[johnathanf1lm]

Hello it's been ages since I've looked or posted on here. Might as well get back into it a bit. I'm a bit of the odd man out in this forum due to not wanting to mess up the look of the car etc. But I'll try to provide entertainment, seeking some more ideas or slight help for people that have 3rd gen Tacoma that want to get better gas mileage while keeping it and using it as a truck and not lifting it. (hell maybe even lowering it... gasp!!! ). It seems like all the Tacoma forums hate the word aero, weight reduction and not lifting it.

So here I go. I wanted a good fuel efficient truck to help make me some money (I deal with parting out motorcycles and odd and ends) and since new was way more appealing then used rust buckets for newish prices (I live in north east pa where they use more salt on the roads then in the ocean). But also be able to function as a small family transporter also having a kid and such. So I ended up with the 2021 Toyota Tacoma 2.7 access cab 4x4 with no bells or whistles. Reason why? I hate turbos so ranger was out, and the Colorado was like 4k more starting and only got 1mpg better.

Now for the build stuff. Anything I do to her 1 can't remove the whole point of a truck or I would just have bought a small car. Also I'm not on a quest for max mpg for the environment, I'm on a quest for it to save money and improve the truck. Meaning I have to see the benefit worth the cost if that makes sense. I have the driving skills mostly down since I'm getting a average of 25ish mpg (19/22 EPA rated) with a more highway mix of highway and city ( I don't like mashing the gas and don't like braking for the most part). I'll focus on the trio of better gas milage: weight reduction, engine efficiency, and lastly powertrain efficiency and saddly non economy mods.

Non economy mods first. What I have done:
-OEM bed mat (to protect the bed since it is a composite bed.
-oem mudflaps
-came stock with fender flares
-trail fx plastic nerf bar or whatever you want to call it (mostly for my kid to get into the truck)
- OEM bed light
What I plan on doing:
- tow hitch and harness (bc unless you get the v6 you don't get a factory one)
- rav4 convex mirror swap
- adding fog lights (warrenty over)
- adding keyless entry (warrenty over also)

Aero mods I plan on doing:
-Lowering it (after warrenty is out due to drivetrain warrenty) currently there is only one company that offers a lowering kit for 3rd gen Tacomas and it's not a bad drop. Only 2 inches in the front and 3 in the back and doesn't mess with stock springs and shocks. Once lowered maybe delete the nerf bars.
- looking at more aero front grill/bumper (so far so bad as everything is off-road set ups and not really aero)
- clean up other areas like underneath.

Weight reduction mods planned on doing (yes I know I added some heavy stuff I more want to offset that and get back load capacity and such):
- look into aluminum/titanium bolts for bolt/scree replacements. body trim screws (alot of them screw into a plastic hole so strength and galling isn't a problem with those)
- looking into deleting some of the useless to me features (lane departure, radar cruise control etc)
- looking into lighter options of parts of the truck. Like body panels, bumpers, trim, etc.

And lastly powertrain:
What I have done:
- replaced all possible lights with led( turn signal is a no go since controlled by the instrument cluster)
What I have planned:
- led headlight swap or stock with hid bulb.
- LCE long tube equal length header(after warrenty) Now this one is interesting due to the fact it Dyno proven adds power across the power band. As for if it adds more efficency to the engine is a debate in itself since short tube headers appearly better for lower torque. There is another aftermarket header that is short but doesn't have really any power gains (even low end) compared to the lce one.
- replace drivetrain all fluid with redline equal (is slightly a hair better on paper so they say)

As you can see I have some starting points. Some may be worthless or non existent but I'm going to try. Lastly I know someone is bound to mention it a tonneau cover. Some people/ studies how it helps other say it doesn't etc. That isn't why I have it planned. Me it's one the added weight, lack of FULL usability of the bed if I need it, and saddly cost. Most of them will be adding 50-100 pounds which is why I think some people don't see gains if there truck is light. Alot of them fold or roll up which is good and prob work with most of the things I'll use them for but not most. And lastly the price. A simple vinal roll up one sets you back 300+ and go too cheap and you get noise, tears etc. And a fold up one are 700+. The best one I could find based off reviews is the back flop mx4 which is 1k. I currently don't need to store stuff in my bed and such with my back seat only having one kid rarely so I don't see the benefit compared to the cost.