TOYOTA T100

OVERVIEW

Manufacturer: Hino; Toyota

Production: August 1992–July 1998

Assembly: Hino Factory, Hamura, Tokyo, Japan

• Body and chassis

Class: Full-size pickup truck

Body style: 2-door pickup truck

Layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive

• Dimensions

Wheelbase: 121.8 in (3,094 mm)

Length: 209.1 in (5,311 mm)

Width: 75.2 in (1,910 mm)

HISTORY

The Toyota T100 is a full-size pickup truck produced by Toyota between 1992 and 1998. It was developed strictly for the US (and Canadian) markets, where larger pickups have a sizable market share.

As Toyota firmly established itself in the North American compact pickup truck market in the 1980s through 1990s, the company decided to offer a truck that was larger than the compact so as to offer an alternative to the traditional North American full-size pickup truck market. North American Toyota dealers had long been clamoring for a full-sized Toyota truck, especially in light of the high percentage of Toyota Pickup owners who moved on to domestic full-sized trucks.

Rumored for many years before, the 1993 Toyota T100 boasted a full-size (8 ft) pickup bed but retained the engine and suspension setup of its smaller and older sibling, the compact Toyota Truck.

DESIGN

There were four fundamental problems with the T100. It needed more power, it needed an extended-cab version, it was not good-looking, and it was overpriced. Toyota said it would fix the T100, and now it has, mostly.

As for an extended cab: The interior of the T100 Xtracab adds 21.4 cubic feet of space, with the total interior room comparable to that of the extended-cab Ford F150.

As for the looks: With the addition of the second side window and the shorter bed (it’s 76.1 inches long, which is 21.5 inches shorter than the regular-cab bed), the T100 Xtracab is almost pretty, particularly the four-wheel-drive version.

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE BRISKA

The T100 was designed and engineered for the North American market and was not sold in Japan. Its exterior dimensions would place it in the Japanese Government normal size classification regulations and would incur higher registration costs, while competing with commercial trucks already sold in Japan.

Although sales were slow at the start, the T100 sales did reach into the mid 40,000 vehicles sold range (1996) in the United States. Sales of the Chevrolet C/K were roughly 700,000 per year, while sales of the Ford F-Series surged from 550,000 to nearly 850,000 and Dodge went from 100,000 to 400,000 with the introduction of the new Dodge Ram in 1993. Sales of the T100 fell approximately 30 percent when the new Ram went on the market in October 1993, 11 months after the T100’s launch in November 1992.

HOW TO MAINTAIN OF YOUR T100?

Fixing deep scratches on your used car before the rust forms with something as simple as a dab of touch-up paint will save you endless trouble in the long run.

• Keep it clean

Giving your Toyota T100 a regular all-round wash is a great way to keep it in the best possible shape and inspect the bodywork and interior for any  wear-and-tear that you can attend to before it becomes a big concern.

Similarly, if you allow brake-dust and road grime to accumulate on your used car’s alloy wheels, it will, over time, leave dark spots or make your used car’s rims appear dull.

It is very important to remember that you should never wash your used Toyota, or any other used car for that matter, with standard dish washing liquid or other household cleaning detergent.

Think about it: If your T100 is regularly equipped with clean filters, oil and other lubricants, its engine will operate without any undue strain. This will lead to better fuel consumption and better engine performance in the short term and greater durability in the long term.

• Keep an eye on your tyres

Make it a habit to regularly check your tyre tread and the tyre pressure of your T100.

Inspecting the tyre tread helps you to quickly identify irregular wear patterns, such as wear on the outside of the tyre. If you spot this early enough, you can address it and extend the life of your tyres.

If you see an irregular tread pattern, you may need to check each wheel’s balancing or the alignment between the wheels at an approved tyre fitment centre.

Checking your tyre pressure is equally important. An under-inflated tyre will cause more wear and tear and will increase your vehicle’s fuel consumption. An over-inflated tyre will, in turn, cause uneven wear on the tyre and may negatively influence your vehicle’s steering and wet-weather performance.

• Monitor your fuel economy

Keeping an eye on your fuel economy is a great way of tracking the mechanical integrity of any used vehicle.

By keeping an eye on your tyres, bodywork, fuel economy and by regularly servicing your Toyota T100, you can be sure that it will maintain its value very well as a used vehicle and it will give you many years of trouble-free service.

Source: wikipedia, caranddriver.