5 Things We'd Fix About Toyota's Tacoma Trailhunter, TRD Pro Off-Roaders
Are any of these deal breakers on the burliest new Tacoma trucks?
Having just returned from a multiday off-road adventure with some of Toyota’s newest trail weapons, including the Tacoma Trailhunter and the Tacoma TRD Pro, based on the newest Tacoma, we have some thoughts. Despite being two of the automaker’s off-roading crown jewels, they weren’t perfect. Here are five things Toyota got wrong on the new Tacoma lineup, from the perspective of an off-road enthusiast.
0:00 / 0:00
Problem 1: Trailhunter Cargo Access
We are thrilled that Toyota is catering directly to the overlanding community with the new Trailhunter variant, a pickup tailor-made for long trips across the dirt. The truck is packed with useful features, from its LED lightbars and raised air intake to the recovery points, onboard air compressor, and ARB armor. We are just not convinced the mandatory MOLLE panel-adorned sport bar hogging bed space was the best move.
For a truck designed to be packed with gear inside and out, we feel like the sport bar detracts more from the Trailhunter’s cargo-carrying abilities than it adds back in rad looks. Like the optional sport bars other manufacturers fit on their trucks (looking at you Nissan and GM), it's hard to overlook how difficult these pieces of hardware make it to reach into the bed. Items stowed up against the cab, in the forward section of the bed, are quite difficult to access without clambering into the bed or fishing an arm around the MOLLE blockade. “But can’t you mount cargo to the MOLLE panels?” you might wonder. Yes—maybe your smallest hatchet or a single-gallon liquid canister. However, we’d much rather have unimpeded access to all our bed cargo.
Problem 2: Where’s the Locking Front Differential?
For as much emphasis as Toyota put on the Trailhunter’s rock-crawling chops, it is missing one feature found in similar (and more affordable) off-road midsize pickups such as the Ford Ranger Raptor, Chevy Colorado ZR2, GMC Canyon AT4X, and the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon: a locking front differential.
Toyota’s argument against the front traction aid is that the additional front axle articulation afforded by the disengaging front anti-roll bar negates any need for a locker. In short: This truck is so good at keeping its tires on the ground, why would you ever even want to lock the front end? Well, we didn’t need to, but it is one tool we always like to have available, especially after spending more than $60,000 on an off-road midsize pickup truck.
Problem 3: Tacoma TRD Pro Suspension Woes
The TRD Pro trim level has increasingly evolved into Toyota’s answer to enthusiasts who demand speed in the dirt, but a couple of the truck’s go-fast goodies left us befuddled, even after a few days on the trail.
The cornerstone of the TRD Pro package is the shocks: a set of 2.5-inch Fox Racing QS3 internal-bypass shocks with (rear only) remote reservoirs. These dampers do a damn good job of smoothing out small to moderate bumps and jumps, and that’s exactly in their job description. What left us scratching our heads, or more so grinding our shoulders and torsos against the dirt, were the shocks’ manual adjustment knobs.
Users have the option of slithering beneath the truck to fiddle with the three-position adjusters and fine-tuning the shocks to various types of terrain. And we mean slither, because the adjusters aren’t located anywhere even remotely accessible while on your feet. Other dampers on the market are either tuned for a wide range of events, such as Multimatic spool-valve shocks, or they handle adjustments automatically in real time, like Fox’s Live Valve shocks. And neither of those force you to get on the ground four separate times, once at each corner of the truck, to make adjustments. Further, these shock packages are found on go-faster-in-the-dirt midsize pickups that cost less than the Tacoma TRD Pro. Would you spend more cash to lay down in the dirt?
Problem 4: Pumped-Up Seats
In other shock-related news, we spent plenty of time in Toyota’s new IsoDynamic Performance Seats. The two snazzy front buckets are exclusive to the TRD Pro model and are intended to cushion both lateral and vertical impacts so the vehicle’s (front) occupants aren’t thrown around as much and the driver can keep a better focus on the trail ahead. They, too, are manually adjustable, via an air pump. But first, it helps to consult a handy guide chart in the owner’s manual before fiddling with the two-position lock lever.
Who is actually doing this? As indicated by the chart on pages 145 and 146 of the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro’s manual, to get the best results, the air pressure must be adjusted first to the occupant’s weight in both the horizontal and vertical shock absorbers (one of each per seat). The air pressure figure depends on whether low- or high-speed trails are in the plans. Additionally, the seats’ shock travel can be locked out by reaching behind the seat and toggling the lock lever into the locked position. Ideally, each seat should be repressurized as you move from slower obstacles to quicker trails, so keep that air pump handy, and be prepared to evacuate all people and cargo from the rear seats. This is not a comment on how effective these space-age seats are at keeping your head steady (watch as Toyota engineers test the IsoDynamic seats). Instead, we ask whether or not this is an off-road feature TRD Pro customers will use properly, if at all.
Please, if you routinely adjust the shocks on your Tacoma TRD Pro, on the seats or at the wheels, write us an email detailing how often you perform this ritual, which settings you use, and how it affects your ride.
Problem 5: Back Seat Constraints
OK, assume that your TRD Pro’s four Fox shocks are dialed in, and the front seats are tuned to your weight and also the terrain you plan on covering. Your head is now perfectly stabilized throughout the entire spirited drive across the dirt. Now it is time to check on the rear passengers. Although those red shock tubes and adjustment dials behind the seats shout desert prowess, they present more acute danger to passengers’ kneecaps as they climb in and out of the cabin. Now, passengers, try and keep your lower limbs from crashing into the seats’ suspension componentry during a session in the dunes.
During our off-road journey, three passengers, ranging from 5-foot-6 to over 6 feet tall took turns riding in the TRD Pro’s back seats on a rough trail and pooled their thoughts afterward. They found legroom, already tight in regular Tacomas, to be dismal behind the Pro’s IsoDynamic Performance Seats, and the threat of kneecap trauma was very real. Even more concerning, if the front occupants are even close to 6 feet tall and have their seats positioned a reasonable distance from the firewall, then the back seat is virtually unusable by humans, as the IsoDynamic system occupies the exact space where knees and lower legs should go.
Are Any of These Things Dealbreakers?
Would any of these Tacoma quirks keep you from looking toward the Trailhunter or the TRD Pro? The latest-gen Tacoma is a wildly capable machine o-n and off-road, but to an avid adventurer, cargo access, front-end traction, or passenger comfort might be the deciding factor. Let us know your favorite Tacoma trim level or if any of these items steered you toward a different midsize pickup truck.
From the soggy backwoods of Ohio to the barren New Mexico desert, Jered has continued his quest to test the limits of the unmodified Jeep Wrangler, and make it back to work on Monday.
Read More
