November 2022 - Pawsitively Intrepid

The Toyota Tacoma can make a great adventure vehicle and has been used as the base of more than one overlanding rig. I recently put money down on a 3rd generation Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road Short Bed truck and am excited to create a DIY camper build for it. As I was beginning my research for this process, I didn't find much information about the bed dimensions for the short-bed 3rd generation Tacoma. The best I could find was this forum post on TacomaWorld.com. So when I went to the dealership and measured, I figured I would share those dimensions here in case they can help anyone. Toyota Tacoma 3rd Generation Short-Bed Dimensions All measurements were taken from a 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road V6 Short-Bed truck. Please use these measurements as a guide and if you are building anything yourself, please measure your own truck! I may have rounded a few measurements slightly so they were in 1/4 inch increments. Let's start by taking a look at the width of the truck. Width of the Toyota Tacoma The width of the truck bed including the thickness of the walls of the truck bed is 64 inches. The bed walls are about 3.75 inches thick. The bed's interior is 57.5 inches wide at the top of the bed. The bottom of the bed is only 42.5 inches wide between the wheel wells (the official website claims this is only 41.5 inches wide). A fellow measurer (link to TacomaWorld.com forum) measured this width at 42 inches and noted that at the top of the wheel wells, the width was 45.5 inches. (The wheel wells are wider at the bottom than they are at the top.) The thickness of the tailgate at the center was 5 inches. The top of the cab was about 52 inches wide, but only 44 inches from the outside of the rubber strip on the left to the outside of the rubber strip on the right. Below, you can see my potentially contested 42.5-inch measurement. However, the TacomaWorld forum and I both agree that the width at the back of the bed is 52.5 inches. Length of the Toyota Tacoma 3rd Generation Short Bed The bed's length measured 60.5 inches. This is great, as that is what Toyota claims the length of the short bed is supposed to be. The wheel well starts to emerge from the side of the bed wall about 25 inches from the closed tailgate and reaches full width within 32 inches from the tailgate. Height of the 3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma The bed height is 19 inches per my measurements. Toyota reports this as 19.1 inches. From the floor of the bed to the center of the top of the cab measured 38 inches. But if you measure to the top of the shark fin antenna, the bed floor to the top of the truck is 40.5 inches. The TacomaWorld post stated that the top of the bed to the top of the cab was 20.5 inches, which is between the 19 to 21.5 inches that I measured on this particular Tacoma. Rear Window Size I did also measure the window, as I personally have been wondering if I can fit through the window to pass from a truck camper into the cab in case of emergency. The window measures ~ 11.75 inches x 11.75 inches and sits about 2 inches above the top of the truck bed. I tried fitting through a square of wood this size and it is really tight. So with the headrest of the middle seat removed it's going to be a strong maybe. I'll give it a try when I get my actual truck. But does anyone have personal experience to share? Long Bed Dimensions If you are looking for long bed dimensions for the Toyota Tacoma, I did find this thread on Tacoma World. Overlanding Build Inspiration Hope these measurements help someone out there who is planning a fun build for the back of their Toyota Tacoma. If you are looking for some build inspiration, check out these Toyota Tacoma campers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xcPHTLjojE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOVB7tnuL4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVqVvSrDVvk&t=596s https://trailtacoma.com/2022/03/07/toyota-tacoma-truck-bed-camper-setups/