Noob Needs Help Buying 1st Taco

I love the dog trying to keep up lol

 

My personal opinion: nope to snow tires, if you can drive like a responsible person (not tailgating, driving as crazy speeds, etc. in snow and ice). If you find that 2WD isn't cutting it, then pop it into 4WD and be done.

If the highway gets so bad that you can't keep your truck under control, the highway is likely moments away from being shutdown.

 

Get the truck that you can afford and has 4x4

1. Good tires
2. Recovery/ survival gear in truck just in case
3. Sliders
4. Now it's your time to take a step back and see what mod you actually need now that your using your truck. Example would be adding and awning if you need shade a lot. Aux lights if you do a lot of night exploring. Then go crazy with the functional items. One thing to consider when purchasing a truck is that I have a dcsb and wish I could sleep in the back at trail heads. If you ski a lot might be worth it to have the sleeping capabilities when they are needed that a long bed would provide. Make first chsir or super early starts that much easier. Hope this helps

 

@Trucko, sleeping in the bed is definitely something that friends have raised. However, being 6'2" (plus wanting a little head room), I'm not sure that I'd fit even in a long bed. Plus, my wife is pretty tall so sleeping diagonally with both of us would likely not fit. A buddy of mine who has hiked Colorado's 100 highest peaks expressed concern about a long bed being able to avoid bottoming out on some of the trails, which is what got me interested in short beds. I appreciate specific advice on the priority order and the thought on going long bed. Thank you!

 

@JDM, "responsible" can be a challenge at times, haha, but I'm no a-hole on the road. It's a good point. I've driven my Subi for 20yrs and have no experience with 4WD on snowy/icy roads. So, the input from this forum is quite valuable. Thank you for taking the time to give feedback!

 

@11Bguy, I forgot to mention earlier, thank you for your service. My last deployment to Iraq my EOD team was loaned out to the Army, so I spent a lot of time working with the grunts.

 

My wife and I can spend no more than $30K all-in for whatever we want to buy/mod for the first couple years of ownership. I was contemplating a 2015 to have some factory bumper-bumper warranty leftover, but looking on Autotrader doesn't make it seem like mods would be happening if I went 2015. I've driven my current car, and only one I've ever owned, for 19+ years. Not saying that I'd do that with the next vehicle, but I guess I was thinking of avoiding one that 100K miles on it already. Thoughts?

 

I may have missed it, but how "extreme" of trails do you plan on having to conquer? I stock height vehicle with slightly bigger tires will get you plenty of places, and proper skid plates would take care of the rest.

 

@mtbjohn42, haha, prudent advice. Having a definite love for outdoor gear, I've been guilty of similar escalations in the past. Luckily, I have a wife now who will surely throw the pain down if I start getting crazy. Haha. Thank you for your input!

 

@Martyinco, I'm more looking to cut a few miles off my backpacking round trip mileage and don't think that I need to crawl my way all over the backcountry. Having been in my buddy's Jeep, it seemed that there were a number of areas on various 13er and 14er trails that we'd either have to fill in with shovels or have to move over rock/tree obstructions that measured about 12-15" (didn't have a tape measure, so just guessing) off the ground. I'm sure that there's proper off road terminology/classification for obstacles, haha, I just don't know the lingo.

@CO MTN Steve and @Rawlins, as well as the others on the thread, have both made some great points about armor and clear-eyed needs assessment. @CO MTN Steve, I see that you're a former Apache driver. Thanks for your service. Got dropped off many times in Iraq by Apaches, including one night where the crew chief warned us about "droopy rotors."

 

As far as sliders are concerned, I'm assuming that you're not talking about the ones made with beef, hah. I've seen a lot of models on Autotrder with step-up tubes. Are those sufficient, or does it need to be something like this: ?

 

Hell yeah man right back at ya! I worked with y'all a little in my last deployment too. Anytime we can share the the load we are glad to give y'all a call haha. And I know we keep you busy.

 

The latter. It's good insurance to keep from damaging the body in that area. The step-up tubes will fold/crush under a significant hit.

 

Does this seem like a fair deal? https://www.faricy.com/inventory/2012-toyota-tacoma-base-4wd-4d-double-cab-5tflu4en8cx042389

Ad says it's a base model, but then it has TRD T/X decals. Based on what everyone has been saying, it seems like it would meet my needs with maybe some armor as add-on.

 

Lol, definitely the sliders, without meat. They should be "beefy" though, enough that they can support the weight of your truck. AllPro ones are very nice but there are many vendors on TW that offer quality competitive sliders as well.

 

+1 for sliders. If you smash your rocker panels your up shit creek

 

If you generally keep your vehicles for long periods of time, then I would suggest something newer (not 1st gen), but if 2015 is getting too pricey then you can often find better deals on trucks that are a few years older with low miles.

 

Looks like a nice truck for a good price! The ad title is wrong (it's not a base tacoma), that is a T/X Pro Baja Edition or whatever they called it So it's basically the equivalent of the modern day TRD Pro for 2012 - basically a TRD Off Road with a better suspension.

 

Cool, I'll reach out to the dealer. I've also been searching AutoTrader for Off Road TRDs. Seems that Colorado tends to be more expensive, generally, for Off Road units. Appreciate the guidance.

 

@CO MTN Steve @Rawlins @11Bguy @mtbjohn42 @03 NIGHT TACO @Martyinco @xterra9171

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice so far, it's definitely helped to narrow the search. Appreciate you giving guidance to a noob. Hopefully, I'll have a positive result in the not-too-distant future.