A buddy of mine has a four wheel drive jap truck. Even has a tommy lift on it. It’s outfitted for desert prospecting. I gotta say I’d take it over a side by side any day. You’re not get two dry washers, two shop vacs, a generator, two jerry cans of gas, two stacks of buckets, four metal detectors, shovels, picks, pry bars, a cooler, water cooler and a 10x10 pop up shade on a side by side. It has gotten us to anywhere we’ve wanted to go with no problem. Places your not gonna get a 4x4 truck into.
That said, he lives very close to the hills we go into. The farthest out from town on paved road we go is thirty miles out to the dirt with some steep hills get’n there. It doesn’t do those hills fast, but it does them no problem. Off the road it has gone anywhere we’ve wanted to go. I’m talk’n rough shit. Up tight washes with deep sand and boulders to dodge. Yeah, that thing is bad ass. Even has AC! Roll the windows up and enjoy the cool clean air blowing on you when you get stuck behind a side by side kicking up dust.
Once the gear is off the bed it makes for a nice off the ground sleeping platform too. Back it under the 10x10 shade if it’s raining. Definitely has some big advantages over any other vehicle I’ve seen for these purposes. Its ability to get us into some places you’d think it couldn’t go amazes me every time. Get’n gear into places others can’t has paid off quite well many times.
A buddy of mine has a four wheel drive jap truck.
Sounds a lot like my 2009 Tacoma 4x4. It also has a built in rectifier to produce 120V AC that could power the shop vacs, lights, other stuff that doesn't draw too much current.
Those adventures sound like a blast!
Yeah, I have an ’06 Tundra which is the same size as today’s Tacoma without the modern conveniences that has performed really well for me out there, but that jap truck is just too cool for slipping into those tight areas so there’s no humping gear up a wash past where the trucks can go.
Yep, either way it’s been a blast!
I had a 1999 Tacoma 4x4 V6 ex-cab short bed that was about 6" skinnier than this 2009. I liked it much better for the tight spots. I wouldn't buy a newer Tacoma, they are too damned big now for getting through the tight trails ... which is why I started buying little Toyota trucks 40+ years ago. Toyota needs to introduce a new little truck with dimensions, capabilities, pricing of 40 years ago. My first new 1983 4x4 Shortbed regular cab SR5 was just over $7K.
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