This Toyota Hilux is Also a Pretty Good Boat
That’s no lazy river in this video, but a lifted Toyota Hilux makes short work of this treacherous crossing.
For the last few months, most of the chatter surrounding Toyota has been focused on the forthcoming Tundra, the latest Land Cruiser, and the GR86. That’s all well and good, of course, because each of those machine is worth getting excited about. But every once in a while, I stumble across a video which demonstrates what an unstoppable beast the classic Toyota Hilux pickup is, and this impressive —and distinctly terrifying — video of a Hilux crossing a river is a prime example.
This clip actually came to my attention because it was posted on this thread about member Supersquid’s 1986 Toyota Pickup barn find, which is a project I’m going to write a more detailed post on in the coming weeks. That said, let’s get back to the video at hand. The brief footage starts with a shot of the lifted truck poised on the shore, with one passenger already in the bed. Another brave soul climbs in just before the rig makes its initial descent from the shore, then the “fun” starts.
Even from the potato-quality video, it’s obvious that this is no lazy river. The water the driver is attempting to ford is moving at a decent clip, and as someone who’s actually been swept off my feet by a current, I can attest that’s dangerous even when the water is shallow. But as the video progresses, we see this water is far from shallow, as during some sections of the trip, it crests over the beltline. Even more pucker-inducing is that at a couple of points, the truck seems about to get pulled downstream.
Fortunately, the tires find purchase, and the rugged Toyota manages to make it to the opposite shore waterlogged but in one piece. Given all the variables at play here, it could easily have gone the other way, with the occupants going on an impromptu rafting trip. On the YouTube description, there’s no mention of where this happened, and as a product of America’s public school system, I don’t know enough about international geography to speculate. If you’ve got an idea, or more importantly, links to more sketchy videos like this, hit me up. I’d love to do a Top Ten Things Not to Do With Your Toyota post!
Photos: YouTube