Toyota | 4x4, Trucks & Trailers

Toyota Hilux II

August 5th, 2007 by Shenron

By this time the Toyota “Pickup Truck” or better known as the Hilux, had become something of a mini legend, as they just would not die. In 1981 many major improvements were made and the company teamed up with Winnebago to make an SUV, which was basically taking the Toyota Hilux chassis, and strapping things to them to make them SUVs. In order to facilitate this, structural changes were made to the Hilux, improving its weight capacity and overall ruggedness. Additionally a new engine was introduced to the mix, and yes it still kept that now considered underpowered 96 horse four cylinder, what was added was a 62 horse diesel engine. In 1984 a new redesign hit the market and two new diesel engines came with it - although in 1985 they threw them out faster than an Ex with a drinking problem - however a year later came the much coveted fuel injection systems that did much more good by the vehicle.

The old 2.4L four cylinder that had been added to replace the aging 2.2L was still included, along with that 62 horse diesel, and two new diesels which were the 2.4L at 83 horses and its bigger brother at 92 horses (which were both tossed out in 85). In addition to this several updates were made with the fuel injectors to the 2.4L series which culminated in the bump up to 112 horses, and finally the turbo at 135 horses. There was also a V6 (thank god) added which gave the vehicle 150 horses. In 1989 the truck underwent yet another redesign which saw better wheelbase options for longer beds and the dropping of any non-fuel injected engines leaving it with the 2.4L at 112 horses, and the 3.0L V6 at 150 horses (for which an award was won). Finally, in 1995, it was updated to become the Tacoma in North America, but maintained its name in the rest of the world and is still distinctly different in small variations.

Related Posts:

Toyota Hilux I

Toyota Hilux III

Toyota Tacoma

Toyota Sequoia

Toyota FJ Cruiser

Posted in Toyota | | 0 Comments

Toyota Hilux I

August 5th, 2007 by Shenron

The Toyota Hilux is a compact pickup truck that has been in production for a grant total of seventy two years. It was first manufactured under the name and class of a type G1 Truck and was a 1.5 ton stake-bed truck that first caught on. Later, after the Second World War Toyota continued with the design and called it the Model SB, which lasted from 1947 to 1963 - and had a four stroke 27 horse engine to boot. Finally in 1964 Toyota launched itself into the U.S. market with the 1964 Hilux, called the Stout, and it was bigger than the Datsun and the Mazda trucks of the time, and it had a 1.9L four cylinder engine that rated at 85 horses. In 1969 the name was given, and the truck was released as the Hilux. This truck had more engines to choose from, although they were all four cylinder engines rated at 85 horses and 97 horses at 1.9L, along with the 2.0L 108 horse. It was a simple thing, with just one body style and had a regular cab, a short bed, and only came in front engine mounted rear wheel drive with a four speed manual transmission.

In 1973 the new Hilux was released with a better interior and an optional longer bed that would allow it to be used for many more things, and it dropped the two weaker four cylinder engines, but kept the 2.0L 108 horse. The Hilux name was eventually dropped in the U.S. Market in 1975 - referring to the vehicle as just the Toyota Truck, however the truck is indeed the same one. In 1978 a new revision was made and this one was much improved. This big update came with the addition of four wheel drive and a better transmission, not to mention better axles and leaf springs to improve its abilities on the road. It was about this time its reputation for being “Indestructible” was rearing its head. The new engine it used was only 96 horses as a four cylinder 2.2L.

Related Posts:

Toyota Hilux II

Toyota Hilux III

Toyota Tacoma

Toyota Sequoia

Toyota FJ Cruiser

Posted in Toyota | | 0 Comments

Toyota T100

August 2nd, 2007 by Shenron

The Toyota T100 is the predecessor to the Toyota Tundra, and was a full sized pickup truck manufactured between 1993 and 1998, and it comes in the standard layout of a front engine rear wheel or front engine all wheel drive with the choice of cabs being a normal or extended cab, along with various engines to choose from. However, the T100 was heavily criticized for its smaller stature and inability to haul as much as the larger competitors in the full size truck ring - namely the Ford F-Series, Dodge Ram, and Chevy S-10. Only about forty thousand were sold each ear of its production run, with other manufacturer out pacing it by a much wider and larger number, with Ford going from half a million to three quarters of a million, Dodge going form a hundred thousand to nearly half a million, and GMC/Chevy staying close to a quarter of a million without change. Although Toyota was the one to beat when it came to compact pickups, it was beaten down in its full size truck venture until it dropped the T100 in 1998 for the Tundra. Another interesting note about the T100 is the fact it was the very last truck built in Japan and shipped to the U.S. until Toyota finally opened up a plant in the U.S.A. closing the final chapter on Japanese imported trucks for the most part.

The T100 was not without its better areas though, as it was very reliable and pretty much able to survive anything, along with having a very good fuel economy, being lightweight, and could reach speeds faster than a normal behemoth Full Sized pickup truck. The T100 had two transmissions, a five speed automatic and a five speed manual, along with three engines to choose from. There was the 2.7L 150 horse 4 cylinder, the 3.0 V6 150 horse, and the 3.4 C6 190 horse, which could be modified using an after market kit that would allow it to be bumped up to nearly 240 horses with enough power to make it a very fast vehicle. An interesting note and popular opinion amongst owners of the T100 is that the ones manufactured in Japan are much more reliable and well built than the ones that were finally manufactured here - along with repair report statistics that showed the American built pickups were prone to mechanical failures more oft than the imports.

Related Posts:

Toyota Tundra

Toyota Sequoia

Toyota FJ Cruiser

Toyota Tacoma

Toyota Hilux I

Posted in Toyota | | 0 Comments

Toyota Tacoma

July 31st, 2007 by Shenron

The Toyota Tacoma is a compact pickup that ain’t. What I mean by this is that it started in 1995 as Toyota’s compact pickup truck, but with the recent update in 2005 they upped it to a mid-sized, which is the trend with all trucks except for the Ford Ranger - the only compact still in production. Well, on the basics, since 1995 the Toyota Tacoma has been in full production and so far it is the final originator from the much beloved and ancient Toyota Hilux, and can be traced all the way back to 1935. This is the descendant of the Toyota Truck manufacturing legacy, culminating in more than seventy years along the exact same line of trucks. Well, the Tacoma comes in either two or four door front engine rear wheel or all wheel drive and has itself a four speed automatic or a five speed manual transmission, and along with that it came with three different engines over its life span until 2004, being the 2.4L four cylinder 142 horse engine, the 2.7 four cylinder 150 horse, and finally the much improved 3.4 V6 with 190 horses. The first era underwent a change in 2000, but it was minor and mostly cosmetic.

In 2005 Toyota rolled its new Mid-sized Tacoma off the line and let it be known that compact trucks were dead to them. They included eighteen configuration options along with extended cabs, bigger beds, and a whole bunch of other goodies to choose from. Of course they updated the transmission and engines too, and there have even been after market kits released by third parties that can make the horsepower 50% higher on some of the engines. The current engine lineups are the 2.7L four stroke 159 horse, and the 4.0L V6 at 236 horses, transmissions include a four speed and five speed auto, along with a five speed and six speed manual, also, depending on the engine you can have either a 17 gallon or a 21 gallon tank.

Related Posts:

Toyota Hilux III

Toyota FJ Cruiser

Toyota Hilux II

Toyota Sequoia

Toyota Hilux I

Posted in Toyota | | 0 Comments

Toyota Tundra

July 29th, 2007 by Shenron

Toyota’s full sized pickup truck is the Toyota Tundra and is the current successor to the Toyota T100, a previous model that was the base for Toyota’s full sized pickup trucks. The current Tundra was launched in 200 and underwent a revision in 2006, making the 2007 model year the beginning of a new era for the vehicle. The Tundra is a basic and normal truck design with the front engine mount and rear or full wheel drive. The T100 had always been criticized as being too small, and such was the fate of its successor, with folks here and there saying it wasn’t fit to be considered a full-sized truck, however sales had nearly doubled that of the T100 by the second year. This first era of truck featured three engines, and one of them underwent improvements midway through its run, in addition to having several transmissions. The Truck had a 3.4L V6 engine to choose, which gave it 190 horses, then there was the 4.0L engine at 236 horses, and finally the 4.7 which had an initial V8 pull of 245 horses, but was bumped up to 271. Transmissions included a four speed auto, a five speed auto and manual, and finally a six speed auto.

With the update Toyota introduced to the world its second era truck in 2006, and began selling in 2007, and this truck was much larger. What Toyota decided to do was create a truck that would directly challenge the Dodge, Ford, and Chevy Empire with a truck that could haul 10,000 pounds and have a payload of 2,000, along with new engines and transmissions and much better gear ratios. The truck has no less than thirty configurations it can be bought with and also has many bed sizes to choose from. One of the best improvements so far is its massive 27 gallon fuel tank and the much better engines, for example, it now has the options of a 4.0L V6 that pumps out 236 horses, a 4.7 V8 that rocks out 271 horses, and finally a 5.7 V8 that has a whopping 381 horses and thus gives it the capacity to not only haul 10,000 pounds or more, but to do so with ease.

Related Posts: