Long story short, been driving a Gen 2 tacoma for the last 15 years. Access Cab and 6'bed. its been rock solid for everything Ive needed it for as a tradesman and hobby farmer.Now I got a kid on the way and Im willing to admit I might need somthing a bit newer. I plan on keeping the Taco for work driving but I'd like somthing that can still do some off reading, no full rock crawling but managing ATV trails while still having good tow and payload for farm shit.Basically I've narrowed myself down to either a Ford Ranger XLT with the F4x or a Cheby Colorado Z71. Cant make up my mind, just looking for personal experiences or autism to help point me towards one of the other.
>>28741822>ranger or coloradoWhy? both are pretty shit and can't be had in CCLB configs anymore. If you want something capable off-road but with a longbed in the midsize segment your options are tacoma or frontier. the frontier is the way to go in the midsize segment but since you plan on using it for a family vehicle you may as well just do a half ton because they have much more interior room.
>>28741822New trucks are dogshit, just overhaul the Tacoma and keep driving it
>>28741822>managing ATV trailsSubaru >good tow and payload for farm shit Neither the Ranger or Colorado. What kind of farm? I didn't realize the new FX4 Rangers had a respectable 7.5k capacity, Colorado 7.7k. I'd just get a half today desu. They ride really nice and they hold their value.
>>28741859It's just a small hobby farm, 10 head of herefords, our two quarter horses, chickens and planning on getting a couple pigs next year. The 7000lbs+ tow is good nuff for trailer + 2 animals. We have more than enough land that we only rotate the cows across fields and dont need to worry about shipping them to pasture, more often than not its hauling our horses out to the mountains for a weekend ride.Also >inb4 erm 2 quarter horse ? Do you mean a half horse
>>28741899just get a low to mid spec half ton dude, midsize trucks are mostly lifestyle vehicles and the only good one left is the frontier anyway
>>28741822Kinda similar to OP I drove a 2013 Tacoma Offroad for 8 years, recently picked up a 21 Colorado ZR2. Wife and I plan on getting some animals but my work has me driving up north and deep into oil lease trails so I knowingly gave up payload and towing for a better off-road ride. I like it so far, some ways it feels like a side grade to the Taco and Im suspect Ill get 300k out of it with next to no issues but Im pretty happy with it so far.
>>28741931>Im suspect Ill get 300k out of it with next to no issuesahahhah lmao. Those 3.6 engines and the trannies behind them are pieces of fucking shit. Good luck.
>>28741940Sorry, I meant I don't expect to get 300k out of it like my Taco
>>28741822I have a '20 Ranger XLT FX4. I'm pretty happy with it, drives well, gets about 24mph even with A/T tires and a leveling kit, and hasn't given me much trouble, with the one exception that the stock shocks were abject garbage and were totally fucked by 50k, so I replaced them with Bilstein 5100s and they're a massive upgrade even over stock.I tried Colorados when I was in the market as well and didn't like them anywhere near as much, they felt smaller and tackier inside and I didn't like the driving experience as much. For all the shit people talk on the Ford's 4cyl it's a really good engine too, tons of power, very reliable, and efficient. I've towed a 4500lb-ish enclosed trailer about 500mi with it and it handled it like a champ, just cruised up some pretty significant inclines at like 2.5k RPM while a V6 would've been revving itself to death, and I ended up getting 18mpg while dong it.
The ranger is the size of F100/F150 before the bloat.But without the capabilities of an F100/F150.>>28741831Frontier is a good choice, severely underrated truck.The Ranger and Colorado are trying to fill a redefined mid-sized role and they do it poorly.If you just need to haul hay, Maverick.If youre talking about a horse trailer or taking calves to auction, just go with a fullsize of whatever your prefered brand.
>>28741822Every ranger I've rode in recently has been a pile, even the newer ones. I have not driven the Colorado but I imagine it's in a similar situation as the Ranger.Personally I would go with the Frontier. It feels a bit more modern and the overall package is better imo. I love its V6.
>>28741822Ranger.
>>28741972>But without the capabilities of an F100/F150.It's actually very similar. The current Ranger is pretty comparable to a '90s "Jellybean" F-150, and from what I can find a '97 crew cab 4x4 was rated for 7,500lbs, which is exactly the same as my similarly-specced Ranger. Payload was about 100lbs more but that's a pretty minor difference, with the small beds on both trucks you'll usually fill the volume before you max out the weight and neither is enough for really heavy dense stuff like pallets of bricks or whatever.
>>28741972Also, I'll say that I think they fit the current role pretty well, it's just that people aren't that clear on what the role is. IMO it's simply "real truck that fits in my garage, in a regular parking space, or on a jeep trail."
>>28741822I use a '21 Canyon AT4 as my main family vehicle these days. Fits my three boys in back and dogs in the bed. Can haul a yard of gravel. Can get anywhere I want inna woods. Can even tow my bigass trailer. Has a V6 instead of a gay I4 turbo like the new ones too. Probably would have gone half ton all things equal but I was able to get this basically new for 3/4 the price due to family things and it's doing everything I need.
>>28742051>but I was able to get this basically new for 3/4 the priceSorta how I wound up with my Ranger, not family but I was forced to look for a truck in 2022 when the market was fucked and I found a deal on a 2 year old mint one for the same money everybody was asking for 6 year old 80k mile F-150s. I will say though, if you get the chance to try towing with one of the turbo 4s you might be surprised, they're shockingly good at it, almost like little diesels.
>>28741822Get an SUV instead of a pickup
>>28741822Unless your first priority is a manual transmission, the best midsize trucks are the Canyonrado twins. The ZR2 is the best off road and the non-ZR2 Babymax is the best hauler Avoid the 8 speed trucks from 2017 to 22 (IE get a 2016 or earlier if you want a V6, the 2.8 came with the 6 speed for it's whole production run). The 2.3 Turbomax motor spooked me at first, but I'm managing about 80 of them in Express Vans and half-ton delivery trucks at work, and they're my current choice for a gasser service van motor if I can't justify a 6.6l, they're just good motors of you're not a complete goon about maintenance. They are cheaper to run than the Transit 350s and way cheaper to run than the Promastere 3500s (but not cheaper to buy, so I'm still stuck with a bunch of those turds). My personal DD is a 2015 Colorado with the V6 and the 6 speed auto.>>28741904If you are going to deal with the hassle of a full size, you might as well be in a 3/4 ton or one ton. The one thing they do better than a midsize (besides fit fatasses in the cab) is the 8 foot bed and accept a tommygate, and no one is buying SCLB half tons except fleet guys like me. If I could delete them, I'd maybe like the 3.0 duramax I6 better, but I can't do that to my fleet vehicles, so the gassers make more sense.
Probably Ranger. My dad somehow ripped the transfer case off his Colorado doing some very light work. Down sized off a Silverado so might have been a factor. Honestly I think you might be better served with anything pre-2016 in trucks.
>>28741822You won't be going anywhere or hauling anything in a Ford that's for sure.
>>28742300FOUND ON ROAD DEAD BROTHER
