Cool Find on Wikipedia

I thought this was interesting... Battle Tested TRDs...

"During Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom, multiple Toyota Tacomas have been observed in use by special forces units of the U.S. Army. Typically, they have been Double Cab models, with SR5 and TRD packages.

Despite the fact that the Hilux, which the Tacoma is based on, is extremely common in the Middle East, SF found it to be easier to purchase them from American dealerships, modify them appropriately, and ship them to their areas. The Tacoma and Hilux share the same body, but the chassis is significantly different in the Tacoma and believed to be much weaker. The gasoline engine used is significantly quieter than the diesel engines used in the HMMWV. These were modified by eliminating the factory radio, along with almost all exterior lights and door buzzers. The front headlights have been modified to work in IR, in order to work with night vision. The engines are unmodified, but the vehicles have been fitted with brush guards, Warn winches, and a rollbar with a machine gun mount."

 

Thanks - cool page! Interesting that they picked a red one so "not to stand out". We drive Mitisubishi TurboCharged Diesels in Iraq pretty often... Great little trucks - but I like my Tacoma better...

"The reason why the 4 door Tacoma was chosen as the vehicle, is because Toyotas are very popular in Afghanistan and they would not stand out as much as the Humvees. In addition, the gas V-6 engines are much quieter than the diesel engines of the Humvees and other military transport vehicles and better suited to daytime and nighttime covert operations. Finally, the Tacoma is a durable and reliable 4x4."

 

i read that story a while back - badass. even more of a reason to love my tacoma. i do remember where i was in iraq we had hiluxs though.

 

If they are tough enough for the SF boys in that extremely hostile enviroment,they're sure as hell good enough to get my kids to Hockey.....Just another reason to love the Toyota Tacoma.

 

Think they got the rear leaf TSB?