SR5 vs TRD Off -Road Better option for 4x4 Overlanding/Daily Driver

I regret my Off Road. I should have got the cheapest Manual V6 I could find and then put my own rear locker I can activate whenever I want along with a small lift, tires and possibly a regear all at once. My sun roof is covered by equipment anyway. But then again I hate the nanny features and would give anything to have levers for 4 hi/ 4 low/2 low like my Land Cruiser.

 

I would go with an SR5 man. If you really want a TRD, I would go with the sport. I have an OR and I go off road alot and never had to really use crawl, MTS, or lock my diff. The only time I've used crawl was getting way over my head and should have thought more about what I was doing. The only reason I got the OR was from my childhood. I would always see those trucks and thought holy fuck, that's cool. Welcome to the form

 

10k!

 

Idk, the stock firestones would have been ok for my needs on the 2020 sr5, but i too replaced them with goodyear adventure's. The trucks been pretty surprising in deeper snow compared to my old tundra with the same goodyears. I've always owned toyota sr5's so i know what to expect. This 2020 sr5 tacoma is more than expected.

 

I have an OR and although I think I paid a decent price for the overall package, I'll admit I'll rarely if ever use the locker or the crawl control. If I would have gotten an SR, I would then put front and rear TrueTracs in as I have a Jeep with this setup and it works great. TrueTracs are simple, always on, engages automatically and IMO works well enough for what most people do.

 

The cheapest V6 Manual is a TRD, there are no less expensive trim levels in MT.

 

What's the advantage of the TrueTrac LSD vs the auto LSD that comes on our trucks already?

 

But get the v6. There is no replacement for displacement. Nothing worse than buying an underpowered vehicle and regretting it afterwards. The 4-cylinder is like the slowest vehicle on the road. You MIGHT be able to outrun a Prius C or Mitsubishi Mirage but that's about it lol.

 

My understanding is that the auto LSD is electronically managed through braking, etc. vs. a differential LSD. A Truetrac is a helical-gear style limited-slip differential thats suppose to provide better traction to both wheels than clutch-type limited slips, which I would assume (and I may be wrong) also better then Tacoma's auto LSD? I recall reading guys putting TrueTracs on earlier Tacoma's, but I wonder if they'd even work on a 3rd gen.? (I'll have to look into that.)

About a TrueTrac vs. clutch-type, my Jeep originally had a factory clutch-type LSD that before even 50k it just stopped working where as the TrueTrac should work for a lifetime. I'm really a fan of them. They're quiet, nothing electronic, and always on so to speak. My part of off-road driving is usually slippery to muddy conditions.

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EDIT: I'm going to add to this that I found an earlier mention to a TrueTrac in I think a 2nd gen HERE. He makes a comment about the noticeable difference between the auto LSD and the TrueTrac. I can see that.

 

If you wheel hard you need a locker. If you don't wheel hard you don't. My 4Runner with a lunch box locker was infinitely more capable than when it had an open diff. That's reality. It's why the Offroad comes with the locker. It's why a Rubicon, ZR2, older Land Cruisers, and Raptors come with lockers.

The open diff 4x4 is fine for most people. If you want real capability a factory locker is the obvious choice. Just be honest about how hard you plan to wheel and choose appropriately. However anyone suggesting a rear locker is a gimmick likely has limited experience wheeling hard.

 

I didn't know that. I guess I had no choice then.