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Taco Truck Advice

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
Trucks are cool. My girl has the new V6 TRD Offroad with the double cab/short bed. Like someone said, the engine is not very inspiring on the road, but otherwise it's pretty sweet. There is no way, however, that bikes are fitting in the short bed without pulling wheels or hanging over the gate. With a cab it works great for dogs, grubby bike stuff, etc., with a hitch mounted bike rack.

You could also pick up a truck camper shell for longer trips, particularly if you've got a place to store it when not in use.

Really though, unless you plan to do any real off-roading, sounds like you'll be better off with a Sprinter or Ford Transit. You'll pay too much for truck capability that you won't really use, and be left compromising on sleep-ability, bike hauling, etc. (I suspect you know this already.)

I have a pimped-out Sprinter conversion van that is awesome. Being able to sleep in the van with bikes securely inside is rad, as is being able to pull in and out of camp spots with essentially zero set-up and break-down time. It was spendy though, for sure. All you really need to do is find a good solid cargo van and build a basic bed platform so you can stuff bikes underneath. (Preferably it'll be a taller one so you can stand up inside, which makes a big difference.) Do that and you'll be ready for road trips for less than the Taco you're talking about. You'll have more room and be more comfortable, especially if the weather turns to shit. And you'd have a good base vehicle to build out later if you catch the bug.
Yeah, this is part of what I'm trying to figure out. Right now I obviously don't do any off roading because I don't have a vehicle that can. I'm not going to take up rock crawling or anything, but do spend enough time on dirt roads getting to rides and hikes that something with a bit more ground clearance would be cool but it's not a firm NEED, per se. Obviously a truck is wild overkill for that, but I'm trying to think through how much I'd realistically take advantage of the new places I could go if I had one.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
There's a fine line between "stuff an Outback could do" and "stuff that will damage your paint/rocker panels/tires".
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
There's a fine line between "stuff an Outback could do" and "stuff that will damage your paint/rocker panels/tires".
I know. On paper I think something like an Outback would be great for what I actually need, but my GF's Impreza is such a piece of shit that it's really put me off Subaru.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
I am forgetting if you specified "new only", but have you considered the gen 1 Tacoma? Here's a clean one, but mileage is gonna be high...
View attachment 124820
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/6023763906.html
Nope, I'm totally open to a used one. My thinking generally is that prices on used Gen 2s are so high unless they have a billion miles that I might as well get a new one at that point, but Gen 1s are a lot cheaper and I'd actually consider one if I found one clean enough. That one does look nice.

:stupid:

And I actively encourage others to do the same.
Ah, that's right.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,536
Riding the baggage carousel.

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,536
Riding the baggage carousel.
114k out of a clutch smacks of someone who can't drive for shit, or, flogged the bejesus out of it. Either way, I'd want to follow up on that. I don't know enough about those toyota 6's to know if that's a normal life span for a head gasket, but again, I'm skeptical. Even most subarus will go past 105k before the heads take a shit.

Edit: A quick trip down the google hole leads me to believe some 3.4l engines had a head gasket recall, along with the 3.0l. Not sure if it was applicable to 2004 models.
 
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HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
Yeah, thinking about it more, 114k isn't that long for a clutch. My Audi's at almost 160k on the original.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
but mileage is gonna be high...
Dude

"138k miles"


That ain't sheeit. It just got broken in. HAB: get that. If you don't, I might. Seems a little high on price but you could probably work him down. Definitely ask about the head gasket.

I had 380k on mine when I sold it and it was absolutely fine. I didn't even touch the clutch until 300k.

Ask him what that is under the steering column. Looks like his sovereign citizen police deterrent holder.
 
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kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I live in a mountain town full of white people. 90% of the vehicles here are either subarus or tacomas. The amount of money and problems going into and coming out of subies here is its own economy.

In the 11 years I owned my GEN 1 taco here's the list:

clutch
timing belt
Brake pads
oil
A few tire plugs

Shuttle vehicle, trail routing scout, snowmobile transport....... All good.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
Looking forward to hearing the story on this thing. Seems like a neat little truck.
Looking at it makes me miss my 1990 toyota pickup. Mine had 200k highway miles when I got it, and it was the most solid thing I've ever driven off road. No rattles, squeaks, nothing. Could even fit four people and four bikes shuttling without being terribly uncomfortable.
 

SuboptimusPrime

Turbo Monkey
Aug 18, 2005
1,658
1,633
NorCack
That is a bad ass taco. Price is high but agree that you'd get 300k no problem so cost of ownership is fine. Plus all the bro points for old toyota ownership.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
The seller of the red gen 1 that @4130biker posted said that the head gasket was replaced under the prior owner, but that he could send me records. The records he sent show it being serviced at a Subaru dealer between July 2009 and June 2013, and make no mention of a head gasket replacement.

Good start.
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!

Lances House....

My friend Lance had one of these. He was from Fryburg ME and lived in Somerville MA. He drove it around Somerville and Cambridge MA between the late 80's and early 90's. I remember driving it on Power line trails in North Conway NH. The thing was amazing. It would go anywhere. Up or down. Did not matter. Amazing vehicle.
 
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HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
The seller of the red gen 1 that @4130biker posted said that the head gasket was replaced under the prior owner, but that he could send me records. The records he sent show it being serviced at a Subaru dealer between July 2009 and June 2013, and make no mention of a head gasket replacement.

Good start.
No clutch replacement either. Just the master and slave cylinders, multiple times.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
No clutch replacement either. Just the master and slave cylinders, multiple times.
That's kind of weird.

here's the thing about that possible 'head gasket' replacement. There's a cylinder base gasket that does deteriorate on those. Mine probably could have used replacement as it was seeping a little. Not even enough to notice burning oil so I never messed with it. Paranoid previous owner could have seen that, freaked out, got it replaced and thought, oh yeah that must be the head gasket.

You could do the usual: drive it, feel for missing cylinders, check compression, look for white smoke a la antifreeze in the exhaust.........

All of that is still dancing around the real test though. You need a pantless test drive to see if your junk fits in that under column holster. You're not going to know if that truck is really you or not until you do ths.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
Unrestored and well maintained is the best. That is a sweet little pickup.