What Do You Like the Least About Your First Gen?

Automotive forums tend towards material worship and some regard criticism as sacrilege, but I'm assuming most of us are realists here.
What do you like the least (or dislike the most) about the FGT?

 

RUST!, and more rust. Did I mention rust? Yes, I did. That and horrible design of the pickup bed supports that enable rust to bubble through from underneath. Did I mention the frame, no? That too.

 

I've been sitting here really trying to come up with something.....

Maybe the front end design? Kinda looks like a swollen Camry. Lower ball joint design fail?

 

I'll throw poor turning radius into the ring.
Toyota nailed the size of the 1gt. Roomier than the 80-90's trucks without the bloat of the 2-2.5-3rd gen trucks, but then gave it the turning radius of a dump truck.

Aftermarket support is poor.
Other platforms have way more options for any given part/upgrade(looking at you cv axles). With the 1gt you're lucky to have a choice between two options for any given part, oftentimes there is only one. I think this will improve with time as Toyota discontinues more OEM parts/assemblies, and aftermarket manufactures fill that void.

 

The turning radius, my old RAM had a better turning radius and was a larger truck.

Not crazy about the front end look, or the color of mine...

Cup holder design isn't great.

Outside of that, everything is good.

 

f150 duhhhhh

lack of aftermarket support is my biggest issue. Damn well near everything aftermarket for our trucks is dog shit; unless we pay a premium.

 

F150 did it better

 

Coming from a first gen Tacoma, the first thing I noticed about the first gen Tundra is how similar it really is. It's obvious, but the design was very similar. Almost identical year range for each first gen. First difference that struck me is how much more refined the Tundra is than the Tacoma. Lots of "deluxe" comfort features.

I think what's confusing to me is the tendency for cab leaks. My Tacoma had no cab leaks over its 26 years and 330,000 miles. The Tundra has clearly had leaks in the past (based on carpet stains) and I'm still chasing down more. It seems to accumulate water and debris in all kinds of nooks and crannies that the Tacoma must not have had. Lots of places for leaves and dirt and pine needles to gather, hold water, create rust, and lots of places for water to get into the cab. Not sure what's up with that.

 

Not for ride quality using a torsion bar suspension when the 1st gen Tundra came out. Damn thing rode like a …..truck.

 

The rear brakes should have been disc, as Toyota installed on Sequoias.

 

Front end design and execution is all I was referring to. I like the grille and bumper combo on the F150 of the same vintage over the Tudras typical boring Toyota guise

 

Lack of a manual transmission with the V-8 engine, ride quality and ergonomics, and the lousy turning radius. That said, it's 24 years old now and hasn't had any problems except the drivers door latch last year. I wonder how a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge the same age would be holding up with no repairs? Oh, and the brakes leave a lot to be desired as well.

 

Yeah, I remember that being a big pitfall at the time. I remember one member on another forum saying he’d crawl through a mile of glass to have one.

I think they’re great especially going through gears in 4wd drive low to overcome the jerk between gears. Also, for keeping you awake on long drives.

 

Yeah, that one ranks pretty high on my list.







Brakes left a little to be desired, but really can't complain too much. Loved the old girl, was kinda' sad to let her go.

 

mpg

 

The frames coating allowing rust to eat thru it in record time
The frames paint job shrinking and exposing metal around every weld within a year which exposed bare metal to the elements and allowed rust to form
The ball joint design allowing the lower A-arm to make love to the ground on any given day at any given time for any given reason
The plan Toyota put in place for frame rust that was a one-year treatment that they failed to notify customers to re-do it yearly which led to a tremendous amount of customers driving their vehicles and the frames rusting apart after they assumed the work Toyota did was permanent
Other than those, i absolutely love everything about this truck, the size, the comfort, the ride, the look, i REALLY like my truck a lot.

 

Brakes are another weak point. When properly maintained and adjusted they are just OK. I’ve had better.

 

The fact my is RC sucks, windows rattle/not stable/brakes (rear - require frequent adj) sketchy unloaded panic braking, worthless sunglass holder, push button tranfer case, frame metal quality, and the factory gearing was garbage ( atleast for non vvti)

Other then that solid little truck, i have brand new f150 4x4 ( for work) and i still prefer my old Tundy at the end of each shift. Ford steering sucks, cheap material quality.

 

Another pet peeve of mine is the need for greater castor (toward the higher end of the scale) to stabilize the steering and prevent potential shimmy driving at highway speeds. Around here techs are either unwilling or incapable of providing that needed castor during an alignment.

 

-It is ugly, really ugly. Who thought this truck looked good??
-Lousy paint quality.
-Timing belt and LBJ situation (as everyone mentioned).
-The A340 transmission is weak behind a V8, and underpowered V8 at that.
-Not comfortable for tall people.

Having said all this, I wouldn't drive anything else. Love the first generation. Truly a great machine.

 

I do. Better looking than subsequent generations especially the latest monstrocity.

 

I certainly can't argue with you there. The old Toyota pickups had an aggressive look to them, not so much the new ones.

 

Personally, I like the sleek look, high ground clearance and low pickup bed sidewalls for easy access. Chrome isn’t overdone on trim like the newer ones as well and stays where it should… the bumpers.

 

The one feature I wish it has is a mist wiper setting. I find myself turning the wipers on and then immediately off due to a lack of mist function.

Otherwise there isn't a whole lot that I don't like. The huge turning radius is annoying at times but it hasn't really been an issue for me if I put some forethought into where/how I'm parking. The fantastic visibility and fairly quick steering makes up for it I think.

 

Love both my first gens!

-Brakes are undersized.
-Couple of rattles, but given the age it's understandable.
-Frame rust...
-I hate that you have to push the L button on dash for 1st gear. I do a lot of rough forest road driving and I'd much prefer 1st gear on the shifter.

the sequoia 4wd system is much nicer than the tundra's, especially in winter for us Northern drivers. So tundra only complaint there.

wish Toyota would have made more of these to increase the supply and would have better aftermarket support...

 

There was never a supply issue; dealer lots were always full. Toyota did their part to provide supply.

 

Aside from LBJ and frame rust issues, I'm noticing that a lot of our complaints are pretty minor things.

I've been thinking about it and the FGT is the epitome of the sweet spot. Not too big, not too small. Not a powerhouse but plenty of oomph. Gives off old school truck vibes but drives like a new SUV. Simple enough for us to work on, but still modern and complex enough for them to be suitable for daily driver or roadtrip use. Plenty of creature comforts while keeping the interior simple and classy. It's very very well rounded.

Someone asked me recently what truck I would get if I could have any truck in the world. And I told them the truth- there's no truck that would fit my needs better than a FGT. It is the pinnacle.

 

I hate that the rear doors have an exterior door handle, leading one to believe they could be opened independently of the front doors. I thought that was the case until the day I bought mine. All the other extended cab trucks with the door handle inside of the rear door pillar work better and are more natural to open.