Interesting DPx factor article

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PayetteRucker

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http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/14/why-rebel-groups-love-the-toyota-hilux.html

Rebel groups love the Toyota helux. Pretty fascinating how some products that just 'work' are adopted in completely different conflicts,for different purposes, in different parts of the world. Some products are just practical across the board-utilitarian, solid performance for the money. May not be the most high speed cutting edge product out there, but definately the most bang for the buck. ESEE and a few other companies out there epitomize this, but this is an excellent example of good gear.
 
I wouldn't say the Hilux is their "truck of choice." They just don't really have a lot to choose from. I don't know why, but only a handful of cars made up about %90 of the cars I saw in Iraq.
 
Another excellent, nigh unkillable truck, is an older Nissan V6 4x4. Not sure about the newer Frontier, but old Nissans are awesome.
 
My dad had one of the 4 cylinder ones, bought new in '87, and drove it till it had around 300k miles on it. He sold it to a friend of his, whom I saw last week. He still has the truck, and it now has over 500k miles on it with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
 
Carolina River Rat said:
My dad had one of the 4 cylinder ones, bought new in '87, and drove it till it had around 300k miles on it. He sold it to a friend of his, whom I saw last week. He still has the truck, and it now has over 500k miles on it with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Click to expand...

That is awesome. He should write a letter to Nissan. He might find himself in a commercial or something.
 
I owned a 94 Toyota that I put 300K on and did nothing to it. I bought a USA made 2002 Toyota and it's been a POS ever since I bought it. It's on engine # 3 with 184K on it. I bought a 94 LandCrusier from Pelton and it's tough as nails.
 
I'd love to have a FJ40 about a 1976-82 model, I love old "Yota's"

I had a 1986 and I sold it due to no a/c (broken) and newborn son inbound and wife did not like the thought of a newborn cruising in TX heat in a awesome toyota...... I was sad
 
Mike and I looked at a 94 Land Rover Defender the other day on a local lot. They wanted 25K. It was nice though.
 
Good read! Especially with young punks like me who've never served and hear 'technical' thrown around in Call of Duty/Medal of Honor and have no clue why the hell they're called that. :D

I also recommend Kilkullen's articles and two books; Counterinsurgency and the Accidental Guerrilla. :thumbup: Made Lieutenant Col. here in the australian army dealing with guerrilla fighters in south east asia and like it said in the article, is currently an advisor to coalition forces in Afghanistan.
 
This all started in Yemen with the old Toyotas. Spread to the technicals in Africa and then Bin Laden gave about 150 Hiluxes to Mullah Omar and sealed the fate of the taliban by making them a mechanized force which allowed our SF to wipe them out using stand off air assets. Now they are in the hills and attacking against our mechanized forces with stand off IEDs. The trick to the Hilux is that it has to be diesel, old school and stolen.

They don't have those here. And oh you haven't lived until you smelt what its like to have 6 funky talibs roll up to you and crank down the windows. There are another 6 on the back but they are aired out.
 
I remember in Blackhawk Down they were running LAW rockets up pickup tailpipes calling them technicals. I just thought the most interesting part was how independently all these different organizations wound up using the same truck... my dad had a single cab 1989 Toyota 4 cylinder half ton that lasted 280,000 miles-it died in Minneapolis on a trip to Bemidji to visit the grandparents.
 
I've read a few articles on these trucks and their uses and thought about getting one myself when my Blazer dies.

Simplified question though..do these Heluxes;

A. have less mechanical/electrical problems overall

or

B. are just easy as hell to fix?

ot both..?
 
The older yotas are top notch and can't be beat my dad bought one in 1980 which was the first year 4x4 was available in the US drove it for 13 years , then bought a 93 I totaled it for him , then a 94 in 94 and I still drive it everyday to this day with over 500,000 miles on it now and it's not for sale for any amount of money , if it's not a yota I'm not owning it , have had several since 94, wife drives a 2008 fj40 and I'm restoring a 78 for our weekend "crusier" . For those that have had the older ones 94 and before and then the 95 and after you can tell a difference in the overall quality of the vehicle don't get me wrong it's still good but not to the same standards as 94 was the last year they imported them here
 
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