Short bed or long? (For off road)

Long bed should be available for SR5 and TRDOR as well, but the dealer may not have a near-term allocation for OR LB models.

I went with the LB. Just drove almost 3000 miles round trip to save furniture from my grandparents estate (the wealthier side of my family was content to destroy family history). SB would not have gotten the job done for me.

I was tussling with this very issue myself. But I’m glad I got the long bed. I use it frequently and that extra foot does make a difference when you have a load. The long bed enabled me to get the closure I needed with my grandparents situation, and it the truck generally meets all of my life needs.

The bed length decision is highly personal and dependent on your use case. These trucks aren’t cheap. Determine what you really want and need then make the decision.

Very satisfied with my Taliban Tan Trail Limo.

 

I've had five Toyota trucks in the last 35 years, only one, the 04 ever had the short bed.

Never again, I learned my lesson.

 

DCLB for me. If I'm out by myself, I can sleep back there, and I can also fit wife, kid, 2 dogs, and gear in there for camping. Plus I get to scream "TRAIL LIMO GANG" as I plow through the Maine woods.

 

They do in 2021 and I have one.

 

sorry i meant double cab. I love the AC's the most, but need the 4 doors.

 

You guys saying the long bed is better for off-roading have not driven in the mountains of Colorado. Good luck taking a long bed down Black Bear. It was hard enough getting around those switchbacks in my short bed.

Short bed Tacoma is the way to go for off-road, at least in the rockies.

 

The obvious answer to this dilemma is an Access Cab. Short wheelbase and long bed.

 

In the only country that matters, usa

we have DCLB OR, Sport, SR5

 

That was the primary deciding factor for me too. In almost a year of ownership, I've only had one or two instances when a longer bed would have been nice to have.
In the small amount of off-roading I have done, I don't think the longer wheelbase would have been a disadvantage. But for daily driving and maneuvering parking lots and such, the shorter wheel base probably helps, since I previously owned smaller cars.

 

??

People do it all the time with DCLB tacomas and larger trucks.

 

The TFL took a Raptor, a power wagon and a trd pro to Moab
Both the bigger trucks scraped way less than the Pro.
Height is more of an advantage unless your doing super tight switchbacks

 

Why give women yet another reason to laugh at you? Go with the 6' bed...

 

I wish I had a long bed. My 10x10 canopy we use for craft shows is like 5' 3" when put away in its case. I can put it in the bed sideways but then that messes with my crates going in the bed. I should have gotten a long boi

5.5' would be perfect

 

they’ll laugh until they get in the cab and see the stick.

 

If I could do it again I would get a Access Cab fewer doors ftw

 

As others have pointed out, a long bed truck has a huge advantage for hauling stuff - in my world, the short bed truck is worthless. And, as others have stated, the short wheel base is better for off road. The way to solve this is with an access cab with long bed (short wheel base). Problem solved.

 

All of the above. In reality, if any level of challenging off-roading is your critical requirement then short bed is the way to go. And get an aftermarket bumper.

I have a short bed. I also have an aftermarket bumper with the hitch receiver integrated and relocated up to behind the license plate. The hitch wiring is moved up too as I tore the 7-pin connector off before I got my aftermarket bumper.

And.....I still dragged that rear bumper multiple times on my most recent Moab trip. Nothing I didn't expect btw, steep ascents, steep descents, steps going down. It worked just like I expected which is to say fantastic. I just had to clean it up and hit it with spray paint when I got back home.

Bottom line - you have to choose. I can tell you short bed with extra clearance (and a lift) drags and survives just fine.

Picture = 1,000 words.



BTW, not dissing on the longbed folks. For my non-Moab reality world long bed would be great.

 

That's not what he said. He said "you guys saying the long bed is better for off roading" . He never said you could not off road with an LB. But on any normal version of planet earth, there is not one situation where the LB will have an advantage over the SB, but there are many situations where the SB will have an advantage over the LB. Not sure why there would be argument over that.

 

Thought it was 6’-1”

 

You can ALWAYS get more gear into a longbed vs the short bed in every situation, it doesn't matter how easy or difficult the trail would be. In those instances the longbed has the advantage. You get a longbed on the DCLB or the AC cab.

If the argument is which wheelbase can negotiate a tighter trail that requires a smaller turning radius or higher approach angles, the smaller wheelbase would be the better choice. Since both the DCSB and AC share the same wheel base you need to decide which you want to take more offroad, gear or people? If it's people you'll probably need more gear and with the short bed, space is limited. Not a problem if it's an AC with two people and a long bed. In this case the AC is the better choice.

If you want to go even more places, buy a 1st or 2nd gen single cab with a long bed.