Now that we've made through winter and I no longer must rely on the v6 4x4 for it's capabilties, I splurged ($1,000) and got a flat bed 4 banger manual trans 1st gen Tacoma with 170,067.4 miles on the odometer. It's rough around the edges to say the least, but it rides nice. I got it home and dropped the oil and topped up all the fluids. It's a peppy little thing that I think I'll enjoy using this summer.
The bed height is 32'', width is 63'', and the length is 84''. I have plans to build a rack for it as well.
Initial 10 mile roundtrip course with
Pulse & Glide driving without
Engine Off Coasting yielded 37.7mpg uncalibrated on the Ultra Guage. This was after airing the tires to 44psi and removing the passenger wiper. This truck has much taller gearing than the V6, so I found myself wanting to shift early. It doesn't have a tac either which I'll have to add to the front screen on the UG. The UG also powers down when I key off, so I will need to wire in a kill switch in order to EOC.
I'm excited as this truck is already showing promise and has alot of aero possibilities on the table.
Updated 4/19/15
Current Modifications:
Tires at 55 psi
Passenger Wiper Delete
Grill Block
Moon Hubs
Power Steering Delete
Clutch Driven Fan Delete
1/4 Plywood Sides
Light Weight Wooden Flatbed
Warm Air Intake
Folded Side Mirrors (when not needed)
0-30w Mobile One oil throughout
LED Lights
Planned Modifications:
Aero Cap
Smooth Under panel
Hitch mounted tail extension
Alternator Disable
Kill Switch
Oil Pan Heater
Transmission heater
Coolant Heater