Nothing like the first real off-road camping trip to make a lot of hard work seem justified! We have lifelong friends originally from here who've lived in Chico for years. Lots of nice country around there once you're up above the rice and nut fields.
With you re: the 3.0 engine. Bought my daughter a 4Runner with that motor years ago. Borrowed it for a shakedown trip and afterwards reported none of the power and all of the gas mileage of a Ford 460.
Reconfirmed after adding a ‘95 F250 4wd to the fleet recently.