Hello all! So as the title states, I'm thinking about giving up on my 3rd gen Tacoma in favor of a 1500. However, I'd like some advice from y'all about a few things.
Background: I had an 08' manual trans access cab Tacoma and LOVED IT. However, I had an unfortunate encounter with a cow in 2018 and ended up getting a new 18' automatic access cab Tacoma. I freaking HATE IT. The gearing is absolute dog ****e in the 3rd gen autos, even with close to $800 in tuning software it pisses me off pretty much every time I drive it. And I just can't justify dumping even MORE money into this thing for a re-gear just to make it drive like it should have from the factory. Toyota really dropped the ball IMO. In addition, my life is pushing me in the direction of needing something different anyways. I'm pursuing a career as a Survival Instructor, and keep finding myself being forced to carry people. Plus my parents aren't getting any younger, and I always seem to get stuck shuttling them and other family members around whenever we're together on vacations and road trips. Obviously, an access cab Tacoma is nowhere near ideal for this. Also, because of my job, I'm looking to purchase or build some kind of travel trailer that I can tow between states (mainly CO and ID at the moment, but also to anywhere in the U.S. I might need to teach or want to go and learn from others) and live in for 100+ days a year. Gonna try to keep it around 7,000lbs or less if I can, but I don't have that bit ironed out yet. In my Tacoma, I'm lucky to get 8-9mpg towing an enclosed utility trailer that's well within load capacities, and it just seems to struggle. I also keep finding myself in positions where I have to tow friend's vehicles up and down mountain roads in CO, and the Tacoma struggles. Honestly, it just seems to step on it's own d!ck every time I need it, and I'm beyond sick of it.
What I'm thinking: It seems to me that a 1500 Big Horn in Eco Diesel would fit the bill nicely, but wanted y'alls thoughts about what I'm planning on doing. In addition to the interstate trips, I'll likely be doing a fair bit of scouting trips from my new homebase near Boise ID up north to the panhandle and parts of Montana looking for property that I can eventually open my own survival school or homestead on. There likely won't be a lot of short trips to the store or anything with the truck, I think I'll be driving the 25 miles or so each way to Boise/Meridian most of the time. So, everything but the specter of maintenance costs and possible catastrophic failure are pushing me towards a diesel. But I also fully acknowledge that I've always wanted a diesel, so I'm a little worried I'm just making justifications based on what I want vs what I need. I did also enjoy my test drive of the HEMI hybrid, but the MPG in the ED is just sooooo damn tempting! I didn't mind the "turbo lag" in the diesel at all, it's miles better than what I experience in my Tacoma with no turbos on a daily basis. So, any advice y'all have would be greatly appreciated! Here's a link to the Ram build website if you want to see exactly what I'm thinking about getting. Currently waiting to see what the dealer says in regards to financing/leasing prices.
Big Horn build: https://www.ramtrucks.com/bmo.ram_1...3,ANT,ADE,AD6,AWL,AHC,NFF,XH4,XBM,XHC,UAM,28Z
Background: I had an 08' manual trans access cab Tacoma and LOVED IT. However, I had an unfortunate encounter with a cow in 2018 and ended up getting a new 18' automatic access cab Tacoma. I freaking HATE IT. The gearing is absolute dog ****e in the 3rd gen autos, even with close to $800 in tuning software it pisses me off pretty much every time I drive it. And I just can't justify dumping even MORE money into this thing for a re-gear just to make it drive like it should have from the factory. Toyota really dropped the ball IMO. In addition, my life is pushing me in the direction of needing something different anyways. I'm pursuing a career as a Survival Instructor, and keep finding myself being forced to carry people. Plus my parents aren't getting any younger, and I always seem to get stuck shuttling them and other family members around whenever we're together on vacations and road trips. Obviously, an access cab Tacoma is nowhere near ideal for this. Also, because of my job, I'm looking to purchase or build some kind of travel trailer that I can tow between states (mainly CO and ID at the moment, but also to anywhere in the U.S. I might need to teach or want to go and learn from others) and live in for 100+ days a year. Gonna try to keep it around 7,000lbs or less if I can, but I don't have that bit ironed out yet. In my Tacoma, I'm lucky to get 8-9mpg towing an enclosed utility trailer that's well within load capacities, and it just seems to struggle. I also keep finding myself in positions where I have to tow friend's vehicles up and down mountain roads in CO, and the Tacoma struggles. Honestly, it just seems to step on it's own d!ck every time I need it, and I'm beyond sick of it.
What I'm thinking: It seems to me that a 1500 Big Horn in Eco Diesel would fit the bill nicely, but wanted y'alls thoughts about what I'm planning on doing. In addition to the interstate trips, I'll likely be doing a fair bit of scouting trips from my new homebase near Boise ID up north to the panhandle and parts of Montana looking for property that I can eventually open my own survival school or homestead on. There likely won't be a lot of short trips to the store or anything with the truck, I think I'll be driving the 25 miles or so each way to Boise/Meridian most of the time. So, everything but the specter of maintenance costs and possible catastrophic failure are pushing me towards a diesel. But I also fully acknowledge that I've always wanted a diesel, so I'm a little worried I'm just making justifications based on what I want vs what I need. I did also enjoy my test drive of the HEMI hybrid, but the MPG in the ED is just sooooo damn tempting! I didn't mind the "turbo lag" in the diesel at all, it's miles better than what I experience in my Tacoma with no turbos on a daily basis. So, any advice y'all have would be greatly appreciated! Here's a link to the Ram build website if you want to see exactly what I'm thinking about getting. Currently waiting to see what the dealer says in regards to financing/leasing prices.
Big Horn build: https://www.ramtrucks.com/bmo.ram_1...3,ANT,ADE,AD6,AWL,AHC,NFF,XH4,XBM,XHC,UAM,28Z
and a clamp takes 2 minutes and can be removed with no trace.
