Buying a Toyota Tundra! Please help!

[TheRuggedWrangler]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to the Toyota world - but not to the offroad world (I just sold my Wrangler a few weeks back). I am also new to the Overland world.

I've got a ton of questions, about a ton of stuff, and I'm enjoying reading the forums here.

I have to important questions to start. I'm buying a Toyota Tundra (I'm too tall for the Tacoma/4Runner).

1. What do you guys find better for overlanding? Double cab and regular box. Or CrewMax and short box? Why?

2. I've got the choice of a brand new 2018 TRD or a 2016 TRD with 27000km on it. There's about a difference of $6k right now. Does anyone know of any significant differences between 2016 and 2018? Recommendations on whether to go brand new, or to save a few bucks and get the 2016?

Thanks all. I look forward to any and all advice, ideas and insight. I'm excited to start my journey. Btw, I live in the mountains, so you can all expect some pretty incredible videos/pictures once I get going here.

Cheers,
TRW

 

[WAStateOverlander]

As far as Double Cab vs CrewMax, I can’t speak to that as I don’t own a Tundra. However, the main difference between. ‘16 and an ‘18 is: 1) The Toyota Safety Sense is standard on all Tundras (not offered before 2018), and a slightly updated front and rear end. There MIGHT be some suspension tuning differences, but none that are documented.

 

[dblack]

I’ve owned both a crewmax and double cab. When my kids were smaller a double cab worked fine. Not a lot of leg room but it works.

More recently I have a crewmax. I frequently joke that the back seat has enough leg room to have a dance back there.

But seriously it has a ton of room in the backseat.

The drawback is definitely a reduced box. When I’m hauling my dirt bikes etc I do notice the reduced space but I can still overpack for an overlanding adventure and have room.

As for new vs used... with only 27,000 miles... I’d probably go used. But that’s me.

 

[DividedSky]

I had an ‘04 crew 14 years (215k) and I think that was the perfect size cab to bed ratio. Just got an 18 crew and the three kids love the extra space but I do miss the bed space. Before I just chucked everything in separate. Now I have to use some large military boxes so I can go above bed height.

As far as new vs used, I love how tundras hold value. I got $5500 for my 04. When you buy used, it kinda sucks too though. I looked used but they were all within $5-$6k of a new one and had 30,000 miles. Factor in the higher used car finance rates and its down to a few thousand vs new.

So I just went new.

As far as crew vs double cab, it can be done in either. What it comes down to is how many people do you need to fit? For my fam of 5, crew all the way. If you usually go 2-3 people, maybe 4, double isn’t bad either.

 

[TheRuggedWrangler]

As far as Double Cab vs CrewMax, I can’t speak to that as I don’t own a Tundra. However, the main difference between. ‘16 and an ‘18 is: 1) The Toyota Safety Sense is standard on all Tundras (not offered before 2018), and a slightly updated front and rear end. There MIGHT be some suspension tuning differences, but none that are documented.

I read a little bit about Toyota Safety Sense - would it not be rendered useless by some mods? Or interfere with installing some mods? I'm thinking about the radar and cameras it says it uses for adaptive cruise control, Lane departure assist etc.

 

[WAStateOverlander]

I read a little bit about Toyota Safety Sense - would it not be rendered useless by some mods? Or interfere with installing some mods? I'm thinking about the radar and cameras it says it uses for adaptive cruise control, Lane departure assist etc.

As far as mods interfering with it, it depends. If it’s a low profile front bumper/bash guard, leveling kit and slightly upsized tires, it should not be affected. But, as others have found, any higher than a leveling kit spells warning lights on your dash. Toyota has not come out with a adjustment for lifted trucks so we’ll have to see. A full bumper that covers the grille would also affect it.