What is a Prerunner anyway?

I ran into a guy while leaving my hometown of Maryville Tennessee a few weeks back that had the badest Madmax looking Tacoma I had ever seen. I was in my family sadan but I had to stop for a moment and inquire.

During the few moments we talked, I told him that I had just got my hands on my Prerunner but had not gotten a chance to even look at it much yet. He explained that the Prerunner was Toyota's 4wd body and chassis only with a 2wd drive line. Understand, this was news to me being new to ownership.

This information sparked a conversation with my 19-year-old son who was with me and a bit of research as we drove. Some articles we touched on machined that they had Toyota's BAJA power train or something of that sort which made me curious as to what all the Prerunner has up its sleeve.

Before parting, I noticed that the guy was wearing a Toyota shirt and it turned out that he actually was a Toyota employee. I remember thinking, how appropriate that someone so obviously into the brand would be a part of it.

 

Any tacoma is capable, even if only in 2WD. Most soft trails I run I don't use 4WD unless it's for 4lo just for torque.

Start with exploring logging trails/gravel roads then decide if you want to upgrade the truck to be more suited for offroading.

All tacoma needs tires as a starting point to be more capable. How big, heavy, or aggressive is up to the owner.

 

Took my stock PreRunner out to some light trails with no issue. Got a little cocky and went up a hill with ~6-8 inch rocks. My buddy in a 4runner went up no problem while i had to give it a little more gas. Still made it up though
As far as snow/ice go, i live in Cali so cant say.

 

I cut and haul firewood every year, on and off of fire roads. Sometimes I am going up dirt hills, etc. Never had a problem. Drive wisely and have good tires, as well as some recovery tools.

 

Any Tacoma is capable .... never underestimate put trucks!!!

 

It's a pretty reliable 2wd light duty truck.

Knowing that, only you can judge if it's "capable" for what you want to do with it.

 

Ive seen them briefly fly before.

 

My understanding is the name came from a vehicle used to pre run an offroad race course.

I always get a kick out of when I see someone changing up the tailgate badging to say taco runner.

 

Mall crawlin’ and panty dropping…?? Grocery hauler for sure! These prerunners are very capable trucks. Change the factory tires and purchases some quality recovery gear.

 

Not a thing.

Truth. ^^

It's up to you if it meets your needs.

I have even 'less' Tacoma than you and it meets my needs just fine.

 

Most of the bush trails I drive I never need to shift into 4wd. Only once in fact, when my rear tires were in a muddy pit.

I have a steep icy driveway however, so 4wd helps a lot getting out in winter.

 

My 2wd was better in every way (98 percent of the time)

 

The PreRunner is somewhere between 4WD and 2WD, especially those equipped with a rear locker. 4WD truck with 2WD drivetrain. Great for driving off road(not "four wheeling"). Forest service roads and rough desert roads are where the PreRunner is at home. Can be converted to a full offroad vehicle with two shovels.

 

My prerunner was capable of being turned into a 4x4

 

Interesting, Is this the source of the name?

 

Baja 1000 trucks is where the TRD thing got going. Ivan Stewart won a lot races in a 2WD Toyota.

 

That's what I've always heard. And I know most off road and rally tracks do have a less modded vehicle run the tracks slowly before a race to check the conditions.

 

There it is, a new line for the ladies! LOL

 

Is it feasible to transform a 2wd to a 4wd? I am asking if it makes sense cost and reliability wise over buying a factory born 4x4? OH AND Incredible Taco BTW!!!

 

Inspiring the competition. Nissan's new Frontier is available in a Pro-X model 2wd rear locker, and the Pro4X shocks. The Ford Ranger is available with a FX2 package 2wd rear locker and the shocks from the FX4 package.