Lording it Over the King of the Pickup Hill

Pickup owners are notoriously known for brand loyalty, so it surprises not a few when the Toyota Tacoma, this year’s Cinderella story in the pickup division, zooms up on the sales charts. Mopping off the competition, the Tacoma has registered a sales increase of 28.4% in the first quarter of this year. Tacoma’s figures provide a sharp contrast to those of its competitors. During that same period, sales went down for perennial leaders Ford (Ranger), DaimlerChrysler (Dodge Dakota), and General Motors (Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon). Suddenly, the whole of Detroit’s auto district is white-knuckled. That’s not to say, however, that latest models from the pickup front-liners are way behind the Tacoma in terms of specs and features.

The Dakota and Colorado were redesigned a couple of years back in the hope of maintaining their decent showings in the market; the same time that folk at Toyota did the same thing to the Tacoma. When these three models rolled off last fall, the Toyota Tacoma just broke away from the pack on its way for the king of the pickup hill crown. It may be simply that the Tacoma hit the sweet spot of the automotive market. Complementing its supposed function with a masculine look and a quick V6 engine, the Tacoma is unarguably the most sought-after among the present crop of four-wheel drives. Designed to handle rough roads and nasty trails, the Tacoma is one of those vehicles whose individual parts ought to keep in step with the engine and their intended use. Consider, for example, the vaunted capability of the Tacoma to easily pull up to 6,500 lbs of load. This, even if not often utilized, can contribute in great amount to the deterioration of the wearable parts of the vehicle’s drive train parts.

When you step on the brake pedal, the necessary force to put restraint on a hulking vehicle like the Toyota Tacoma may be increased by the pickup’s engine power and acceleration. The Tacoma uses a disc brake system for improved braking power. As in the case of a bicycle’s brake system, that of the Tacoma has a pair of calipers fitted with powerful brake pads. But, instead of tightening on the wheel, the calipers clamp on a disc, called rotor.Both the rotors and the brake pads of the Toyota Tacoma wear off in delivering the needed braking power to the vehicle. One way to mitigate their wear-out rate is to get an engineered brake rotor. Ordinary rotors, meaning those stock-fitted to vehicles, come in an even contact surface. They allow no escape for gas pressure during the braking process, which may compromise the braking power of the Tacoma and your safety as well. On account of the potential pressure buildup, after-market Tacoma rotors come with either slotted or cross-drilled ventilations aimed at dissipating the heat after-effect of friction.

These hollowed out fins and crossed-drilled surface on the rotors also make sure that the brake pad material does not get stuck on the discs. No matter how good the Tacoma looks, both in terms of its great showing on the sales charts and the specs that it boasts of,
there is no fail-safe to a defective brake system. A periodic maintenance of the vehicle’s brake system can help prolong its use, but is not exactly made to keep in step with the sturdy Tacoma.

With an up-to-specs brake rotor, the