2 wheel drive

[h301ff]

Hi my name is matt and i am new here. I have always loved the outdoors and taking my vehicles out on the trails. Unfortunately i only have a '07 Tacoma Prerunner 2 w/d. i know most if not all the vehicles here are 4w/d, so i dont want to be laughed out of here. I have taken previous 2w/d trucks out in some places that were pretty intense. I know it will hinder my capabilities but nothing i can do about it.

 

[SOAZ]

Hi my name is matt and i am new here. I have always loved the outdoors and taking my vehicles out on the trails. Unfortunately i only have a '07 Tacoma Prerunner 2 w/d. i know most if not all the vehicles here are 4w/d, so i dont want to be laughed out of here. I have taken previous 2w/d trucks out in some places that were pretty intense. I know it will hinder my capabilities but nothing i can do about it.

Welcome to the ExPo! 2wd when built right can be very formidable! Look at the Dakar rally.
I had a 2wd Tacoma for many years and was able to explore much of baja and the southwest.

Tim
:victory:

 

[kai38]

Matt, I drive a 2wd dbl cab Tacoma also, I had to down scale from my past two Land Cruisers. I'm already looking at 4wds again cant keep away.
I cant get to some of the places Ive been but doing OK with the Tacoma.
This site has good info from alot of sources. Enjoy

 

[Grim Reaper]

The problem with 2wd is not how far you can go it is how much damage you cause getting there.

A locker would get it a lot of places but please be a good steward of the land and not take it places where it will be required to have 4wd to get through.

On a side note...it may not be hard to make it a 4wd. Find a roll over or total and swap the parts. I believe the new trucks run the same frame 2wd and 4wd especially the prerunner styles. The mounting points for the front diff are there as I recall and it ss a bolt in conversion. Toyota is pretty good about making one part fits all on most of their line these days so the wiring for the 4wd dash indicator and other parts should be in place. Swap the tranny, front diff and install the axle shafts and you should plug and play the rest.

Please investigate fully to be sure I have given you good info but after servicing my sisters prerunner it looked the same under it just missing the drive train goodies.

 

[Rexsname]

I think I remember someone saying "Its 80% driver and 20% truck" (or something like that:yikes: ) You have a great truck, and the desire to go out and use it. Just getting out there is the fun part! Look at the motorcycle guys, they only have one wheel drive and they still have fun! Dont look at what you dont have or all the cool stuff on your wish list, enjoy and use what you DO have. Welcome to ExPo! Have a great time and tell us (show us) where you will go. :victory:


REX

 

[Mc Taco]

Welcome to ExPo Matt. No worries on the 2WD. Plenty of places to get with that. The key is to get out there and enjoy.

 

[ntsqd]

Welcome!

I just logged 687 miles this last week touring new to me parts of the Mojave Desert. I used 4wd once, in deep snow that I knew was a dead end (we were there to play). I'll guess the trip was 50/50 pavement/dirt roads, so nearly 300 miles of exploring with a locked 2wd.

As others have said, it's not what you have, it's how and where you use it.

 

[dustboy]

I fully agree with the above posts, but I'd add that the headache and money involved with a 4wd conversion would be likely greater than actually selling it and buying a similar used 4wd truck. Unless you'd done it 5 times before, a project of that complexity will doubtless have many unexpected pitfalls.

At any rate, you can still get some awesome places with that truck, maybe just use it until you can't stand it anymore!

 

[h301ff]

thanks everyone, i love my truck and will throw a locker on it along with other mods i appreciate everyones positive attitudes.

 

[KG6BWS]

I fully agree with the above posts, but I'd add that the headache and money involved with a 4wd conversion would be likely greater than actually selling it and buying a similar used 4wd truck. Unless you'd done it 5 times before, a project of that complexity will doubtless have many unexpected pitfalls.

At any rate, you can still get some awesome places with that truck, maybe just use it until you can't stand it anymore!

figured id chime in on this one. 2wd can get you a helluva lot places, especially with a locker. is it as good as a 4wd?? no. but dont let anyone tell you that theyre worthless. ive explored all over the sierras and deserts with a 2wd dodge truck, no locker, and for the past 3 years with a locked tacoma. it did just fine. you have to use your head a little more, and work a little harder to minimize damage to the trail, but it will still you get there.

as for the conversion, as of 6 months ago, my truck has been 4wd. ive got a total of about $1800 into it, with manual locking hubs. to put that in perspective, the price difference between a new 04 prerunner and 4wd is about $2000. then add on another $1500 or so for the locking hub conversion kit. i did, for $1800, what would cost $3500, on a stock truck...essentially. i could have done it cheaper but i opted to pick up a few things at the stealership, for simplicity, rather than shop around. i also opted to have my driveshaft cut down rather than try to find one at a junkyard. ive seen people on ttora who have done it for as little as $1200/

the conversion itself is not that difficult. i did it in two days, basically by myself. i had a friend give me a hand getting the old tranny out and the new tranny and tcase into the truck. then i installed the spindles, diff, axles, wired up the tranny and tcase, installed driveshafts, and put on the interior plastics. while im not familiar with the 05+ trucks, i doubt theyre all THAT much different. if you mechanical aptitude, and a handful of tools, youll be fine. the hardest part, for me, was wiring the tcase actuator. it actually took me longer to do that than to install the mechanical parts. NOW, it works beautifully.

 

[jh504]

Having 2wd is no big deal. Get out there and use it, that is what is important. You can explore plenty of forest service roads in a 2wd, especially with the prerunner's ground clearance. I had an 01 prerunner with the TRD locker and rarely ever used the locker. I kept it to usable dirt roads and not difficult trails, but that is a great place to start.

As far as a 4wd conversion, eventually I think it would be something worth looking at. As pointed out above, it is not extremly difficult, and you will eventually want four wheels turning. I recently converted a 96 XJ to 4wd and it was a great truck.

Dont let anyone discourage you, the important thing is getting out there, and not what kind of bells and whistles you have.

 

[KG6BWS]

Dont let anyone discourage you, the important thing is getting out there, and not what kind of bells and whistles you have.

EXACTLY!!!

 

[T-hacha-P]

Hey Matt, I'm in the same boat as you-I have an 07 Taco prerunner and it has taken me just about everywhere I've wanted to go. There's a lot of dirt roads out there, and with the locking rear diff, I just take it nice and slow over the gnarly parts. The only time it let me down was trying to get up a steep logging road to nowhere that was covered in several inches of mud, covered in an inch of old snow. When the rear end started to come around, the prospect of walking back to cell phone coverage in rapidly failing light sounded worse then backing down 1/4 mile.

 

[Stealth 4x4]

X2 on most of the things already posted here. Wheel it if you've got it no matter how many wheels are powered. I took my '03 D-cab prerunner over some gnarly terrain before it was converted to 4wd. Had a blast in 2wd! Now it goes pretty much anywhere I dare to take it. But there's always that old addage about 4wd just meaning that you're even farther out when you get stuck. If you're gonna off-road your truck (4wd or 2wd locked or open), you'd better be equipped and ready to recover your rig, because you will get stuck eventually.

The first time I got the Prerunner stuck it was on a flat dirt road in a farm field in Imperial Valley that looked totally simple. The road was a little bit moist in this area and the firm soil turned to something akin to vaseline where it was wet. Even if you're not wheeling it hard at all, it helps to be prepared for recovery. If you are, you can wheel it more comfortably. And a lot of guys will tell you they have used their recovery gear more often to help out friends or relatives than to get their own vehicle unstuck.

Wheel it, have fun, be safe and go out prepared. It's all about getting out there. Not having 4wd will mean you can't do some trails, but so what. There are still more miles of trails and forest roads out there that you can have fun on in 2wd than you'll ever be able to cover in one lifetime. If you're like most of us, you will end up with a 4wd some day. Then you can go back and do the trails you couldn't in your current truck.

 

[7wt]

My truck is two wheel drive 90% of the time!