Toyota to Ram?

Colonal Angus

Adventurist
Guys, I can't help but drool over the 2500s. Whether it's a PW or standard...they simply look badass. I've test driven a couple PWs and loved what I saw and felt. Now, I am a Toyota fanboy, have deviated from Toyota a couple times and regretted it each time. I know a few of you Ram owners have had Toyotas in the past. What are your thoughts about quality, reliability, durability and resale? Can you comment on the sheer size difference? Dave, I have you in mind on this...Taco to Ram...is the size just too much?

Thanks guys!!
 
It really depends what you want it to do, and where you want to take it.

I went with the Ram because:

1. I wanted to carry a camper
2. Toyota had nothing in its league
3. Cummins rules
4. I liked it

When I bought the truck, I had access to all the BLM land in the west. Wide open deserts. Big rocks. Big trails. My Ram was purposely built up for that environment and walks over stuff my fully built Tacoma would have had to work harder to drag it's belly through.

Now, I'm in the Midwest. It's not ideal here in thickly forested country unless I stick to forest service/logging roads which is fine by me but may make others feel limited.

That said, if it fits it will go :D

The fit and finish on the new Rams is pretty damn good. Having owned several new Toyotas though I can tell you that Mopar is an acquired taste. But so is Ford or Nissan or anything else if you're brand loyal.

If it were not for the camper, I would have bought a Power Wagon. They get better every year and are simply best of breed in the full size pickup genre.

It's really up to you but every time I spool up the turbo or hear the diesel exhaust brake kick in this truck puts a big ol' smile on my face. It's an amazingly comfortable long range travel machine.
 
I've got a 2012 Tacoma and carry a FWC on the back. It took awhile to get the suspension dialed in for the extra weight and am happy with it now. But, admittedly, I really love Dave's setup and if I went the flatbed route, would probably go in the same direction -- Ram 2500. Not convinced I need/want diesel given the extra cost and weight though. My bigger issue with the Ram is size -- I drive my truck daily (without the camper) and worry about navigating city streets and whether it would actually fit in my garage.
 
We drive ours (wife & I) as our sole vehicle. We haven't gotten around to buying a second car yet. It's on my to-do list. And the only city I noticed it's size in was San Fransico. It was noticeable there. But I've visited a lot of cities with this truck, and never found it cumbersome. I do notice I can't get into tight spots in a parking lot. Which is really turning radius and length that become a problem. But now that we have two kids in car seats, I find when I do squeeze myself in some place I regret it. When you have two toddlers who have to get strapped in and stuff to load, that means all the doors are open and being wedged into a spot sucks. You adjust.

Maybe I'm biased or picky, but the Toyota's seem a bit, overpriced. But I guess everything is getting expensive these days. But I noticed that a Tradesmen PW is about the same as a decked out 2017 Tacoma TRD Pro, for an extra 10k you can bump up to a nicer trim on the Ram and still have a lot more truck. Of course, you can go to the extreme end of 67K Cummins Long Horn. Then it gets bonkers I suppose.

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I don't have any complaints about quality. The interior fit in finish is excellent. Reliability has been fine for me in my year and half of ownership.
 
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Yep. When I was looking at the Ram and/or another Tacoma price and bang for the buck were a big factor. I considered the 3rd Gen Tacoma (Quicksand!) with a new AT Habitat but realized that my 2nd Gen Tacoma had a better motor and the Habitat would be pretty much the same amount of room that I had before while starting the entire "train of consequences" over again with all the mods needed to get it where my 2nd Gen was.

Then I looked at price. The Taco was about $44K... I was able to get the Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel 4x4 with Big Horn package for $48K...

Habitat was going to be $8K and then add another $10K in Goose Gear, Propex, fridge, etc to get the camper the way I wanted it... by that point I was spending FWC money. Might as well have insulated walls and a shower option.

For me, I would have ended up spending nearly the same amount of money so the Ram was the clear winner as it provided more capability and capacity with a WAY BETTER drivetrain.

YMMV :)
 
The new Taco TRD Offroad double cab can be had for 34-36k all day long. The thing it boils down to is where do you want to go and what do you plan to do with the truck? Tight tree and or rock lined trails get a Taco. Are you planning a camper? Hands down the Ram wins. The Tacos payload is VERY light.
 
Thanks so much, guys. Excellent points. First off I really don't "need" a pick up. The Tacoma probably fits the bill better size wise as the trails we run are pretty tight. I have a 4Runner now and has a fair amount of pin-striping. I love the 4Runner and have a hard time finding things I don't like about it. Maybe I'm just trying to justify the pick up to try something different. The Power Wagon does seem like you get a lot for the money. Seems well thought out, interior was pretty decent (hard to tell how it holds up...it was in beautiful showroom condition) and excellent off-road goodies. Is the size alone the reason why it isn't more popular with the overland community? It seems to be growing in popularity...I, for one, being the "Toyota Fanboy" that I am and I'm certainly impressed. I've checked out the new 3rd gen Tacos and am just not super excited when I get close to it. Looks super badass but feels cheap. I can't help but think Toyota cut every corner possible for margin-sake on the new Taco. I could be wrong...could just be in my head. In the meantime, I'll keep reading up on yalls Ram builds.

Again, thanks for the responses guys.
 
This. I ran one for over a decade above GVWR. The payload on the Tacoma (and that new engine...) is a big drawback.
I was unimpressed with the new 3.5 as well. I was lucky enough to drive a unicorn of sorts back in February, Toyota of Bellingham WA had a Canadian 2016 TRD Offroad Access Cab with a 6 speed manual. This is or was at the time unavailable in the US and wanted to compare the manual to the automatic. Nether one impressed me, you had to rev the thing to 4,000 RPM to get any power.
 
Seems well thought out, interior was pretty decent (hard to tell how it holds up...it was in beautiful showroom condition) and excellent off-road goodies.

I have two toddlers and have been kind of living in ours sorta for a least a year of ownership. Interior fit and finish holds up really well. I used to think of Chrysler as junk. They've clearly improved by miles since they were acquired by Fiat.

Is the size alone the reason why it isn't more popular with the overland community?

I find people don't even know WTF a Power Wagon is. Everyone knows what a Raptor is. But I have had other Ram owners ask, "How'd you get that winch in there", and I tell them it's a Power Wagon and they stare at me blankly. I dunno why, but it seems like Ram barely marketed these things until the success of the Ram Rebel and the new 2017 models. But the production numbers have been really low for a long time. No idea what is up with that.

The Taco and 4Runner certainly are favorites, especially know with the overland community. Seems like everyone has one. I have noticed more and more people around the webs moving to fullsizes. Before kids, the wife and I were thinking seriously about upgrading from our Trailblazer to a Taco. But life and plans changed and a Taco was too small and too underpowered for our needs (towing).

As for tight trails, the PW is 8 inches wider and 7 inches longer, just an FYI. It's A LOT taller, however. But I see Toyota's lifted to my height all the time. The difference is, I didn't spend any money on lift or suspension components yet.

Granted, if you run tight mountain trails with lots of trees, you might notice the size more. But you'd probably have similar challenges the long wheelbase of the Tacoma has. The 4Runner would have both beat for sure. Guess it depends on what your goals are.
 
As for tight trails, the PW is 8 inches wider and 7 inches longer, just an FYI. It's A LOT taller, however. But I see Toyota's lifted to my height all the time. The difference is, I didn't spend any money on lift or suspension components yet.

Granted, if you run tight mountain trails with lots of trees, you might notice the size more. But you'd probably have similar challenges the long wheelbase of the Tacoma has. The 4Runner would have both beat for sure. Guess it depends on what your goals are.

I couldn't decide, apparently, or maybe I did. I have a Ram 2500 with a flatbed and an XP as a dedicated camping rig and a 4Runner Trail Edition as a daily driver/trail run vehicle. The 4Runner is set up for simple minimalist camping, although my shipfitter's disease has me working slowly on minor improvements. We could comfortably go out in it for a weekend. Stretching to a week would be doable but usually anything more than two nights out we take the camper.
 
I guess as a die hard Toyota fan who sold out and went Ram I’ll chime in here. I’ve had 2 Tacoma’s built out quite extensively and I absolutely loved them. Then recently I was looking into the 3rd gen. to put a Habitat on and had to go back to the drawing board once I talked to a couple of 3rd. Gen owners about that new motor and transmission. Because I am not a hardcore rock crawler type it wasn’t so much a lack of trail capability as much as it was a fear of constantly over working that motor and tranny with the weight of the Habitat/Goosegear/fridge/gear etc. I didn’t like the idea of cruising down the highway to my next adventure and listening to the motor scream and the transmission shift back and forth the entire trip. It just seems like that will cause the power train to wear out sooner than later thus losing that Toyota reliability that we have all grown to love so much. Don’t get me wrong, I will always be a Toyota fan and hope that I am wrong and they end up going for 500k with minimal issues. Also, I must say that they certainly look sexy when they are cruising down the road, and I see them everywhere so obviously a ton of people are satisfied enough to invest the money to build them out really well. I just hope they can hold up. As far as the Ram goes, performance for my purpose is incredible. I can easily pass anyone on the highway heading uphill without the Cummins even breaking a sweat. And having the extra room on longer trips is a much welcomed change from my Tacoma days. But, the cost of maintenance is significant. Even though I do my own oil changes it’s about $110 for full synthetic and a filter. Plus DEF juice, plus fuel filters ($100). All said and done, I would definitely go Ram again but I would consider the Power Wagon another viable option. But as far as size goes, the benefits of full size completely outweigh the drawbacks for me.
 
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