Midsize Truck Thread

[danwolf]

I don’t know much of Fords, Chevys, or Dodges. They change so fast.

For me the midsize truck fits my needs. Yes they usually have a tighter steering radius, but from my experience the Tacoma is the tightest turning. I’ve tried out a newer Colorado and drove my fathers Frontier a good amount. Actually had a 4wd Tundra 5.7L crew max that could turn tighter than those mid size trucks. Once a truck is lifted, especially if a BDS is installed then offset rims are needed, steering radius gets bigger. If I were road tripping with friends to elk hunt I’d say a full-size would work better. No way I’d take my Tacoma.

My Tacoma is a 2011 regular cab 4x4 2.7L 4 banger, lifted on ARB springs with bilstein 5100s. I have a shell and outfitted it with a platform and drawers. One drawer fits my bow or rifle. Other is a kitchen. I have plenty room for my gear for a hunt and a spot to sleep on the drive somewhere or once I get to the trail head when I hunt out of state. Many spots in TX I hunt are walk in deer hunting, so it’s my rolling camp.

Yeah I hear a lot of issues with the 3rd gen Tacoma auto trannies, but the suspension is the same. Get one in a manual and drive it like you stole it.

 

[tzone]

Yeah, a dog box, wall tent and stove, and a weeks worth of food and beer isn’t fitting in a Tacoma bed.

Hell, A weeks worth of beer isn't fitting in the Tacoma bed.

 

[wyoboypt]

Pros- narrow size can navigate nastier roads more efficiently

Cons- long box version in 2nd gen is unavailable in off-road version. So I still have to put a locker or 2 in it cus it gets stuck a lot in snow.

 

[Sagesniffer]

I have a Frontier and I cant recommenced it highly enough. I bought a 2012 4x4 crew cab in 2015 it had 35k miles on. It was my daily driver 90 miles most days. It also went from SC to NM 3 times, Texas twice, CO once, Arkansas 3 times, Florida twice (other places Im sure Im forgetting). I just traded it in at 178k. 150k in under 5 years. I had zero issues. ZERO! I changed the tires, breaks, oil every 10k with full synthetic, and transmission fluid once. I beat the heck out of it. Drove it on roads that the only other vehiclues were atv's, utv's and lifted jeeps. My 2012 was stock except for 31" tires. I just got a "new" 2017 frontier with 17k miles on it. This one has a 2.5" lift and 33" tires and new skid plates for the really bad roads. It will soon have a winch and topper. I put a prerunner style rear bumper for better angles if it gets real exciting. I treat my truck like a UTV. For me its a tool. If i scratch it up thats fine. Dents and dings here and there are ok. I used to have a 99 dodge ram and the frontier has more power as a V6 then my ram did as a V8. Its plenty of power for me. It is also incredibly nimble compared to full size trucks. For me its a Tacoma or a Frontier. Those are the only 2 trucks I'll even consider. Frontier isn't fancy and its more affordable. It is a perfect truck for me.

I have an extremely similar story with my 2015 Frontier. Very Happy.

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

I have an extremely similar story with my 2015 Frontier. Very Happy.

I’ve been working on my frontier. So far I’ve added skid plates that I built. A soft cover that I got half price new off FB marketplace. A ladder rack made for a Ram that I modified/fabricated to fit my frontier and make an over bed rack. Modified/fabricated a wrangler prerunner rear bumper to fit my truck. All that’s left is building my winch bumper. Also, been doing some mods to my mini camper. Fall is coming. I’ll be ready.

 

[OhHeyThereBen]

That's a sweet rig!

 

[Trial153]

The fleet audits I glance at scare me away from anything GM.

 

[seeth07]

I'll add another vote for a mid sized diesel. I actually last fall bought a '15 crew cab long box gas canyon and the very next week took it out west. Pulling 4 guys and a loaded 14' enclosed trailer resulted in about 8mpg, a poor quality ride and huge rpms (over 4k) going up any kind of hill. In fact, going up hill the vehicle maxed out at about 60mph under these high rpms.

That trip the truck got totalled due to a poor choice by a mule deer. Fast forward 5 months later and we bought a '17 crew cab long box all terrain turbo diesel. Man what a difference between these two trucks. Two weekends ago we hauled that same 14' trailer fully loaded to the brim helping my parents move. 13mpg, still a rough ride but that truck never topped 3k rpms. That little engine is something. My wife even made the comment that she feels this truck tows nicer than our '13 Sierra 1500. I can't really argue that as it probably does.

 

[MTGomer]

If a Taco is a mid size truck what is an example of a small size truck?

 

[seeth07]

If a Taco is a mid size truck what is an example of a small size truck?

I wondered that about this thread too! I always felt the Tacoma, Ranger, Canyon, Colorado were all small utility trucks and the 1500's, F150's, etc. were mid-size. The 2500's, F250s, etc. is when you become a big boy and finally have a real truck!

 

[rwc101]

One of these bad boys.

 

[Irrelevant]

If a Taco is a mid size truck what is an example of a small size truck?

The old toyota "Pickup". No one makes small pickups anymore, just mid's and large, kinda like Americans in general.

 

[Ajax2744]

One of these bad boys.
View attachment 147171

There is a dude who has one of these that runs around our cabin with it. It has a lift and oversize tires and that thing goes anywhere haha. It like a 4 wheeler but better cause you have ac/ heater and a nice flatbed to haul