shade
Well-known member
So how goes the road?
HELP: I Bought an Overweight Overlander
- Thread starter Ziro
- Start date
So how goes the road?
Just spent 8 days in Big Bend, cruising nice and slow and working this transmission in. Glad we didn’t leave without seeing it, absolutely stunning.
luthj
Engineer In Residence
Its saving grace is that BB is located in the middle of nowhere texas, its crazy hot in the summer, and its near the "scary" border. Beautiful region. The Mexican side is on my to do list.
JCMatthews
Tour Guide
All kinds of chiming in here. Sounds like you bought a used truck and had an issue. Sounds like you've got it figured out for the time being. What sounds the best is that you are having a great adventure and just spent 8 days in Big Bend. Good on you and good luck. I hope everyone can move on from their need to judge your decision and just help you enjoy your adventure. I know that I am jealous of what lies ahead.
RAM5500 CAMPERTHING
OG Portal Member #183
Hopefully this thread also helps others make more educated buying decisions and save themselves a lot of heart/wallet ache.
Theres a ton of, way the hell over GVWR Tacomas, in the classifieds.
Something else, everyone seems to ignore...
For numbers sake, lets use a 10,000GVWR. The mindset is, if my GVWR is 10,000 and i weigh out at 9500, i'm fine and dandy...
Ummm.. Thats not quite how it works. Legally, maybe, but running your setup so close to the limit, wears and taxes all the suspension, brakes, bearings, etc... even faster. Not to mention the stresses of said weight off-road, isnt a static #
Theres a reason there are so many mini trucks in the classifieds section with wording like "need something bigger, or trade for 3/4 ton"
Buyer beware
Theres a ton of, way the hell over GVWR Tacomas, in the classifieds.
Something else, everyone seems to ignore...
For numbers sake, lets use a 10,000GVWR. The mindset is, if my GVWR is 10,000 and i weigh out at 9500, i'm fine and dandy...
Ummm.. Thats not quite how it works. Legally, maybe, but running your setup so close to the limit, wears and taxes all the suspension, brakes, bearings, etc... even faster. Not to mention the stresses of said weight off-road, isnt a static #
Theres a reason there are so many mini trucks in the classifieds section with wording like "need something bigger, or trade for 3/4 ton"
Buyer beware
RAM5500 CAMPERTHING
OG Portal Member #183
Agreed 100%
wyowandering
Member
If it were me I would install a secondary transmission cooler with fan AND run a high quality synthetic fluid in it and be done with it.
Boatbuilder79
Well-known member
I would be upset too but I brought a new truck and had problems with it so stuff happens. At least you don’t have to deal with warranties and customer service and the dealership monkeys tearing stuff up while making warranty repairs.
Go ahead and replace your ujoints and rebuild the front end and your good for another 100k miles.
If you travel a little bit lighter you can use the gas money you save for motels.
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
I'd go a step further and bypass the one in the radiator and replace the small factory one with a massive one (think 6.0 PSD upgraded cooler) with it's own fan. Then I'd make sure the fan could function based on temp and on a switch in the cab. When you're going slow off road you can turn it on and leave it on.
Last edited by a moderator:
shade
Well-known member
I'd go the @Jnich77 route to avoid the strawberry milkshake, but that's a good plan, too.
Either way, change the ATF every 50,000 miles if it's subjected to hard use. It's pretty easy to do on a 2nd gen Tacoma, and is in line with Toyota's revised severe duty maintenance schedule, iirc.
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
On my 1st gen Tundra I did a "drain and fill" every 10k when I changed the oil. I always looked at it as cheap insurance for the notoriously weak 2002 Tundra 4 speed.
When I sold the truck at 258K it was still shifting like new...now it's over 300k and still working just fine.