I’ve made no secret of my distaste for the chassis used on the Toyota Tacoma since 2005. In contrast to its predecessor, the first-generation Tacoma—and the Toyota Hilux to this day—it employs an open-channel design under the cargo area. This was followed by a similar design on the 2008 Tundra, hyped as the “Triple-Tech” frame and accompanied by a patently transparent sales pitch assuring consumers how superior it was.
In fact, neither one was at all superior to a fully-boxed chassis. A tube of any cross section, whether round or square, is more torsionally and longitudinally rigid than an open, U-shaped channel of the same weight. Every other Japanese and American pickup on the market now employs a fully boxed chassis in recognition of this—as does the recently re-designed Tundra, in a tacit admission of the nonsense told to us for 13 years.
The retrograde move to an open-channel design made no sense except from an economic standpoint. The only other possibility lies in the rust issues Toyota experienced with some of the first-generation Tacomas, presumably caused by moisture becoming trapped inside the frame. Perhaps the company simply decided to ditch the enclosed section and prevent any possibility of water entrapment, rather than altering the boxed chassis to prevent the issue. (I’ve also read that the problem was simply a bad run of steel and/or poor rust-proofing. I’ve also read that even the open-channel frames have had issues.)
My other big gripe with the Tacoma was the antediluvian drum rear brakes, on the subject of which the company again insulted our intelligence by claiming they were “better off road.” (See here.)
Both these flaws might be rectified soon.
New-vehicle rumors are notoriously unreliable. I remember reading magazine headlines about the “upcoming mid-engined Corvette!” since at least 1972. However, given the recent overhaul of the Tundra, I’m more inclined to give this latest gossip credit. According to several sources, Toyota is preparing to release a redesigned 2024 Tacoma that will feature a fully boxed chassis, four-wheel disc brakes, and possibly even coil rear suspension—all of which feature on the current Tundra. Thus these rumors make sense.
I’ve as yet heard little about engines, and it appears there will be carry-overs in that department. (Stop me before I start whining about current high-rpm, low-torque “truck” engines. Or read this.)
More information as I gather it.