Can a SR 4x4 off-road nearly as good as a TRD Offroad?

I'm struggling to understand the difference besides crawl control and terrain modes. Would the suspension likely be identical? Does the TRD Offroad have skid plates and upgraded suspension?

 

rear locker, skid plates, no front air dam, bilstien shocks, and I believe larger tires stock? All can be added except the crawl control and terrain modes. Really just depends on how you will use it and what your expectations of clearing an obstacle are. At the core they are the same.

 

Is there a getting started guide for offroading?

 

Larger 8.75" Rear Diff on the OR too.

 

If he gets a used manual SR he can still get the 8.75” rear diff

 

Right, I am aware of that but I assumed he was speaking of new.

 

The trucks are so close (IMHO) that the nut behind the wheel combined with quality tires will make the more difference than anything else 97.32% of the time

 

Rear locker is the biggest mechanical difference. Depending on how hard you plan on off-roading will determine if you need the rear locker or not. In my case, it’s helped me out in quite a few situations only a couple of them where I NEEDED the rear locker

 

An air locker can be added. If i ever get a 3rd gen, it's going to be the basic model

 

The OR skid plates are a joke. Like paper thin aluminum.

 

Find a battle buddy and hit some trails.

I don't know if there is a guide here but there are lots of books and websites with trails and offroading info.

I like watching Ronny Dahl on Youtube, he has lots of good info.

 

Have a off-road, buddy has a sr5 with upgraded tires. He doesn’t fall behind.

 

This. I haz the big ass. The hardest difference to make up would be the locker. I have not installed a locker on mine, and I’m not in any rush. During non winter months I huck my sr out and over anything I can find on the trails, and I’ve not needed it yet.

 

ATRAC makes a lot more of a difference than the locker IMO and that's not something you can add. I use the shit out of ATRAC every time I go out and have only needed the locker once or twice.

 

Did the new 3rd gens switch to the smaller rear diff with the manuals?

 

The tires are the same diameter, but 20mm wider.... that being said, you'll want some aftermarket tires too.

Sure, but the axles in the other models are the same ones that Toyota has been running forever anyways right?

Anyways, I think @Clearwater Bill is right. For all intents and purposes, any of the 4X4 Tacomas will do the deal just fine with tires. Not too many years ago we didn't even have all the fancy stuff and terrain was conquered.

Not to make light of the craw control, shocks, and rear locker.... those are nice and if I were buying today, I'd get an OR. I wouldn't be afraid of the SR either. If the SR with a stick were an option, I'd also check that out.

The difference isn't going to be huge, pick what you can get, swap tires and have fun.

 

You will be more than fine, especially if you upgrade your tires pretty quickly. Regardless of what anyone says these trucks are much more capable stock than heavy modders will give them credit for (especially 3rd gen haters).

Before I knew TW existed with my first Taco I didn't know anything about offroading or how to use the locker I had. I ended up taking my truck places I should have never been, never touched the locker (or 4lo), and got out to tell the story. Sometimes not over thinking about your short comings does a world of good and is really fun. Common sense and trusting your gut helps too.

Edit = grammar

 

Honestly you dont need half the stuff people do here.

 

In all honesty do you really even need the locker if you're not rock crawling? The TRAC system works REALLY well on my SR5. The SR has the same system.

I would have ended up in an SR if they came in long bed, the cost to add aftermarket front / rear lockers to an SR or SR5 is about the same as the cost difference between an SR5 and a TRD OR, but you end up with a more capable rig in the end. This assumes you can drop $4k cash on that though; many people prefer to finance that difference into the vehicle cost since they do not have that much money on-hand.

 

Look at the instagram hashtag #overlanding.