I Need Your Tundra Opinions

Yeah DC is plenty of space, the crewmax is enormous and you lose a lot of bed space. IMO the whole point of a pickup truck is to have a bed to put stuff in and keep it outside the cab. If that's not important to you, that's what vans were made for.

Also want to mention that most people who own pickups don't do truck things at all, so they don't care about the short bed and prefer more internal space. With pickups getting more popular, crew cabs are in higher demand and will probably be more expensive than the equivalent extended cab or double cab. If you are OK with a looong wheelbase, look for a double cab 8' bed tundra, there's not many but demand for them is pretty low (relatively speaking) so you can get a good deal on them compared to a standard bed or crew cab.

 

Benchseat - I have the 2020 benchseat crewmax. If you like the front benchseat- it is great (not sure you can get a pushbutton start with that).

Apple Carplay - For me, the apple carplay was a total gamechanger, if you want your iphone coordinated in the head unit, then I would not recommend anything prior to 2020 for that reason (unless there is some good aftermarket integration). I almost pulled the trigger on a 2019, but after driving rental cars with apple carplay, it was good to wait and have it in the 2020.

Gas Tank - Since I don't tow, the smaller gas tank of the bench seat is a non-issue, if you're not mashing on the gas pedal around town you will be fine, and especially on non-tow highway trips you can easily go hours without having to pull over. Not once has it been an issue.

Bedsize - Though I have the crewmax I think the DC is the best looking truck and I do wish the Crewmax bed was a 1' bigger (I think 2022 you can get a crewmax w/larger bed), but of course that is the tradeoff you make with the larger cab. Also if you want to put a camper on the bed, the CM is small for that and much easier setup on the DC.

Cabinsize - Many is the time I've just crashed on the rear floor of the crewmax to sleep, it's that big.

Payload- I think you will also get a bump-up of several hundred pounds of payload if you go w/DC over CM.

Transmission-cooler - I think it's not an issue unless you are towing, which may be an issue for you as you said you are. Non-Towing on the road, the truck never goes anywhere near 1/2 on the temp gauge, even on the hottest of days. But you may want to do the upgrade on the Tran-cooler as some have indicated.

Good luck!

 

The difference in bed size is what, 1'? Is that 1 extra foot that is being lost by going to a CM really going to make that much of a difference?

A lot of people saying on here you lose out on a lot of bed space by going to a CM. The only way I see that possible/likely is if going from a DC Looooooooong bed to a CM.

 

All depends on the owners use I’d say. On my truck for example I have a bed cap, and the extra 1’ is the difference between driving with the tailgate and cap door closed to keep certain cargo dry in a downpour vs having wet cargo. I’ve ran into this several times now with mine. I can put 8’ boards and trim/molding diagonal in my bed and still close everything up, if it were a crewmax everything is getting wet. I also use almost every inch of my bed filled with camping gear. I totally get the appeal of the crewmax though especially for people with multiple kids, or if the bed is generally less important for their use. That backseat is amazing.

 

Yeah I think it's all in the personal use. For someone that doesn't need the interior space and will utilize the bed to the max then I can see where the extra foot comes in to play.

 

As others have said, I'm not sure how much is lost, honestly (beyond the obvious foot of bed space). That comes more down to what people have in their bed.

In my case, it's never anything gigantic that hangs out over the tailgate or anything, and in any event, I own a 14' trailer, and would rather load stuff up in that if it's a lawn mower or tons of stuff to tow, for various reasons. But by the same token, if I were going into the woods with an ATV, I can easily see how one would want the extra foot of space in the bed.

 

My ATV hangs like 8 inches out of the bed and it drives me nuts lol I ended up buying a really cheap trailer for it and then for the random times I need to move around big stuff.

 

As others have correctly noted, it's all about how you use your truck. I definitely use my truck for truck things, but haven't had any issue with the shorter bed. The main purpose of buying my Tundra, however, was to use it for pulling our travel trailer. In this use, I would never give up cab space for additional bed space. We want a big, comfy cab for those 6-8 hour drives pulling the trailer. When I'm pulling the trailer, I generally don't have anything in the truck bed, or very few items if I do.

With all that said, if I were to buy a new Tundra, I would opt for the Crew Max with the long bed. Not necessarily for extra bed space, but because the longer wheelbase can aid in stability while pulling the trailer.