Building an SR5 vs Buying TRD OR

Preparing to purchase a new truck in the spring and was wondering everyone’s thoughts on purchasing an SR5 and putting mid travel on it and an ARB rear locker, wheels tires etc. vs buying a TRD OR with the factory rear locker and then replacing all the suspension. I don’t care about crawl control or other fancy things like that. Are the interiors comparable? Tech? Not a fan of leather either.

 

If you are wanting Manual Trans then it has to be OR, Sport, or Pro.

 

I would love a manual as my 98 Tacoma has 325k on it and not an issue. But I’m looking to get the automatic this time around for ease of traveling and people borrowing the truck.

 

Right, the reason I brought it up was cause I noticed you were currently driving MT, make sure you get an extended or overnight test drive before buying the new one.

 

the interiors are pretty much the same. are you just looking at the base sr5? cause with enough options added they can be about the same price as the TRD.

personally, if you don't care about crawl control or MTS and plan on replacing the suspension anyways then get the sr5 and add the air locker which i'd prefer over the e-locker.

 

I was just wondering if it would be cost effective to go the SR5 route and add those things to it. Are the seats the same between the two? Is the head unit the same?

 

seats are likely not the same, and keep in mind the TRD OR auto gets a bigger (stronger) rear axle vs others. (among other things like an electric boosted master cylinder that increases braking feel/abs/traction control performance)

 

Most people can get the OR for around the price of an SR5. Depending on where you are some places don’t really discount the SR5 that much. But there’s some people on here that have been able to get an OR for around 33k and the sr5s go for around 30-33 after the discounts

 

I’m sure the rear axle is only slightly larger to accommodate the e locker just like the first gens, hardly noticeable.
Again the crawl control and associated parts are a gimmicky thing I’m not interested in. Just another thing to fail in twenty years.

I’m more interested in if the interiors are the same, and the head unit is the same.

 

Its only about an $1800 difference the last time I checked.

 

seats are the same and you can get the same head unit with built in nav for the sr5 if you upgrade to whatever package it's called. the base head unit looks like it has apple carplay now so something to keep in mind.

if you go to the toyota site you can build it out and see what you get and don't get. off the top of my head the amenities you can't add later are push to start ignition, BSM, turn signal mirrors, and LED headlights but someone might come out with a plug and play adapter for this one later.

 

If the prices are close I would go Offroad.

 

Off-road is the way to go but don’t waste your money on new. I got a great deal on mine and it was a CPO and they come with better warranties. I’d highly recommend looking into CPO options.

 

TRD OR elocker 3rd gen axles are much more stout than non elocker automatic trans 3rd gens for sure. Its not just for the accommodation for the elocker (in fact the 1st gen/2nd gens elockers were technically smaller than their non elocker counterparts).


And as far as gimmicky things, Yes, crawl control / multi terrain select i agree are gimmicky, BUT what is not is the VASTLY superior electric boosted master cylinder / all in one abs / vsc / traction control unit found on the TRD OR 4x4's vs the old vacuum boosted and separate ABS unit found on all other trucks. The electric boosted setup does ~2x line pressures (read 2x the brake clamping force) at the same pedal pressures over the vacuum boosted, has less brake lines, leaves more room in the engine bay, has quicker abs/traction control resolution, and has Atrac (which i think is MTS in 3rd gens) which REALLY helps the front axle which all leads to a pedal feel thats much more firm and positive vs the mushy vacuum setups.

 

Only thing I don’t like about CPOs is that most of them are lease returns. The thing that sucks is when they don’t include free oil changes. People that lease cars will abuse the shit out of them. If the oil changes aren’t included most won’t bother getting it done. They’re getting rid of the car in a couple years anyway. They’ll drive them hard and mess them up. The only thing worse is buying an old rental car

 

I thought SR and SR5 have different seats?

 

I hear you there. I got mine with 7k miles on it so I knew I didn’t have to worry about that. Ive seen some since getting mine with less than 15k miles so theres definitely deals to be had and with warranties that are up to 100k included I’d say there’s not much to worry about.

 

sr5 has power seats now

https://youtu.be/lkn4kZH2rZM?t=757

 

The rear axle found in E-Locker equipped trucks ( TRD Offroad & TRD Pro ) are 8.75 inch with 32 spline axles. So a bit more strength over the 8.0 rear diffs found in non locker trucks. Also all manual trucks come with the 8.75 inch diff regardless if it has a locker or not.

 

Right, definitely different seats from the Off Road: