Best 3 trucks you've ever owned.

   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned. #141  
It's never needed a head gasket? You really do live right.
good point. not so far. but single owner. the v6 on those earlier models had head gasket issues & recalls. from there, it's all about never letting engine overheat whatever the cause.

but you already know that... the 4cyl 22re in those yrs imho were the best engines
toyota produced to date, absolutely rock solid.
as far as living right, probably not so...
:)
 
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   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned.
  • Thread Starter
#142  
Lol I had my 22re overheat before, went cheap added radiator /head gasket sealer or snake oil whatever, it worked flawlessly for another 5 years. Definitely one of the most reliable trucks I've ever owned and it took a beating. Funny thing about that thing it was 11 yrs old got a letter from Toyota saying to bring it into a dealership for new tye rod ends on there dime. Truck was 11 yrs old by then and had 200k miles on it. Why they decided to make the Toyota tacos bigger I have no idea. Also have factory frame replacement story on a newer taco I owned on there dime well out of warranty. Amazing customer service imo.
 
   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned. #143  
There was one major problem with being a military photographer...the military gets to keep most of the photos you take. Those photos are military property. Depending on the location and situation, the photos you take might be developed/printed by someone else and you never got to see what you shot. I doubt I got to keep 10% of the photos I shot. I'm sure it was the same with your dad. Best thing about being a military photographer is that the Navy supplied all my film for free.
My dad said in New Guinea, the temps were often well over 100F. He's shoot 10 rolls of film. The "dark room" was a couple layers of tents. The chemicals would get so hot that he said he'd quickly dip them in the developer and immediately dip them in the fixer and about 95% of them would be overdeveloped. There was no way to slow down the process in the jungle. They didn't have ice baths. He had a lot of pictures of the local native people, as they were allies agains the Japanese. He didn't have any classified stuff. Some trucks and planes and his buddies. He said he'd blow stuff up (not pictures, explosives, as he was also a demolitions officer) and have to take pictures of it afterwards, go through the remains of things, and people, and send the intelligence back to the higher ups. As a boy, he got into telescopes and cameras, ran a local observatory for Notre Dame with his sister, built his own telescopes, etc. Optics was interesting. We'd build periscopes, pin-hole cameras, telescopes, etc. Fun guy. I miss him.

On a related note, while I worked at the newspaper for 30 years, one of my duties was taking care of all the film processors in the photo department and the plate making department. That film was 14" wide by 24" deep. The camera was 8' tall and had a lens about 5" across. 🤣
 
   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned. #144  
1678660179844.png

Paint it white, and its the same Van as my '74.
Different experiences on getting stuck. I never got stuck. And lots of times, took this Van off road, in places it really didn't belong.
I remember that it had a metal dash board. Probably the last vehicle made in the USA to have one.

This truck, me thinks, has not been given its due as a classic, well designed truck, by the historical, automotive press.
:)
 
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   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned. #145  
Weren't those squarebody years of GM vans unibody construction? I've been half-arsed looking for a high top van for a while to build a camper van out of, but also need to tow my rock crawler with it. I had seen some seemingly decent deals on those GM vans, but was concerned the chassis wouldn't hold up well to the weight of the camper gear plus ~7K of trailer weight behind it.
 
   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned. #146  
My dad said in New Guinea, the temps were often well over 100F. He's shoot 10 rolls of film. The "dark room" was a couple layers of tents. The chemicals would get so hot that he said he'd quickly dip them in the developer and immediately dip them in the fixer and about 95% of them would be overdeveloped. There was no way to slow down the process in the jungle. They didn't have ice baths. He had a lot of pictures of the local native people, as they were allies agains the Japanese. He didn't have any classified stuff. Some trucks and planes and his buddies. He said he'd blow stuff up (not pictures, explosives, as he was also a demolitions officer) and have to take pictures of it afterwards, go through the remains of things, and people, and send the intelligence back to the higher ups. As a boy, he got into telescopes and cameras, ran a local observatory for Notre Dame with his sister, built his own telescopes, etc. Optics was interesting. We'd build periscopes, pin-hole cameras, telescopes, etc. Fun guy. I miss him.

On a related note, while I worked at the newspaper for 30 years, one of my duties was taking care of all the film processors in the photo department and the plate making department. That film was 14" wide by 24" deep. The camera was 8' tall and had a lens about 5" across. 🤣
good points, amazing so much WWII film & footage made it through tropical combat jungle cond. a tribute to the technology & heroics of that day
 
   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned. #147  
It is a Quigley! It has been a great machine for my back country explorations.

No, not a professional photographer. But I do have excellent training courtesy of the US Navy. Don't know the status currently but back in the 60s when I was serving the Navy photographer school was acknowledged as one of the best in the world. I learned to use all types of cameras, including those that take 4"x5" film plates, and I learned how to use a darkroom. I was the photographer for our Company. So during my Navy years I guess you could say I was a "professional". Since I got out of the Navy I've worked in mining. But I still love photography!

"Tet" celebration (Vietnamese New Year) in Vietnam 50+ years ago:
View attachment 788082
Black Label & Falstaff beer!!!

Love Dieter Dengler’s & Duane Martin’s (RIP) stories. Spectacular heroism and sacrifice for fellow servicemen.
Took guts & bravery.
God Bless you all for your service and sacrifice.
 
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   / Best 3 trucks you've ever owned. #148  
Weren't those squarebody years of GM vans unibody construction? I've been half-arsed looking for a high top van for a while to build a camper van out of, but also need to tow my rock crawler with it. I had seen some seemingly decent deals on those GM vans, but was concerned the chassis wouldn't hold up well to the weight of the camper gear plus ~7K of trailer weight behind it.
That's correct! I think all the GM vans were unibody construction until about 1996. So no big thick stout frame under them. For that reason a lot of the conversion companies refused to convert them to 4x4. The 1976 GMC 4wd conversion I had for so many years (pictured some posts back) was unibody but had a lot of heavy gussets added to mount the transfer case and front axle.
 

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