Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Hunting Rigs???

What is the difference between the Tacoma and the Hi-Lux??

I believe the chassis are the same, it's just the hilux has the 4 door cab and short bed. Also the hi-lux are hard to come by in the states.

I'd opt for a trd tacoma, those electric lockers are great.

Cheers for that...I think both versions are sold under the Hi-Lux label over here...

A firend has a 4 door version, and with a "topper" on the back, and its hard beat for our circumstances. Its not the most fuel firendly of the 4x4's but I would think we were getting maybe high 20's /low 30's on a recent run up to Scotland...

Some of the newer pick-up/SUV's are getting in the mid to high 30's on runs, especially if you have them chipped...

Is that mileage the diesel varient or metric? I had a '94 3 liter toy truck that would at it's best get 21 on the freeway, city driving dropped it to 17, 4wd would drop it to 13.

Unfortunately toyota hasn't sold it's diesel trucks in the states, a pity.

My daily driver 4x4 is a 1996 Ford Bronco (the last year they were made) with a modified 351 V-8 (450 HP). It has a 3" body lift and 6" suspension lift and I run 10.5x36" tires (the biggest I can get by with on a 1/2 ton vehicle.

I tend to drive like some others have said. I choose the path of least resistance and avoid beating it all to hell.....but I do go wherever I want to go regardless. It does have the ability to go nearly anywhere and has enough space inside to haul gear and game. The down side is the 8-10 MPG I get.....on the highway or off, makes no difference.

For times when I "know" things will be tough and interior space is not as important, I drive my 1963 International Scout. With a 198 CI 4-cylinder engine it has torque that is unbelievable and 4.88 gears mean it NEVER bogs down (although top highway speed is barely 60 MPH).

The 32" tires give great ground clearance and though it's a bit heavy (Intenationals are built like a tank), it doesn't have to run fast as it can simply overpower most obsticles instead of trying to fly over them.

The ride however makes a Jeep CJ seem like a luxury car, but with the top off and the windshield folded down it is one of the coolest hunting rigs in the woods.

My wife drives an extended cab 4x4 Chevy PU (yes I AM embarassed about the Chevy label, but it's HER truck....actually considered putting a Ford emblem on the grill thinking it might fool the Chevy into thinking it was a REAL truck) that we use for less intense camping chores. Drives nice and hauls more gear than my vehicles.

What rearend does your 2000 have, some of tjs came with the heavy duty 44. I have a 2001 Sahara that has it my kid has a 05 sport that has it as well.

Generally speaking, I'm refering to turbo diesels, usually in the 2.4L to 3L sizes..We get petrol engined 4X4's, but they are usually extremely expensive to run over here as they get for worse MPG than diesels...

Even old Isuzu with a none turbo 2.8 diesel would typically do 30 to 32 MPG on a run. The 2.8L was was a great engine that was evetually killed off by tightening of the emission regulations but the Isuzu engines that followed were junk...

Heavy duty front and rear ends have long been an option. Those in the know would always order them with any engine stronger than the 4 cyl.
The trouble was, at least here in Kalifornia, is that none of the dealerships would stock them. You'd have to special order them.
Mine is a stock, 4 cyl version. Has worked alot better than I ever thought it would. E

Don't know how handy you are with a welder and a little fabricating, but if you have any problems with the stock D-35 get yourself a Ford 8.8 out of a Explorer cut the brackets off and weld on some new TJ brackets. That's what I did for my SE TJ got a limited slip and disc brake to boot. If I lived where you do I would have a serious rock rig.

most the rock crawling stuff is lost on me, other than the occasional sandstone out cropping they are a non issue......dont know if its a blessing or not as far as my pocket book is concerned.....fine clay gumbo mud is my "world" when it comes to off roading, dont get alot of rain but creek crossings can get interesting....

I done the mud, Sand,(Oregon Dunes 25 miles away)and the rocks. Some thing about rock crawling it's just a hoot

What I hunt out of now:



What I will hunt out of, when I get around to fixing it up:

My huntin rig:

i aint running to the other side of the state just to play on rocks

I have been looking for something similar just to get to the highway.

Pete, have you looked at the Navarra? I'm on my fourth Nissan and I've never had any serious problems with them. Mine is the US version, of course, with a V-6 petrol engine, but I'm sure the Euro version with the diesel is available.

If you have the research time, you might go over to www.australianhunting.net and look over their 4WD forum, too. A lot of the guys on there are running Navarras or Hi-Luxes, or the Nissan Patrols, along with the Fords and Isuzus.

Be forewarned, of course, they're Aussies and they bag everything, especially Land Rovers and Hi-luxes Apparently, nothing whatsoever can hold up to the bush over there.

I love that !!

Well I bought one on Saturday.

Dave,

What year, and if you don't mind me asking, how much?

It's an 82, model 1342, gasser. 318 with a 5 speed manual trans. It's got 1375 hrs on it, very nice condition and I gave $4500. I've seen these rigs in lesser condition with a 12000 price tag on them so I think I did really well.