TRD Off-Road vs. TRD Sport

When I'm not hunting my land. And go onto state land. Having off-road is a + here. The back roads are ruff here with snow ,mud and rocks.

 

Thanks again everyone. For what its worth Toyota has a nice electronic brochure that you can download as a PDF from their Tacoma website. You have to do a little poking around but its there. The brochure does a nice job of outlining the features of all the packages and really helps to differentiate between them. Not that it matters to too many of you guys, you've already got your Tacomas, but it certainly has helped me. I just wanted to get some real world input from some real users, not just from the company who makes the vehicle. I'll keep you guys posted on my decision.

 

sports have stronger rear axle.

 

Yeah they tell me the "skewp" is useless. Just for aesthetics. I don't really have a preference on 16" vs. 17" wheels. I know some guys like the smaller wheel so you can throw a bigger tire on there but I do some highway driving so I'm not gonna throw mudders on there or anything. At this point I'll probably end up with either a Sport or SR5 because the extra 5 grand for the OR will probably put it out of my price range. I just wanted to see if Tacoma World thought the rear locker was something I NEEDED so that I could start scrimping and saving to make it happen.

 

IF you plan on turning the truck into a off road beast i would go sr5 and then add lockers.

 

How does the "sport' model have a stronger axel? What's different about them that makes them stronger?

I'm not doubting you, its just I've never heard this before and would like to know the difference/s. Thanks

 

In the ring and pinion their is a brace that the sport has that the off road does not. The Rear end of a off road is 8" and the sport is 8.4.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/256955-offroad-axle-sport-axle.html

 

Definitely not planning on a "beast" but I might consider adding a rear locker down the road if I think I need it. The one feature I really like that you can only get on the Sport or Off-Road packages is the 115V plug in the bed. I think that's awesome and it doesn't come on an SR5. That alone may push me into a Sport or Off-Road. Out of curiosity are there reasons why I wouldn't be able to turn a Sport into an off road beast?

 

Andy, if you've got the money and are willing to spend it to achieve what you want, the word "wouldn't" simply does not apply.

I know guys that have bought the most cheap basic Jeep Wrangler they could get and re-built them from the ground up into a badass mother. They were wayyyyyyyy more capable than my Rubicon. But, they also had a lot more money invested in theirs too. Point is, they didn't want a Rubicon, they wanted BETTER than a Rubicon and were willing to spend the money to achieve it.

If you think building a Tacoma up into a "off road beast" is in your future, IMO, buy a lesser optioned Taco and build it to YOUR liking!!!

 

Nope you can turn a Sport into beast. That is what i am about to do with my Sport model just order gears and two Arb lockers.

 

My diffs are both open / open, so i would need two to become fully locked.

 

I looked at the TRD off road and it was appealing to me, I hunt and I fish so my truck’s see off road. The 4x4 gets used, although my truck is not abused. Oh yes, my truck is my day to day driver and I live in an area that does get winter, owning a 2wd is not an option for me.

When I bought there were no TRD sport’s left in the 2012 model year and I wanted to take advantage of the 0% financing. The $5000 difference in the price between the SR5 and the TRD off road made my mind up in the end. The 4x4 V6 SR5(Canadian Package) works for me, it has all the options I was looking for(minus the locker and the skid plate) The big thing was the finances worked. I wanted out of my GM so in my situation I was willing to take a bit less than the top of the line to get in the game. The skid plate is something I will eventually add.

So far I'm impressed with the truck, it’s new and I have only owned it for 5 months. I got off to a bit of a rocky start with it, a few issues but those are fixed and I feel better about it. I do like the 2 levels of traction control in 2hi, really noticed a difference just how far I could go without engaging 4hi compared other trucks I owned that did not have this option. The sway control is useful as well; I’m actually impressed how well it works to keep the truck in control while in 2hi. Of course you can turn off the traction control if you want to play in 2hi

I have had lockers in previous trucks and it helped me out of some sticky situation. Although honestly I should have never gotten myself into them in the first place LOL. With age comes more responsibility and the voice of reason so my heavy 4x4 days are over, just can’t afford to fix it lol.

Perhaps the next one will have the off road package, I understand the benefits of having a locker. Honestly I don't think anyway you go you will be disappointed. On a side note the yellow wire mod intrigues me and I think for my purposes it may just be what the doctor ordered.

 

Gotcha. Well then I'll have two projects: the old Chevy and the Tacoma. But I'm perfectly OK with that haha.