I just love this truck

We took the Taco camping in the Black Hills last week. It performed like a champ.

We had both our bikes in the bed and pulled a 3000# camper, while the back seat was loaded up with a cooler and fly fishing gear. No problem with the drive out there from Omaha—got 14-15 mpg, but on the way back there was a stiff headwind (20-30 mph) which was a real drag both on performance and gas mileage. The mpg monitor was reading 7 mpg most of the way.

It did the job though.

While we were there we went off-roading on some fire trails in the hills. This was my first time to put a little challenge to it, and the Taco came out great. Excellent traction even on some steep, rocky climbs and through mud. And the suspension soaked up the bumps like they were molehills. I was pleasantly surprised at how sturdy it was off-road. Admittedly, it wasn’t a super-gnarly trail, and most of the time 4HI was enough—just switched to 4LO a couple of times and for the descent—but the composure out of the box was reassuring if I want to challenge it some more.

And, for just tooling around the backroads unloaded, it is extremely peppy and fun to drive, thanks to the excellent MT.

The stock stereo setup is the only thing I have upgraded—major improvement with changing out the door speakers to a 3-way Kicker.

All-in-all, a year-and-a-half in, I continue to be amazed by the truck.

 

Oh man, I was stationed out at Ellsworth AFB from 1989 to 1992, the Black Hills are one of my favorite places on the planet. I was a Jeep owner back then and I was in the woods damn near every weekend. I took my family out there last June to visit friends and introduce them to the Hills, still as beautiful as ever. I'm jealous Jeff!

 

I’m ex-USAF as well—stationed at Andrews AFB and Ramstein/Landstuhl Germany.

My fiancee is from Hot Springs. We generally go there once a year.

I looked at a job there (I’m a physician) a few years ago to the point of talking with a recruiter, but ultimately went with a different position in Omaha.

Much as I love the Black Hills, they are not on an economic par with other states in the area. In other words, the money’s better here in Nebraska.

You can’t diss the scenery though. Hardly any people up there. Seems like there’s great trout-fishing and off-roading every place you look. We went fly-fishing in the Rapid Creek in the middle of the city—easily accessible via several city parks.

 

Yep we were comparing double cab to a gladiator or wrangler unlimited, both have an extra 6 inches of leg room and 3 inches of head room for tall people in the back. Although as mentioned if you’re stuffing a third person back there Tacoma has the advantage.

Access cab to 2 door wrangler, no one should be trying to shove passengers back there, imho.

 

Adding a few places to my list now, been talking to VA recruiter for when I finish my program in the fall, really enjoyed my time stationed in AZ, was thinking about going back there (but the heat and brown). Need to look into Omaha and Kansas, love the pics.

 

Small world, I left Ellsworth to go to Andrews. I was with the 1st Helicopter Squadron from 1993 until 1997.

And I agree about the economical aspect, most of my buds from the B-1 flight-line ended up going down to Offut doing contract work in various fields.