New (Used) Hunting truck

[elkguide]

Towing a horse trailer? Only red flag so far.

As has been stated, most any 4WD truck will do everything that you want, even pulling that trailer. The BIG hole that the little trucks will leave you stranded in....... is trying to stop a loaded horse trailer or if the horse happens to shift position in the trailer and those little trucks will give you a fantastic case of white knuckles. Otherwise, the little trucks will be easier to park in the city, able to go down some smaller roads/trails, and get a couple more miles to the gallon.

As for me....... I drive a GMC 2500 HD Denali, diesel.

 

[Billinsd]

Thanks again for all the advice guys. Question, how many miles do you consider to be too much when buying a used truck? I'm looking for something that will at least last me the next 6 years preferably closer to 10.

Depends greatly on the manufacturer and the maintenance record. With a Toyota well mainted, I'd say you could go to 200,000 easy, 250,000 probably. I wouldn't want more than 100,000 when you buy it unless you know the person.

 

[Billinsd]

Go Toyota. Check out the quality index rating for used vehicles ( Best and Worst Quality Index Ratings - Dashboard Light ). You will see that Toyota a Lexus own the top if the charts. Same company, by the way.

My friends and I drive Toyota's and they regularly run into the 200,000 without any maintenance beyond oil changes. Personally I wouldnt be scared to buy a Tundra or Tacoma with 150,000 miles. Wouldnt touch an American with that manny miles.

For $15,000 you can get a low miles 2006 tundra with money to spare, or a medium miles 2007 or 2008 tundra. They hold their value well!

Yikes!! You gotta change your other fluids, brakes, belts, and lube the drivetrain. Look at the fluids when you are looking at a used car. Look at the radiator, get a compression test, get a test for head gasket leak. If it's an auto tranny look at the oil. It's great if the owner has recepts for oil changes, etc. Look at the coolant overflow tank. Is it low or empty? Could be coolant system or head gasket. How does the engine look? Real cleaned, just steam cleaned? Could be bad, you don't know if car had leaks? Look at belts are they brittle and cracked? How about hoses? Are they soft and expand out?

 

[Billinsd]

Man, P.T. Barnum is just high fiving and fist bumping all the mods salesmen on their walk to the bank

Personally, I think all the bells and whistles are silly. Sensible driving in a stock 4x4 with good tires will get you anywhere you should go. I'd buy a used Chevy and not look back. Our work fleet (landscaping) consists of 3 Ford's and one 97 Chevy half ton. The money spent on fixing the Ford's could have bought your new-used pickup easily in the last 5 years. The old chevy with 208k just likes oil changes and tires now and then.

I drive/hunt/live with a 99 Tahoe. All I have done is add a leaf spring in the rear to offset the chronic saggy 'hoe'.

Some mods are extremely useful, like a tranny locker, a winch, bigger tires. I got new coil overs and half a leaf added to my tacoma, because after I put a shell on and loaded it down with hunting stuff it sagged. Truck modding is real personal and can get expensive. When I get a truck I drive it around and add mods as I find necessary. Like replacing the wimpy front coil overs, because my truck was resonating on the freeway, or adding a half a leaf because the rear end was sagging. Most trucks aren't built for what I'd call four wheeling. Some trucks need more mods than others and it depends how and where you drive. I drive on rough 2 track trails and those 4x4 forest circus trails with the numbers on the stake written vertically, over rocks and tree stumps. That's a lot different than wash board dirt roads. I see more guys on quads where I go than trucks alot of times. I think most guys raise their trucks too much. There is a much higher percentage of really high lifted trucks in San Diego, than in Grand Junction, thats because they are mostly for show and they are real expensive. When you do that you re-engineer the truck and raise the center of gravity, making it more tippy and put a huge strain on the undercarriage, greatly reducing the life of it and increasing the chances of breaking down in the boonies. I think when I get older and retire, I'll get a 1/2 ton, or probably 3/4 ton and pull a trailer and a quad, camp off a dirt road and ride around on a quad. That's what a lot guys I see do hunting out in the West.

 

[darcytribe]

I HAVE A ONE OWNER 1ST GEN TACOMA I BOUGHT LAST YEAR WITH 319,000 MILES. 6CYL AUTO 4WD. when MAINTAINED WELL THEY GO THAT FAR EASILY AND REGULARLY. gO TO TACOMAWORLD.COM AND KEEP AN EYE ON THE 1ST GEN MARKETPLACE FORUM. EVERY MONTH A LOW MILAGE ONE WILL BE POSTED FOR 12-15 K. when I SAY LOW MILAGE I MEAN 50-80 THOUSAND MILES. MANY HAVE ALREADY ALSO HAD THE MODS THAT HAVE BEEN MENTIONED ON THIS THREAD TO MAKE THEM EVEN MORE OFF ROAD WORTHY. if YOU CAN FIND ONE WITH THAT MILAGE YOU HAVE A TRUCK THAT WILL LAST YOU A DECADE EASY OF dd SERVICE. I ALWAYS TRY TO BUY FROM AN AREA THAT DOES NOT USE SALT ON THE ROAD. tHE WEEK SPOT IN THESE SECOND AND FIRST GEN TACOMAS IS FRAME RUST. yOU NEED TO INSPECT THAT FRAME WELL.

 

[Billinsd]

300,000 is really pushing it. I'd imagine the head gasket would go out by then. Also, when you go that many miles, you are replacing parts. Water pump, starter, wheel bearings, engine motor mounts. It's really risky buying from strangers, many will sell when some thing is going wrong. I've driven several Japanese cars past 200,000. My civic went to 250,000 and got a head gasket leak. I was so sick of that car, it didn’t have ac. I got ride of it. Most newer cars got coil packs, which are very expensive and catalitic converters. If you live in a state that makes you use cats, they last about 100,000 or so. My Nissan cat went to 200,000, but that's rare. I don't daily drive my taco, because the mpg is poor. My wife and I drive civics and the taco is in the garage most of the time. I take it out and drive it a couple times a month. Using your hunting truck for a daily driver is too expensive for me, unless I drove 5 miles to work.

 

[EastMT]

Go Toyota. Check out the quality index rating for used vehicles ( Best and Worst Quality Index Ratings - Dashboard Light ). You will see that Toyota a Lexus own the top if the charts. Same company, by the way.

My friends and I drive Toyota's and they regularly run into the 200,000 without any maintenance beyond oil changes. Personally I wouldnt be scared to buy a Tundra or Tacoma with 150,000 miles. Wouldnt touch an American with that manny miles.

For $15,000 you can get a low miles 2006 tundra with money to spare, or a medium miles 2007 or 2008 tundra. They hold their value well!

Does this include the Tacoma’s like the one I bought? With the bad bell housing in a 6 speed manual? 3 transmissions in 36,000 miles? The dealer told me tons of the Tacoma’s and FJ with the same tranny were ripping through them but as usual toyota will no issue a recall, they put out a service bulletin so it’s not on the 10 ’oclock news. Would not extend my warranty, $8000 fix, 3 Times. Couldn’t afford to keep, 3 Times driving a dealer loaner sucked. Search FJ/Tacoma transmission problems bell housing, hundreds of the same story.

The autos are bullet proof from what I understand, but they should stand behind their manuals too, not brush it under the rug

 

[Billinsd]

What year Taco are you talking about? I got a 2002. I only really know about the 1st generation ones.I "think" most are talking about older Tacos. I've never ever heard of that? On the Tacoma forums on the older ones like mine, some have had the tranny cooler fail and ruin the tranny with coolant. It's called a strawberry milkshake. I don't think it's very common and when I called a mechanic he said it's very uncommon and can happen in many cars.

 

[flyinsquirel]

Coop is dead on. That 6spd manual in the 2nd Gen Tacoma/FJ is a real P.O.S. Nothing like the 5spd in the 1st gens. Beside the crummy bellhousing/throw out bearing the gear ratios suck. How Toyota thought it was a good idea to put a throw-out bearing on an aluminum snout is beyond me. Guaranteed to fail quickly.

Go auto if looking at a 2nd Gen Taco.

 

[bivouaclarry]

Seriously? Yikes! My Ecodiesel averages 22mpg after adding a 6" lift, 35s, steel bumper, etc.

No lying. It's horrible. Everything else I love about the truck and it's been great on reliability with no issues. The Ecodiesel is my next truck. Yours is kitted perfect!

 

[black dawg]

Some mods are extremely useful, like a tranny locker, a winch, bigger tires. I got new coil overs and half a leaf added to my tacoma, because after I put a shell on and loaded it down with hunting stuff it sagged. Truck modding is real personal and can get expensive. When I get a truck I drive it around and add mods as I find necessary. Like replacing the wimpy front coil overs, because my truck was resonating on the freeway, or adding a half a leaf because the rear end was sagging. Most trucks aren't built for what I'd call four wheeling. Some trucks need more mods than others and it depends how and where you drive. I drive on rough 2 track trails and those 4x4 forest circus trails with the numbers on the stake written vertically, over rocks and tree stumps. That's a lot different than wash board dirt roads. I see more guys on quads where I go than trucks alot of times. I think most guys raise their trucks too much. There is a much higher percentage of really high lifted trucks in San Diego, than in Grand Junction, thats because they are mostly for show and they are real expensive. When you do that you re-engineer the truck and raise the center of gravity, making it more tippy and put a huge strain on the undercarriage, greatly reducing the life of it and increasing the chances of breaking down in the boonies. I think when I get older and retire, I'll get a 1/2 ton, or probably 3/4 ton and pull a trailer and a quad, camp off a dirt road and ride around on a quad. That's what a lot guys I see do hunting out in the West.

What is a tranny locker?

 

[Billinsd]

Doh, I mean a differential locker....

 

[KBC]

No matter what you get you need 3 mods. Locker, good tires, winch and a locker. Did I mention a locker?

It might not be sexy and shiny like light bars or bumpers but a locker or two will be your best money spent for driving off road.

 

[V65Magna]

What year Taco are you talking about? I got a 2002. I only really know about the 1st generation ones.I "think" most are talking about older Tacos. I've never ever heard of that? On the Tacoma forums on the older ones like mine, some have had the tranny cooler fail and ruin the tranny with coolant. It's called a strawberry milkshake. I don't think it's very common and when I called a mechanic he said it's very uncommon and can happen in many cars.

I had one of those "Strawberry Milkshakes" with a 2005 Pilot @ 188K. It was too late by the time I realized it. My Tacoma was a 2000, 1st Gen 5 Speed. No problems at 211K when I traded it in. If I were looking for one used I'd try to get one under 125K with the timing belt changed.

 

[black dawg]

I see lots of recommendations for a locker. My recommendation would be for a selectable locker, automatic style lockers can add driveability/poor handling especially on slick roads, depending on vehicle wheelbase, weight, and transmission.

 

[Yellowknife]

Thanks again for all the advice guys. Question, how many miles do you consider to be too much when buying a used truck? I'm looking for something that will at least last me the next 6 years preferably closer to 10.

For what it's worth, every study I've seen says it's extremely rare for any vehicle to make 200,000 miles. Like single digit rare, even with Toyota's.

I'm not sure if their method is perfect, but this is the most recent one I could find.

Used Cars for Sale: Search 3 Million Listings & 491,771 Deals - iSeeCars.com

This is also interesting. Shows that Tundra owners are roughly 3x more likely to keep there truck 15 years or more than other brands of half tons. If nothing else, it means that there are a lot of conservative Tundra owners still driving around the 1 gen's they bought new back in the day.

Used Cars for Sale: Search 3 Million Listings & 491,771 Deals - iSeeCars.com

My personal experience is that minor repairs start to up tick pretty good at around 90,000 miles and major repairs start happening at around 120,000 - 140,000 miles with the truck's I've owned (Ford, Toyota, and Dodge)

 

[IdahoElk]

get a Taco and be done with it,anything under 300k,ha! I have a 4runner with 275k and I can't kill the thing.

 

[Matt W.]

I have been driving a Gen 1 Tundra since 2001. Upgraded from my 2001 to a 2005 DC a few years back. I don't tow much of anything so its the perfect setup for me. Room enough for the family, has a V8 and just keeps on running.


2005 Toyota Tundra Double Cab 4x4
King Coil Overs w/ Light Racing Upper Control Arms
Skid Row Front Skid Plate (removed from 01, sanded it down, repainted to cover minor rust)
Wheeler’s Off Road Differential Drop Kit
Wheeler’s Tundra Sway Bar Bushing / Bumpstop Kit, Anti-Sway Kit,
Wheeler’s Multi-Leaf Add a Leaf Set 1.5″ Lift 3 Leaf Progressive
Bilstien 5100 Rear Shocks (removing the rear shocks was an immense pain)
Leer Canopy (color matched)
OEM 5 Spoke Wheels w/ Cooper Discoverer S/T MAXX LT255/80R17E (w/ matching spare)
Kenwood Excelon DDX593 Receiver w/ Video Capability
LED Cab Lights upgrade
LED Light Setup for Canopy Interior (Costco Special, battery powered w/ remote $18!)
Color Matched Mirrors (a junkyard find!)
Toyota TRD Dual Exhaust

On My to do list:
Tundra Steering Rack Bushing Kit
Install Rear Backup Camera (IMO, a required device with young kids)
Install Roof Racks & Basket on the Canopy
On Board Water System (for cleaning gear, but mostly for cleaning the dang dog off!)
Off Road Jack (Something other than a hi-lift)
DECKED Organizer (Has to be a custom mod since DECKED does not due 2005 Tundras)

 

[Ray]

As a long time Toyota user, there is an issue with the mythology of Toyotas. People think that these vehicles will run forever with no effort put into the maintenance. Sorry, moving parts is moving parts. Maintenance is needed, even on Toyotas. But, so many users don't do anything to their rigs because of the mythology and at 150k miles the rig is just a pile of scrap metal.

My 2006 taco quad cab had 123k miles when I bought it in 2012 for $10k less that what the dealership was selling the same year used trucks for. It had been beaten to death. The test drive was sketchy. After inspecting it, I was kinda scared that I drove it. I bought a bumper to bumper aftermarket warranty for $1900. Covered everything but brake pads and shocks. By the end of the two year warranty period about $8000 in repairs had been done to the truck. I was out $1000 in deductible. The only original front end parts left are the rack, diff, and knuckles. The rear leaf springs were shot, and the recall had not come out yet, so I replaced them with aftermarket leafs at my own cost while the rear axle was being rebuilt because all the wheel bearings and seals were toast, and the rear brake drums had been worn down to below spec.

One of the interesting things about this truck was that the prior owner had put 53,000 miles on it in eight months just before they traded it in to the used car dealer I had bought it from. The toyota dealer found that data in their corporate database when I had it in for warranty work.

 

[Yellowknife]

As a long time Toyota user, there is an issue with the mythology of Toyotas. People think that these vehicles will run forever with no effort put into the maintenance. Sorry, moving parts is moving parts. Maintenance is needed, even on Toyotas. But, so many users don't do anything to their rigs because of the mythology and at 150k miles the rig is just a pile of scrap metal.

This is very true.

My 1 gen Tundra had a solid and trouble free engine/transmission, but the rest of the rig required regular upkeep to keep in good condition. CV boots, 4x4 actuator, coilover shocks, brake rotors.... Nothing major, but if I would have skipped that stuff it would have been a pile by the time I sold it.

That little stuff actually was more involved on that truck than the Ram 2500 I use now, and the Ram see's much heavier use than the Tundra ever did. Pretty sure the Toyota drivetrain will outlive the Ram, but it's fundamentally was a lighter built rig and there no question that the average HD truck can take a beating with minimal upkeep for at least the first half of it's life.