Toyota lumber capacities?

[Stephen Tashiro]

Can a Toyota Sienna owner tell me what length 2x4 and 1x 12 boards will fit in the vehicle with the back door closed? I'd also be curious about the lumber capacity of other modern non-pickup Toyotas. I only do home improvement as a hobby so I'm not concerned with how many boards can be carried at one time, only what length.

(Currently I use my '90 Corolla with all seats but the driver's removed. I can carry 8 footers and close the truck. 10 footers are a little too long to close it.)

[David Dockstader]

I've got a 2005 Sienna. With the middle seat removed, it will hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood. Now, you have to put 2 2x4's down next to the wheel wells to get them over a little hump in the floor, but after that it fits just fine. Stacking wood up, you tend to run into the console, so you have to put 8ft boards at a slight angle because the front seats lean back and the 8 ft is only available up to about 4 inches off the floor.

[Stephen Tashiro]

A whole sheet of plywood sure beats my Corolla. Thank you for that information.

[John Hays]

I have a 2002 Sienna CE. With all of the back seats folded down, I can fit 4 to 6 full sheets of plywood with 2x4x8s (roughly 12 to 18 stacked in rows of 3) on top. If I were a little shorter, I could probably shut the back hatch all of the way closed, but as it stands, it remains open by about 6 to 12 inches... I just hook the inner hatch handle to the door lock striker with a couple of bungie cords... seems to hold everything just fine.

[Art Mulder]

Can a Toyota Sienna owner tell me what length 2x4 and 1x 12 boards will fit in the vehicle with the back door closed? ...
(Currently I use my '90 Corolla with all seats but the driver's removed. I can carry 8 footers and close the truck. 10 footers are a little too long to close it.)

Stephen there are THREE different iterations of the Sienna out there. The first gen Siennas were up until the 2003 model year. the 2nd gen are the 2004-2010 model years, and the newest generation are the 2011 and onward.

I've got the 2010, which is the 2nd gen, and you've already heard that you can fit a 4x8 sheet inside it with the hatch closed. However, I would not generally recommend it, as you're going to scratch up the sides. I will almost always have the lumberyard make the first cut in all my sheet goods. Since I'm a hobbyist like yourself, that makes life much easier for handling, for transporting, and for getting it down into the shop.

The center console in my Sienna (CE model) between the front seats will flip down. This allows you to fit even longer boards inside. However I've built a storage box to go under my console, so that doesn't work for me. On rare occasions I will fit a 10 footer inside by reclining the passenger seat so that I can slip the board over top of it.

But remember that all Sienna's from 2006(?) and onward come with a roof rack, so if you need a few longer boards you can just strap them up on top. Just watch your weight, as the roof rack is really only good for ... I forget, 150 lbs or so?

...art

[Rich Riddle]

You likely won't exceed it, but the payload capacity is about 1400 pounds for that vehicle. At the local Home Depot, countless folks overload those types of vehicles instead of using a pickup truck.

[Stephen Tashiro]

The Siennas certainly have ample lumber capacity. Is it true that the Sienna engine intake is vulnerable to sucking in water? (For example, see the thread "Another Hydrolocked Sienna" on the Toyotanation 3rd generation Sienna forum.)

[Art Mulder]

The Siennas certainly have ample lumber capacity. Is it true that the Sienna engine intake is vulnerable to sucking in water? (For example, see the thread "Another Hydrolocked Sienna" on the Toyotanation 3rd generation Sienna forum.)

Never heard of this issue before, Stephen. I read the forum posts to educate myself..

First, I have a 2nd gen Sienna, so this would not affect me. Second, there seemed to be considerable disagreement about it being a design flaw vs driver error. (I don't actually like the design of the 3rd gen, specifically the silly small middle seat in the middle row, so I would not buy one of those.)

[Mel Fulks]

Art,I think that seat is the "lumbar" seat . Hope that helps.