2024 Tacoma Offroad - canopy & running boards

[morggin]

Hi everyone,This is my first post here as a proud new 2024 Tacoma owner. I traded in my 2013 Tacoma for a 2024 TRD Off-Road at Enterprise Car Sales in Tacoma, WA (where I’ve lived since my USAF days).

Last weekend I installed running boards, and today I went to Canopy World in Tacoma to order a new A.R.E. CX Evolve truck cap. They said it will take about 10 weeks to build it color-matched to my truck’s Underground paint.

In the meantime, they’re hooking me up with a loaner “tin box” canopy for an upcoming trip back to my home state of Montana. I just got back from having it installed in Bremerton. I’ve only had the truck about two weeks, but I’ve been averaging 17.5 mpg in ECO mode. After adding the canopy, my efficiency jumped to 18.4 mpg — nice little surprise! I’m now trying to figure out how many fuel stops I’ll need on the drive to Montana. My planned route is:

• I-5 to I-90
• Through the Great Basin to Spokane / Coeur d’Alene, ID
• Then down to Missoula, MT
• Finally, Highway 93 south into the Bitterroot Valley to Darby, MT

I’m heading back to visit my parents and sister who still live in Darby. Any tips on fuel economy or the truck in general would be greatly appreciated!

NOTE: I plan on replacing the fuel tank with a Long Range America tank (I signed up for the waiting list provided by Pappy here - thanks, Pappy)

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[lauren01]

The gentler you are on takeoffs, and the more you take advantage of when you can coast as you see a red light in the distance, the better you will have in mileage. Weight in the truck also makes a difference. I traveled light on a solo trip from Ventura, California to Cathlamet, Washington and Astoria, Oregon back in January in my 2025 Trailhunter Long Bed. I was surprised how good my mileage was.

I experimented with mileage by keeping speed near 65-67 mph on an entire tank versus going a bit faster. As long as I was less than 73 mph, gas mileage stayed pretty good, 22-24 as advertised. Also, I always use at least 91 octane, and that makes a difference too. I do it to keep the engine running as clean as possible. Plus, I am now running the OTT tune, which I didn’t have on that trip.

Driving style, weight, and type of fuel make a noticeable difference to me.

 

[lauren01]

I’m thinking about getting this low priced extra fuel tank. It would be a little work to transfer the fuel, but they do have a pump and hose for it. This might not work out for me unless I were to change my beloved ReTrax tonneau cover. Hopefully I can orient it the other direction in my 6’ bed, without blocking the OEM air compressor. I suppose I could have it mounted perpendicular to the wheel arch.

Long Range America will probably make something wayyy more fabulous, but I don’t want to permanently mod my truck with something so heavy.

https://titanfueltanks.com//titan-sidekick-ii-15-gal-portable-liquid-tank-5040115

 

[Wife bought my 24 TRD]

I actually get better mileage ( 24 non hybrid auto ) in normal mode, manually shifting too keep the turbo boost to a minimum.
I'll average 2 miles to the gallon, better on the hwy this way.

 

[morggin]

I’m thinking about getting this low priced extra fuel tank. It would be a little work to transfer the fuel, but they do have a pump and hose for it. This might not work out for me unless I were to change my beloved ReTrax tonneau cover. Hopefully I can orient it the other direction in my 6’ bed, without blocking the OEM air compressor. I suppose I could have it mounted perpendicular to the wheel arch.

I went and took a look at the Sidekick II tank, and it says it CAN be mounted in any corner in the bed of your truck. But it also had a warning about installation under a tonneau cover.

● Can be mounted in any corner of the truck bed on most full-size trucks.​

● For those mounting the Sidekick II under a tonneau cover, understand that the tank will vent. Thus, having gasoline in the Sidekick II under a tonneau cover without careful observation is not recommended, as vapors may collect. ​

In regard to the Long Range America replacement tank, one of the reviews stated that he did not notice any substantial change due to the weight. I'm honestly not sure it's valid, though, as we are still waiting for the proposed replacement for the 2024+ Tacoma trucks.

 

[OminousSkitter]

In regard to the Long Range America replacement tank, one of the reviews stated that he did not notice any substantial change due to the weight. I'm honestly not sure it's valid, though, as we are still waiting for the proposed replacement for the 2024+ Tacoma trucks.

A gallon of gas is ~6.3 lbs. The LRA tank is expected to be around 35 gallons capacity, or an extra ~110 lbs of gas. The Gen 3 Tacoma LRA tank weighs 90 lbs and has a 33 gal capacity, so the Gen 4 tank should be similar. Let's call the OEM tank ~30 lbs (didn't search hard but some things said 30-40 lbs was typical, going under for worst case), so the LRA tank itself adds ~60 lbs (empty). Total, that's an extra ~170 lbs.

That's a rough estimate, but it probably will add 160-180lbs when full, or one adult. While weight matters, do you notice any appreciable mileage drop when you carry an extra passenger?

 

[lauren01]

I went and took a look at the Sidekick II tank, and it says it CAN be mounted in any corner in the bed of your truck. But it also had a warning about installation under a tonneau cover.

● Can be mounted in any corner of the truck bed on most full-size trucks.​

● For those mounting the Sidekick II under a tonneau cover, understand that the tank will vent. Thus, having gasoline in the Sidekick II under a tonneau cover without careful observation is not recommended, as vapors may collect. ​

In regard to the Long Range America replacement tank, one of the reviews stated that he did not notice any substantial change due to the weight. I'm honestly not sure it's valid, though, as we are still waiting for the proposed replacement for the 2024+ Tacoma trucks.

Thanks for that safety info nugget. It may be easy to be watchful, but in case it’s not…I’d figure out a way to vent the cover if I needed to use it (we usually do) or perhaps installing a fan would help. Could also think about a way to vent the bed. It gets pretty hot under the tonneau cover, which seems like it would make the tank vent more. Plus we go up and down elevation sometimes to the tune of 10,000 feet within a day. Conclusion: There is no available, good sized tank, AND lower cost solution that I’ve found so far. For now, I have a pair of 5 gallon red plastic gas tank recently picked up at Costco. Those would need to be vented as well, I imagine…thanks again for the details.

 

[Will721]

People tend to overthrow economy reductions based on weight after modifying their vehicle. Sprung weight doesn't make nearly as much of a difference as people think. A few hundred pounds is a passenger or two depending on how fat your friends are.

The actual reason alot of people lose large amounts of fuel economy with mods comes in 3 flavors. Lead footing after performance mods, unsprung weight like massive wheels and tire (not to mention the lack of calibration thereafter) and most importantly, RUINING THEIR AERODYNAMICS! For example:

That is a 24 Tacoma, on paper. Same weight, and roughly the same hp as a 4th gen Tacoma. It even has roughly the same size fuel tank, and the most popular tire size swapped onto Tacomas (a 34x11.5r17 when you convert from metric). It has also been re-geared so at 55mph it runs about the same RPM and has been converted to a modern EFI. What does it get for fuel economy at highway (not interstate) speeds you may ask? 12-14mpg. My tacoma does the same drives at 22-24mpg. All under 60mph at again roughly the same rpm on the same roads. I even keep the tuner set to keep the truck much leaner, roughly 17:1 vs our trucks which should run about 14.7:1 for the catalytic converter.

The reason is aerodynamics. That truck may have all the same specs on paper, but it has the aero of a bar of soap. The aero is so bad infact, that rainx is not effective because the square nose diverts so much air it actually misses the windshield. Every mod that effects the aerodynamics of your truck is going to have an arguably larger effect than anything else. Bumpers, roof racks, lights, boxes/accessories/crates hanging off of racks, roof top tents and even ride height increases all will culminate to the bar of soap. Unsprung weight may make the largest initial difference, but aero builds up over time to have the largest overall effect.

 

[Pappy]

NOTE: I plan on replacing the fuel tank with a Long Range America tank (I signed up for the waiting list provided by Pappy here - thanks, Pappy)

De nada.

FYI. I'm going to Overland Expo in a couple weeks. I'll have another chat with those folks and hopefully have an update.

I'm waiting on the 18gal Helivue tank.

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