Difference between TRD off road and 4 by 4

Hey guys, I am in the market for an off road Toyota Taco 1999 or 2000 Access Cab 6 cyl and I was wondering if their is a difference between tacomas that have the trd stickers, locking differential and between the ones that say 4 by 4 on them. I am not planning to do much crazy off road driving. Mostly just driving on dirt roads and on the sand.

 

TRD OR has electronic locker in the rear, the other does not. That's the biggest difference.

 

Trd offroad has a rear locker, others dont. Also, trd doesnt necessarily mean its 4x4, check for front axles

 

So is the TRD OR with the rear differential locker better than just a 4 by 4 or is it not as good?

 

Locker is better, non locked is still pretty capable.. better than my 2wd fml

 

3rd gen TRD OR also has additional offroading "training wheels" like crawl control and multi-terrain select. Other 4x4 models do not have those.

 

factory 4x4 with rear lockers are out there. Most of the time you'll find either locked OR 4x4 for first gens.

What are you wanting to do with the truck?

 

Yeah there are non trd trucks with the elock, not that it matters in this case much but let it be known. The trd wasnt born till like 97 er some shit and the elock was an option from day one of the taco back in 95.5. Aside from those pre trd elocked models there were also TRD's with out the elock! the later years when there were trd's some of those were not elocker equipped! Both of these models(trd without elock and trd non locked) are pretty damn sparse and im sure youd never find or even see one really but they were built!

The only other thing i can think of is the trd came with slightly better shocks which wouldnt matter at all at this point because if they are still on there they will be needing replacing for sure!!! Oh, and they have progressive coils, again by now will be weak and saggy...

Dont get hung up on getting a trd because of the locker and certainly dont get a prerunner because it has a locker, 4wd is much more important than a locked rear! 4wd with locker will be slightly more capable than not having locker but i absolutely wouldn't pass up a great 4x4 cause its not a trd!! Lockers can be added! Lots of options on the market for that!! You'll pry find that a non trd will go for sometimes alot less cash too! People like to think a trd is far superior thus require a high price. If you have the opportunity to get a trd you make DAMN SURE to look under there and make sure it even has a locker!! TONS of people have to buy a trd sticker cause its so cool and slap it on there so remember that, hell some even do it for the resale aswell so they can bump the price!

 

Then one must remember anyone can buy decals so double check you are looking at what you think you are.

The way some people change vehicles it could be quite possible the seller is clueless .

Kinda like back in my misguided youth quite easy to make a plain Chevelle into a Super Sport with a few badges

 

Oh yeah Wyoming09 made a good point! I mentioned the phoney/counterfeit trd, with the sticker, sometimes as a "cool" factor and sometimes to be a sleazy person doing it for resale purposes. But like wyoming said alot if people have no idea what they have! Like clueless....(oh i was gunna stereotype people but i wont) there are people out there that arent vehicle people and they wouldnt know if their sticker was added by a PO or know what it meant. They just bought the truck cause they needed a vehicle or whatever. Not everyone is like us one here and think a tacoma is gods gift to us ya know lol and they dont know all the inns and outs of their tacoma. Shit think how many people out there dont even know how many cylinders their engine has, or, even know if their rig has 4wd, yes these people are very much so out there and by the masses unfortunately!!! Fuck even people take their rig to a mechanic because they dont know how to change their damn spark plugs! I even worked with a guy that had a late model first gen with a coil over plug ignition setup (some reason that dont seem like the right terminology)he didnt know how to change the plugs on his "new fangled vehicle that you can hardly wirk on" lol, "i dont have the tools to do that I've never seen plugs like this" i was cracking up on the inside when he said that!! I was like what!?! I'll show you, its the same as its always been pretty much on every rig youve ever driven, i say. He pop's the hood and points to the fuckin injectors!!!!! Hahaha! Im like dude they're right here, where the plug wires go!? I guess the coil packs right there could be confusing but damn not hard to figure it out. Anyway way off topic here and rambling.

Moral of the story before i got side tracked is to not rail on the seller if you find they are selling a phoney trd. They could be clueless cause they bought it like that, then one could possibly loose out on a great deal cause the seller was insulted, or heck even though rare it very well could be a real trd but a model without the locker! Be nice to all i guess...

 

Electronic locker, Bilstein shocks, and a more aggressive tire were factory-supplied on my 1998 TRD when I bought it new.

 

^ what @skeezix said. also the 95-04 Tacomas (unless it was a dealer special thing) did not have 4x4 or 4wd decals on the truck. Only SR5/PreRunner/V6 (other than Toyota/Tacoma) on the rear

follow advice of others and check out the main 1st Gen page for the sticky post about what to look for when buying.

 

I have a 99 Taco, V6 4WD with rear locking...is there anyway for me to find out if it is TRD or not?

 

I bought the TRD 4X4. I'd have been able to live without the locker, but the standard truck wasn't available on the lot at the time I bought. I got a good deal overall and don't regret paying a little more for the TRD. But I've never really needed the locker. I've used it a few times simply because I have it. You can't even engage it unless you're in 4lo on my truck.

I've been driving various 4X4's since the 1970's. Very few have had lockers and it has been a long time since I've been stuck. When I was a teenager we used to go out and really challenge our trucks and SUV's. I went a lot of places without one. But that was in old rigs that I had $2000 invested in. I'm not doing that with something I also use as a daily driver, I have a Honda ATV for that now. Now my trucks are driven off road in order to get from point A to point B. Not to challenge myself. Unless things are pretty bad you don't need lockers. But that said, all else being equal, I'd rather have them and not need them than the other way around.

 

if you have the locking rear axle it is most likely the TRD OffRoad. Should have the button next to the steering wheel as well. You can also check with a dealer via the VIN # (I think)

 

For some reason i dont think the vin tells you if its a trd or not. Dont quote me on that.

Heck even if the truck wasn't originally a trd you can claim it is now since it has the elock. a trd off the lot really wasnt anything special vrs a standard 4wd. Only other tell tail sign of a trd like myself and others have mentioned are the yellow bilstein's with progressive coils, but like i said previously most of tje time that stuff has been swapped out already since its so old at this point. So honestly if you have an elock youve got a trd essentially....

 

I have TRD PreRunner (2wd) with elocker and Tokico (not Bilstein) shocks. It rides rough. I'm thinking it must have the progressive coils, but the Tokico shocks were factory on mine.

 

Interesting about the tokico shocks! Never heard of that, wonder if all the trd prerunner's had those and not billies? Anyone know?

The progressive coils get much tighter towards the top and even begin to touch eachother. Whereas the standard coils basically have the same amount of space between each coil all the way up. Cant really mistake one for the other, fairly obvious.

 

if it has a locker (the factor electric locker) it is almost certainly a TRD.

The only other way is if someone took a non-TRD and put a TRD axle/locker on it (probably from a junk yard). It's possible but not very likely.

 

Should have W in position 4 on the vin for TRD