4x2 Off Road Capability

I have a set of Nokian snow tires on my 2016 4Runner but it is a dog in 4x2 mode in the snow unless I switch it to 4x4. 4x2 Tacoma is great for HWY driving and if you live in fair weather.

 

We still don't know how he got out, right?

 

I feel like this would happen to me. TBH if it did, I’d play it off “someone got stuck, I’m helping them get out, they are inside the store as this is too embarrassing “ then I’d trade it in for a 4x4 and move to Kentucky.

OP you got a beautiful truck. If you truly will off road often, wait a year and a half and trade her in for a 4x4. Tacos hold their value, you’ll be alright. Whatever you mod now, save originals.

 

My first two trucks were 2wd. I didn’t need 4wd often, but I did get stuck a couple of times. Now that I have 4wd, I make sure I find reasons to use it. I did see a military surplus Humvee get stuck three feet off the paved road so I know these things can happen.

 

Heck if there's wet grass and an incline I'm done for in 2wd. The nature of a pickup.

What maybe nobody has said is if you're going to use this truck you need to carry probably several hundred pounds of weight over the rear axle in addition to halfway decent tires.

 

Surprised this thread is still going.
OP, I don't know if I missed it or not. But who ended up pulling you out?

 

Mods what do we think

 

I don’t know why no one mentioned this simple and cheap upgrade. Put weight in your bed.

A major limitation of a 2wd pickup is that the rear drive wheels have very little weight on them when the truck is not carrying a payload. This severely limits traction.

It’s very common in my state to carry sandbags in winter even in 4x4’s.

 

This is 100% the case. The key is weight in the bed and lots of it. My family lives in Norther Quebec (I live in NY). They all drive 2WD trucks because they are nuts and out to prove a point. The guys they drive with never get stuck in their 2WD vehicles ... and most of that is a combination of weight and skill as drivers.

They line their truck bed with these tube sand bags (which are pretty cheap). And when I say line their truck I mean they have a mattress of this stuff back there:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sakrete-70-lb-Tube-Sand/3067709

 

Yep, my first small pickup was a 2wd datsun. I used to get stuck in the driveway when it snowed with that truck. Finally got serious installing 4 15'' chevy wheels and snow tires with a couple large sandbags in the bed. That little truck went places you'd need 4wd in. Back in the day i once even made it up the side of this switchback eroded woods trail to the top of this hill where only jeeps usually went. We sat there for a few minutes only to surprise a 2 other jeeps that later came up.

 

Because there are idiots who will buy them

 

U asked for it parking there lol

 

My first two automobiles were a 1974 and a 1981 Datsun 2wd pickup. I beat the crap out of them and took them to their limits off road but they in no means or way could go where you need 4wd. 4wd is a whole new world. Hah!

 

I was out with @Skierrichy and I had to stop to put it in 4L. I told him I didn't realize I was actually in 2Hi for the past stretch after a turnaround. Yeah, these trucks are pretty capable.

 

Omfg. The truck is helpless in 2wd just like every other pickup in 2wd. There really is nothing with worse traction than an unloaded pickup in 2wd. You are better off with a Corolla

 

I have the same truck as you AT instead of MT, stock tires and suspension still. Seemed to work fine for me.

 

I highly suspect you were not in a low traction situation.

 

I had an '03 Blazer 2wd once upon a time and it got stuck Way too easy. I literally got stuck going downhill where the ground leveled out and it wasn't even muddy. That was literally the day I found my truck and the Blazer was gone by the end of the week. My truck is a Prerunner with the locking diff and I've gone anywhere I would have taken the Blazer and much more and have only needed the locker 1 time because of sand. I've been amazed more than once at the capability of my truck. I don't do serious "wheeling" but for anything I've needed to do "off road" it has handled pretty easily and rarely if ever with weight in the bed. The suspension flex must be miles beyond what that Blazer had.

 

Oh, no it wasn't difficult trails at all. Dry as a bone up here in New England, no mud but there was a lot of loose grit.

 

Why did Toyota call a 2WD PU "Off Road"? The hell??