Is the Tacoma enough truck?

[phsycle]

That shale is gnarly...the trick is to keep moving...as soon as you stop...you start sliding.

We had lots of it back East...plus it was covered with slime. Like riding on moving ice.


You can plate a ATV and an UTV at least in AZ and Idaho you can. Unsure of the laws in Colorado. Infact there are a couple people in our town that use them to run around in.

Not so in SW Colorado. Most of those little towns won't allow UTV's on the roads, no matter if they're street legal or not. As well as Mil Dollar highway (550). Makes logistics a nightmare. Bikes would be easiest there.

 

[jasmtis]

Love love my Tacoma...it does really shine when things get tight, but I am finding myself not wanting to back in too deep with the truck anymore...save that for the bikes. Think why I am looking at bigger trucks so I can have a more comfortable base camp. Have been doing a lot of trail maintenance in the Spring here..so that means long cold rainy days, running chainsaws most of the day. I am whooped when I come back to camp...this past spring dealing with a leaky cold Wildernest was a little tough. Cold and wet all day....being cold and wet all night wasn't exactly fun. Kinda just want to come back to camp have a hot shower and meal, then climb into a warm dry bed. Don't need much...but those 3 things are high on the list.

Oh...I loose count of empty bed pickups running around here. I have thought of buying a basic commuter for myself. But you really don't save all that much money. That would mean I would have 3 vehicles to fuss with. Already did that...years ago we used to have a fleet of construction vehicles that I used to take care of...well over having more than 2 vehicles.

Where in PA? Other side of the state...roughly 40 miles East of Pittsburg, in a little town of Greensburg....did a lot of exploring in the Laurel Highlands when I was teen. Grandparents on my mother's side used to have a cabin in Rector, which is by Linn Run State Park. Used to run that old F250 on old logging roads and slag dumps. It was one of our construction trucks, that got turned into my play truck. That truck lived a hard life from the moment it left the dealership.

I guess what I'm not seeing is how a bigger truck makes for a more comfortable base camp unless you've got a family and need breathing room. Materials science has come a long way in the past 20 years so you'd probably be significantly less damp in a newer pop-top bed camper sort of thing and a 15'-20' camper isn't very heavy and has proper accommodations.

Yeah I've ran the numbers on a commuter multiple times and it just doesn't save me enough money per month to be worth taking care of a car I don't actually want to own even in the absolute best case and if a few expensive parts break in a year it would cost me money, even if I'm doing the work myself and not putting a value on my time.

Hey no way!! My mom's side of the family is all from West Newton, my aunt lived in Greensburg for many years. I spent a lot of time around there growing up, visiting family and whatnot.

 

[Buliwyf]

I'd love to go out west. I think I might make 3 weeks of it when the time comes. Otherwise it'll be added to my list of cheap things to do when I retire.

The DRZ is street legal. I still get some bad looks, and followed by police all of the time. Off road yahoo kids can really mess up downtown tourist areas quickly. That's where that hate is coming from.

 

[DaveInDenver]

And so long as we're talking about established roads, built for vehicular traffic, a full size should fit without any issue (other than pin striping).

We'll just have to disagree. No, I don't think every swinging ******** with a 1 ton crew cab is entitled to drive any damned places he pleases. But your view seems to prevail since every year there's someone who gives more justification to the county sheriffs, USFS and BLM to close roads by widening them, increasing erosion and damage, generating SAR call outs. We're ultimately gonna lose and it'll be our own fault.

 

[Buliwyf]

Why doesn't anyone maintain the road? On no. Someone slid off the road. [Unloads skid steer, fixes it.]

We ran into the same issue mountain biking. Someone has to help out with trail maintenance. Which is particularly easy. A little goes a long ways.

 

[DaveInDenver]

These roads *are* maintained and in the case of the Alpine Loop/Imogene/Black Bear they are plowed in the spring to open them up. Several of the heavily traveled routes are also adopted by 4WD clubs for clean up and repairs. If they weren't they'd have eroded long ago.

Most of the clubs in Colorado are part of a state association (COHVCO) and we track volunteer hours each year with the Forest Service.

http://cohvco.org

Same with the MTB clubs I'm in. We have a work day this Saturday in fact on the Kokopelli system. Sept 22 is National Public Lands Day, if you didn't know.

https://www.neefusa.org/npld

 

[Clutch]

Not so in SW Colorado. Most of those little towns won't allow UTV's on the roads, no matter if they're street legal or not. As well as Mil Dollar highway (550). Makes logistics a nightmare. Bikes would be easiest there.

Not that it matters...since I don't have a quad or UTV...one of the few reasons we chose Idaho over Colorado.

 

[Clutch]

I guess what I'm not seeing is how a bigger truck makes for a more comfortable base camp unless you've got a family and need breathing room. Materials science has come a long way in the past 20 years so you'd probably be significantly less damp in a newer pop-top bed camper sort of thing and a 15'-20' camper isn't very heavy and has proper accommodations.

Yeah I've ran the numbers on a commuter multiple times and it just doesn't save me enough money per month to be worth taking care of a car I don't actually want to own even in the absolute best case and if a few expensive parts break in a year it would cost me money, even if I'm doing the work myself and not putting a value on my time.

Hey no way!! My mom's side of the family is all from West Newton, my aunt lived in Greensburg for many years. I spent a lot of time around there growing up, visiting family and whatnot.

Simple. Would like to get a either a 6X12 or 7X14 enclosed trailer. Enough room to carry a couple bikes and toss some cabinets in for storage. And enough room to work on a bike, or sharpen chainsaw chains out of the weather. I like to camp on the shoulder months...weather is unpredictable, usualy cold during the nights. In the 20's at night in the high country right now.

Problem is my truck won't pull it...I mean it will...but not well. Currently have a Wildernest and an open 5X8' trailer. Works great for that truck...not too heavy...carriers it quite well. Works great unless it is pouring down rain and cold. I wrap the tent portion with a tarp since the Wildernest is no longer water proof and have a heater..it works kinda "ok"...but not ideal.

The other idea I have is to buy a fullsize with a 8' bed and have OVRLND camper build me one that I could fit a dirt bike in. Like this Callen I found on ADV Rider.





My neighbor across the street from us brought home a nice 19' Jayco, which he pulled with a 2nd Tacoma...that thing struggled with it just going down the street. He recently replaced the Taco with a Tundra. Though that camper might of left the driveway maybe 3-4 times since he owned it. Too busy working to keep up on the payments is my guess.

 

[phsycle]

Simple. Would like to get a either a 6X12 or 7X14 enclosed trailer. Enough room to carry a couple bikes and toss some cabinets in for storage. And enough room to work on a bike, or sharpen chainsaw chains out of the weather. I like to camp on the shoulder months...weather is unpredictable, usualy cold during the nights. In the 20's at night in the high country right now.

Problem is my truck won't pull it...I mean it will...but not well. Currently have a Wildernest and an open 5X8' trailer. Works great for that truck...not too heavy...carriers it quite well. Works great unless it is pouring down rain and cold. I wrap the tent portion with a tarp since the Wildernest is no longer water proof and have a heater..it works kinda "ok"...but not ideal.

The other idea I have is to buy a fullsize with a 8' bed and have OVRLND camper build me one that I could fit a dirt bike in. Like this Callen I found on ADV Rider.

View attachment 473542

View attachment 473543

My neighbor across the street from us brought home a nice 19' Jayco, which he pulled with a 2nd Tacoma...that thing struggled with it just going down the street. He recently replaced the Taco with a Tundra. Though that camper might of left the driveway maybe 3-4 times since he owned it. Too busy working to keep up on the payments is my guess.

How heavy are those 6x12 trailers? That'd be a pretty quick camp set up. Although smelling gas, oil and burnt clutch wouldn't be ideal.

 

[phsycle]

By the way, for anyone looking, here is a 2nd Gen Tacoma Flippac for sale (@DaveInDenver !). No relation to the seller. Just saw it today in the local classifieds.

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/53640115

 

[jasmtis]

Simple. Would like to get a either a 6X12 or 7X14 enclosed trailer. Enough room to carry a couple bikes and toss some cabinets in for storage. And enough room to work on a bike, or sharpen chainsaw chains out of the weather. I like to camp on the shoulder months...weather is unpredictable, usualy cold during the nights. In the 20's at night in the high country right now.

Problem is my truck won't pull it...I mean it will...but not well. Currently have a Wildernest and an open 5X8' trailer. Works great for that truck...not too heavy...carriers it quite well. Works great unless it is pouring down rain and cold. I wrap the tent portion with a tarp since the Wildernest is no longer water proof and have a heater..it works kinda "ok"...but not ideal.

The other idea I have is to buy a fullsize with a 8' bed and have OVRLND camper build me one that I could fit a dirt bike in. Like this Callen I found on ADV Rider.

View attachment 473542

View attachment 473543

My neighbor across the street from us brought home a nice 19' Jayco, which he pulled with a 2nd Tacoma...that thing struggled with it just going down the street. He recently replaced the Taco with a Tundra. Though that camper might of left the driveway maybe 3-4 times since he owned it. Too busy working to keep up on the payments is my guess.

Oh I am well aware of the temp at the moment haha, I camped at 6,000 feet in the Cascades this past weekend. It was not warm. I've always just sucked it up and tented year round(I'm in my early 20s, it is what it is) but this winter I want to do more camping, especially at ski areas so I'm just pulling the back seats out of the Rover and putting together a sleeping setup of some sort.

That is a pretty cool setup. Not for me but I see the appeal.

Also yeah 20' is pushing it, but something like this https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/sport/floorplan/ has everything one or two people could really need and a GVWR of 3500 which is very comfortably within a 2nd or 3rd gen's tow rating with plenty of headroom for a bike in the bed. Also.. I'll never be able to wrap my head around making payments on toys. If it's not a necessity and you can't afford it, don't buy it. How hard is that concept.

 

[jasmtis]

And this is where they can take you. Just after setting up camp a couple walked up on foot to appreciate the view. They said they were camped nearby and would've beaten us to this spot, but they didn't feel comfortable taking their F250 down the steep, narrow and rocky track leading out onto the ridge so there you go. They could get close enough to enjoy the view and probably had a nicer camp setup back in the woods but I'll keep my short wheelbases so I can go to bed and wake up to stuff like this.

 

[battleaxe]

I guess it all comes down to preference.

Given that the wife overpacks like crazy, and the Taco ends up looking like we're ready for the zombie apocalypse on every trip, we're probably going to end up in a Tundra sooner than later.

It's all against my better judgement, but with one kid already and another on the way next year, I can't deal with the cramped cabin of a Tacoma anymore. The cabin is completely useless unless everyone's vertically challenged.

Yes we could make due, but the 2000km round trip we just did really took its toll on me. I have a 2008 CrewMax lined up that I'm going to look at this weekend. I know I'm going to miss having the narrower truck, but I won't miss having my kids foot crammed into the back of my seat for 10 hours straight. (I'm 6'3", my seat has to be all the way back for any level of comfort on those long drives)

The Tacoma definitely is enough truck in my opinion (2nd and 3rd gen), it just all comes down to what you need it for and what level of comfort I think you want. Wife wants a full out trailer once the second kiddo comes along. So the RTT will probably get stored for sometime, until I can afford a 3rd gen 4Runner as a dedicated trail rig.

Rambling a bit here... Just my random thought dump from the last few weeks.

 

[The_Dude]

Tacoma wasn’t enough truck for me. By the time it was modded it would get the same mileage as my tundra with way less balls.


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[Dalko43]

We'll just have to disagree. No, I don't think every swinging ******** with a 1 ton crew cab is entitled to drive any damned places he pleases. But your view seems to prevail since every year there's someone who gives more justification to the county sheriffs, USFS and BLM to close roads by widening them, increasing erosion and damage, generating SAR call outs. We're ultimately gonna lose and it'll be our own fault.

Can you give some concrete examples? Because so far everything you've brought up is hypothetical.

Trail erosion is going to happen, with or without full size trucks. Roads and trails need to be maintained as they see usage...that's just inherent to the conservation efforts required for 4x4 usage. I'd be more concerned with throttle-happy 4x4 drivers and illegal (off-trail) ATV usage than I would be with a slow-going full size owner, as the former are more likely to chew up the terrain and trails.

So give the fear-mongering a rest.