TRD Sport for off roading

Go out and wheel. If you get to places where you are diffing out, then swap in a selectable or a lunchbox locker. If you are serious about the rocks, a locker is one of the best mods you can possibly do. It's night and day...you won't know if you need/want it until you get out and push the limits of your truck first though.

 

No David_K yet?

A-TRAC A-TRAC A-TRAC!

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Seriously though... just wheel the truck. Bring a shovel. Bring an axe. Get some traction boards. Bring a friend. Learn the limits of the electronic LSD.

If you find yourself exceeding that, then contact East Coast Gear and throw a pair of ARB lockers in that puppy.

 

My Sport nailed it at the dunes in Pismo today. Air down, and have fun. You'll find out what hills you can do, and the ones you cant.

 

I have a Sport LB with full armor and I’ve done just fine here in So Cal.

 

Nice! i've been out there but never really out to the back area like you. is yours 2wd?

 

Mine is 2 wheel drive. I just aired down to 7lbs in the tires. I was with my brother in law who had 4 wheel drive. He never needed to get me unstuck. I did use my traction boards twice, and was able to have fun.

 

Good tires and airing down does wanders. My jeep is open,open with 35" mt and has amazed me where it goes. That being said I've never took my taco off road.

 

TRD Sport can most definitely go off road. It's still a 4x4. Heck, even Subaru's and compact cars can technically go "off road" so I don't know what these Sport haters are talking about, frankly.
Don't pay attention to those who don't say otherwise, they're either dumb or acting like it. Shame on them for offering up these "alternative facts" to a newbie who is just looking for sound advice. They contribute nothing to the conversation.

DO pay attention to those who are saying "driving skill supersedes truck tech." IMHO, lacking the tech compels you to be a smarter, safer 4x4 driver because you don't have the tech shortcuts that other rigs have. For example, when I've become cross-axle'd (i.e. when your rig is 'twisted' and two diagonally opposing wheels are in the air or simply don't have traction and hence are spinning due to your LSD), I've been able to back out and try another angle, apply some left-foot braking and right foot gas pedal simultaneously. Presto! I'm out. My friend in his TRD OR was behind me and saw my struggle so he immediately flips on his rear e-locker trying to tackle it without.

Now, before all the hemming and hawing commences, I will 100% concede to the fact that there is a reason this truck tech exists - because skillful driving and airing down will only take you so far. We are all bound to the natural laws of physics and at that point, only a brute force approach (or combo thereof) is necessary. This is where truck tech comes in, be it locking diffs, winches, self-recovery boards and so on. All of these are designed to fill the gap between your rig's out-of-box limits (and maybe your driving skill, because nobody is perfect) and the obstacles you encounter. One could even argue that 4x4 alone is tech meant to fill the gap in 2WD but that's another soapbox.

When I first got my TRD Sport, I took it EVERYWHERE it could go. Bone stock. I wanted to understand its 'physics' if that makes sense. Also, I come from the sports car and motorcycle world so my DCLB is the biggest vehicle I've ever owned. Spatial awareness was important to me, knowing whether I thought I could clear an obstacle while sitting in the drivers seat was just as important as actually clearing it. Knowing when I should start turning the truck to circumvent a boulder on the inside while clearing the trees on the outside makes the difference between a simple drive-through and an N-point turn, where N is annoyingly high.

Understanding weight distribution (or lack thereof) was another because there aren't guardrails on these trails. If I was going to subject myself, my dog and my passengers to this environment, I better have the fundamentals down pat! Truck tech obscures that for a newbie offroader, IMHO of course.

I also watched a lot of vids on YouTube, particularly the Aussie ones from Ronny Dahl and Andrew St. Pierre White. Highly recommend. Here are some links to their playlists. I hope you find them useful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbjNPrhP2Mg&list=PLdZBtPD_yK0-RWr2jxxGCmsehvVF2iE6E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GB7DFaj0dg&list=PLdZBtPD_yK08vGryZ0nz1K3cf4VZ_qO2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj51IE3woWk&list=PL5C8F91D55AB39A63
Ronny on Diff Lockers
Ronny on Beginner tips
Ronny on other offroad tips

Today, I will be installing front and rear diff lockers on my Sport because I have reached the limits of what I currently have (full Icon/OME suspension and 33" KO2's). That, and the local shop was running a 20% off re-gear special during December but that only applied if I installed an air locker, too. I planned to only have them install a rear locker (I'm an overlander, not a rock crawler) but since they've got to take the front off anyway for the re-gear, I'm effectively getting free labor for installing a front air locker. Now if I had bought an OR edition, I might be replacing the e-locker because of reports that it doesn't perform as well as the ARB air locker or that it breaks more often, etc. (I don't have personal experience on this, mind you.) Also, my suspension upgrade beats the pants off the OR's stock suspension.

REMEMBER: Car and truck makers are made of accountants.

I hope this helps.

 

@christyle

 

Following...

 

Pics from today. I was with a bunch of Jeeps with lockers in front and back. I made it up all the black diamonds they threw at me. Granted, they are definitely more capable, but they were impressed today.

 

Solid! Looks like hollister hills? Impressed you held on to those mud flaps.

 

Yep, Hollister Hills. Yeah I forgot to take them off, I did after these pics though cause we did a lot more. 11 hour day off road!

 

I traded in for an off-road..should have got it in the 1st place. Some pics trying it out..it went where I wanted but had to coax it a little..just made my 1st payment on the Silver Off-road..

 

Is your Truck a 4x4

 

This is exactly what I was hoping to see in this thread!

My buddy has a TRD Off-Road, but even he told me I didn't really need the rear-locker (although he's now considering adding a front locker). Anywho, I was having trouble finding a used OF that I could afford, and found a decent Sport that I jumped on. I ride my TW200 on trails, so a lot of the time I'll just be using the Taco to get me to those trails with the TW. But now that I can actually go off-roading with my truck too, I plan on doing as much as I can.

 

I live in desert terrain. And out here, a Sport 4x4 rocks. I wheel mostly with heavily modified Jeeps and my taco eats their lunch. Just installed king shocks. I’m hoping It’ll be even better.

 

Sorry man, I never saw the alert for this. Yes, it's a 4×4

 

Your truck will tear trails up. I've wheeled my truck up so many desert "jeep trails" that people said I couldnt run in my truck and old mining roads that are barely there anymore. You do have to know it's limitations, but that comes with wheeling it and figuring out what they are. Btw mine is a 4 door long bed so wheelbase is super long. Doesn't matter. Just have to pick your lines right