Toyota T100


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

History

As Toyota firmly established itself in the North American compact pickup truck market in the 1980s through 1990s, it seemed only logical that Toyota needed to capture part of the lucrative full-size pickup truck market. 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 pickup bed but retained the engine and suspension setup of its smaller and older sibling, the compact Toyota Truck. Although the T100 was a bit larger than the competitive mid-size Dodge Dakota, it was still markedly smaller than full-size American pickup trucks of the time. This meant that the T100 occupied its own niche in the truck market. Though economical, reliable and practical, in the grand scheme of things the unsuccessful T100 had not captured as much of the market as Toyota had hoped. Many critics maintained the T100 was still too small for the full-size segment, while considerably larger than both the Toyota Truck and the Toyota Tacoma compact trucks. Wary of the political impact of competing directly with the Big Three, Toyota chose this somewhat smaller size so as not to risk blowback and import quotas.
Although sales were slow at the start, the T100 sales did reach into the mid 40,000 vehicles sold range 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.

Criticisms

Upon introduction, the T100 was criticized for several things. The first was being too small to appeal to buyers of full-size work trucks, the second was the lack of an extended cab, and the third and perhaps most important criticism was the lack of a V8 engine, with the only available engine being a 3.0 liter V6, which was already found in Toyota's compact trucks and in the 4Runner. Although considered criticisms by many, Toyota stated these were all factors that were taken into consideration when designing and producing the T100. They claimed the smaller size was planned to offer a larger truck with a compact "feel", an Xtracab was on the horizon and the 3.0 liter V6 would provide far better fuel economy than the vehicles it aspired to rival. Both the V6 engine and the somewhat smaller dimensions were influenced by environmental concerns, issues that were irrelevant to American pickup buyers.
Beyond the issues of size and horsepower the T100 did receive some praises from the media, acquiring J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Survey "Best Full-Size Pickup" award and the "Best of What's New" award by Popular Science magazine in its first year on the market. The T100 was the first vehicle – car or truck – ever to receive an "Initial Quality Survey Award" in its first year of production. For 1994 and 1995, the T100 was again awarded "Best Full-Size Pickup in Initial Quality" by J.D. Power and Associates. In 1997 the T100 was awarded "Top Three Vehicles in Initial Quality – Full-Size Segment" once again by J.D. Power and Associates.

Design

When it was introduced, the T100 had one cab configuration, a regular cab, and one available engine, a 3.0 L V6 with and of torque. In 1993, a 2.7 L inline-four engine with - same as for the 3.0 V6 - and of torque was added in the hopes new buyers would be drawn in with promises of greater fuel economy and a lower price. The T100 was the first imported pickup truck that could carry a 4 by 8 feet plywood sheet between the wheelwells. The regular cab could seat three abreast in the front bench seat; this was split on the SR5 model. Automatics received a column shift while manuals were floor mounted, where the transfer case shifter was also located on 4WD models.
Toyota ultimately realized there was no alternative but to add more power to the truck and for the 1995 model year Toyota added the and of torque 3.4 L V6. An Xtracab model came along several months into the 1995 model year as well, sitting on the same wheelbase with a bed. This provided a boost in sales of 150 percent for 1995. The T100 received only minor changes throughout its run, aside from the engine changes and the Xtracab addition. A driver-side airbag was installed for MY 1994, and larger 16-inch wheels became the norm for most of the 4X4 models starting in 1996. It was evident by late 1996/ early 1997 that Toyota was already investing in its next truck. At the time some believed a revamped T100 with a V8 engine was on the way, and there were some reports that altered V8 powered T100s were used as test-mules, but ultimately it never came to pass, and the T100 was superseded by the Toyota Tundra.
Toyota Racing Development introduced a supercharger for the 3.4-liter engine in 1996 and it became available for the T100, the Tacoma and the 4Runner with the 3.4-liter V6. Horsepower jumped to the range and to of torque. This power add on was available for 1997–1998 T100s only. Earlier 3.4 V6 powered T100s have different computer and electrical layouts which do not support the TRD device.
The T100 was manufactured and partially engineered by Toyota-subsidiary Hino. Three trim lines were offered: the base model, the DX, and the top-of-the-line SR5. The maximum towing capacity was 5,200 lb and the truck had a payload limit of 2,450 pounds. Although most trucks fell within the 1/2 ton category, a 1-ton model was offered for several of its earlier years until finally being dropped because of a lack of interest.
All T100s were assembled in Tokyo, Japan and as a result were subject to a 25% import tariff on all imported light trucks. The T100 was the last Japanese-built Toyota pickup made for North America when production ceased in July 1998, sales being phased out in August and ending with the 1998 model year. The T100 was replaced by the larger V8-powered Tundra which debuted in 1999. Toyota had originally planned to continue the T100 naming system by calling the new truck the "Toyota T-150"; Ford made a successful claim that this was a copyright infringement of their F-150 and the name had to be changed.

Year-by-year changes

MY 1993
MY 1994
MY 1995
MY 1996
MY 1997
MY 1998