2wd prerunner offroad viability question

Hey guys, I had some questions for some of you more experienced tacowners. I have an ‘04 dc prerunner with 2wd. I haven’t been able to get a high clearance bumper yet but I wanted to find some trails to try out in the north Georgia area. I am about to lift it 2.5-3 inches (suspension) but otherwise she’s completely stock.

I had a few questions. Is the prerunner 2wd package viable for offroading? And do any of you in north Georgia know if any of the trails up there have a lot of technical things that absolutely require a high-clearance bumper and 4x4?

Thanks fellas

 

I have a 2003 exact trim in white. I've off roaded enough in my 4WD work truck to know my 2WD PreRunner /w the rear locker wouldn't make it through some of the easier routes I've taken. You'll make it through the trails you've been through but if you hit any uneven/soft terrain that'll have you in strange angles, forget it. Don't risk it. Most folks who have 4WD may not want to off road with you either because you're a high risk of always getting stuck or rolling over. You might make it through mud and sand pits if you have proper recovery tools but that requires bigger battery, alternator and airing down your tires along with having proper tires. You definitely won't make it up dunes and steep climbs without 4WD high/low gear, especially with soft terrain. Clearance won't be an issue either until you have only 1 rear wheel in the air and essentially relying on 1 wheel to drive you forward out of uneven terrain. Knowing that, I've opted to convert my PreRunner to 4WD and am in the midst of researching and acquiring all my parts.

 

4x4 conversion is on my to do list at some point, i was just wondering at what point in the build I should do it and if there was any way i could have some fun in the dirt while saving up for it.

 

Absolutely have fun with it but if you want to find out your limits, maybe find a friend with 4WD, recovery equipment and knowledge of the area who is willing to help pull you out if you get into trouble. Just don't solo anything that you're never done before.

 

The biggest challenge there is finding a buddy with a build and time

 

I’ll do some of my own research into the conversion as well

 

Well, I would insist on you at least getting all terrain tires as your first upgrade. Probably the best upgrade you can do right now along with studying up on self-recovery equipment and techniques.

 

I was planning on doing it after the suspension upgrade/lift so I could put some larger ones on. Now I’m not so sure because of what might be needed for the conversion?

 

I just swapped out my struts recently, but you might have to redo your front end suspension if you decide to do conversion down the road after getting the suspension upgrade/lift? I suppose it just depends on how far down the road do you plan on doing the conversion.

You'll need two CV axles, left and right, front differential with a 4:10 gearing since our rear diffs are also 4:10, a 4X4 transmission along with the transfer case, a shorter drive shaft since the A340F transmission along with the transfer case is much longer than our current A340E transmission, also add in wheel bearings, manual locking hubs and a J shifter for 4Hi/4Lo. You and I have a latter A340E transmission that uses a drive by electronic wire, or commonly referred to as a A340E drive by wire transmission so you'll need the 4WD transmission A340F drive by wire transmission. Assume any A340F transmission from a Tacoma before 2003 used a kick down cable. I believe the 2001 4Runners and up until the new generation used the same A340F drive by wire transmissions as the 2003 - 2004 tacomas, but always check with the seller. That's about all I know so far. Let me know if you learn anything new.


EDIT: Just wanted to confirm, is your truck a V6 or I4?

EDIT 2: You'll need a new front AND rear drive shaft along with an speedometer extension cable.

 

I was going to buy some manual hubs from this fine individual along with the CV axles if there's any left when I finally get around to buying everything.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/for-sale-4x4-manual-hubs-spindles-knuckles-and-cvs.709082/page-9

 

Mine is the V6. I’m trying to follow what you’re saying but I’m going to need a lot more research to understand fully

 

I won't lie to you, the swap won't be easy or cheap especially if you don't already have some tools and the mechanical inclination but it will be straight forward once you put in the effort to learn it. I was in your shoes pretty much a year ago and what I've learned up to now is the culmination of reading other posts in tacomaworld, repair manuals, watching youtube videos of someone who did the full swap and talking to some of my mechanic friends. I've also been told to sell my PreRunner and just buy a 4WD tacoma but I've looked and it would cost me just as much if not more to do that. And as someone who wants to off road, it's best to know how to fix things on my rig if they break while off roading. So in this regard, you are not only paying for a 4WD conversion, you are also paying for knowledge along with tools. I've heard stories of folks breaking down in the middle of an off road course, which in most cases will be remote, tow trucks won't be coming to you even if you have cellular signal to call for one so you should be carrying spare parts. If you are trailing with others who have the same make and similar model as your truck, they might have a spare part you don't have that you can buy off of them to fix you truck. If that's not the case and you're lucky, someone will drive you out of the area to buy the part and come back to maybe help you fix your truck to get it home. This is the reason why you see so many off road rigs of similar make and model always trailing each other through off road courses.

 

True that. This was my great grandfather’s truck so getting rid of it is out of the question. I think I’m actually watching the same video right now as you did, and it’s starting to become a little clearer but I’d need to crawl around underneath it a lot more and watch many more videos to fully understand

 

CRACKED HOUSING FAB made a fantastic video but he has the extra cab and also didn't record some parts which he explains. You'll have to do more research to understand what he's talking about. I've probably watched this series more than 3 times now from start to finish and every time I learned something new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqrDQyKAqSk


Follow this link to find the repair manuals. We use the 2001 - 2004 Toyota Tacoma manual. Our V6 engine technical name is the 5vz-fe engine. The repair manual is quite a bit difficult to navigate through but you'll get the hang of it once you dabble in it enough. The abbreviated folders refer to specific systems in the truck. Just make sure if you are referring to the 5VZ-FE engine if you're every looking through the manual.

https://web.archive.org/web/20080731033603/http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/

 

My truck belonged to my father in law who bought it brand new off the lot in 2003. I have a rather close relationship with him as well and got this truck for free, so I'm in a similar boat as you. Everything still runs great for the most part besides a minor throttle body issue I've been working on.

 

You can get a lot of places in 2wd especially if you have a locker. Momentum is your friend. Last weekend I did Slaughterhouse Trail in CO with a jeep whose 4wd was out so he was in 2hi no locker the whole time. He made some obstacles look easy some with 4wd and lockers were struggling on. (Granted he was on 37" tires with King suspenders all the way around). Just saying, if you know what your doing 2wd and a locker can get you a lot of places.

 

A winch is an absolute must if you want to off road with 2wd, especially if going solo. 4wd conversion is an option, sure, but gahh for the headache, time, effort and money, I’d rather buy a truck that was already 4wd.

 

I inherited mine from my great grandfather otherwise I would’ve gotten a 4wd

 

Assuming you have a locker:

I've gotten my unlocked 4WD stuck in places a Prerunner with a locker wouldn't have.

There are instances where the locked 2WD can actually be better, though somewhat rare of course. In the worst case, unlocked 4WD powers the same # of wheels as locked 2WD, two. If you get a front tire and a rear tire off the ground in an unlocked 4wd you will not move, you will just spin the floating tires. A Prerunner with a locker would spin both rear tires, allowing you to move forward.

They are really capable, especially with the right driver behind the wheel.

Go find its limits, just don't do it alone

 

I plan to go and just get a feel for it bombing down some forest service roads and then try some harder trails when my friend with a 4x4 jeep has his build done