My first truck! I need advice

Plain old 4wd is all I've ever needed, but I only deal with deep snow, not off roading.

 

Does the sport have a skid plate factory installed?

 

Pretty certain. Unless you are referring to the goldish/silver one that comes up to front bumper then no. That's an add on. Either way both skid plate don't do much

 

It's only 400 bucks sticker wise.

 

I had the same dilemma a few months ago when I purchased my tacoma. I wanted 4x4, longbed Sport. I met another taco owner with the OR and he wasn't happy with the locker.

Sport has the hood scoop and the side mirror blinkers. Nice look but not necessary for off road.

You wont need a locker for driving through the snow, and you can get away with just the 4x4 on your camping trips.

Everyone taco owner adds something on their ride. I will eventually add a locker to mine...

Good luck with your journey.

 

Go with the Off Road, I did and glad of it.

 

Can anyone verify how useful the 8.4" diff is over the 8? It was said to be 15% stronger but in what instance does that make for a better or more useful truck? Why did Toyota even make them different?

 

15% stronger seems pretty generous... probably more like 5% if that. The 8.4 has a couple of braces that run along the back side that can help keep the ring gear from deflecting under heavy load. It is helpful, possibly but my 8.0 has handled my hard abuse just fine once I got rid of the oem ring gear.

As far as the ring and pinion are concerned they are the same strength wise because they are the same size.

The 8.0 has the factory e-locker. The 8.4 is open.

 

Yep, and 17" rims