New truck

[electra225]

Enjoy the new car smell, Chris! I also hope you enjoy your new truck with all its gadgets.

[TC Chris]

Heading back to Michigan tomorrow. My phone is a flip phone, so that means no navigation system beyond paper maps. In about 1935 my father, then 17, and his 12 year old brother took the train from Manistee, MI to South Bend, IN and drove home brand-new Studebaker from the factory. In about 1940, my grandmother took two daughters and some friends from Birmingham, AL to a sorority meeting in CA by car. I figure that if those two trips were successful in days of 2-lane roads and non-standardized signage, I can probably make it back to MI. And I've got air conditioning. It has been in the mid-90s in VT the last couple of days.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Does your new truck have four-wheel drive?

[TC Chris]

Yes, selectable 4WD with 2-speed transfer case.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Sounds like an appropriate setup for Michigan winters.....

[TC Chris]

I'm hoping it will let me NOT buy snow tires. On the Ranger, it was 2 wheels and 2 tires. On the Tacoma, it would be 4 rims and 4 tires. Probably cost as much as the truck. Meanwhile, I've made it to Cornwall, Ont. for the night, having traversed upper NY state in the rain. The Canadians let me in. My arrival coincided with a break in the weather, which has been in the 90s during my stay in VT. The new truck's AC is working just fine, thank you.

There is a way to switch the speedo from MPH to KPH but I am tired of climbing the learning curve right now, so I translated a few common KPH speeds into MPH on the computer here and will prop the chart up on the dashboard. The rest of the Canadian leg will be mostly on the 401 and 407, which were like race courses the last time I made the trip long ago. I would prefer not to be arrested for speeding.

Chris Campbell

[danrclem]

Congrats on finally getting your new truck. You shouldn't need to get any snow tires. The 4WD makes all the difference in the world. It should do good on anything but ice but I don't think anything does good on ice unless you have studs or chains.

[TC Chris]

Studs are not allowed in MI except on my bicycle (the winter commuter bike has them). Chains are a PITA. In bad conditions, I go slowly.

The new truck was tossed into the deep end... a trip westward on the 401 and 407 in Canada with less than 500 miles on the odometer. I thought that every Canadian who owned a vehicle must have chosen to drive on the 401 today, but my brother who has more experience on the route says it's always that way. I made an effort to keep speeds below 90 mph (my brother thought I meant kph when i told him). It was interesting. The little Tacoma did not seem the least inhibited by Canada-style driving.

Mid-afternoon, the truck talked to me. Or rather, texted me on the speedo screen. "Are you ready to take a break?" First time I've had a vehicle strike up a conversation. Once I get all the electronic bells and whistles figured out (Friday on the 401 is not the time and place for working a screen), I think we'll get along quite well.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

The English lady in the radio speakers in my Mini always tells me good morning, and have a good evening when I get home. She gripes about low tire pressure and being time for service. It's kinda cute when you get used to it. Cars are too smart for my own good sometimes......

[TC Chris]

The truck tells me what the speed limit is and whether I am over or under (visual indication, not audio). It shows me crosswalk symbols and work zones. The owner's manual, a hefty volume, says it does it via the camera, which sees the signs. lots of technology involved to see, recognize, and decipher the signs amid all the clutter.

Chris Campbell

[William]

Nice truck, Chris, I really like that color red. Welcome to the world of smart vehicles of which some is more of a distraction that a help.

Bill

[TC Chris]

Now I've figured out the cruise control (3 steps, not 2 like on the Mustang). And radio controls from the steering wheel (sort of--have to pause and think what button does what).

Now, does anybody else have experience with aftermarket bed racks? The Ranger has a homemade oak one, fitted in the old-fashioned bed sockets. There are no sockets on the new truck. Brands? Yakima, Thule, others?

It needs to be sturdy to carry the iceboat or other substantial loads. I worry about forces under hard breaking. I built long diagonals into my oak rack to keep the thing from collapsing forward.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Your best bet might be to consult the owner's manual and/or your dealer to answer that question. You want to be sure whatever you do is safe for you and for your new truck. I know Ford and Chevy make work trucks, basic, no frills trucks with heavier springs, lower gearing and heavier driveline components so they can work day in and day out with a minimum of strain and maximum safety. You should check the recommended payload your truck is equipped to handle. The landscapers around here use those small trucks with racks and other extra equipment, so there has got to be a way.

[TC Chris]

There seems to be a choice among commercial racks. All my loads will be way under truck load limits, but I noticed that Yakima (I think) distinguished between highway and "static" loads. The latter is standing still, like if you have one of those rack-top camping tents. Under way, the uprights are subjected to substantial forces as the truck pitches sideways on an uneven road or in turns, and to even more in a sudden braking situation, where the load wants to keep moving and the uprights have to restrain it. My current rack has 4 HD steel L-brackets (web between the legs of the L) plus a long aluminum diagonal brace on each side to resist for ward torquing in a stop. The commercial models seem to rely on their cast or welded bases and mounting system for that.

The 8-speed transmission is quite "shifty" (not annoyingly so; I've just tried to observe). The computer know exactly which ratio is appropriate for each moment. The most surprising thing is that when I apply the brake and then let off, I can feel engine braking, so apparently the computer knows that brake application means we're slowing and downshifts. It doesn't do that if i just lift the foot off the accelerator. That apparently just says 'coast."

The load capacity is somewhere between 1705 and 1500 lbs. Towing capacity is 6500 lbs. Both should be adequate. It has a two-speed transfer case so I should be able to climb a vertical wall if the truck doesn't tip over. The truck is notably higher than the Ranger, mostly from higher ground clearance.

Chris Campbell

[danrclem]

Mid-afternoon, the truck talked to me. Or rather, texted me on the speedo screen. "Are you ready to take a break?" First time I've had a vehicle strike up a conversation.
Chris Campbell

The way I understand it, they'll rat you out too. I haven't really read up on it, but the manufacturer supposedly can get information from the vehicle about your driving habits and some manufacturers sell that information to third parties. I don't know if it is sent through cell towers, satellites or when a dealer hooks up a computer to it.

[TC Chris]

They're not likely to find much of interest in my driving habits. Most of the time I drive like my father (well, a bit more spirited, but not to much). Most of the time. Once I hit the 401 in Ontario, I was in the lead-foot lane most of the time and giving the evil eye to those going under 80. I did limit my upper speeds to 90 mph.

But then tonight, on the last leg home, in northern lower Michigan, I set the cruise at 66 on the freeway, 64 on the 2-lanes. And got 27 mpg overall in 145 miles of driving.

And then made an amazing discovery. The little truck is self-driving. In the adaptive mode, it steers itself. My friend has a Buick that does this, but the Buick uses a camera to watch the driver's eyes to assure attention. Toyota has another plan: I have to keep both hands on the steering wheel. Take one hand off for more than a couple minutes, and it starts threatening to cut off the service and orders me to get the hands on the wheel for when that happens. But as long as hands are on the wheel, it steers happily for me.

On Friday the truck asked me if I wanted to take a break. This evening it ordered me to turn the headlights on when it deemed conditions required it. I have never had to negotiate with a mechanical device before.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

I've always thought that Toyota's mud flaps on their little trucks looked good, but my truck did not come with them. So I stopped by the dealer when Iwas out to get the truck registered the other day and ordered some genuine Toyota devices.

Tom Wick & Bill Kocher taught me many things on our Canadian fishing trips, including entire Monty Python sketches. It affects my visits to the cheese shop. But when it come to mud flaps, there's this:

Talk about mud flaps
My gal's got 'em.
Big bottom

[Lyrics from the movie "Spinal Tap."]

It seemed like a good time to install them. And wow, was it easy. The mounting points are all there and the holes all lined up and now my truck looks official.

P7270909.JPG

After that I sat in the truck with the book in hand and tried to make it connect to my iPod. No luck.. That will require an internet search. But I did figure out how to select the trip odometer, the clinometer, the engine oil temp gauge, the tire pressure status, and what grade of oil to use. Under the seat, I found a bag of movable tie-down points that attach to rails in the truck bed. Those are in addition to the helpful permanent ones in the bed.

Chris Campbell