jmodz
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- Thread starter
- #1
I listened to this interview with Sheldon Brown the chief engineer of the Tacoma and thought some of the stuff he said was really interesting and informative. I almost wished TFL stayed out of his way because he was talking more in depth about technical aspects and they distracted him by pointing out less interesting stuff lol.
Here are some of my favorite things he talked about:
- The sway bar disconnect increases articulation in the front by 10%. The by-product of that increase is it makes the rear suspension flex 15% more as well.
- The cost of the sway bar disconnect was no front locker. They decided with the funds they had that the sway bar disconnect was more important as it is almost impossible to add an aftermarket one, whereas if you really want a front locker you can add that later.
- The base model truck has a smaller rear axle. He was cutoff while talking about this so I am unsure which models get the larger/stronger rear axle, but it sounded like just the lower output SR's were getting the smaller axle.
- The hood scoop is not functional because it would have caused turbulence in the engine bay and actually decreased performance.
- The 6MT is the same from the pervious generation, but they revised the clutch and removed the accumulator. I remember people complaining about the accumulator and deleting it on their 3rd Gen MT's so I think this is a positive.
- The towing numbers are not class leading, as they were uninterested in making the necessary compromises. He made it sound like not enough of the consumer base tow heavy trailers with the Tacoma and if they are trying to tow 6000+ pounds they should be looking at a full-sized truck.
- The rack on the Trailhunter can be unbolted and extended to be a full bed rack for mounting a tent with optional pieces.
- He was surprisingly honest about the poor reaction to the powertrain and the seating position in the 3rd Gen and their attempts to fix those issues on the 4th gen.
Here are some of my favorite things he talked about:
- The sway bar disconnect increases articulation in the front by 10%. The by-product of that increase is it makes the rear suspension flex 15% more as well.
- The cost of the sway bar disconnect was no front locker. They decided with the funds they had that the sway bar disconnect was more important as it is almost impossible to add an aftermarket one, whereas if you really want a front locker you can add that later.
- The base model truck has a smaller rear axle. He was cutoff while talking about this so I am unsure which models get the larger/stronger rear axle, but it sounded like just the lower output SR's were getting the smaller axle.
- The hood scoop is not functional because it would have caused turbulence in the engine bay and actually decreased performance.
- The 6MT is the same from the pervious generation, but they revised the clutch and removed the accumulator. I remember people complaining about the accumulator and deleting it on their 3rd Gen MT's so I think this is a positive.
- The towing numbers are not class leading, as they were uninterested in making the necessary compromises. He made it sound like not enough of the consumer base tow heavy trailers with the Tacoma and if they are trying to tow 6000+ pounds they should be looking at a full-sized truck.
- The rack on the Trailhunter can be unbolted and extended to be a full bed rack for mounting a tent with optional pieces.
- He was surprisingly honest about the poor reaction to the powertrain and the seating position in the 3rd Gen and their attempts to fix those issues on the 4th gen.
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