I'm no master mechanic, in fact I'm very far from it. I've always been interested in it, but never had the time or enough desire to learn. To me, my truck was just a truck. It got me to a spot to start my hikes, got me to work, and thats about it. That changed this past spring when my wife and I met a good friend in Moab, UT. That good friend was Grant Mohn, and boy did he change my perspective on what a truck is capable of. After camping the first night in the red desert, we headed out in Grant's Tacoma to hit an offroad trail called Fins 'n Things. Watching his truck crawl through and climb up bolders the size of school busses was truly insane!
My eyes were open and he had my full attention. I was the guy that saw a somewhat muddy and rocky road and figured I shouldn't risk it. After spending even more time with Grant in the desert and mountains of Arizona, I knew I wasn't using my truck to its full potential.
A few weeks ago, I decided to ditch my 2020 Ram 1500 and the truck payment that came with it, for a truck I could build into my own over time. That truck is a 2010 Nissan Frontier King Cab SE. It is a 5 speed automatic, 4WD, with a 4.0L V6. In my opinion, Frontiers really swing above their weightclass in terms of towing, payload, and off-road capabilities. Comparable to Toyota's Tacoma of the same generation, it is a true mid-size pick up. In general, it edges out the 2010 Tacoma in horsepower (261hp vs. 236hp) and torque (281 ft-lbs. vs 266 ft-lbs.), and payload (1356lbs. vs. 1280 lbs.), while it narrowly misses on towing capacity (6300lbs. vs. 6500lbs.). Both have more than enough power and capability to haul my wife's little horse trailer, which is really all I need to tow now.
In terms of off-road capability, the stock Tacoma wins out with .4 inches more of ground clearance, and a few more degrees and both the angle of approach and departure. The Nissan is a few inches smaller in every dimension other than bed length, making it a little more maneuverable. Both are known to be extremely durable and long-lasting, another major bonus.
The major decision factor? Price. A 2010 Tacoma in this build is going to set you back at least $15,000 from all the ones I could find - and thats if you are ok buying a truck with over 200,000 miles. My 2010 Frontier came in at half of most of the comparable Tacomas, at $8500! With 136,000 miles and being 13 years old, it definitely still seems like a lot, but such is the world we live in. At this price, I was able to get out of having a truck payment and have enough leftover from my Ram to start building out the Frontier. I pulled the trigger, a name came to mind relatively quick, and hence we have Rip the Ridge Pounder! I look forward to sharing with you my learnings as a novice mechanic, and the build out on Rip as time goes on!
All truck data collected from Edmunds.
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