Clutch’s deep thoughts thread...

bkg

Explorer
You have a $20k budget to buy or build a daily driver/weekend adventure mobile... Ok... go...
 

Clutch

<---Pass
*chuckle*

Doesn't look like this will get too deep. ;)

What I already own.

1st Gen Tacoma Extra Cab. Of all of the vehicles I have owned and driven...hands down my favorite.

I do have money set aside for a new truck (just a touch more than that $20K budget) but it works, pure and simple. Has everything I want out of 4WD, manual trans/t-case, good mix of simple mechanical & electronic do-dads, like EFI, power windows/locks, cruise control. Easy to work on. Small in size will squeeze into some tight out of the way camp spots, which also comes in handy in urban environments for the daily driver grind.

Already built. ARB bumper, mix of Camburg/OME suspension, Wildernest. (do you need much more than that?)

Costs me on average $1500-2000/ year to keep it going. $20K buys 10-13 years of repairs. My only real gripe, is that it is old and has high miles. But it is tight...I keep up on repairs, anything that breaks or is looking worn I fix it immediately and go a little beyond what it needs. I am "since it is apart lets fix this too" type of guy.

So instead of a new[er] or different truck, I just take money out of my stash and keep on fixing what I already have.

Do I get bored with it? Yes...but I get compliments on it from time to time, so that makes me think...maybe I just hang-on to the ol' gal.

36237078_10156525881024630_8380732335649193984_n.jpg




Ok...a little deep thought. My wife leaves for Thailand/Burma in a couple weeks for work to help film a documentary on Burmese refugees living in Thailand on the Thai/Myanmar[Burma] border. We have been researching these people nearly a year. The atrocities that they have went through and continue to do is mind numbing. I can't even imagine....and here we are in this forum arguing over 1st World problems...maybe that is why I get on here so much to ****************, to try and forget how messed up things are out there.
 
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bkg

Explorer
“What I already own” takes the fun out of this for me. Wiener.

I have a recurring p0420 even after new cat and new O2 sensors... driving me nuts. And it’s kind of what got me thinking (in addition to the diesel discussion) about what I would do.

$20k budget, I’d probably tear mine down to the frame and clean everything up. Assuming it would need to be my only rig, I’d have a ton of internal arguments about a low-lift SAS for simplicity and strength and end up on 34 or 35’s.

I can fully admit I’d likely do an engine swap. A small v8 would deliver awesome mileage in a little truck, and even with current 4.88/285 combo I find myself wanting for power. Simplicity would likely push towards an all aluminum 5.3... Though a 2.7 ecoboost would fit sooo nice.

Should be able to get 20 good years out of it... and be under the cost of your current maintenance, potentially.
 
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Clutch

<---Pass

Would you expect anything less from me? Ha ha!

Sure there is a bunch of stuff that could be improved upon, scrimping and saving means I have the money to do it, but because of that scrimping and saving makes me not want to blow it on things that will only make it marginally better. Like those **********’ idiotic Cummins 2.8’s... ;).

Why spend the money on something that already works perfectly fine? Just keep on fixing what you already have. Makes the most emotional and financial sense.

Another deep thought. There is a reason I am cheap. My wife has been homeless twice in her life. They were nomadic in her teens. Came home from school at the age of 16, and her mom pulled up stakes and the camper was gone. Instantly homeless...had to drop out of school, and such. She isn’t a mess up either...straight A student honor roll type of person. Fast forward to when she was 30, had a divorce and lost everything, pets, car, house..somehow her jerk ex husband got her fired from her job. Lost everything. Homeless again...and I not talking couch surfing at friend’s house. Abandoned building living type homeless. Fast forward to today, she is now a professor at the college here. Owns a house again, which is huge, can’t even begin to tell you how big a deal that is...and in less than 2 weeks her and another professor are taking a group of kids overseas to witness how most of the rest of the World lives.

Makes our arguing over 1st World problems, recreational problems at that...seem rather pathetic. *raising hand* I am certainly guilty of being hopelessly pathetic.

So with that...the end of the day it isn’t about the vehicle, it is about enjoying the little time we have left on this planet.
 
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Smileyshaun

Observer
early to mid 90s 4runner 22re 5speed with a.c. manual every thing else , 33x10.50r15 pull the diffs from a 3.0 auto rig (4.88s) lockright in the rear arb front . 2" body lift , move the drivetrain up 2" flat belly pan , make bumpers , new seats , rebuild the motor with a better head.

dd . Toyota Camry, 5 speed 4cyl
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
If it was my money I'd skip the Tacoma. The hell with Toyota, at least domestically. My transmission has developed a serious neutral whine at 80k that I've come to find is due to the input shaft wobbling inside wearing out the bearings. Why? There's no damned pilot bearing supporting it in the flywheel. Who at Toyota thought this was a good idea? And what have they done with the engineers who figured out how to build good trucks f'n decades ago? Yeah, I'll fix it with a junkyard one I rebuild, but only until I can figure out the next step. Which is an ideal world where I have another car to drive, find a decent enough pre-Taco, get a garage coupled with a bank account not chronically empty. So a magical land of rainbow pooping unicorns.
 

bkg

Explorer
If it was my money I'd skip the Tacoma. The hell with Toyota, at least domestically. My transmission has developed a serious neutral whine at 80k that I've come to find is due to the input shaft wobbling inside wearing out the bearings. Why? There's no damned pilot bearing supporting it in the flywheel. Who at Toyota thought this was a good idea? And what have they done with the engineers who figured out how to build good trucks f'n decades ago? Yeah, I'll fix it with a junkyard one I rebuild, but only until I can figure out the next step. Which is an ideal world where I have another car to drive, find a decent enough pre-Taco, get a garage coupled with a bank account not chronically empty. So a magical land of rainbow pooping unicorns.

6-speed? I've always wondered why they eliminated the pilot bearing... seemed like destined for issues.
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
Get a Nissan Frontier/Xterra and you can get something made in the last decade with under 200,000 miles for under $20k. :eek: Can even possibly have a manual in it if you want. :cool:

Japanese engineering, made in USA. It's the Toyota poor people who like newer vehicles can buy.

Blasphemy, I know.
 

Clutch

<---Pass
4th gen, V8 4Runner. Sliders & front skid, largest A/T tires that will fit stock suspension, hidden winch under front bumper, the rest of the money on maintenance.
Buddy of mine just rolled into town last night, bought one last week for $6700. Picked a decent sized popup camper for $2000.

Suspension is a little clapped out, so we might doing that while he is here.
 

Clutch

<---Pass
spend 13k on a exploring rig and 7 on a dd
Kinda did that, originally spent $17K on my Taco...and I have a ‘02 Trooper as well, that I bought for a dollar. (Yes a dollar) It is a highway couch, but I don’t like driving autos. So my wife uses it for her 3/4’s of a mile commute. We might put 1000 miles on it a year.
 
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DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
6-speed? I've always wondered why they eliminated the pilot bearing... seemed like destined for issues.
Yup, Aisin RA60/AY6 manual. I can't think of a good mechanical reason to eliminate it, had to be a cost cutting exercise since the transmission was shared with a lot of companies. I'm looking your way financial disaster to-be mid-2000s GM... There's a kit to convert 2WD AY6 to a T-56, like in X-Runners and Camaros. My mind wonders if a R-series would fit on there.
Get a Nissan Frontier/Xterra and you can get something made in the last decade with under 200,000 miles for under $20k. :eek: Can even possibly have a manual in it if you want. :cool:

Japanese engineering, made in USA. It's the Toyota poor people who like newer vehicles can buy.

Blasphemy, I know.
If I could go back 3 years that's exactly what I'd do. But then again I bought a one owner, 8 year old truck for a $21k with 42,000 miles on it and at the time the Nissans weren't that much cheaper.

And they had reputed transmission problems, too. Shrug.
 
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Clutch

<---Pass
If I could go back 3 years that's exactly what I'd do. But then again I bought a one owner, 8 year old truck for a $21k with 42,000 miles on it and at the time the Nissans weren't that much cheaper.

And they had reputed transmission problems, too. Shrug.

Did Hell just freeze over?

You could probably make a profit on yours.

Client of mine recently traded in her Tacoma on a F150 with an Ecoboost, same gas mileage and a hell of a lot more fun to drive. Pulls her camper like it isn’t even back there.
 

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