2022 PRO vs 2024 Trail Hunter - Observations

I’ve had a trail hunter for 3 days and I’m missing my 2022 PRO a little bit. Below is a list of what I think is superior in each vehicle.

22 PRO:
- lighter (by a thousand pounds)
- better off-road geometry (narrower, shorter wheelbase, better approach, break, departure)
- non-overheating and non-exploding transmission
- proven
- way better turning radius
- I think overall ground clearance is better but cannot find reliable real life numbers on diff and running clearance comparisons
- more “trucky” and better connection between driver and external environment (subjective)

24 TH:
- delicious torque
- smooth transmission (if it doesn’t explode)
- 10/10 highway driving feel and smoothness and 8/10 road noise
- tech is super impressive
- sway bar disconnect
- not yet tested off-road .. but skeptical it will be better and might be worse than the 3G PRO

While the TH is 10X nicer to and from the office and on long drives… I doubt it will be better off road and might be inferior in many ways. A bit of remorse over not buying a 23 PRO. Maybe over time I’ll like it more and more.

Curious what others think who made a similar transition recently!

 

Also, what’s the advantage of a wider track when off-roading? I imagine it actually is a disadvantage … so why offset the wheels? Is it just looks? In my 22 pro I appreciated my ability to get into tight spots off-road.

As far as the width delta to my old truck I’ve seen everything from 2.7” to 6” … I don’t know

 

Track width adds some stability but also makes the truck look more aggressive. I’d imagine it was done more for looks than anything else. Given it’s only a 3” difference in total width I find it hard to believe it would make a difference on the trail 90% of the time. If you scrape the wheels on a 4th gen TH/Pro you probably would have on a 3rd gen Pro as well.

 

The main advantages for being wider is stability, both when pitched at an angle while crawling and at speed while turning.
Personally, the 3rd gen is already a bit wider than I'd want a vehicle to be. It's already too big for some narrow tree-lined trails in the PNW.

The move to high positive wheel offsets in modern cars is mainly about reducing the scrub radius of the tire. That gives a few advantages to vehicle stability (mostly while under braking).

 

Great responses. I’ve also noticed it feels more stable on the highway but no idea how much of that is attributed to track.