Moving back to the States, what vehicle?

[aluke0510]

I am wondering what your fear is in a weight higher than what the vehicle is rated? Is it for your every day driving safety or others you may or may not have an accident with? I would be more worried about steel bumpers on any truck that a lawyer may have a field day with more than a vehicle being overweight. Modifying any vehicle puts you at risk because thats not how the manufacturer intended it to be nor was it tested like that. If you are worried about a vehicle being over the tag weight rating then buy a "weighted" tag so a state trooper cant say anything if the truck was ever weighed.

Ben

For one not even liability insurance will not cover you if you over weight, so if you cause a 3 car collision while on the roadway in route and they all happen to be to brand new Range Rovers you are skewed for the rest of your life of all forbid you kill somebody it is all coming out of your pocket... Yes the chance is low but it has severe consequences if it happens. See that isn't much of a problem here in Africa.

That is your biggest fear. Sure a fine would be cheaper than operating a larger vehicle within it's limits...

 

[p nut]

I'm in full agreement with XPEDITIONREADY. I think you're focusing on the wrong thing here. All of your modifications (lift, skinny/tall tires, etc.) will affect the handling of your truck, not just the weight. So if your main worry is the small chance of being stuck with a bill due to discrepences with the insurance company, you should buy a diesel and leave it stock, down to the tires.

FWIW, in my experience of owning both, the Tacoma did much better with a load than any of my 4Runners.

 

[bcrez]

Prius. Prius for sure.

 

[Clutch]

F150 Ecoboost, with heavy duty package. 2800 lbs payload.

Will get 22 mpg's HWY.

 

[aluke0510]

Did a bit of a spreadsheet comparison today because I was bored. Basically it narrows things down to 4Runner, F150, and Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a diesel conversion on a Tacoma. You will see here that I evened the payload playing field to a 750 mile range for fuel mass using the epa city figure. I didn't list the criteria there that I was looking for but you should be able to get the idea. Included in cost is a positive cash estimate to build close to specs I would like...

If you were to include off road capability it would like highlight the F150 as a further worse choice and if you were to include reliability it would highlight the Jeep as a further worse choice.

Just for kicks I threw in a regular cab Tacoma with a D4D conversion and it gets very close. I included cost of conversion and value generation from selling the engine. What is really helping it is the reduction in fuel requirement. And considering a 10 yr lifetime the cost of ownership of it compared to a 4Runner is quite close, recouping a little over half of the invested value of the conversion, and that is only at 100,000 miles...

It is amazing how much payload gets consumed on the full size trucks and SUV's when you add balance the range with spare case cans.

@Kermit
Funny thing is the 3.7L from Ford does better according to EPA rating than the 3.5L ecoboost.

@pnut
Don't see your point. Insurance will still cover legal modifications and you aren't going to get sued for making legal modifications to your vehicle and operating the vehicle within the GVWR. As far as the Tacoma handling the loads better, tell that to the engineers or the government; whoever is lowering the rating below the real capability.

@bcrez
Prius, meh no. Probably a Ford Focus or something for a daily driver...

Tomorrow I am off for two weeks unsupported to remote north west Namibia. Fully loaded and outfitted, satellite phone, two spare tires, two fridges, army tent, etc... got to love the Defender.

 

[Clutch]

The 3.7L doesn't make the power of the eco boost, my buddy has one it will get an honest 22 hwy if you keep it under 70 mph. The 3.7l is a fine fine engine, it does feel rather week in the F150 though. It will go 200-300'000 mile though.

Correct me if I am wrong, a Tacoma with a D4D swap will only get 25 mpg, Diesel Toyz did a FJ Cruiser conversion, IIRC it only fetches 25 mpg. Don't
know if a $25K conversion cost is really worth it over a petrol version. Diesel also cost a lot more here. Especially when there is large inventory of fullsize diesel
trucks here, that have far better capabilities than the Tacoma.

 

[aluke0510]

@Kermit

If you look at the attachment you will see I ruled out the 3.7L...

I get 25mpg in my Hilux so just guessing about the same in the Tacoma. For some reason FJ Cruisers always seem to get one or two mpg less than trucks. I really want to stay away from the full-size trucks for their size and maneuverability.

Yeah, I upped the price of fuel on the diesel in the spreadsheet. I think 200,000 miles would be the break even point on a diesel conversion. One of the main advantages is you don't have to carry as much fuel so less of the payload is consumed when comparing based on equivalent range... Not that I am going to do that because it is a bit too much up front cost and then insurance price goes up because of the vehicle value. I just wanted to see what it looked like.

The 4runner is a pretty clear winner to me. The only other vehicles coming close to the same payload capacity once fuel qty./range is considered are fullsize trucks. Unless somebody can convince me otherwise. Probably be looking to pick up a moderately used vehicle.

 

[Ryanmb21]

I'm surprised the weight rating for the land cruiser is so low. I assumed it would have huge payload.