most capable off-road pickup?

[Clutch]

As a power wagon owner, I have spent a lot of time wheeling with Tacomas. There are times when the wheelbase and power give me the upper hand and times when the Tacoma can put the small size to use. Every situation is a little different. The only time I have ever seen a Raptor off the pavement is Border Patrol, and they don't really hang out with us

True that!

"Most" of the roads that the BP patrols here are bladed....anything really rough they bust out the quads or bikes. Still, driving wash board roads
all of the time shakes things apart.

With the whole fleet of trucks no matter the brand, they don't do much to the suspension, just minor upgrades.
Would like to bend the mechanic's ear to see what holds up the best.

 

[leelikesbikes]

one of each

its hard to have one truck to do it all but at the moment i am really enjoying my standard cab 5spd hemi 2500, ive wheeled tacomas, jeeps, samurais, and 4runners in the past, and even thought this thing is big i can squeeze it in some pretty tight places, gonna need a new paintjob if i ever sell it. the carli suspension rides nice and the 37 mtrs work really good in deeeep snow, i like to do alot of snow wheeling and have always thought light is right and this dodge is a couple thousand lbs more than any of my previous rigs, but with the tires aired way down and the diffs locked up it goes surprisingly well, it crawls pretty slow too with 4.56's and the low first in the manual trans. i wouldnt but any of these trucks new, i like to live debt free, and i would rather get a bare bones model and build it to suit my needs. right now my poor mans power wagon fits the bill.:sombrero:

 

[no-pistons]

True that!

"Most" of the roads that the BP patrols here are bladed....anything really rough they bust out the quads or bikes. Still, driving wash board roads
all of the time shakes things apart.

With the whole fleet of trucks no matter the brand, they don't do much to the suspension, just minor upgrades.
Would like to bend the mechanic's ear to see what holds up the best.

Some of the basic upgrades over a variety of different vehicles are Bilstein shocks (usually custom valving), up rated and/or lift springs, thicker sway bars, and upgraded bump stops.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Clutch]

Some of the basic upgrades over a variety of different vehicles are Bilstein shocks (usually custom valving), up rated and/or lift springs, thicker sway bars, and upgraded bump stops.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have poked my head under a couple, yeah it isn't much...and they wail on them.

Looks to be the same as what the Sheriff's Tahoes run.

 

[98dango]

The bp trucks hear are pretty stock. Replacement bilstine shocks and usually a t bar crank to level them out and bfg mt km2 is the common in my area.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Buliwyf, you are correct. The Cummins sits too low and is too heavy...according to the Dodge engineers I have spoken with. :sombrero:

 

[Buliwyf]

dupe

 

[Buliwyf]

Buliwyf, you are correct. The Cummins sits too low and is too heavy...according to the Dodge engineers I have spoken with. :sombrero:

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Rectangle peg, meet square hole. The weird thing is, the B series ended up in Dodges because it was cheap and readily available. But the new engine seems purpose built for the truck. I haven't seen them in a single piece of heavy equipment anywhere. Should have made a V8 or Slant 6.
-
I'm more of a Ford guy, and comparing a 7.3L or 6.0L diesel to a 6.8L gas or 5.4L gas truck is a joke offroad. The gas trucks are superior if each truck is similar. Allthough the gas guys tend not to go as big on tires to save fuel economy.
-
It's really not fair to compare a tow pig to a sport truck to a small truck.

 

[Buliwyf]

True that!

"Most" of the roads that the BP patrols here are bladed....anything really rough they bust out the quads or bikes. Still, driving wash board roads
all of the time shakes things apart.

With the whole fleet of trucks no matter the brand, they don't do much to the suspension, just minor upgrades.
Would like to bend the mechanic's ear to see what holds up the best.

On the wash board roads I encountered when I was in Florida doing Hurricane repairs:
-solid axle trucks held up the best.
-F350's had noisey brakes and some needed calipers, no big deal. Once they get nappy, the bumpy roads tend to make them stick on, a little bit sometimes.
-it's a wash between the IFS trucks. No pattern found other than the truck with the biggest parts under it lasted the longest. Depends on the model year. Any of them could eat a tie rod or ball joint at any time.
-all the trucks need constant retightening of all the bolts underneath, no different than a road race or rally car.
-The Nissan / Toyota interior switches and controls will hold up best.
-I prefer the XL option style manual windows and locks and interiors on the American trucks. Less gadgets to fail and annoy me offroad.
-Nissan seems to have more durable accessories than the American trucks.
-GM Mirrors fall off all the darn time. Especially the models that have the mirror glass just double sided taped on. Heat in Florida + vibration = mirror glass (eh...plastic) falling out. LOLz.
-upgrade your AC and Alternator to some aftermarket part if you're in a Dodge. We lost a bunch of those. Bad batch, or QC, not really sure.
-I don't recall witnessing "Toyota bed bounce", but heard about it from a few techs.

 

[Ozarker]

Mentioning the BP, made me think, around here, the Sheriff, Dept of Conservation/DNR and state park rangers and water patrol are running F-150s and 250s. Been around the Sheriff's most are stock, but they have a 250 that's nicely built, none have snorkels. :snorkel:

Could well be that Ford gave these agencies a better deal. The highway patrol has the power wagon, chevys and fords. It's political too as to what they end up with I'm sure.

All kinds of trucks are under water in our area!

Now, I miss my Dodge Ram van.

 

[Clutch]

Thanks Buliwyf.

Ozarker, it is a big mix out here, who ever has the lowest bid wins I am guessing.

 

[Buliwyf]

Mentioning the BP, made me think, around here, the Sheriff, Dept of Conservation/DNR and state park rangers and water patrol are running F-150s and 250s. Been around the Sheriff's most are stock, but they have a 250 that's nicely built, none have snorkels. :snorkel:

Could well be that Ford gave these agencies a better deal. The highway patrol has the power wagon, chevys and fords. It's political too as to what they end up with I'm sure.

All kinds of trucks are under water in our area!

Now, I miss my Dodge Ram van.

We've had a lot of flooding in Ohio. Has made for some fun riding though. My F250 can't go through anything deep enough to need a snorkel anyways! Unless there's pavement/gravel at the bottom, even then, I'll just go around. :bike_rider:

 

[motrhed]

Bone stock, Regular Cab Tacoma, 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual trans.

View attachment 177220

eepwall:

They don't hold up to rough washboard/clay roads around here. My neighbour had one for work and the inner wheel well liners fall out when packed with mud, the plastic box floor supports collapsed due to the 800lbs of weight carried daily on the rough roads, the rear fender braces broke numerous times, and the front bumper cover popped off when hitting a mud puddle that was a bit deeper than he had expected. I rewelded the rear fender supports a few times then finally just replaced them with stronger units, unfortunately, the thin sheet metal of the box panel cracked repeatedly after that. He also had numerous mechanical issues ranging from brakes, clutch, and engine. He had owned Toyota pick-ups in the past (80's & 90's) and was impressed with their durability and dependability. The Toyota durability and quality of build is a thing of the past, I have owned 4 of them and was very satisfied but the newer ones are lacking the quality. My neighbour has since replaced his Tocoma with an F150 and has had zero issues in a year.

 

[Clutch]

They don't hold up to rough washboard/clay roads around here. My neighbour had one for work and the inner wheel well liners fall out when packed with mud, the plastic box floor supports collapsed due to the 800lbs of weight carried daily on the rough roads, the rear fender braces broke numerous times, and the front bumper cover popped off when hitting a mud puddle that was a bit deeper than he had expected. I rewelded the rear fender supports a few times then finally just replaced them with stronger units, unfortunately, the thin sheet metal of the box panel cracked repeatedly after that. He also had numerous mechanical issues ranging from brakes, clutch, and engine. He had owned Toyota pick-ups in the past (80's & 90's) and was impressed with their durability and dependability. The Toyota durability and quality of build is a thing of the past, I have owned 4 of them and was very satisfied but the newer ones are lacking the quality. My neighbour has since replaced his Tocoma with an F150 and has had zero issues in a year.

Bummer, I have had 3 of them...very few problems. My current one is at 275K miles. It doesn't want to die...

 

[surlydiesel]

I'll agree that the new Yota trucks are less durable. I went from and 08 back to an 01 and I'm very happy.

If we are talking "stock" oem laden trucks, then a Powerwagon has my top vote. Stock Winch, Swaybar Disconnects and Lockers. I would build a different truck but that is for a different topic.

-jorge