How do Prerunners do off road?

I see a lot of Prerunners tricked out for off road, with lifts, big tires, winch, etc etc. Are these 2WD trucks pretty good performers in the fairly rough stuff (including mud), especially the TRDs with locking rear diff? Mostly curious, but I am in the market. I probably won't be going anywhere but muddy rutted fire/logging roads in northern New England, so I probably don't need a rock crawler. Should I stop restricting my search to 4WD only?

Respectful advice and opinions appreciated.
Thanks.

 

Buy a 4wd. Open diff 4wd will get you places a Prerunner will not. Locker + 4wd is ideal. Don't skimp out on 4wd over a couple grand

 

Why not drive your truck in 2WD and use the locker (when needed, gray wire mod).

That's exactly what a Prerunner is.

 

If you really think that all you are going to use it for is muddy rutted fire/logging roads then the 2wd is fine. As stated above, the 4wd is not that much more expensive, and you might end up regretting not getting it in the future.

 

I’ve run my prerunner into deep mud and always kept up with my 4wd buddies. This is mostly mud and gravel/rutted out roads. You just have to have a different driving style use momentum etc. biggest improvement was good tires, you won’t be crawling rocks but you can do most things no problem.

 

Guess why you see the winches?

And do you not go out in the winter weather?

Yes, I know I have a 2wd 5 lug. And it does all I need now.

But I've also owned property in NH and driven literally 10s of thousands of miles off-road as a cross country land surveyor.

For your given use case keep shopping 4wd.

 

The important thing is:
Prerunner's can be converted to 4wd fairly easily.

Obviously the ideal thing to do is buy a 4wd from the start, but sometimes there's a great deal on a Prerunner you can't pass up, or the Prerunner has sentimental value.

To answer your question, it does fine "offroad". You can follow your friends on the main trail while they do some fun hard stuff in their 4wd.

 

fairly easy means transmission swap and changing out the whole front end. right? A good condition 4wd in Hawai'i is so hard to find but pre runners pop up often

 

Yup. It's all nuts and bolts. No welding or special coding required. Definitely easy to do.

 

Rather have it and not need it vs needing it and not having it…

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Prerunner if you wheel with others that have 4wd... 4wd if you like exploring alone at times