Swede Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Looking to change vehicles for transporting pontoon boat on flat deck trailer and for west country fishing (no real 4x4ing). Have been researching mid size V6 SUV's and V6 4 door med size trucks (was checking out the newer Tacomas 2005+ a bit more than I want to spend). Looking at 2000 to 2004 models. Does anyone have any pros or cons in regards to AWD vs 4WD? Any opionions as to what vehicle has worked great for you or what to stay away from. Boat and trailer weigh approx. 1000 lbs. If anyone has a suitable vehicle for sale or knows someone that has one for sale please p.m. me. Thanks in advance. Quote
birchy Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 My '99 4Runner was a sweet fishing vehicle.. if I was to do one thing different, I would find one that has the optional electronic rear differential locker. Why? Surprisingly enough.. I did get it on some weird angles a few times where 4x4 did me no good because one of the tires was off the ground and just spinning. Take off the running boards.. put a set of 33's on it.. and you're good to go pretty much anywhere you wanna go. *edit* I shouldn't have posted this.. damn those SOB's that stole it and wrecked it on me!! Quote
acurrie Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 4runner all the way! But i like the older ones... Quote
Tungsten Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Dude this is what you want.460 cubic inches of gas guzzling power.Put your toon right in the back. Quote
SanJuanWorm Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Take over the payments on my 2008 Chev avalanche and she's yours. 0% interest 655 bucks a month. 1 year already paid. Quote
Simpson Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Love my Nissan Frontier 06', plan on driving it till the wheels fall off! Might want to work a canopy into your budget as they are handy Quote
AndyW Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 If you can swing it go for a Tacoma. I have a double cab long box and it is a great truck. You can tow up to 6500lbs, and with the long box throw a cap on it and you have a great truck camping rig. Quote
Guest 420FLYFISHIN Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 i just picked up a 93 caravan for $100 in great running condition (got it off one of the mechanics at work). Im going to take that thing every where untill it craps out. Quote
Mikey Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 i just picked up a 93 caravan for $100 in great running condition (got it off one of the mechanics at work). Im going to take that thing every where untill it craps out. WOOHOO no more being crammed in the back of the Subaru! Quote
hopdrop Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 The newer style (05 and up) Tacomas are HARD on fuel. I traded a 98 half ton Ram for the 4L Tacoma, basically the exact same milage. The Taco is a powerful little truck though. Quote
jksnijders Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Dude this is what you want.460 cubic inches of gas guzzling power.Put your toon right in the back. Awesome.. Only thing you can't pass is a gas station, as a friends dad once said about one just like that. Quote
AndyW Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 The newer style (05 and up) Tacomas are HARD on fuel. I traded a 98 half ton Ram for the 4L Tacoma, basically the exact same milage. The Taco is a powerful little truck though. I guess hard on fuel is a relative statement. I just filled up earlier today- all city driving with some 4x4 driving around town on the side streets and I got 22mpg (calculated). I regularly get 28mpg on the hiway in the summer and 24 mpg summer/city. Hey it's not honda civic mileage, but it's a 4x4 with 250hp that has lots of power for passing on the hiway and hills, and can tow over 6000lbs. I have owned a couple of full size 4x4 pick-ups (Tundra and ford) and they never got close to this mileage. For sure the Tacoma gets 20% better mileage in all conditions than my experience with the full size V-8's Quote
Teck71 Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 I got a 93 Chevy Blazer Tahoe for the fishing truck should do what i want Quote
jack Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 REAL "fishing trucks" don't have sparkplugs. j Quote
Swede Posted March 25, 2009 Author Posted March 25, 2009 Hi, Thanks for your info everyone. Heading to Calgary to check out a couple of older 4Runners. My pontoon is 16 feet long so I won't be throwing it in the back of any truck. Quote
bigbowtrout Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Here is a pic of my awesome fishing wheels. No 4x4 but the best I did was 850km on one 55L fill. I'm sure I could strap a toon to the top of this beast if needed. http://www.milesgallon.com/gas_mileage_cal..._kilometers.php Quote
agbff Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Some beast bigbowtrout! Id love one of these, Quote
hopdrop Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 I guess hard on fuel is a relative statement. I just filled up earlier today- all city driving with some 4x4 driving around town on the side streets and I got 22mpg (calculated). I regularly get 28mpg on the hiway in the summer and 24 mpg summer/city. Hey it's not honda civic mileage, but it's a 4x4 with 250hp that has lots of power for passing on the hiway and hills, and can tow over 6000lbs. I have owned a couple of full size 4x4 pick-ups (Tundra and ford) and they never got close to this mileage. For sure the Tacoma gets 20% better mileage in all conditions than my experience with the full size V-8's WHAT? 99% of my miles are highway, I try to keep close to the speed limit in this vehicle and I baby it. The best I've managed is like 19mpg. All fluids are synthetic, I do have the 6 speed man. though, which is suposed to be SLIGHTLY worse on fuel than the auto. What gives? Quote
birchy Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 WHAT? 99% of my miles are highway, I try to keep close to the speed limit in this vehicle and I baby it. The best I've managed is like 19mpg. All fluids are synthetic, I do have the 6 speed man. though, which is suposed to be SLIGHTLY worse on fuel than the auto. What gives? That's horrible. My 99 4Runner with the 3.4L V6 and 4 speed automatic got 21 combined. I'd get online (yotatech.com) and start doing some searches for "improving fuel economy" for your generation of truck. A few things come to mind.. cleaning the throttle body, cleaning the MAF sensor, and changing the fuel and air filters. New spark plugs wouldn't hurt either.. Hijack over. Quote
AndyW Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 WHAT? 99% of my miles are highway, I try to keep close to the speed limit in this vehicle and I baby it. The best I've managed is like 19mpg. All fluids are synthetic, I do have the 6 speed man. though, which is suposed to be SLIGHTLY worse on fuel than the auto. What gives? Before I got my current auto transmission I had the 6 speed manual taco, it was slightly worse on gas (maybe 2mpg less) but nothing like you are describing. With the Tacoma the Auto is more fuel efficient as they are geared taller. I calculate after I fill with one of those slide ruler thingys that transport canada gives out so my calcs are 100% accurate. Something seems whacky with your mileage. Do you have the stock size tires on it? Quote
hopdrop Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 All required and recommended maintainance done by Toyota (whatever that's worth). Premium plugs. The tires aren't stock, but I did own the truck with a stock setup for over six months and the milage was the same. I've tried every octane rating of fuel, different brands of fuel, all with basically the same result. I base my milage on GPS distances (bread crumb trails) rather than the odo. to account for the speedo/odo being out of calibration. I've been online looking for answers, all roads lead to a programmer, not interested while still on warranty. I guess it is what it is, a 4wd 250hp, 270ft.lb truck. Quote
birchy Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 The "premium plugs" comment makes me wonder a bit.. Not sure about the newer Taco's, but the 3rd gen 4Runner's were EXTREMELY finicky with spark plugs - NGK or Denso - and single electrode only! Everything else = horror stories. Quote
hopdrop Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 The "premium plugs" comment makes me wonder a bit.. Not sure about the newer Taco's, but the 3rd gen 4Runner's were EXTREMELY finicky with spark plugs - NGK or Denso - and single electrode only! Everything else = horror stories. I can't recall what plugs are in there now, but I think these are the third set, each set was different. Doubtful it's the plugs, but anything can happen. I'll do some research and see what the hardcore taco gearheads recommend and give them a shot. Thanks. Quote
Swede Posted March 27, 2009 Author Posted March 27, 2009 I picked up a 2000 Toyota 4Runner. The price was right and fairly low Km's compared to some others. Looking forward to not having a disasterous near miss like last year at McKinnon's Flats. Last October we drifted from Policeman's to McKinnons, only saw 1 other boat all day. My brother was late picking me up from McKinnon's to take me back to get my truck and trailer. So by the time I got back to McKinnons it was getting dark. This was the 1st time we had floated to McKinnons launch, I whipped down to the river, got off the track and got my truck stuck in the loose gravel. The only other fisherman that we saw on the river all day had just finished loading his boat and was starting to pull away. Luckily he noticed I was stuck and stopped and offered to pull my truck out. Considering I had no cell phone reception we would have been stuck there all night and part of the next day until someone showed up. My Chevy shortbox 2-wheel drive just doesn't cut it as a fishing vehicle. Quote
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