2WD or 4WD trd off road (socal)

Not nearly as bad as where I lived. This place is cheap and nice. Groceries are reasonable now.

 

you forgot to mention sol cal taco shops , dude carne asada fires with all that ratched ass guac and red sauce.

 

If you're questioning yourself about it now, go ahead and get the 4x4.

 

Depends on what type of lake you want to jump into. My job keeps me living in a mid to large city, but having no sales tax, accessible nature, and good beer keeps me happy.

The tacos (eating kind) are horrible here though.

 

The only reason not to get a 4x4 is if you really cannot afford it. There is no practical reason to not get a 4x4.

Saving 1mpg? You're buying a truck. That's just the way of the road.

If you can't afford it, don't get it.

 

Deep thoughts.

 

KO2’s are decent in the snow. I’ve had my truck with K02’s in fresh snow and on packed snow here multiple times (June Lake, Big bear, pilot rock, etc). Michelin LTX AT2’s are great in the snow. In the mid west I ran LTXs on my trucks, here KO2.

edit, OP, get 4x4, the 2WD trucks had a terrible time on Pilot Rock trail over the holidays due to the recent snow. They just couldn’t get enough traction to go uphill without getting stuck.

 

Get a sport. The scoop will see way more action than 4x4 or the locker ever would.
Goes for at least 90% of OR owners.
Not to even mention crawl control.

 

I have a 2WD TRD OR and went to Mt High this past November when it was snowing. It did really well, I never put chains on and used the locker only at the MT High parking lot (very icy). Worked fine. Although I did see an SR5 Taco 2WD get stuck on the Mt High driveway from the ice. Unless you really plan to do lots of off-road trails, 2WD with the locker has been fine for me.

 

An added benefit is 4WD + a snow rated tire is don’t have to chain up when Caltrans has an R1 or an R2 chain restriction. You still have to carry chains.

 

TRD Off Road 4x2 owner checking in here. For me, it was a matter of considering my usage. I’ve only owned two wheel drive trucks and my usage has never placed me in a circumstance that necessitated four wheel drive.

 

Born, raised, and currently live in California. Only thing that sucks about it here is that everyone else wants to live here too!

 

Another thing that annoys me about California is that residents are randomly selected to take a knowledge examination at their driver’s license renewal every so often; My cousin who lives in San Francisco and had a clean driving record told me this happened to her the last time she renewed her license.

In Pennsylvania, as long as you don’t get six or more points on your license, you just pay a fee via mail, get your picture taken at the DMV, and walk out with a new license; People over the age of 45 or so can be randomly selected for an eye test. In my opinion, once I’ve earned the privilege to drive, and especially if I’ve managed to keep my record clean for almost a decade, I should be able to renew my license without having to take any tests!

 

Resale on a 4x4 would be much better.

 

@ryan760

I was born in California myself and think the state is absolutely beautiful, but I have no desire to live there.

 

I've been having this arguement with a friend of mine who recently bought a 2WD Frontier and now wants to offroad. He wants to install a locker and a winch. I'm trying to convince him that upgrading to a 4WD will be the best bang for your buck "mod" he can do. But he's met a new friend group of 2WD wheelers and I can't tell him nothin. He says "believe it or not 2WD is actually better for offroading, if you have power going to all 4 wheels it's much easier to get stuck"


I agree with other posters here. You can only ever possibly regret 2WD, you'll never regret 4WD and if you're even considering it just get it.
Way I look at it is you'll never lose that value. Sure its a couple G's more now but litterally whenever you go to sell it in the future it'll probably be worth the same amount more than its 2WD counterpart so you'll get your money right back.

 

I'm from So Cal and I have had only 4X4 trucks for the last 30 plus years. Aside from liking to off road, I don't want to chain up in the snow. We frequently check out trails, dirt roads and such and I don't like the idea of getting stuck. I like not having to worry about weather or other conditions. I like being able to get somewhere because it look interesting or I want to take some pictures.

 

2WD Prerunner is good enough for SoCal roads. If you encounter potholes or road debris just send it.
At the time i trade in my 05 taco 4x4 that i owned for 10 plus years here in LA, the CV boots were all cracked and the transfer case was starting to leak, i only engage 4WD on my driveway, never need it never used. i decide for the 4x4 back then thinking on resale value, but at the end those issues end up affecting the value of my trade in.
So this time around 4x4 was a no no for me. Glad i did go with 2WD. MPG is a lot better and driving around is more pleasant.

 

What many of the non-CA drivers don't realize is that we have some really crappy areas with really crappy roads in socal. Pot holes, dips, debris, uneven pavement and straight out neglected roads can be found all over the place. Some of the so called "paved" roads we have make the wash board gravel roads in the desert/mountains feel like you're driving on freshly laid concrete compared to the crap that's falling apart in our cities lol.