Death of a work truck @21,000 miles
So coming home from a job last night I got caught in a head on collision on I-25 south of Albuquerque. Other driver fell asleep and crossed the median to hit me head on, both of us walked away from a 50mph+ collision.
The Taco's front end crumpled, the airbag deployed and everything was going so well when the blown front tire caught in the dirt and the truck flipped and rolled. The side impact airbags deployed and I was able to kill the engine a and crawl out of the passenger side.
No scratches, no breaks, no noticeable harm asides from some seat belt bruising and a misc bruise on my face. Truck is totaled, the sedan that hit me is totaled. I will send pics when I find my camera adapter.
Notes:
1. The brakes need to be beefed up, I could NOT stop in time.
2. The CES gas tank help up just fine, I will install a new one in my next truck. No warping or leaks.
3. Everything comes loose in a wreck, BOLT IT DOWN or like me you will get hit in the face with your flying stuff. (in my case I might have pistol whipped myself). The glove box, arm rest box, and rear under seat boxes came open and threw stuff anywhere. If I had kept on rolling it might have been worse. I has laptop, GPS, phone, binoculars, pistol, trailer hitch mount and other heavy stuff flying around.
4. It take approximately 15-20k miles for the Tacos to break in with synthetic fluids. I was getting 18-19mpg at a GPS ed 75mph. Once you hit 78 it all goes downhill. According to the Scangauge.
The next truck:
Yes I will buy a Taco again
1. Stick shift
2. Smaller wheels, tires The 17" FJ wheels and 245/75/R17 BFG comp TA's looked cool but each corner was a 100+ lbs and made the handling sluggish. I'm thinking about stock size E rated BFG comp TA's on stock 16"wheels Steel or Alloy.
3. AFe dry filter, this and cleaning out the air box gave the Taco a noticeable improvement in throttle response.
4. Synthetic fluids from DAY ONE All of them.
5. CES fuel tank - with 18mpg you have a LONG time between fill-ups, makes working solo a tad easier. Suspension HAS to be upgraded for the weight no fun stock.
6. Another Leer topper, when it rolled over the windows and the roof broke but it did not crumple like the cab, It and the Thule bars were is suprizingly good shape.
7. Mobile 1 5W30, Redline Drive-train fluids, Iridium Denso Plugs - this combo (and the airfilter) allowed me to run regular unleaded with out knocking.
8. Bud Built skid plates.
9. Upgrade the suspension first, before you start adding heavy things like tires/wheels/ skidplates/ gas tanks.
