completely OT: funny typo

[Andy]

cheap laugh, but a laugh nonetheless...

[RicodJour]

Not bad! That typo probably increased that ad's viewership by about ten times.

R

[George Max]

I nearly laughed my ass off. Too funny! If I was any good at carving, I think I'd make one for my car just for laughs.

To keep this sorta on topic, remember the wooden gift the little kid makes for Billy Bob Thornton in the movie "Bad Santa"? The "wooden pickle" colored brown by the dried blood from the kid when he made it?

[Jim Behning]

I have a Toyota truck since 1987. I do not think I could bring myself to buy a new TRD though. I would have to get a vanity plate that said WUSS or some other derogatory word from my youth.

[B A R R Y]

As someone who's owned a mini-fleet of Toyota pickups, and currently has an '05 TRD Offroad Access Cab 4x4 Tacoma with a 6 speed manual (and a short shift kit), I ask _WHY_?

What a fan-freakintastic truck!

Perfect, slightly smaller than "American truck" size, easy access to the back of the cab, kick-ass use of interior space, it tows 6500 pounds with a factory class 5 hitch w/ 7 pin electrics, gets ~ 20 MPG when I'm not towing, has a rustproof, drillable FRP bed w/ sliding tie-downs, _no doubt, genuine_ off-road capability (better than my '99 Jeep Wrangler Sport w/ 33's), ABS, electric locking diff, factory clutch pedal bypass, 32" tires from the factory (and genuine Bilsteins!), an aluminum radiator big enough for a P-51 (or a slow moving 4x4 off-road on a hot day), air bags, factory stainless steel headers, factory cold air intake, and an oil filter mounted ON TOP of the front of the engine, complete with "dribble tray"!

I never thought I'd see an easier oil change than my 1985 2WD, 22R powered, non-airconditioned, no power steering, Toyota "Pickup", but they did it!

I put an aluminum Thule XSporter overhead rack on it. The rack bolted right onto the factory bed rails for easy hauling of lumber, pipe, ladders, and my kayaks when I'm not dragging the cargo trailer around. The spacing makes for simple and quick carriage of 12'+ lumber. I can remove the rack in 5 minutes, if it's in the way.

Did I mention the kick-ass, low to the floor (just like older Toyota Extra Cabs), lumbar adjustable TRD bucket seats? ;^)

I don't have silly stuff like leather, a remote starter, backup camera, or a power moonroof.

My wife and I like the current generation Tacoma so much, we wish they'd do a soft top FJ, so we can deep-six the Wrangler.

BTW, I've had _one_ Nissan truck, too...

[Jim Behning]

I am not feeling the love for my Toyota right now. I need to grease and adjust the front wheel bearings which have not been done in

220,000 miles. The factory alignment calls for zero caster which I suspect contributes to the wandering. It wandered new but might be a bit worse with the slightly loose wheel bearings. The last valve job did not work so swell. Supposedly most of the guides were in good shape with only one replaced. Truck is using too much oil which means someone probably nicked the valve stem seals. You have to remove the head to replace the seals. Transmission is fairly quiet but had some new bearings at 100,000 miles. Synthetic oil may be helping keep those bearings alive.Truck pings excessively. I need to send the injectors off for cleaning and testing. I may drop the catalytic converter for inspection. I cannot imagine it is in good shape after nearly 20 years. It does not tow my horse trailer very well anymore. That is my big beef. I suspect injector cleaning and maybe a new catalytic converter will make me happy again. My mileage is not much better than yours and I have a mere 22RE with a towing package.

I am about a year away from looking at a new to me used truck. I was thinking about a big diesel of some sort but maybe a smaller Tacoma would be good enough. Time to start test driving.

[B A R R Y]

I would LOVE to see the Tacoma sold in North America with the 3 liter turbo-diesel that Toyota uses in the Hilux, sold to the entire rest of the world. While it's fun smacking around rice boys from stop light to stop light with the 4.0L V6, the diesel gets ~ 30 MPG with similar overall power.

Since you do your own maintenance, as I do, don't forget to pop the hood. We've go some friends on the Tacoma engineering team!

[Jim Behning]

My diesel VW gets about 50 mpg. Sometimes a bit over and sometimes a bit less. A bit being about 2 mpg. It annoys me that the big 3 put engines suitable for pulling a 30,000 lb. trailer in a chassis rated for 20,000 gvw. I would not mind a smaller diesel in a big pickup that would let me pull 10,000 lbs and get better than 18-20 empty that some get. If you have driven a diesel Jetta you know it drives just fine and has moderate acceleration. I am not in any race so 150 hp,

300lb/ft torque would probably be fine in a truck. I surely don't need 500-600 lb/ft of torque to pull a 5,000 lb trailer of hay. Just a point to whine about until Toyota, Nissan or Honda start installing diesels in their US trucks.