Took the family out to the river yesterday, and the truck swallowed up all the gear easily into the back as it always does. Then I wrestled a car seat into the back right, and my other son, who suddenly at 10 looks like a small adult. We drove to the river, and even though I slid the seat up, I felt one sons knees in my back, and then the wifer (who was shuttle bunny and hiking) told me about how she opted not to stop because getting the seat in the back was too much of PITA.

Rats.

I have an ARE cap that I love with Yakima rails on top, and I love the mileage the ridiculously huge gastank (I can drive till my bladder gives out) the Limited slip, and the ground clearance. The two doors on the other hand may be the death of the truck.

If I was a gazillionare, the next act would be simple. A tundra rock warrior with a cap, and then I would just not care at each fill up. But I am not. So, I could do a V-6 5 speed tundra access cab from 00-04 and have the current cap be a direct swap, or possibly an I-4 4wd tacoma access cab but, I have to see if the car seat will fit, and if the cap fits too...

I would love the tacoma 4 door long bed, but toyota is awfully proud of it and will not dip below 30k in these parts, and the thing is HUGE. I mean bigger than a suburban.

So, are there any major bummers in the old tundras? do they suffer from warped rotors, busted clutch pedal brackets? The tacomas, good bad or otherwise?

I am hoping to squeeze one more year out of the truck, but after yesterday, I definitely need to start shopping...

First gen Tundra trucks had an auto trans planetary gear problem...it would grenade and take out the entire transmission. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I think it was solved in 2004...so the earlier owners were swapping in that transmission into their Tundra trucks.

I would suggest that you find a Tundra access cab and fit yer family in there to see if that size will still fit yer needs now and in the foreseeable future. Probably not. I don't believe the front passenger seats will have a foot/hand lever to slide the seat forward fer rear access. I think you'll have to open the rear door every time...which doesn't work very well when yer parked close in a parking lot. Again...check it out with yer family to see if it's gonna work fer yer needs or not. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I think you'll end up going to a double cab instead to fit the family comfortably. Never hurts to shop...it's the buying that kicks yer wallet to the curb. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Have you looked at the 2nd gen Tundra trucks? Just throwing that out there as an option... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Got it....

The wifey and I went to a toyota dealer tonight, and sheesh, got the salesperson who could not listen, she hears everything I said and then says, maybe you want a highlander.

Nope. I think SUVs are dumb. None of the benefits of a truck and none of the benefits of a minivan either.

I had stated multiple times that I need a seperate place for the stinky bits and I have carried that often. She still didnt get it.

I have poured clear water into my kayak booties, and then had grey stuff come out. I mean nasty nasty stuff. And, I also am not keen about carrying chainsaws, mowers, and anything else filled with gas in the part of the car with the people in it, seems kinda dumb to me.

Tried on the access cab, and that was a non-starter, tried on the double cab, and that was niiiiiiice, then looked over and saw a sienna. Holy crap, thats a people hauler. But, a minivan that only gets 24 mpg? really? comeon guys, you can do better than that. And she kept pushing the tundra. So I said, listen, I will buy the tundra at sticker

And her eyes get really big

if you pay for my gas bills for the next 10 years, but just the part thats the mileage difference between the tacoma and tundra.....

Then a look of failure.

If you hint that you might want to think about looking at a tundra they will probably give you one right now. It was nuts.

So, my plan is to drive the T until the kids freak out, or a number 3 appears on the horizon, and then phase in a different ride. It looks like the truck is going to stay with us a bit more!

The bummer is it looks like the bed of the T100 is just a little different than the tacoma, and so I can recycle my old cap. bummer.

Older tundras for some reason have really bad frame rusting issues, as well as a trans issue which was fixed in 03 if I recall.

I had the same problem. I sold my 97 Ext. Cab last year to get a Seinna for the wife(05 LE FWD which gets 25mpg on the highway loaded). So I got stuck driving our 05 Vibe for a year which gave me a chance to contemplate my next move.
I sat in everything I was remotely interested in if it was in my price range or not. The conclusion I came to is if you have decent size kids (My soon to be 4 yr old boy is 4.5ft and 55lb) they are going to out grow the back seat of a midsize full 4 dr truck before its paid off. I can't sit in a Tacoma Dbl cab back seat comfortably. At 6ft even my head is on the rear ceiling. Though I did find some used examples for 12-15000 in DC Long bed 4x4s. I looked at v-6 4x4 00-04 Tundras which people want a mint for but they are just as bad in terms of rear seat room as the T-100 the cab interior dimensions are scary close. Within a couple inches in every dimension. So being that I won't own a Chevy, or a Dodge that isn't running a Cummins with a 6spd. I looked at Ford who I like but to get one with the newer engines that have power and fuel economy I would have to shell out 20k+.

So I ended up with this



A 2005 Dbl Cab limited plenty of room in the back even with car seats. I could even ride in back if I had to. The only truck I sat in that was noticeably better was a newer crewmax but I didn't want to shell out the $$ for one or take the fuel economy hit. my first tank of semi city driving netted 16mpg and highway loaded it got 18-19mpg.
The best part is that with 116k on it I only paid 12,800.

As far as interior room goes I would recommend the first gen Tundra double cab as well. The '05 pictured belongs to my Sister. Her and her husband picked it up about 10months ago to be their family truckster, they tired of not having enough room in his Malibu or her HHR. My sister is about 5'10", her husband is about 6'2", the Nephews are 6'3" and 5'8", and all four of them fit comfortably in it, even with 2 small dogs. They came out from NM last X-mas(1200 miles) driving straight through and no one wanted to kill each other when they arrived. IIRC, my Brother-in-law said he averaged about 17-18mpg's, not the 30+ his 2010 Malibu did when they came out before, but he said the comfort/extra room of the truck was worth the 12mpg less.

I am now looking at two different tundras an 07 access cab with the 5.7L with 92K miles for 19, or an 05 double cab with 116K miles for 16, but the double cab has a cap already on it. The same place has both. if I can trade the truck for about 4 I will be a pretty happy camper. It looks like the mpg for both is over the map, and the more you lay into the stupid pedal the worse it gets. I am going to pull all sorts of goodies off the t, and put them in the for sale section!
Thoughts on the 07 vs 05?

Sorry to see you have to sell he T, but you have two good options to choose from! A friend has a new-gen access cab like the 07 you are looking at. It is a monster...as in WAY bigger than the T100. That said, the 05 Double Cab isn't much smaller. But they sure are nice trucks. But be warned, the 5.7 mpg may look okay on the sticker, but real-world mpgs are pretty low (14-15 from what I have seen). But the power... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

The '07s has an Air Injection Pump (AIP) issue, and I believe there was a dealer fix, so make sure it has been done...apparantly the engine throws codes and may only use limp mode when it goes bad (someone with more experience please correct/enlighten/confirm). How much do you need 4WD? Cause the 07-up access cab 2WD Tundra's also come with a v6, but you'll be way down on power without a significant mpg increase. I drove a regular cab Gen1 Tundra the other day and they are quite nice too, so the double cab with the better trans and more power will likely be nice too, but the mpgs will be lower than what you are used to I would guess. Then again, it may not be much of a hot considering the Ts aren't exactly mpg-misers as they are.

Also, you would likely be able to sell your T100 for more than the expected 4K trade value depending upon condition. Good luck! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Its funny... I tend to use 4wd about 5% of the time, but when I reach for that lever, or now for the button, nothing else is going to do it. The T in low range was a force to be reckoned with, and it would crawl down really nerve racking stuff. Armed with the LSD in the rear it was fantastic.
I traded it in today, and now have a silver 06 double cab sitting in my driveway. It is bigger than the t, but also what I need. I drove the t to pburg and back yesterday to look at a different tundra, and doing 70-80 I was hitting 18-19 mpg.

I am hoping as long as I drive like there is an egg between my foot and the stoopid pedal I will be able to get high teens out of the tundra. It is NICE, and toyota has come a long way in 11 years!

Now all that remains of my old truck is the FSM, fan, radiator shroud, and nylon bash plate

I do miss the t already. put 148K miles and 10 years into it.

I'm finally got enough miles in that I'm starting to get repeatable mileage results. For best mileage it likes consistent throttle on accel and speeds around 60-65 if possible. I pulled almost 17mpg(city/county roads) on the last tank with lots of A/C use. I would guess I'll see 17-18 repeatably when the weather cools a bit and I can lay off the A/C. They are big but the space is nice for the kids and generally they don't drive big(04-06 DC) unless you are maneuvering around a parking lot.