I was somewhat hopeful that the world ranger might show up until I saw the battalion of transit and transit connect models you can order...I figure that Ford is betting on the tradesmen buyers over the aging weekend home depot warriors/odd bunch like us who want a "small" truck...heck I am even thinking van (sprinter/transit/NV) when I replace my tacoma...just want that walk in stand up room...I'm thinking 4runner trail and sprinter 2wd will cover the bases:smiley_drive:
Ford probably wants all of the fleet pickup guys in their new vans. They might have to quit boasting that the F150 is Americas best selling truck though.
I like the Euro vans, they are just too expensive to convert to 4WD for me, what I need out of a recreational off pavement vehicle would have to be similar to the capabilities of a Tacoma. For me it is cheaper and easier to get factory built 4WD pickup and popup camper of some sorts. Think the shortest wheelbase Sprinter you can get currently is a 144, so the same as a DCLB Taco. Shortest Transit is 129...close to ACLB Taco...who knows when a 4WD conversion will be ready for a Transit.
This is close, fits the needs and desires but also around $100K...that is if you can get built it here. The 4WD conversions I have seen are either too low ground clearance or solid axle.
This is not very promising...(and for the coin you have to spend just to get it)
I'm not all that partial to live axles and don't hate on IFS, but I would not like to see a IRS truck. It's already enough of a PITA to upgrade the suspension on a Tacoma. I don't want a ton of lift, really an inch or two to just bring everything up a little bit (I get ticked when I bump my head on junk doing maintenance) and increase the load capacity a bit. When you do a pretty reasonable upgrade, like OME 885 coils, you generally have to consider replacement upper control arms or push the limits of ball joints and alignment. Doing this on the back just doesn't strike me as fun. I don't need to build a Trophy truck with all custom suspension bits. OTOH, at least with fixed diffs you don't have to worry about driveshaft vibration. CV joints might grenade, though.
I like stock height, would only do higher end coil overs. Upgrading is easy compared torsion bar. I can swap out coil overs in under an hour. I tend to drive a lot of wash board roads...was little shocked that my stepdad's Highlander did better down them my modded Tacoma. Heading out today to go explore more of the
Owyhees.
An IRS Tacoma will probably never happen....though the heated steering wheel crowd may demand it, so you never know.
A close friend that goes camping with me has an older Ridgeline. It's beautiful on the twisty washboard. But it's too wide for the tracks.
The trunk is very cool, but it prevents you from using a drawer system or platform.
A.
I know a lot of people dog on the Ridgeline, it does greta down fireroads...which I think is what the majority of the people on here do. Including myself, I save the real gnarly stuff for the cycles, and my hiking shoes.
I use the crap out of my crap truck for other things, drawer and platforms don't work for me.
