Seen via Insty:
That would be what we call the Tacoma, Over Here:
Just wondering whether the roof struts are strong enough to handle the mount… not that I’m thinking of doing anything revolutionary, of course.
Sadly, New Wife is not of the Pickup Truck Persuasion, and point-blank refuses to let me get one when it comes time to trade in the Tiguan.
Too bad; I rather fancied this version:
My niece’s husband (nephew-in-law?) run a Youtube channel for the Tacoma’s big brother the Tundra. While I’m planning on a pickup after my current ride (2006 Jeep Liberty with almost 120K miles on it) goes the way of all flesh, he and I disagree about trucks. He sees nothing wrong with buying a 50K-70K pickup with all the trimmings, I just want a basic 4WD truck that I can throw stuff in the back of without worrying about scratching something.
I’m more or less halfway between the two of you. I like a comfortable ride and decent a/c, and a little space in the back for the guns, but that’s about it. AND the Tacoma can still be had with a stick shift.
Kim,
My current is a stick shift, double cab. It was pricier than I wanted to pay but I got it used and I know it will last. There are compartments behind the rear seats and under the rear seats. You can get lockable covers to them that you can store firearms and such there.
The current third generation has slightly less storage room in them.
The 4wd is now done by solonoid rather than just a stick shift. That’s a down fall to me.
I’ve had a Tacoma since Autumn 2001 and they’re good trucks that last.
JQ
Oh definitely on the comfortable ride and good a/c, plus 4WD (because PA). Heated seats are something I could spring for (again, PA).
I’m not paying an extra couple grand for trim on the outside of the truck, or fancy wheels, fancy paint, etc.
Ehh, give me the recoilless rifle in the upper right. Me and Carl Gustaf, making the world better one round at a time.
All the money we’ve been spending on Hum-Vee’s over the years, and we coulda had a Toyota? Who’s in charge of purchasing here?
My first Tacoma, an 02 lasted 235k miles and 12 years before it had some boddy work by bambi. My second was an 09 bought with 65k miles around 2014 and I sold it around 150k miles in 2020. My current is a 2019 bought with 19k miles on it.
Tacomas will certainly last. My brother in law had two that lasted 300k+ and 400k+ each. I wonder if my first was fixed and shipped overseas.
I think the current generation needs a different gear ratio in the rear end.
JQ
Kim: “Just wondering whether the roof struts are strong enough to handle the mount… not that I’m thinking of doing anything revolutionary, of course.”
Yes, they would handle it. I’ve seen BMP-1 turrets (73mm RR +7.62mm lmg) and quad 12.7mm HMG’s mounted in the beds. Very inventive in the sand box.
In case anyone is interested. Decent article on pickup truck warfare.
https://warontherocks.com/2014/02/the-pickup-truck-era-of-warfare/
A friend of mine told me once that in the area he lived people would buy pickup trucks and then almost immediately sell them because they found that an automatic transmission did not have the towing capacity of the engine that it was paired with. Or something like that. He said that everyone he knew who bought new trucks either bought the manual transmission, or quickly sold them to buy ones with manual transmissions
The fact the Tacoma is available with a manual transmission is a tremendous selling factor. My only question is whether the parts for 50 year old trucks are still easily available.
That seems odd. The tow rating with an auto trans is typically 2x what the manual trans is, with the same engine.