Trail vs TRD Off Road

My friend is looking at purchasing a new Tacoma. He was looking a Trail Edition and TRD Off Road. For those of you that got the Trail, why did you pick it over the TRD OR? The TRD OR seems to have more off road options, but there might be something that I am missing. Thank you in advance.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/trail-edition-vs-trd-off-road.753143/ good info here!

 

Thank you. Trying to get some opinions from both sides.

 

seat fabric on the TE seems nicer, and has the babylift but the OR has more options for the $$

 

I was not going to pay OR money for some the TE storage bins in the bed (and a narrower bed because of it) and non-OR suspension. For my money either an SR or an OR. SR leaves much $$$ in your pocket to mod-out the mechanicals. OR already has them even if you believe you will replace them later. All middle models are fluff ... at least for me.

 

For the money, OR all the way. Although I do love me those bronze TE wheels, which is why I got em.

 

Funny you got the bronze wheels with the red TRD center caps. I did the polar opposite, I got the black wheels with the old school bronze "TOYOTA" center caps.

 

I have both sets of center caps. I did the TRD red ones to match the red 4x4 sticker on the bed. I like the subtle bit of red.

 

Too funny, I also have both sets. Love both designs so decided to put two on one side and two on the other side. It's like having two girl friends on each coast, they'll never see each other.

 

OR all day. I bought a bare bones OR just with factory LED headlights for 39k. With less than 5k I can not only make it better than the lift of a trail, I can surpass a Pro… I hate leather seats in a truck. The trail is on average 3k more, no led headlights available, no fog lights, a lift that you’d probably replace anyways, no crawl control, paying for bed storage you might not use… and it doesn’t come in silver. Just my opinion. I do like trails too, that all is just why I bought “my truck,” tell him to “buy his” and be happy!

 

Agree on all points, despite my newness to all this. TE seemed a camping truck with a small lift, but not enough true trail-cred. I have tried crawl mode (as someone stated it sounds like nuts and bolts dropped in the transmission), but the 4Lo made it up a quite interesting hill. I backed down from some section that would have required a roll-angle that scared me ... more for losing my investment that that I would die.

 

So, the reason I chose the Trail over the Pro or TRD offroad is going to be somewhat long winded, but here we go. I had a 2022 TRD Off-road that was totaled in an accident due to someone blowing through a stop sign and pulling out in front of me. During the 7 months that I had the TRD Off-road, I found there were features that I liked and features that I never used. I had the premium package, and while I liked the heated seats, I hated the sun roof and wireless charging, so if I was going to get another Off-road, I would have dropped those features so it would have had cloth seats and no sun roof. I do not take my truck or jeep anywhere where I have had to do any serious rock crawling, I mainly hunt in SC and GA and it can get messy with the red clay. I once tried crawl control when stuck in some of that red clay, and maybe it was lack of experience with it, but I wasn't impressed with it in really slick or soupy conditions, however I have rear lockers and used some dead fall in the past and have success with that (both in a prior Tacoma and my Jeep), so again the crawl control wasn't a must have feature. However, the crawl control worked great in the sand, when I intentionally bogged it down, to play with that feature. So I started a checklist for myself on what I wanted, and what I would do aftermarket (i.e.., lift, grill) and the trail just made more sense to me for a daily and the off-road situations that I would use the truck for. Another point in favor of the Trail Editon to me was that it is a simpler truck, there are fewer bells and whistles that may break down the line (again this works for me as I tend to keep vehicles for a while unless something happens like the accident listed above), so this from a long-term maintenance perspective the trail made sense for me. If you were going to get an extended warranty that would cover some the cost of the more expensive items (Crawl Control/LED Headlights). While all above are correct that you get more features with the OR and can get them at a better price point than the trail, I think it is basically going to come down to what your friend wants, or which is going to best fit his individual needs.

 

Trail guys get a locker up front…TWIN LOCKED. No need for brake actuation stuff, although you’ll get around just fine in ALSD, until those lockers are needed.

 

Please provide a source on TE coming with a front locker. We’ll be waiting.

 

It’s a troll…. We all know there is no factory front locker on a Tacoma.

 

Your buger is dry!

I said add a locker at Premier West!!!!

 

Or add a locker at Mike’s Custom Toys in Oregon!

 

Ahahahaaa! I sure am! When I get the front locker installed after the rear, this SR5 is gonna troll your ass!

 

Man, how could I forget Jason aka @Speed Freek for those of you in the San Diego area.

* hears crickets*

 

@Topanga Taco This reads as Trails come equipped with a front locker, not that you can add one. I think that is where the confusion is, and why someone assumed that you where trolling. Or at least that is how I read it, not Trail guys can get a locker up front..