We could have been a truck commercial...

On our weekend trip, we towed, hauled, carried, used every tie down, ran from lowspeeds on soft ground to hours of highway travel and the ’11 Taco Access cab,V6, 4x4 with 6 speed did very well.

A rental trailer was hauled 800 miles (speed was kept a 65mph vs 70 mpg due to wind resistance and excessive fuel burn), and we loaded a dirtbike from a ditch, hauled a number loads of debris piled higher than the cab, went down rutted and muddy roads, and finally hauled an overloaded trailer home with the bed also full…

The truck had plenty of power for all needs with the V6,transmission was good under actual load, fuel economy was 15 mpg while towing a full load at highway speeds.

The backup camera is fantastic for trailer hookup, the moveable bed tiedowns worked very well for mixed loads. The stock Dunlop tires were miserable on wet,worn concrete, with heavy rain and cross winds. I had done a number of similar trips with my 94 standard cab, 4 banger and power was the limiting factor…

Now I just need to finish putting away the cooler (we actually came back with more beer than we left with, thanks to a quality beer and cigar store across the street from our middle gas stop, a Love’s at exit 280 off I-40 in Baxter, Tennessee. Believe it or not, craft brewed beer and hand rolled cigars were available on a Sunday afternoonJ)

Tie downs need to be stowed, truck vacuumed, oil level checked and other random tools, ramps, clothing, camping gear need unloading.

We had smart phones running off truck power, a variety of music and entertainment sources pulled into the aux jack, room to keep personal gear and sleeping bags in the cab and out of the rain and flawless truck performance.

If I had done this same mission with the Dodge Ram 1500ST I traded in, I would have gotten stuck in the mud, had to use lower gears for much of the highway driving and spend far more time climbing into the bed to load and unload.

Also, now there should be enough wear on the rear leafspring bump stops for the dealer to comply with the leaf spring TSB withoutcomplaint.

This truck is great…

Howard

 

Badass! Sounds like a great weekend!

 

We it would have been it we weren't trying to help family recover from tornado damage, close down a failed business and help someone move...Now doing this as part of a recreational event would have been much more fun.

I drive down dirt and gravel roads in the national forest on a DAILY basis...

Howard

 

Well crap! Sorry it wasn't as great of a weekend as it sounded like! Maybe this weekend you'll go out and do it for fun.

 

Got any pictures of this awesome sounding commercial weekend?

 

Sure, but all the photos are of used dental office equipment A local tatto artist wants a dental chair or two, but we got a four treatment room office to disposition.

Let me see what the wife put on my camera.

Howard

 

Agreed. This is my favorite new feature from my 06 Tacoma to my 11 Tacoma.

Also, it's not a truck until you utilize everything on it. Good job breaking it in! Now it's a truck!

 

Well, if I didn't need a truck, I wouldn't have bought one. A pickup fits in well with my life style.

But I agree, this truck is now well broken in

Howard