Toyotas in the Woods

[slowp]

How do you like them? Or would you get something better? I'm thinking after scraping and hitting the bottom of my little 2 wheel drive Chevy yesterday. I was on one of the better roads, looking for huckleberries. No damage that I know of to the Chevy.

Do you get good clearance on the newer ones? We have a lot of :censored:
"driveable" water bars and little washouts to negotiate if you get off the main tourist roads. My Subaru hits too.

Seems like you either need a 4x4 or a trail motorcycle to get around anymore, and The Used Dog can't ride on a motorcycle.

 

[2dogs]

It is hard to go wrong with a Toyota. They are over priced and get poor gas mileage but good reliable transportation.

 

[forestryworks]

How do you like them? Or would you get something better? I'm thinking after scraping and hitting the bottom of my little 2 wheel drive Chevy yesterday. I was on one of the better roads, looking for huckleberries. No damage that I know of to the Chevy.

Do you get good clearance on the newer ones? We have a lot of :censored:
"driveable" water bars and little washouts to negotiate if you get off the main tourist roads. My Subaru hits too.

Seems like you either need a 4x4 or a trail motorcycle to get around anymore, and The Used Dog can't ride on a motorcycle.

Have you considered a mild lift kit for your 2wd? There is a good kit for $400 for your rig. Raises the front 2.5" and the rear 1.5"

 

[ChainsawmanXX]

Them Mitsubishi Samurai, would be great little buggy's for in the woods too! A good set of tires alittle lift kit and the wheel base is so short its easy to get around the trees.. I think with a blade and a winch on one of them you could make a nice little skidder out of one too!

 

[brokenbudget]

Them Mitsubishi Samurai, would be great little buggy's for in the woods too! A good set of tires alittle lift kit and the wheel base is so short its easy to get around the trees.. I think with a blade and a winch on one of them you could make a nice little skidder out of one too!

never heard of a mitsubishi samurai. do you mean suzuki samurai?
if so, yes they are pretty good, just a little small to carry anything out other than you and a saw.

 

[Johndirt82]

This was my desert trail/ woods wagon. Too bad the illegals stole it from my house in sandiego. the 89-93 toyotas are hard to beat

 

[Blakesmaster]

Can't say much for the newer Yota's as far as trail capabilities but the older ones are fantastic. This is my bro's 93 with a 3 inch lift and 32 inch tires. It'll go almost anywhere. My 88 4Runner is nothing to be ashamed of either. Both are great on and off the road.

 

[Adkpk]

4 runners rock

The 4 Runner in the front is eating the 4 Runner in the back. If digestion goes well the 4 runner in the front will have lost 130000 mi.. In other words I am switching out the good stuff from my old 4 Runner to better the new 4 runner with only 86000 mi.. They're a solid ride and real good in the woods. Expensive to fix but I don't mind cause it's a quality item. Old ones are totally affordable. I got that one for $3000.

 

[2dogs]

I don't think slowp is looking for a rock crawler or a project. She is looking for a 4x4 with better ground clearence than her present 4x2. A Toyota trucj should be practical for several years.

For info I drive a Dodge. Mizz p I think you would be better served by having a 3/4 ton diesel regular cab pickup truck. Dog will like it much better and there is more room inside for the shotgun and machete, standard tools for the zombie apocalypse.

 

[dingeryote]

I hate to say it, but small trucks, Toyota is about the only thing that will hold up worth a darn anymore. Like the guys have said, the older 'Yotas had better drivelines and were more robust than the newer models though, and they DO get crappy milage for a 4 cyl.

I don't quite understand Chevy and thier complete lack of ground clearence either.
Our 4wd 2500HD unloaded, has about the same clearence as the wifes Jeep Patriot, and God help ya in the sand or muddy ruts.
Yet they jacked the bed sides to shoulder level so it looks like it has clearence to spare. I can't even get under the thing to change the oil on a creeper.
Just goofy. Must be a Milage/aerodynamics thing.

Have you considered a Jeep and a trailer for hauling stuff?
The new 4dr Wranglers get decent milage, go anywhere, and Used Dog would have plenty of room. Just tossing ideas at ya.

Good luck!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Gologit]

How do you like them?

Do you get good clearance on the newer ones? We have a lot of :censored:
"driveable" water bars and little washouts to negotiate if you get off the main tourist roads. My Subaru hits too.

As you well know, since you made me take the Tacoma when we went to look at the hazard tree, they do pretty good. Bearing in mind that you made me drive up a road that was probably off limits to any thing but a D-6 (as in "it's okay Bob, just hit that big slide area with some extra speed and you'll probably get across without rolling over") It still had the paper plates and you figured that was a good way to baptize it. You were right. Don't let that go to your head.

I take mine to the woods and I don't baby it. I can go places the bigger pickups can't go and get turned around in tighter spots. I've used it as a skidder more than once and if you're careful they'll move a hell of a big log. I can carry everything I need for a day's work, and more. After a year and a half and twenty thousand hard miles I have had zero mechanical issues with it and it's never let me down. No squeaks, rattles, or leaks, and everything still works like the day I bought it.

Will it carry the load a full sized pickup will? No.
Will it tow a huge trailer in mountainous country? Not very well.
Will it out-accelerate a Maserati? Nope.
It will , if properly maintained, probably last you a long time. Maybe forever.
It will, over time, save you big bucks in gas, tire, licensing, and insurance costs over the money spent on a full size.
It will, when you go on your weekly WalMarche raid to Centralia, be able to be parked in the narrow slots without the aid of a tugboat and two flagmen.
Get a good canopy for it with the side windows that flip up. You won't be sorry.

A lot of the fallers I know have changed over to the smaller pickups with Toyota the most commonly seen. We used to stand around and BS about how powerful our f-250s and Dodge diesels were...now we stand around and compare notes on gas mileage and and how much we've saved on incidentals.

When you get the new Toyota why not drive it down here to break it in? I have some really good roads we could take the new off of it with.

 

[forestryworks]

My grandpa once told me, back when I got my first pickup truck at 16, "the cheapest vehicle you will ever own is the one you own right now."

 

[slowp]

Yes, after I posted this I remembered the Toyota Road Test area. It still has not been repaired or maintained. The road that is.

I do not just need a woods truck. There's a million of those around here. I'm
also looking for something to drive in the winter. I ski. I live 45 minutes from the ski area, which is located at the top of a mountain pass. That road can be gnarly, but usually the highway crew has it in good shape. If you have a 4 wheel drive, you don't have to put on chains unless they require them on 4x4s, and well, then you don't want to be on the road.

I do not want to pull a trailer around in the woods. Unless there's logging going on, that is a risky thing to do. The only way the majority of forest roads get maintained which is brushing, blading and fixing is to have logging going on. There's not much of that taking place. There's not many places to turn around.

The Subaru is the best rig for snow, but it is too low to negotiate the waterbars that are in the roads that access the secret huckleberry patches. I have bashed my way in on those roads in the past, but it seems like it is only time until something gives. I can't haul very much firewood in it either.

I'd still use the little Chevy for most road trips. It gets fantastic mileage. Hmmmmm, must be the driver?

This is a picture of one of the few well maintained roads. Now, imagine it with alder grown in on each side making a tunnel, rocks in the travelway, and a few sidecast problems. See the dropoff? That's why I don't like trailers in the woods.

 

[s13rymos]

I know its not a yota but i can depend on my frontier to get me anywhere in the woods i wanna.. i load my gear in the cab, saws in the bed, and away i go

 

[371groundie]

ive had good luck with rangers. im on my second. nothing wrong with the first one when i got rid of it, just wanted the extended cab and got a deal. i dont trust automatic transmissions. so ive always gotten the 5spd. kept up on general maintenance and theyve treated me well. i started with a ranger in college so it would fit in the parking spots on campus, took it to the woods as a forester, then a logger, now an arborist.

my first truck was a reg. cab with a cap. it was nice to lock the cap but with the regular cab everything was in the bed. my extra clothes were always cold in the winter, and smelled like saw gas. now i have the extended cab with a rack and toolbox. saws go in the box, ropes and gear go in the extd cab with the guns, fishing poles, etc. i can still haul another person and some wood in the back.

thats my two cents on little trucks, but i know two guys who have tacomas in the woods everyday and have had 0 problems.

 

[hammerlogging]

I take mine to the woods and I don't baby it. I can go places the bigger pickups can't go and get turned around in tighter spots. I've used it as a skidder more than once and if you're careful they'll move a hell of a big log. I can carry everything I need for a day's work, and more. After a year and a half and twenty thousand hard miles I have had zero mechanical issues with it and it's never let me down. No squeaks, rattles, or leaks, and everything still works like the day I bought it.

Will it carry the load a full sized pickup will? No.
Will it tow a huge trailer in mountainous country? Not very well.
Will it out-accelerate a Maserati? Nope.
It will , if properly maintained, probably last you a long time. Maybe forever.
It will, over time, save you big bucks in gas, tire, licensing, and insurance costs over the money spent on a full size.
It will, when you go on your weekly WalMarche raid to Centralia, be able to be parked in the narrow slots without the aid of a tugboat and two flagmen.
Get a good canopy for it with the side windows that flip up. You won't be sorry.

A lot of the fallers I know have changed over to the smaller pickups with Toyota the most commonly seen. We used to stand around and BS about how powerful our f-250s and Dodge diesels were...now we stand around and compare notes on gas mileage and and how much we've saved on incidentals.

Agreed. Same. Except mine has 354,000 and still is fine, not pretty, but runs good same mileage as ever, runs 80 on the highway and on rutted skid roads to get to the falling spot, then back, every day. Turns around and doesn't get stuck. Keep an eye out for the models with locking differentials, a real bonus.

 

[Eccentric]

How do you like them? Or would you get something better? I'm thinking after scraping and hitting the bottom of my little 2 wheel drive Chevy yesterday. I was on one of the better roads, looking for huckleberries. No damage that I know of to the Chevy.

Do you get good clearance on the newer ones? We have a lot of :censored:
"driveable" water bars and little washouts to negotiate if you get off the main tourist roads. My Subaru hits too.

Seems like you either need a 4x4 or a trail motorcycle to get around anymore, and The Used Dog can't ride on a motorcycle.

I don't think slowp is looking for a rock crawler or a project. She is looking for a 4x4 with better ground clearence than her present 4x2. A Toyota trucj should be practical for several years.

For info I drive a Dodge. Mizz p I think you would be better served by having a 3/4 ton diesel regular cab pickup truck. Dog will like it much better and there is more room inside for the shotgun and machete, standard tools for the zombie apocalypse.

I agree with 2Dogs. My favorite woods rides are my 4WD 1986 F250 diesel pickup, and my 1974 International Harvester Scout. Both rigs are great on the rough 'well maintained roads' and in the snow, and have gotten me and my family into and out of places much much worse. Tough as nails, and have plenty of cargo carrying capacity for all the tools need to survive the zombie apocalypse. Plenty of room fer dogs too.

As for something more modern.........................I'd suggest a 90s Ford Bronco (can't remember what year they were discontinued), F150, or F250 4WD. I'm partial to diesels (so that means F250 in that case), but the Ford gassers (4.9L six, 5.0L or 5.8L V8s) are realy good too. The 460 (7.5L) and the 6.8L V10 are gas hogs, and not what you need methinks. The 460 was discontinued in the early '90s, and the V10 was available until the late '90s anyway...

For something new, I'd say a well equiped (for off road) Jeep Wranger (such as the Rubicon), Ford Ranger (FX4 package is great for off road use), Toyota Tundra (get the optional locker), or maybe the Dodge Power Wagon (which has all kinds of off road capable goodies such as locking front and rear difs) would fit the bill.


If you work on your own stuff (or have someone to do it fer ya).....then I suggest you keep the Subaru for 'everyday' and scare up an old Scout. Long Live the Old Iron!!!

 

[slowp]

FORD BRONCOS? :censored: No way. I've driven one of those clunkers. For several years. A tin can on wheels that is prone to do 360s on ice. A white knuckle lemon....I'd rather chain up my 2 wheel drive Chevy....as you can see, I have strong ant-Bronco emotions.

I putted up and down a road in my first Subaru, that the Bronco had to be chained up to get down safely. I hated the Bronco. Siping the snow tires helped a little, but not much. I'd still go sliding sideways down one hill. I'd tell any passengers what might happen, but not to worry as there were tall snow berms on either side, no traffic and we'd slide gently to the bottom.
Nope, a two wheel drive works better than a Bronco of the 90s for me.

 

[Gologit]

FORD BRONCOS? :censored: No way. I've driven one of those clunkers. For several years. A tin can on wheels that is prone to do 360s on ice. A white knuckle lemon....I'd rather chain up my 2 wheel drive Chevy....as you can see, I have strong ant-Bronco emotions.

I putted up and down a road in my first Subaru, that the Bronco had to be chained up to get down safely. I hated the Bronco. Siping the snow tires helped a little, but not much. I'd still go sliding sideways down one hill. I'd tell any passengers what might happen, but not to worry as there were tall snow berms on either side, no traffic and we'd slide gently to the bottom.
Nope, a two wheel drive works better than a Bronco of the 90s for me.

Okaaaaaayy...I guess we can cross Broncos off the list.

 

[Greystoke]

As you well know, since you made me take the Tacoma when we went to look at the hazard tree, they do pretty good. Bearing in mind that you made me drive up a road that was probably off limits to any thing but a D-6 (as in "it's okay Bob, just hit that big slide area with some extra speed and you'll probably get across without rolling over") It still had the paper plates and you figured that was a good way to baptize it. You were right. Don't let that go to your head.

I take mine to the woods and I don't baby it. I can go places the bigger pickups can't go and get turned around in tighter spots. I've used it as a skidder more than once and if you're careful they'll move a hell of a big log. I can carry everything I need for a day's work, and more. After a year and a half and twenty thousand hard miles I have had zero mechanical issues with it and it's never let me down. No squeaks, rattles, or leaks, and everything still works like the day I bought it.

Will it carry the load a full sized pickup will? No.
Will it tow a huge trailer in mountainous country? Not very well.
Will it out-accelerate a Maserati? Nope.
It will , if properly maintained, probably last you a long time. Maybe forever.
It will, over time, save you big bucks in gas, tire, licensing, and insurance costs over the money spent on a full size.
It will, when you go on your weekly WalMarche raid to Centralia, be able to be parked in the narrow slots without the aid of a tugboat and two flagmen.
Get a good canopy for it with the side windows that flip up. You won't be sorry.

A lot of the fallers I know have changed over to the smaller pickups with Toyota the most commonly seen. We used to stand around and BS about how powerful our f-250s and Dodge diesels were...now we stand around and compare notes on gas mileage and and how much we've saved on incidentals.

When you get the new Toyota why not drive it down here to break it in? I have some really good roads we could take the new off of it with.

Excellent description of a yota Bob! (can't rep ya yet). I swore I would never own a "Rice Grinder" til I moved to Southeast Alaska and was replacing Brand new Toyo Tires and Diesel fuel for my 97 f350 crewcab powerstroke, like they were going out of style. My Dad talked me into buying a 84 toyota extended cab 4wd from him, and it was hands down the best fallers rig I had ever experienced. The shot rock roads up there are hell on tires, and truck bodies, and that little yota shined. Every time I would pass one of the other fallers in their "big trucks", to and from work, I would "smile and wave"

Here is my 85 Toyota, Tarzan tree rig that I trust to get me to tree jobs 75 mph down the highway, or to take to the mountains huntin, where I can chain up all four, pull er into low range, and climb a mountain, pushin snow with the bumper!

I had to add a leaf to the rear springs cuz of the weight that I haul in it.

Buy a yota (I am partial to the older ones) and thank us later