Would You Sell Your 3rd Gen If A Solid Front Axle Was Offered?

Even my 89 mighty max has auto locking hubs

 

In a word -- Nope.
It offers no value or benefit for me.

 

The current set-up is an advancement for me so that would be a...

 

Nope.

Solid axles suck for everything except offroading... slowly.

Death Wobble is real.

I bought the Taco to get away from the solid front axle.

What I want from Toyota; (what would make me want to sell my Turd and buy the new 4urd.)

-Front locker with beefier front drive axles.
-Design it so minimal effort is required to get 37" tires underneath it at stock ride height.

 

Nope, had an 84 and it rode like a lumber wagon.

 

Question: would this theoretical off road beast still come equipped with street tires and a stern warning from Toyota and the TW faithful that off road use would void your warranty?

Ehhh, asking for a friend...

 

They need to drop the 4.7 from my 05 4-runner in a special edition. What a great engine. Sadly gone due to frame rot.

 

My brand new 1984 'ExTra Cab' had a SFA, manual locking hubs and a 5-speed with an absolute bombproof 22R motor.
Paid $7,200.
It was a pretty cool truck for me.....in 1984.
Changed the oil about every 4,000 or so and it just kept on truckin'.
When it finally crapped out after 320,000+ it had done it's duty but the straight front axle was no magical part of the truck and in fact made it ride pretty damn rough. That little truck - and I really liked the small size of them - was good for what it was at that time.
It was my first new truck, and it was red - and this 2021 SR5 AC 4x4 will be my 2nd new truck...probably last...and it's going to be red too...
Long story longer is that I've seen a pretty giant leap in progress in Toyota pickups and wouldn't go back to a SFA or most 'old school' again, especially in ride, quality of build and power...yeah that's right I said power compared to my little, but reliable, 4 banger.
Just my .02 cents but I'm glad you asked the question as I still smile when I think of that little 84...

 

Here’s my 84 next to my 17. Worlds apart.

 

No.....and doubt it will happen. The pickup hasnt had a solid front axle since 1985!

 

It's not like Toyota needs to use the old leaf spring set up, they could use coil springs. And it's not like vehicles makers don't know why death wobble happens, it's just they don't care to spend the money to fix it.

Even on my old Land Cruiser FJ 40s I never had death wobble and to call the steering ''loose'' on one of them would have severely understating the issue. [hey, I was young, all the tie rod ends were good, didn't really understand that the issue was the steering link.]

 

Nah. I'm a fan of IFS

 

No, as I have a Jeep for that use.

 

Nope. I have off-road toys which do way better than anything with a solid axle will do in the terrain I like to go off-roading in. That said I have been very impressed with how well my stock Taco OR 4x4 has done on some pretty tough trails but I also like that it's not removing my fillings on washboard dirt roads or on the highway, especially since my Taco has become the road trip vehicle of choice (unless I need to tow something, then we take my Silverado).

I do wish I could have manual-locking front hubs and a manual Transfer Case lever. My last 4wd had a manual Transfer Case and it was a lot more fun shifting it between Low and Hi range than just turning a knob on the dash.

 

Does it run?

 

Is that why solid axle cars keep winning KOH?

 

I would not, I do light offroading at best and my truck spends 99%< on the road, where IFS is preferable.

Now, if they made a special edition 5.7 Tacoma, we might be having a different conversation.

 

UTVs be solid axle?

I think Campbell won with IFS too.

 

I don’t think Toyota is going to make the Tacoma ride and handle worse for the 99.9999999999999999999% of people who buy them just to please the 0.00000000000000000000000001% of people who jackoff while watching Rock Crawling videos on Youtube.

 

Plenty IFS 4400 cars have won, that's not my point. My point is IFS/IRS hasn't yet made solid axle cars obsolete and solid axle cars are still able to compete and win in the high speed Ultra4 game which, in popular opinion, is the ultimate 4x4 test. This year is the most recent example. So to say solid axle suspensions cannot be good at speed or on the street is simply incorrect. Yea, old school, leaf sprung, jacked up geometry solid axle trucks did suck more often than not, but that's as much of a function of the date and time as it is the layout. Even though IFS lends itself to certain big improvements over solid axles, suspension tech in general has come a long way since solid axles were common OEM equipment.