well i'm gettin my liscence in a few months and well it's time fore me to do some research into truck for the beach
what do yall think bout the toyota tacoma
i want a full size late 80's blazer but at 12mpg it ain't gonna work
so what bout a late 90's tacoma xtra cab with a cap on da back also which engine do yall think is better the 4 or the 6
thanx
josh

 

 

that bug is awesome! and its tires arent like this \ /

 

that bug is sweet but why does it have mismatched tires front and rear?


...beach=lots o rust

 

id assume M/T's on the back for grip, A/Ts up front for steering traction. Like some mud boggin trucks running Boggers in the rear and TSL's up front.

 

outting tires like that is actually quite common

more traction in the rear and floataion in the front....

my truck is actually setup liek that right now for pismo... 31" bfgs at ko up front and 31" bfg mt km out back

 

are you just cruising the beaches or doin any wheelin? i havent driven the 2.7 or the 3.4 but i know a 6cyl will sound better with the right muffler, the milage would be better with the 4. and as far as off road, low range 4wd provides plenty of power even with a 4cyl. i would get the 6, lift it 3 or 4 inches with 33's, bull bar, and gears you'll proabably want those....the cap could look ok, not my personal preference...unless ur gonna do soem sleeping in the bed.

 

it is gonna be a fishin truck for the outer banks of north cackalacka

 

cap might be useful then....if you arent towing a 4cyl would be ok for better mileage.

 

Agressive tread tires are actually worse for use on dunes/sand.

They will quickly dig you in, instead of floating/staying on the surface.
My Bfg A/T's are pretty good in the sand, but my original dunlops I had actually did better aired down. The A/T's I had to air down to 10# or lower before they would stop digging in, and the dunlops I only had to go to 15#.

 

You want ATs all around for sand. Muds aren't as good.

Tacomas do well in the sand, depending on how you drive, you can beat full size trucks with V8s. Get the trd rear locker.

 

If it is a Taco, I say go for the 3.4

If you are getting a mini get the 4 banger.

 

You could buy My baja bug!

 

Up on the Cape Cod National Seashore a lot of the true fishermen have Taco's. I go out at night and fish and see so many of them bombing down the beach, it looks sick. The Rangers there say that the big trucks (Chevy/Ford) never get stuck and neither the Toyotas really, but its all about airing down the tires and having good ground clearance (Toyotas have better than big trucks stock). The only that get stuck are Escapes, Rav-4's, CRV's, Highlanders, etc cause of the clearance issues and also Navigators and other trucks that have the system where the AWD sets in when slipping is felt. Apparently they dig down in the back than realize it and then try to dig out in the front, pretty crappy for 50g's.

Anyway I'd deff get a Taco if i were you, v6's are very powerful and it will also last you a wiked long time. I am looking to move up soon myself. Good luck on buying.

Peace,
Alex

 

How about my 88 4Runner? It has the removable top which would be great for the beach. 157K, 3.0, 5 speed.

 

I always thought because they're 2WD... could mismatched treads be dangerous if you get up to higher speed?

 

Yeah, you definately want All-Terrains for sand. They float way better. You always see buggies with paddle tires and think that a more agressive M/T would be good out back, wrong. You want the tire to float as much as possible. Airing down to sub 10psi pressures is more important though. Leave the paddles to the 1,000LB buggies or 500HP+ beasts.

On a side note, people with very bald M/T's do alright in the sand. There is less voids in the tread to dig in.

As far as mismatched treads at high speed. What, are you going to do 150mph in a truck with large tires on it? Mine gets scary at 110, at that's just with 33's. It won't make a difference though. I could put a set of car tires on the front and a set of All-Terrains on teh back and they will both take me to 110 without doing anything weird. It's not like the tires on the front of the truck care what the tires on the back are doing. Unless you've rigged up some kind of tire communication network.