the actual locations of the CAMPER eyebolts on the floor of the bed as a starting point. Bear in mind the turnbuckles should be in an X pattern viewed from above. Front pulling forward and out. rears pulling aft and out.

Then using the FWC info went from there. I spent some time at each corner under the truck. I found locations that were where they were needed but allowed me to drill through double or even 3 layers of bed metal or bed brace and still have room for a HD fender washer for a backing plate. I used forged 1/2" eye bolts and installed them with Nyloc nuts.

This was last August and all has been good since. The bolts are tight and holding well with no bed flex or deflection of the metal. The camper has not moved at all nor have I had turnbuckles loosen.

I added 3/8" nuts on one side of the turnbuckles as lock nuts. I highly recommend this.

Another thought: The factory tension is hand tight plus one turn. My question is whose hand? I'm a big guy who has worked with my hands my whole life. I can probably damage my camper by tightening these turnbuckles just by hand. I feel a lot of the mount damage some people have had is caused by too tight or too loose. You want them good and snug. But if you hear they plywood creaking and groaning back them off some. The locknuts will keep them tight not the tension on the turnbuckles.

 

[smlobx]

Congrats on your new truck!
Nice color.