General Questions About Dbl Cabs & 4wd

1235 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Enola Gaia, Mar 8, 2010

aguabonita

Discussion Starter · Mar 7, 2010

Hi all,

I am thinking of purchasing a 2001-2004 4wd double cab for my family (two kids, wife, and dog) as the comfort, safety, and space factors seem like a good match. We do a fair amount of camping/fishing/surfing so I want 4wd for light off road applications and snow/ice. I have some general questions that I would love some help with.

1. How hard is it to get one of these trucks with a manual transmission? I really enjoy driving stick shifts.

2. I have seen that some of these truck have a button on the driver's seat for lumbar support. Is that option found on limited models only?

3. How have the A/C systems on these trucks held up over time?

4. Are the 4wd systems on these trucks similar to some of the 4runners I have seen where you can drive on dry pavement? I believe this is called a multimode system?

Less important:
5. Is it possible to switch out the grilles on these trucks? I feel like I have seen some with different style grilles. What would be a good resource for that?

6. Is it possible/easy to switch out the white interior face plates for the instrument cluster?

I am most interested in the first couple of questions as comfort on long trips is a big priority for me. I am tall and have driven one of these trucks across country and found the seat bottoms to be too squishy and the lack of lumbar support truly sucky. I know that I could get Recaros but they aren't in the budget. Perhaps a really good seat cushion would save my butt?

Thanks for your time all.
Cheers,
Kevin

Save

1 - 4 of 4 Posts

Enola Gaia

· #2 · Mar 7, 2010

aguabonita said:
Hi all, ...

Welcome to CT, Kevin! :waytogo:

aguabonita said:
1. How hard is it to get one of these trucks with a manual transmission? I really enjoy driving stick shifts.

Impossible (without a major aftermarket conversion). 2001 - 2004 Double Cabs were all automatics. Converting to manual is a substantial job and will entail substantial costs. So will the alternative - transplanting Double Cab cab and bed onto a manual XtraCab frame. It *can* be done, but I notice elsewhere that you mention 'budget' concerns, so ...

If you want a detailed look at what the transmission transplant conversion would involve, look here:

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137151

aguabonita said:
2. I have seen that some of these truck have a button on the driver's seat for lumbar support. Is that option found on limited models only?

I am most interested in the first couple of questions as comfort on long trips is a big priority for me. I am tall and have driven one of these trucks across country and found the seat bottoms to be too squishy and the lack of lumbar support truly sucky. I know that I could get Recaros but they aren't in the budget. Perhaps a really good seat cushion would save my butt?

The 2001 - 2004 'Sport' buckets were available only on Double Cabs with the Limited (option) package and the S-Runner sport models. I can tell you from experience that these seats are not impressive ergonomically (P.S.: I'm a senior human factors professional with a bad back, so I know more than a bit about this ...). The seat cushion is suboptimally short (I'm about 6' 0" tall) and the electric lumbar feature is pretty ineffective (small range of adjustment; not much noticeable support when fully 'extended').

I immediately swapped out my new Sport buckets for Recaros:

http://www.CustomTacos.com/gallery2/showphoto.php?photo=8316

... both of which I got off eBay for about 1/3 of their MSRP.

aguabonita said:
3. How have the A/C systems on these trucks held up over time?

Over the years I haven't noticed any more complaints about Tacoma A/C issues than for other vehicles - just the usual 'needs recharging', belts, etc.

aguabonita said:
4. Are the 4wd systems on these trucks similar to some of the 4runners I have seen where you can drive on dry pavement? I believe this is called a multimode system?

No - not if you're referring to the 4Runner Multi-Mode shift-on-the-fly system with the center Torsen limited-slip differential. There is no auto-shifting between 2WD and 4WD. You have to manually engage / disengage 4WD on Tacomas.

aguabonita said:
5. Is it possible to switch out the grilles on these trucks? I feel like I have seen some with different style grilles. What would be a good resource for that?

On the 2001 - 2004 Tacomas the main modification is swapping out the center portion of the grille face (the 'grille insert'). There are aftermarket mesh, billet bar, and expanded metal inserts available. These are installed by cutting out the OEM plastic 'bars' and attaching the new insert. There may be at least one vendor still offering all-in-one units you can simply swap out, but at last notice those were 3 or 4 times the cost of the inserts.

aguabonita said:
6. Is it possible/easy to switch out the white interior face plates for the instrument cluster?

The white gauge faces are integral to the cluster unit, so they can't be separately swapped out. The white-faced gauges were included in certain trim package (like the Limited Package). The cheapest approach would be to purchase an aftermarket gauge face overlay (plate tailored to fit over the OEM gauges) in black (or paint it black / whatever).

See less See more

Save

aguabonita

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 8, 2010

Enola,

Thanks for the super informative response. I checked out your pics and also saw a posting you made regarding adding after-market seats. Sweet job!

It sounds like after-market seat may be a hot ticket. I would like to ask how hard it is to find used Recaros (on Ebay or Craigslist)? Are they all over the place or are they pretty hard to find? Are they worth it? (I imagine they are.) It seems like they might be a pain in the bum to install. Is that a huge factor?

Or perhaps a good seat cushion would work? I've seen something called the Sacro Ease and am wondering if that might work?

Anyways, I could certainly handle the other minor factors. The grill, dash cluster faceplate, and lack of a manual transmission aren't necessarily deal breakers for me.

My other front runner of a choice is a 3rd gen 4Runner. Perhaps some of you could chime in on the relative comfort regarding those trucks.

Any and all beta is welcome and appreciated.
Cheers,
Kevin

See less See more

Save

Enola Gaia

· #4 · Mar 8, 2010

Finding used Recaros requires some patience and perseverance. There's a steady supply on eBay, but not all the ones offered are great buys. Yes, they're worth it if seating comfort is a priority.

Installation is actually easy with custom brackets from Wedge Engineering (circa $100 apiece). Sliders will add another circa $90 - 100 per seat.

Seat cushions can work just fine. I've used many over the years. The short seat cushion in the pre-2005 Tacoma Sport buckets might make using a lumbar cushion problematical, though ...

A similar-vintage 4Runner would be a generally more comfortable vehicle. The main difference is whether your intended usage (especially cargo needs) would be better served by a pickup or an SUV.

Good luck with it! :waytogo:

Save

1 - 4 of 4 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month