What would improve offroad performance the most

My Tacoma has 2wd, street tires, and a locker, oh and also 4wd. I get the "pre-runner" experience until I shift to 4wd. Because I have the pre-runner experience every time I turn off the pavement (until I switch in to 4wd) I knew I didn't need off road tires. When the ones I had wore out I replaced them with street tires. I was tired of the noise and harsh ride. Street tires and 4wd will dance circles around 2wd and any tire. If you can only have 4wd or tires I'd chose 4wd 10 times out of 10.

 

4WD > Tires.

 

I’m just nervous to undergo such a technical seeming project when I’m still a kid and it seems like so many things could go wrong and I could mess up a lot of stuff. I feel like throwing shocks and tires on a car is a good way to dip my toes into the world of car modification.

 

Is this your only vehicle to drive?

 

It’s MY only vehicle to drive. My parents have cars but I’m the first one up at 5 am and the last to get home off of work at around 5.

The question also starts to twist into not what is just best but what is also most reasonable.

 

When I was in high school (1999), I decided to buy a 1979 Pontiac TransAm.
It drove but needed work. I, as a kid, decided I would swap the engine.
Needless to say, it took longer than a weekend. And in the process other issues were found that needed addressed. It took about 3 month before I got the car back running.

My point is, I don’t advise anyone to take on a big project that is NOT necessary on their only vehicle.
I was lucky that my grandmother let me borrow her vehicle.

 

The best way to get a 4wd Tacoma is to buy a 4wd Tacoma. If the project is over your head the best thing to do is skip buying tires, lifts, etc, etc, sell your 2wd truck and buy a 4wd. Honestly lifting a pre runner seems kind of high school. You'll spend a bunch of money and won't have much to show for it. Your friends will still be getting you unstuck.

 

Yep. I was stuck behind a brand new top of the line TRD Pro coming down from Black Bear pass today. They were driving slower than if they were just limping along with a sprained ankle and I was stuck behind them for a two miles. They never pulled aside even though they had room.

Spend more time getting stuck and learning the limits and how to control your truck. You can still do the other stuff as well, but experience will get you the furthest.

 

I hate to be the stick in the mud here.. but if this is your daily/only vehicle and is needed to get to a job, other necessary travel maybe offroading it isnt the best idea.

 

Old video, but it shows that a 2wd could never do what a 4wd can, even if the 2wd had a locker. Be a good friend and do a 4wd swap so your friends don't have to be saving you all the time and can also enjoy themselves.

At 1:19 he mistakenly shows him pushing the rear rocker button instead of showing him putting the truck in 4wd. The white truck is a 2wd.

https://youtu.be/yMLHtApOCwc

 

I have seen a 2wd truck, with mud terrains, have the tires spinning on a slick spot, give up and turn around

on the other hand, if i had a 2wd i would get good tires, a winch, and just roll with it

 

1. I am in highschool so obvisouly I'm okay with lifting a prerunner. Just be happy I'm not one of those retards that stick those rubber band tires on big ol shiney wheels and never leave the road.
2. I'm not selling my, 1 owner, 127k miles, solid as a rock frame, truck for some random 4x4 tacoma with 300k miles and unaccounted maintance history. That would not be a smart finacial move.

If is over my head then I will be patient and wait until I have enough expericance and time to do the conversion and in the mean time lift my truck.

I worked ass my off for a year and a half because I was tired of parking my '99 Jetta and hopping in my friends big lifted trucks and riding in them. In fact there were sometimes I said to hell with it and took the Jetta on trails. That was asking for an accident to occur so I did what like 5% of teenagers do nowadays and bought my own truck. You better believe I'm gonna leave the road behind and follow my friends.

 

You need a 12,000-lumen LED light bar.

 

Lights before lockers

 

Ah yes so I can see the trees before I slide into them from the lack of traction

 

You blind the trees so they can't see you.

 

I'd rather have 4X4 with 4 bald tires and open diffs than 2wd with new mud grips and a locker. A winch is OK, but it is a last resort when you screw up badly. Even then you have to have an anchor point and that isn't always possible.

 

Everyone is saying they would rather have 4x4 with bald tires but I want someone who has offroad for a long time a 4x4 truck and bald tires to tell me from experiance that they would rather that.

 

Yeah I've never offroaded before which is why I gave you the suggestion that a 4wd is better than a 2wd. Silly me.

 

Obviously having power go to 4 wheels is better than just to 2 wheels. I’m not saying it isn’t, I’m asking for someone to say “I have driven a 4x4 truck with bald tires and a 2wd truck with good tires the 4x4 outperformed the 2wd enough to where I think you, a 17 year old, should rip apart his daily driver and convert it to 4wd”