Toyota Tacoma 2005+

jbone

#1831 of 1843 Re: Waiting...waiting...waiting for my Tacoma [mattstac] by jadamjr Feb 28, 2005 (4:57 am)

"Hey, just try to relax and take your mind off of your wait. When you finally get the truck it will blow your mind. I ordered my Tacoma Double Cab with the TRD off road package the first week of November 2004. I did not receive it until the third week of December 2004. Yet the wait was long, it was sure worth it. I have 3800 miles on it now and a three inch lift kit. It looks sweet, drives great and is the best truck I have ever owned."

jadamjr

Whose lift kit is it (manufacturer)? What are the specs (components)? How does it ride w/ lift installed? How does it perform off-road?

I have only read about Skyjacker modifying a Tundra lift kit for the 05 Tacoma - but as far as I can tell it is not commercially available yet so any info would be great...

gr8blue1

Thanks for the update guys. Sticking to 65mph seems to be the ideal cruising speed to get the best mileage (and avoid tickets!). Anything above 70 and it goes down the drain. I was able to safely maintain a test speed of 80-85mph at one time (along I-80/I-90) and the mileage was even lower. Not too sure if it has something to do w/ the speedo problem others have posted but it still doesn't compute if the trip meter puts more miles instead of what was actually travelled.

I'm not yet familiar w/ the engine but it seems like another gas intake seems to kick in at higher speeds. I'm trying to look for a manual of the V6. Maybe the 4Runner forum has a link to it.

tacomadave

i still don't know, we had light rain the last couple of days, and the carpet had no heavy dampness but it felt a little moist. i will post the results after our next heavy rain

bjw1

you are right(im not a dog owner so i never did think of that but i quess if you had that big of a dog, it would evern go on if you put say like a tv or something, but at least you know you that your tv will be protected in a accident, LOL.

geogecko

Still light enough out to take some photos. Sorry for the dirty truck, although it could be a lot more dirty, if I were to go off-roading!

philg87

Your Taco Looks Awesome!!! geogecko fantastic. I like the running boards with that black color it sets off the truck great combinations.

bacolod

Hobo:
I finally received my tube step this morning. You are right the driver side middle portion had an alignment problem. What I did was I took a longer bolt about 2" push and bolt it in to the outer middle section first. Then i did the 2 outer side ones with no problem, went back to the middle section and bolted the inner one. Once every bolt is in place i took out the longer bolt and put the original bolt in without a problem.
I was glad that the original silver tube step looks perfectly in my silver truck. Would like to thank you for posting the problem.

larry10

Am I the only one that is unable to get them to fit the way I believe they should? Have any of you installed them (genuine Toyota)? Ya know the black and grey ones made from wet suit like material.

larry10

Your truck looks great!

mafan

hammaa - do you have a 16 or 17" rim? You should be able to fit larger tires without a lift as long as you don't go too large.

swbro

Wow, I just found this message board and was thrilled (for my sake) to see others are having the same problems with their 05 Tacomas! I have the popping suspension, the ticking engine, and the paint chips. My truck is a d-cab long bed 4x4, no Sport or Off-road package. The popping suspension is driving me crazy, and the dealer can't find the problem. The ticking noise sounds like valve tap or an exhaust leak, and the dealer told me that was "normal". As for the paint chips, I haven't complained. I just figure it's part of owning a truck. Oh, one other thing. My window sticker says I have a limited slip diffi, but I don't have the coinciding botton on the dash as described in the owners manual...so I wonder if I really have one at all. Dealer said "if it's on the window sticker, then it's in the truck." Not very encouraging words. I guess I'm one of those guys who assumes the worst in car dealers. I like the truck, but am bummed about these things. This is the first time in my life I have bought a brand-new vehicle, and after doing my homework I felt pretty confident with my decission. But now I'm not so sure...maybe my standards are too high? Anyone with thoughts or advise?

geogecko

Glad you guys liked the pictures. I think it looks better with the running boards as well. However, although they help my wife get in, they really make it harder for me to get out/in, as I tend to step over them...

As for the "Limited" slip differential, there is no button to engage it, that's why it's "limited," it is on all the time. When one wheel starts to slip, the limited slip stops the spinning wheel, and starts the one that's not spinning.

bjw1

wow!! nice truck, I am thinking of buying running boards thanks for showing us the photo I was woundering what they look like with them.

megamole

griffith_d

I mainly drive highway miles(90%) and getting a solid 20+ mpg. I got rid of those piece of crap Dunlops AT20 for the Michelin LTX M/S 265 20 16's and loving it. I have had my double cab, long bed for 12 days.

Griff

leob1

hey volley,

What was the source of the leak? Mine is in service right now to have it's leak fixed. I hope they fix it soon, I am stuck driving a Camry for now!

leob1

I think I am in lust for your truck geogecko. Nice!

megamole

Just picked up my Silver 4x4 Dbl Cab LB TRD Sport, boy is it sweet! But as I was checking it out I noticed on the tailgate above the SR5 badge is say "PreRunner" am I wrong or is that a 2wheel drive made to look like a 4x4? I have a 4x4 but have this badging. All the paper work says 4x4 but the badging has the PreRunner on it. I asked the dealer he said it was the first DBL cab they had, not sure if it should have that. If it should not be ther should I demand they remove it and make it look right? It also has the dash swirl not sure about the leak it's been snowing all day. Report more later.

larry10

House looks nice too!

larry10

If you are lucky they just put the wrong tailgate on it otherwise you have a 2 by 4 prerunner, they don't make 4 by 4 prerunners.Please report back I am curious what has happened. GL

larry10

Check out these pictures i took. Two were taken of the front wheel wells..other was underneath about where the back seat is,then go look under your truck and see if you have this putty stuff. my build date is 11-19-2004 http://photos.yahoo.com/mott492 In Fact any of you with the "Leaking" see if your' truck has this putty stuff.I wonder if it was done at the factory and if all our trucks(leaking&non-leaking) have it. Tks

huey

I have the exact truck down to the color. I don't have the PreRunner badging over the SR5. 2 things you can check to make sure it's a 4x4: the 4x4 switch on the dash and a front differential underneath your truck. I think they just made a mistake by putting on an extra badge. I think that's kinda cool. Maybe?

phantom2

I need to tow a 2000# rig (boat, motor, fuel and trailer) about 2500 miles a year. Does anybody have experience towing a boat or trailer with the 4-cylinder? Does the 4-cylinder have enough torque on a boat ramp. Are the bakes adequate on the 4-cylinder (they are a little smaller than on the 6-cylinder)? Any help is greatly appreciated.

stephen1

As I've mentioned before, I had the dealer order (preference) a Tacoma for me. He said maybe sometime in March it might arrive. It has been about three weeks - I'll probably call him today and see if he can check the status of the order. Surely there is a way to do that. Wished I would have requested one of the upgraded radio systems but I didn't want to give them any reason to delay the order. Such as "we're not building them with that combination until April" or whatever. For some reason, Toyota seems more strict on which options they will include during certain production runs. Wish I could call someone and ask "if I add this option or that, will it delay the order"? Oh well, I'll be happy either way.

chiefman1

Phantom2-I have tried towing a horse trailer with a 4 banger and I would not do it again. Just not made to work and is dangerous.

gator5

I have been searching the internet for a tonneau cover to fit my 2005 taco reg cab. I have found one made by lund but it indicates that I cannot install it without taking off the utility track system (standard on this truck). 2 Questions: 1)Anyone know if a company has designed a cover to fit with the utility tracking system? 2) If not has anyone tried to take off the utility tracking system? Does it mean I have to take off the entire bed liner? I wish toyota would of thought of these things prior to design! Thanks in advance with your help and comments.

geogecko

We hauled a pop-up camper behind my brother's Nissan 4 banger up in Colorado (i.e., hilly), and it was a pain. Going up those hills was harsh, at not much above 40MPH, if even that. Much of that time was spent in first and second gear too! We had to use the down hills to get up speed... The Toyota engine might be better than what was in my brother's Nissan. Not sure of the size comparison.

You can tell you like the house from the photos? Not much house there in the pictures! We just moved there last year, our first home. Broke our lease to get out of our crazy apartment... Lust over my truck??? LOL. It's pretty much standard, as far as the Tacoma goes. There is a site that lets users post what they have done to their vehicles, and one guy had an '05 Tacoma that had a bunch of stuff done to it, like a 3" lift, wheels, tires, radio, etc. Looked nice, but now I can't find it. I think I have the link at home, because I e-mailed it to someone...

I'd be looking under the truck if I thought I bought a 4x4 and it said Prerunner on the back. Probably just got mixed up. You could probably remove the Prerunner badge, but it may have locating holes drilled in the tailgate, and if that's the case, you won't really be able to tell unless you go to the dealer and ask to see the replacement badge (at the parts desk). If there aren't any, it should be fairly easy to remove it, since it has only been on there for a very short period of time with double sided tape.

I noticed the cab/bed popping sound this morning on the way to work. It was about 44F outside, and only did it over fairly rough terrain. Sounded kind of like someone was knocking on the metal underneath the truck. It was very difficult to tell where the sound was really coming from. I don't think I'll let it bother me, unless it gets worse, as I doubt the dealer would be able to locate the sound, if it's taken me 1800 miles to hear it for the first time.

jsand

Griff, what is wrong with the Dunlops? I have them also. Toyota is willing to guarantee them for 100K if rotated every 5K so they must have faith in them. Just wondering, my 05 Taco has 2k with no problems with the Dunlops. My only complaint is the MPG, I can't seem to get better than 18.5.

r979

Griff,

Do you have a 4 x 4 and is your truck an automatic?

geogecko

(Just for a reference point, as I am not Griff.)

My truck is a 4x4 and automatic (Double Cab, Short Bed). I'm regularly getting at least 20MPG with about 60/40% Highway/City, with highway speed mostly limited to 65-70MPH. I've been using at least 91 octane fuel after the first tank. Sometimes I get 20.5 with this mixture of driving. However, any highway driving above about 70MPH, and the MPG gets shot. I'm not sure if this was due to a head wind or if it was my speed. I purposely kept the speed around or below 70MPH on the way back from a trip, and the MPG was better than when I was going there, by at least 2.5 MPH.

Another factor that I could see being an issue, is that I never top-off my tank when I fuel. When the self-cut-off happens, I close it up and am finished. I wonder if this cut-off happens at the same time at every gas station...

I think the Dunlops are okay. I seriously doubt they will last 100K miles, even with rotation. My dad's Taco goes through tires about every 35K maybe 40K if I remember correctly. I don't think he rotates often, but he uses Michelin's on his. I'd probably replace mine with Michelin's when the time comes, unless I decide to put some larger tires on.

jackhammer

I have found that when the pump kicks off I am able to put in another 2.5 gallons of gas. I mentioned a month or so ago that my manual lists the tank as 80 Litres (21.1 US Gallons) but I have put in 87 Litres (23 US Gallons)

papasmurf

Megamole, Where was it made?..................

geogecko

Does this happen to you every time you fuel? If it varies 2.5 gallons every time, it would be hard to get a reliable number on MPG, since it could be 50 miles off (2.5G x 20MPG = 50M), or speaking in terms of MPG, it could be, roughly, 2-3MPG off.

trailrunner10

I took delivery of my 2005 Tacoma on 1/7/05. It has the sealer in the wheel area (RE Post 1864). I did not notice any water for a while, but both driver and passenger side were leaking. The driver side was only damp; the passenger side became full wet while driving during a hard rain. The dealer had to work on the truck for 5 days removing the carpet, part of the dash and both front fenders to fix the problem. They also replaced the backing on the carpet, telling me that they were afraid the smell would never completely go away if they left it. I got the truck back Monday morning (2/28). I drove it about 5 miles in a rain/snow/sleet mix only to have the air bag warning light come on. Either there were other wiring problems or they did not put something back correctly; the dealer has been working this problem for 2 days now. So far the truck has been in the shop for 9 days. Also, I've only been able to get about 18 MPG with the V6 (less with load and in town). This is really no better than the full size Chevy I had. I ran that truck for 110,000 miles with only routine maintenance and 1 alternator failure. My Tacoma ownership experience has not been a good one to date. I like the way the truck drives but quality of build / service seems marginal at best. My truck has the glove box defect and the jack storage door does not fit very well. I consider this minor and haven't even bothered to have work done in those areas. Leaks and mildew are another matter.

jackhammer

It happens every time, when the pump clicks off you can at a slower speed put in another 2.5 gallons. It is time consumming to max the tank out but it gives you a longer range and more accurate MPG.

jackhammer

Last week on here we were discussing the accuracy of the speedo. I mentioned at 60MPH on the speedo my GPS was reading 58MPH. The truck is at the dealer right now for it's first oil change. I got them to check the accuracy of the speedo and they said it was bang on with the computer that they use.

wes240

trailrunner: What is the build date of your truck? You can see the month/year on the inside of your driver door, you can see the month/day/year if you crawl underneath the truck and look at your front brakes listed like: 121004 (mine, 12/10/2004).

engineerboo

Jackhammer: My salesman warned me NOT to top off the gasoline all the way up the neck because the tank becomes pressurized and filling it all the way up could damage something in there. (I forgot what...fuel pump?)

Has anyone else heard this?

Boo

xsacta

geogecko,

On my '05 CC LB TRD Sport v6 auto, from a full tank based on the pump clicking off automatically to when the low fuel light comes on is always 17.75 gallons of fuel within a few tenths. It's easy to calculate your MPG if you divide off of that number, whatever it happens to be based on your vehicles low fuel sensor.

bjw1

wow, another 2.5 gals after shutoff is hard to believe, i always top off to the next dollar to get an even dollar amount everytime, but i have never heard of another2.5 gals, but i never tried either I am getting 18.75 to 19 mpg in city and 21 on highway, with 91 gas, i got 19.5 going 80mph then 21 going 70mph so its either conserve gas or spend a liitle bit more and get to where you are going a little faster, tough choice.

tacomadave

Has anybody seen a remodled skid plate yet?
I was told they were redesigning it because of vibrations at 60 mph.

volley

leob1 - The source of my leak was not the windshield itself. They thought they were going to have to take the windshield out. It was actually the cowl/seem area that runs along the firewall area. Hope that helps!

volley

larry10 - I had the stuff that is in your 1st and 3rd pics but not the putty in the 2nd pic and I did have the leak... Not sure what that means. I bounght my truck in Nov 04 so my build date was obviosly some time before then.

ndiman

My Truck will be built this month (Mar 05)
Does anyone think that Toyota will have the problems with water leaks and noises corrected?
I have read just about every post in this forum.
This info is great, I'm glad I found this site.
I want to believe I'm making the right choice buying this truck, but after reading some of the bad stories, one must wonder if I should wait until next year. Also can someone give me a little reassurance that this truck is not too small. Heres what I'm getting Tacoma 4x4, Access Cab,SR5,TRD, silver, V6,6 Speed
Any feedback would be great. I looking forward to seeing the 05 Tacoma, I have only seen Pictures, as I'm serving in the Military overseas.
Thank you, NDIMAN

msibille

You should not "pack in" more fuel. The added space that you are using is above the designed "full level". Over filling can cause problems, among them issues with the carbon canister. As far as determining MPG, if it "always" or consistently clicks off 2.5 gallons before the "full to the brim" level, then you will have just as precise calcs of fuel mileage if you use the pump auto-shutoff to determine when you have a full tank. To get accurate results, the tank doesn't even have to be full, it merely has to be refilled to the same level that it was when the mileage count was taken. The fuel added to bring it to the same level is the fuel burned between refuelings. That number, divided into miles driven is the mpg. You do run risk of problems, and for the convenience of packing in another couple of gallons, I think that's a big mistake.

megamole

Made 2/05 in Fremont Cali. Called Go Toyota they said it should not be there calling the dealer next. How come there is not a rear window defogger either electric or air powered. Toyota should start making that quick.

volley

gator5 - I have the Access tonneau cover. You have to take the rails off temporarily to install the tonneau rails behind the factory rail system. You then install the tonneau rail and the factory rail back to the bed using longer bolts (supplied w/ the tonneau). Once installed you have full use of the factory rail system tie downs. The only draw back is it shortens the distance between the factoy rails by about an inch, so factory accessories that use the rail system may not work unless they are adjustable. Also, the factory rail system is attached to the truck using 4 T30 bolts. Very easy to uninstall. I am extremely pleased with the Access. Very high quality.

Other options are the Truxedo that has clamps that go IN the factory rail system but still keeps it functional. Or you can try to Extang Black Max that mounts all the way out to the ends of the bed (covers up the bed caps).

geogecko

Well, an interesting thing. I remember looking at the Prerunner double cab TRD Sport, and it had the silver front skid plate.

When I look at mine, the silver skid plate is not there. There is a rather large black metal plate down there, but I'm not sure it's really a skid plate. I looked on Toyota's web site, and it says that on the Prerunner and 4x4 models, the front skid plate is standard.

I will have to check tonight, but I thought I remember their being some kind of protection down there. I'll post a picture of what is there, and maybe you guys can tell me if I should be calling my dealer asking where my skid plate is...

geogecko

I guess being a vertical surface, they think it's not needed. Personally, I'm glad it's not there, that way, in 8 years or so, when my tint job gets all bubbled up, they won't jack up the defroster getting the old tint off the windows!

Secondly, it's easy to make a defroster on a window that has only one pane of glass, but when you have 3, it's difficult to make, as you have to have multiple connection points on the back window (2 per pane of glass).

griffith_d

They just kept vibrating like they were out of balance, but I suspect they were molded badly around the belts and probably never could be balanced. They were balanced twice with no change.

Does not matter now, the Michelins are back to stay like my old T100, running smooth even at 100.

Still running 20+ MPG, like the old T100. Great truck now,...I will never buy from Sterling McCall again,...it made it two times I bought from them...first and last.

Griff