Off-road capabilities of stock 4x4 TRD Off-Road?

Tire Rack lists 9.7" vs. 8.5" tread width for the 70 vs 75 series tire, both in 265mm width. Does the taller sidewall make the overall tire shape a bit narrower, thus concentrating the weight on a smaller contact patch?

Either way, I think a tread width difference of 1.2 inches per tire (~15%) is something to consider (if accurate) when choosing between the 265/70 and 265/75-16 sizes. Just to clarify the 70 series tire is the wider of the two according to Tire Rack's tread width measurements.

 

That's weird. I think something is wrong there because 265mm is the width that shouldn't change on a spec sheet.

 

Other odd observations are that the blackwall tire is the one Tire Rack lists as not rated for severe snow and the whitewall is. Even on BFG's website the blackwall version of the 265/75-16 is listed as 31.8" vs. 31.65" for the white letter tire. I never realized there was a difference between the two other than the sidewall lettering.

 

IDK. Maybe one genius measured the tire mounted while the other was measured off the vehicle?

 

The 265mm is measuring section width not tread width and the two are defined differently:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tirespecskey.jsp#treadwidth

I have totally derailed my own topic to delve into tire minutia, but this is actually an interesting discovery.

 

Interesting. I wasn't even thinking about them being mounted on different rims.

 

Whatever tire that works for you works for you. Just because John Smith has BFG ATs and that works for him It don't mean they will work for you. I happen to like the sound of a MT on the highway.

 

I did the same thing. Sliders were my first mod and one of the best ever. They have come in handy many times over and have saved my truck from certain damage.

People don't like the rugged trails but since they came with my truck I figured I keep them as long as they had some tread on them. I can share with you that I wheel in lots of rocky desert areas of southern California and they seem to do just fine.

I did over 300 miles of trails in Death Valley last year across 5 days and at least 10 days in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and other great places.

The tires have not died yet, although they do show signs like they have been chewed on due to the rocks that I take them in. The sidewalls are still holding up! I carry a plug kit with me at all times and air compressor and spare is good too.

Have fun with your new truck! I absolutely love my stock 4x4 Tacoma!

4x4 Off-Road FTW

 

Enjoy your truck! Read up here about traction systems and local runs. Join in with others if they are heading out to wheel. As far as tires go, you like what wyou like. On my other trucks I ran Michelins but I didn't wheel much. Now I have General Grabber AT/2s and they are awesome. Just about the same as BFGs but I had read too many stories about BFGs being out of round quite a bit.

Sliders were one of my first mods too. I'm happy so far with my Demellos. Look out here in the group buy section.

Spend lots of free time here on TW.

 

My 2010 (4WD Off Road) DC, is totally stock and unstoppable with the BFG Rugged Trails after completing the Mision Santa Maria run in Baja, with 5 other vehicles last Memorial Day (report and photos posted here on TW).

This was my third Tacoma trip to the mission, one time in each of my 3 Tacomas. The road was worse this last time, and I had more body damage than before (rock grabbed my rear bumper and pulled it away from the truck about a foot)! The underbody dents are normal on this road.

The Dakota on the trip had brand new Michelin off road tires and the sidewall was ripped open just a few miles into the run. His spare survived the rest of the trip. The 4WD van/ motorhome twice had a tire pop off the rim... All tire issues seemed to be attributed to low air pressure. I kept my Rugged Trails at 32 psi.

The new Traction Control 'A-TRAC' was wonderful on the steep crawl-climbs and the 4 foot deep bog. I never needed the rear locking differential, as the A-TRAC is in essance the same as having front and rear lockers, but without any steering problems. The van and the 2009 Tacoma both had front lockers, but could only use them briefly on straight driving.

Just go and begin four wheeling, the only function you need to engage is the A-TRAC which works in Low Range only... Just push the A-TRAC button one time... and each time you go into L4 the A-TRAC will be automatically engaged (until you push the button again). L4 is normally open differentials, and A-TRAC or The Rear Locker must be manually activated.

In High Range 4WD, the limited slip front and rear of 'TRAC' offers superior traction over open differentials through sand or climbing... nothing to push, it's there.

If you want open differentials in H4, perhaps so you can get stuck on purpose (and have the A-TRAC get you out), hold down the VSC OFF button for a few seconds, WHILE STOPPED, and the light will come on. If the VSC warning beeper annoys you and you don't need the traction of LSD, that would be another reason to turn off the VSC and TRAC... Crom likes four wheeling that way... and makes your 2010 behave the way the older Tacomas did before the new technology arrived!

 

Put a good set of tires on and have at it.

You'll be able to figure out what you need to upgrade once you hit the trails. Mod based on necessity, not on omg this looks kewl.

 

You would be amazed at what these trucks can do straight out of the box with no mods.

If you are new to wheeling, the biggest limitations to keep in mind with the Taco are:

1) Approach angle: with a stock bumper, it's easy to mis-calculate and damage the bumper cover. Been there done that. Consider getting an ARB or comparable bumper if you plan on doing a lot of wheeling. The ARB's cost less than it costs to fix/replace the plastic factory bumper cover.

2) Departure angle: self explanatory, but keep in mind that if you are running a tow package you are limiting your dep angle even further. I've seen a lot of guys get hung up on their tow hitch.

3) Ground clearance: Ground clearance by itself mostly matters when it comes to driving over generally level terrain that has tall or pointy protrusions like big boulders, logs, stumps, or driving in deep ruts. Keep in mind that ground clearance varies drastically from one part of the undercarriage to another. Study the underside of your truck (take a tape measure with you) and really develop a sense of where the low spots are and where the high spots are, and where the most fragile parts are (exhaust, crankshaft, etc).

4) Breakover angle: breakover angle determines the sharpest crest (break-in-slope) that you can roll over without getting high centered (the center of your undercarriage will hit first assuming you are rolling over a sharp break-in-slope that is exactly at your max breakover angle). If you attempt a break-in-slope that far exceeds your max breakover angle, then you will get hung up in front of your wheelbase center. The farther the break-in-slope exceeds your max breakover angle, the farther to the front of center you will get hung up. Keep in mind that you can go over breaks in slope that are much greater than your max breakover angle if the apex is rounded enough. Breakover angle is just a rule of thumb value to compare different vehicles.

5) Maximum step height: this is the tallest "step" that you can climb up (such as a bedrock ledge) without hitting bottom. When climbing up a step, the part that is most likely to hit is the frame just in front of the rear wheels (note that this is different from breakover angle discussed above, in which the middle of the frame is most likely to get hung up). Max step height is equivalent to the ground clearance of the undercarriage immediately in front of the tires.

6) Length overall: Tacos (particularly double cabs or long beds) are pretty long compared to Jeeps and some SUV's. Some trails out there have some pretty tight turns.

Other than that, go experiment and take baby steps in pushing your personal envelope if you need to. Always wheel with a buddy in another vehicle to get you unstuck.

And take the mudflaps off before you go wheeling.



EDIT: oop, I was wrong about the max step height -- on a stock Taco the max step height is determined by the height of the skid plate in front of the front wheels (about 9.5"), NOT the height of the chassis in front of the rear wheels (about 12"). My bad.

 

Thanks, these are great pointers!

 

The Rugged Trails suck in soupy mud... other than mud they are great. Your truck has ground clearance issues and the front end will bottom out if you drive too fast. I have beaten up my front skid and my low hanging exhaust crossover. Go look at the exhaust crossover hanging down on your truck... its such a stupid design. If you drive slow and watch for big rocks, stumps, and other obstacles it climbs like a billy goat.

 

In my signature (below) is a link to the 2010 Mision Santa Maria trip report... Yes, my rear bumper got 'tagged' by a rock ledge, but otherwise it shows a pure stock Tacoma, with Rugged Trails, using A-TRAC can take you about anywhere!