The comparison is kinda unfair. The big truck has a wider bed, bigger tires and more power. It also seats more people. So it is able to get more load through more difficult terrain. However we can be quite sure it won’t be used in that way.
up to but not including 7th gen hilux is more in line with what I would consider a reasonable truck design. I’d give them a pass before 2004 or so. The bulbous round ones, if people actually use them off the streets then it probably won’t offend me to see them on the road but personally I’d just have a small car for day to day and only use the truck for what I bought it for, storage insurance when I don’t need it. I’m still too scared of having my bike stolen to commit to no car it turns out. Some places are just too sketchy.
The tonneau cover is usually there because A) they do mostly highway mikes and want the improved mileage resulting from reduced drag, and B) they rarely use the bed, as those covers are a PITA unless you only remove it once in a great while.
I live in Central America where its mostly little trucks owned by workers, and they often drive on mud roads and hard terrain. The only people with trucks like the black one in the picture are US expats with …particular political leanings.
unless the owner does a full handwash, clay, compound, and wax every time, there is no way the trucks I’m seeing in my region are washed off road vehicles.
In a way I almost prefer that to the blatant posers I see driving around with huge lifts and offroad tires looking spotless in our muddy season out here. I was at the combo laundromat/carwash the other day watching one of them wash an already clean truck while I was thinking about the massive mud puddle I’d be driving through to get home.
The comparison is kinda unfair. The big truck has a wider bed, bigger tires and more power. It also seats more people. So it is able to get more load through more difficult terrain. However we can be quite sure it won’t be used in that way.
I’ve never seen one with wear and tear and/or dirt that would indicate difficult terrain. Those only leave the city in advertisements.
There’s a few in the country around here. The ones with dirt on them are almost exclusively the Toyota Hilux, though
up to but not including 7th gen hilux is more in line with what I would consider a reasonable truck design. I’d give them a pass before 2004 or so. The bulbous round ones, if people actually use them off the streets then it probably won’t offend me to see them on the road but personally I’d just have a small car for day to day and only use the truck for what I bought it for, storage insurance when I don’t need it. I’m still too scared of having my bike stolen to commit to no car it turns out. Some places are just too sketchy.
The tonneau cover is usually there because A) they do mostly highway mikes and want the improved mileage resulting from reduced drag, and B) they rarely use the bed, as those covers are a PITA unless you only remove it once in a great while.
I live in Central America where its mostly little trucks owned by workers, and they often drive on mud roads and hard terrain. The only people with trucks like the black one in the picture are US expats with …particular political leanings.
Nearly every tonneau cover folds or rolls up. Outright removal is a pain, but using the bed isn’t.
The factory standard cover rolls up in about 30 seconds.
that only happens when actual working people buy it used, maybe a decade down the line, to do actual work.
A lot of people wash them shortly after going off road to avoid rust and corrosion.
unless the owner does a full handwash, clay, compound, and wax every time, there is no way the trucks I’m seeing in my region are washed off road vehicles.
However, there is (or was) an additional product for faking off-road activity: Spray-on mud for giving a justification to need such a car.
In a way I almost prefer that to the blatant posers I see driving around with huge lifts and offroad tires looking spotless in our muddy season out here. I was at the combo laundromat/carwash the other day watching one of them wash an already clean truck while I was thinking about the massive mud puddle I’d be driving through to get home.
My brother in law has a truck like the one on the right. That backseat area is huge. You could stop and have a picnic back there during a road trip.
I can’t imagine owing it. It looks dumb to me and it’s far too big for normal use. But he’s a cross country hauler, so it’s not a big truck to him.
And they have three kids, so I doubt he gives af about pp showmanship.