Checked out the 4th gens on display at Overland Expo '23 today.

I went and saw the Tacomas at Overland Expo today. The Trail Hunter is cool except for the bed bar thingy which is not my style but some people like them Im sure. The bronze color is really really nice in person. The front bumper, even without the airdam, hangs down incredibly low. I get it they need to meet mpg goals...but its bad. The link suspension is nice looking but not exactly compact, there is a lot going on down there. Upper and lower links, track bar, swaybar, enormous diameter coils, big old obnoxious shocks etc. The exhaust had to be dumped before the rear axle which looks aftermarket. The spare tire hangs down really low. The rock sliders are bolted on so that is going to be a super common add-on for a lot of non-trail hunter people. They are also very "fabricated" looking, not at all OEM looking, kinda surprising. They were definitely using the trucks on the obstacle course as evidenced by the beat up skids, control arm mounts etc. Up front, everyone has seen the pictures of the Trail Hunter and Pro upper control arms that are some kind of billet/thick aluminum. The front spindles are also aluminum. Time will tell how they hold up to abuse and bigger tires. Adding gussets looks like it will be much more difficult than it was to the steel spindles on the 2nd/3rd gen. They had the doors locked today so I couldnt do any more than look in through the window. Interior of the Trail Hunter is really nice. I only have one gripe, the T O Y O T A raised letters on the dash trim piece in front of the passenger. They are disgusting, they stick up half an inch and are completely unnecessary. I hope they are able to change that before production.

As for the Prerunner, its not my thing(because 2wd trucks that are supposed to go offroad are stupid) so I didnt pay much attention to it, other than noticing that the rear leafs are spring under. This will make the guys turning their trucks into Baja racers happy but the leaf pack, with its pancake flat overload leaf, sticks down comically low for something meant to go offroad. It would have been way cooler if they did a 4th gen X runner instead of the pre runner.

As for the overall look of the vehicles. They have either made the front fenders and cab larger or the bed smaller, or both. Both trucks on display had the 6 foot bed and it just looks short. Front to back it takes up a smaller proportion of the length of the truck than on 2nd and 3rd gens. On the 4 door long bed it looks great, on the xtra cab it looks bad. The bed is too short. Im not sure how the dimensions compare to previous generations but it looks off. In the past I was all about the access cab+long bed but now it looks better in a double cab+long bed configuration. Im really curious what the wheelbase is. I passed on the double cab+long bed when I bought my current truck because I like the 127" wheelbase. The double cab+long bed has the same wheel base as a full size truck that is a 4 door with 6 foot bed. I would have just gotten a full size truck if I wanted a 140" wheelbase.

 

Thanks for posting some pictures, not bad in my book

 

Didn't know the new trucks would be on display. Guess I should've stopped by.

4th gen has a wider track (the Trailhunter/Pro especially) with an extra 4 inches on the wheelbase. They essentially eliminated the dead space that was on the nose of the 3G and pushed the rear axle back. Overall length is the same, so maybe the cab is slightly longer or a couple inches has been added to the bed.

Thanks for the pictures!

 

It’s a longer wheelbase with the same overall length, so it just probably just looks like the rear wheel is too far back.

Curious how much larger the turn radius will be…

 

Where did you get the info about the wider track width and longer wheel base?

 

https://youtu.be/Fh-s9O3EgRs

 

Thanks, I wasnt able to suffer through that video the first time I saw it. Guess I need to get really bored for a while and hit play.

 

I hear ya, the info about the dimensions is in the first five minutes I think.

 

I really like the new long bed, dbl cab look.

I was hoping someone could play with the steering wheel adjustments on camera to see if there is more than 1" of travel.

 

>Thebed is too short. Im not sure how the dimensions compare to previous generations but it looks off

Thinking the same. Betting the front end engine bay is longer like the Tundra contributing the odd balance.

 

doesn't that leaf spring on the extra cab look really low to the ground?

 

Yeah, it is. Its spring under so its already low and when you flex it like this one the overload leaf stays flat. Its only a few inches off the ground and will probably scrape on speed bumps. It looks horrible.

 

Did you happen to see where the blind spot monitor is located? I’m curious as the 3rd gens was behind the bumper. Since the trailhunter has steel rear bumpers, it would have to be somewhere else other than behind the bumper.

 

It's above the bumper and below the headlights. Shiny piece in the pro / trailhunter ARB steel bumpers.

 

4:11 Bigfoot sighting ! ! !

 

4 link rear suspension in the new Tacoma, Hmmmmmmmm.

 

The xtracab is really growing on me.

lol at the rock sliders.

 

At least rocksliders are bolt on so you can sell it

 

I see a lot of rust under that new Taco will that be a problem especially those living in the snow belts. just saying

 

I don't see that exhaust dump prior to the rear axle making it onto the factory models.