Hawg; Forgive Me For I Have Sinned--Bought a Jap Truck Made In Mexico!

[Slippy]

Yes Sir! You're my bud! Plus, I learned long ago playing ball that you have to be able to take jokes from your bud's!

Its all in good fun!

You do realize that I be joking with you? Right?

My 4 wheeling days have been over for a long time, about 40 years.

Besides my back could not take the stress either.

I have my Grand Cherokees to deal with the weather conditions here,

and the hills I have to climb in foul weather.

You guys live out in the western and mid western part of the country where 4X4 stuff is great sport.

Back when, I use to have Bronco's for that, but they were not geared for 2-3K driving to get to play.

Like armored vehicles, they would have to ride a flat bed to drop off point for ops.

[Slippy]

That was my feeling in my F250. Way too uncomfortable in the long wheel base heavy truck!

Now that looks like a fantastic trip. I’ll have to add that to my list but in another vehicle… not my 2500HD. I’d rattle me and the truck to death.

When I lived in Colorado a group of us, jeeps and toco’s had a goal of going over as many passes as we could. I think over 4 years we did maybe a dozen and a few we attempted but didn’t make it over. One of our favorites was Webster Pass and Red Cone pass.

My buddy had a toco. It was a mid 80’s extended cab. It did as well as the jeeps. I used jeeps aged between 1978 and 1983. All were Cherokee’s and one Cherokee Chief wide body.

[shootbrownelk]

Surprisingly, at 6'4" and +/- 240#, the Tacoma is much more comfortable than our Jeep JK.

With the seats moved back, I'm good to go. But there is NO ROOM in the back seats for passengers!

With the lift, I added the Falken Wildpeak AT 31.7" Tires and Vision OffRoad Aluminum wheels.

Yesterday, I installed the Martin OffRoad Roof Rack that I ordered a few weeks back. The Tacoma has Pre-Drilled holes to mount a number of US made roof racks. Assembly was easy but re-installing the weatherstripping was a pain in the ass!

I've ordered a Front Winch Mount/Bumper and have a Warn 10klb Synthetic Winch ready to go when the bumper arrives.

Our first trip will be some Off Road Trails that tie into US Forest Service Roads.

Attachment 18115

That's one sweet ride Slippy! Enjoy!!

[Sparkyprep]

Very nice looking truck. Congrats, Slippy. I have to admit, those Tacos are hard to kill. Damn Japs know what they are doing. Enjoy it, Slip.

[hawgrider]

1/2 ton? Hows it ride? Newer Fords seem to ride rough compared to the GM's never been in a rice truck so I'm not sure how good they ride.

Well hows it ride there Slippy? Compared to the Ford or GM

[bigwheel]

Hearty congrats. Those things are bullet proof according to the guy on the radio. We had a 2011 Tundra low mileage which the oldest boy really wanted so we sold it to him too cheap and bought us a little Kia Sonatta 4 banger which has made me really like it so far. Little not enough leg room but not bad. You better hire a fat lady to ride in the back of that truck in icey weather. lol. Those pickem up trucks are light in the coola.

[Slippy]

Hawg,

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the Tacoma. The ride is smooth, the handling is superb even with the lift and larger tires. The engine seems a bit average in power but has an Electronically Controlled Transmission Power Mode that greatly increases the power.

When ECT Power Mode is disengaged, it goes back to some sort of Economical Mode to increase gas mileage. I use the ECT Power Mode most of the time for a little more pep...Mrs S, not so much

Compared to my F250 Super Duty there is no comparison in power, size and the feeling of true power. The class difference in the 2 trucks are just too big. Two different tools for 2 different jobs.

But as far as the 4WD system and Off Road handling, the Tacoma is a winner. And that's why I got it.

Hopefully the Winch Mount Bumper will get delivered soon. The bumper is not a simple bolt on aftermarket bumper, it requires some cutting of the Tacoma nose trim and I may opt to get a 4WD body shop to install. Something about cutting up the front end of a new truck with a Sawzall just doesn't seem right!

I'm curious how the xtra weight of the bumper and winch will affect the Tacoma. My guess is not much at all.

Oh, one thing I really like; the dashboard is not cluttered up with a bunch of gadgets and buttons and missiles and such. Its pretty simple compared to most new vehicles. I like that.

Stay tuned for more reviews and updates on my little project.

Well hows it ride there Slippy? Compared to the Ford or GM

[StratBastard]

Hearty congrats. Those things are bullet proof according to the guy on the radio. We had a 2011 Tundra low mileage which the oldest boy really wanted so we sold it to him too cheap and bought us a little Kia Sonatta 4 banger which has made me really like it so far. Little not enough leg room but not bad. You better hire a fat lady to ride in the back of that truck in icey weather. lol. Those pickem up trucks are light in the coola.

Yeah, my little S-10 becomes an air hockey puck on the ice.

[bigwheel]

That's why I bought a Tundra. The Taco's were too small, and got about the same mileage. I have a rice truck, but my1965 Mustang, 1937 Pontiac and 1930 Chrysler absolve me of all my rice buying sins.

That Tundra we swapped off was like driving a well equipped dump truck. Big and stout and hard to fit in tight parking spaces etc. We bought it to pull a big Camper but got too old and lazy to do it.

[shootbrownelk]

That was my feeling in my F250. Way too uncomfortable in the long wheel base heavy truck!

I had 4 Mid eighties Toyotas. They had the straight axles. The best one to get was the 85, they had the 22RE fuel injected 4 cylinder. The pre-85's had a carb, and weren't as reliable as the injected one in steep terrain. 86 and up had the independent front suspensions and I never liked them as they broke often. I sold them all, unfortunately. They bring crazy high prices around here these days.