Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire More vehicle speculation

You can buy a newer Tacoma TRD under 50K miles under 25K everyday of the week around here, and they are over priced.
There is a mega used dealer here that has all brands of lease cars, and you can get a one year old 4wd Tacoma with less than 15K miles for 29K.
Same with a Highlander or 4Runner, either would last about forever. Really unlimited options with 25K, Toyota just stands out for reliability. I don't think deciding would be hard for me.

I have a pair of Birkenstocks...........

🤷🏼‍♂️

I know your wrong, a 2WD truck will get stuck where a cow pizzes on a flat rock. I have a 15k lbs winch on my 4x4 truck and probably haven't used it 5 times to get myself out of a bind, but glad I had it when needed.

4x4 depends on how you use it and what sort of situations you get yourself into...

Middle Georgia's got a lot of clay, which gets slick, as you say "from a cow missing"
San Antonio got a higher percentage of sand and rock. Well drained soils if you will.

If your going to be dragging a trailer into a muddy field then you want 4x4. Likewise if you have to deal with deep sand... I have seen even 4x4 trucks get stuck trying to pull a little side by side horse trailer out of a field with a little grade to it that got rained on between the trailer going in and coming out.. but that was a bit further north than both Texas and Georgia.

So you’re just now getting your finances under control and you want to go out and go right back into debt for what’s essentially a toy?

Since we’re talking frankly here, that’s pretty irresponsible. You’d make my ex-wife proud.

Get out of debt, stay out of debt, and build up a comfortable cushion THEN buy toys you can pay cash for.

I see manufacturers trucks testing towing capacity around here. I think dodge but lots of them wear padding to keep the spys at bay. Thing is it is a flat trailer with a weight on it, and a big flat plexi screen on front. Doesnt give a realistic cross wind scenario. I assume they do tackle Eisenhower and vail though.
I talked to a hunter a few years back driving a really nice rental because his group burned up a truck pulling a horse trailer. Tranny going up, brakes down. Even without hotrodding the thin air reduces cooling and power.

Back when we knew how to drive dad pulled a big camper with a 63 suburban, 283 truck , granny 4 speed.

Real hard to say what vehicle you need for towing when "pull a simple trailer" is all you have to go on. My brother has logged a lot of miles pulling a small flatbed trailer behind his Jeep Patriot without issue. Likewise my old friend and hunting partner has towed his four wheeler on a small flatbed many miles behind a a Ford Escape with no problem. Whether you need a truck at all and how big of a truck depends how big and heavy a load you need to pull and "a simple trailer" isn't descriptive enough to know.

I like a full size truck, but like having a second small vehicle for a work vehicle. It a lot easier to park, run errands, etc.

do you have secure parking? you might lose a newer SUV or PU in your neighborhood, while they walk on by a pair of 20 yr old corollas.

One more thing to consider.

I wore a set of those out. Musta had 250,000 miles on ‘em.

The big thing would prob’ly be wheels, plain steel oughta be OK, not likely to happen on my particular street anyway. A basic low-end truck without hi-zoot stickers and decals oughtta be OK. Lots of em where I live.

Dude, you have no idea, if your Ex is ANYTHING like me you’re a lucky man

I dunno if I’d call a reliable used vehicle a toy. As it is I have to worry every time I drive either of my current wheels out of town The $2,000 in interest I’d pay would be countered by the extra expenses NOT incurred in flying/renting when I go back East to visit family.

My feeling is I wanna get this done while I’m still working

Cargo trailer. Big enough to stand up in, big enough to lie down on the floor in if driven out of a tent by seriously inclement weather. Big enough to carry a canoe on the roof. Almost anything would be big enough to carry my stuff.

Like the size of one of those little u-haul trailers you see being pulled by cars all over the place ? If so a small SUV/crossover will handle one of those easily so long as you aren't filling it with lead or gold. Canoe goes easily and conveniently on the roof rack of the SUV. That's where I carry mine all the time.

Just as a FYI:

Smaller SUVs more likely than not won't have a receiver hitch preinstalled and some won't even if they have the factory "towing package" as a option so when/if you have one installed you may be limited in what size and kind of hitch you are allowed to have.

The reason I mention this at all is because several years ago I called U-Haul to inquire about having them install a receiver hitch on a small Dodge Raider 4cyl. auto, 4X4 SUV and was told because of liability reasons the biggest receiver hitch they would install on my vehicle based on it's factory rated max towing capacity was a inch and a quarter. I wasn't planning on pulling any big loads ever. I just wanted a 2" hitch because most of the carry-all extra load shelves require a 2" receiver hitch. Still a big NO.