I suppose it depends what you want to do. Apologies, this is probably still thread-revival.
I have an 09 sport, short bed 4x4. Bought for 29K. The dealer had a long bed, 08 for 27K, so you can see it held up well. I really should have done my reading before I bought, but c'est la vie. I don't know if I would have used the long bed more, but I think I would have liked the option.
That being said, the short bed has a little better 'take off' angle. You can partially mitigate that with an aftermarket bumper and removing the spare tire from below the bed.
With my 4x4 I've done pretty good off road. No rock crawling, but Jeep trails and beaches. Never really found a problem yet, and that's with the stock Dunlops. I finally got some BFG AT's (on 16" wheels. With a 17" spare. Oops - need to go shopping again), so looking forward to seeing if they make a difference. Being a sport, no locker, but haven't needed it yet. If you're planning on a RTT, I can't imagine trying to go places where you'd need the locker, but I suppose some others here are better suited to answer.
If you buy a Taco, go back to the dealer w/in 36K miles and make sure you have the new rear leaf springs. I don't know if the newer models come with them, but on my 09 the dealer replaced the 3-leaf pack with a 4-leaf pack as a TSB for bottoming out. Definetely stiffened the ride a little. I also replaced my front shocks with coilovers. Had some problems, but got them straightened out. Unfortunatly, I'm deployed and just got them fixed the week before I left... I can't wait to try the truck out again! Anyway, back on track, if you do end up with lots of extra weight in the back, it may be worth the effort to look up custom leaf packs instead of just doing an Add A Leaf.
That's about it. I love my Tacoma. Even if I have mod'd it a lot.
I have an 09 sport, short bed 4x4. Bought for 29K. The dealer had a long bed, 08 for 27K, so you can see it held up well. I really should have done my reading before I bought, but c'est la vie. I don't know if I would have used the long bed more, but I think I would have liked the option.
That being said, the short bed has a little better 'take off' angle. You can partially mitigate that with an aftermarket bumper and removing the spare tire from below the bed.
With my 4x4 I've done pretty good off road. No rock crawling, but Jeep trails and beaches. Never really found a problem yet, and that's with the stock Dunlops. I finally got some BFG AT's (on 16" wheels. With a 17" spare. Oops - need to go shopping again), so looking forward to seeing if they make a difference. Being a sport, no locker, but haven't needed it yet. If you're planning on a RTT, I can't imagine trying to go places where you'd need the locker, but I suppose some others here are better suited to answer.
If you buy a Taco, go back to the dealer w/in 36K miles and make sure you have the new rear leaf springs. I don't know if the newer models come with them, but on my 09 the dealer replaced the 3-leaf pack with a 4-leaf pack as a TSB for bottoming out. Definetely stiffened the ride a little. I also replaced my front shocks with coilovers. Had some problems, but got them straightened out. Unfortunatly, I'm deployed and just got them fixed the week before I left... I can't wait to try the truck out again! Anyway, back on track, if you do end up with lots of extra weight in the back, it may be worth the effort to look up custom leaf packs instead of just doing an Add A Leaf.
That's about it. I love my Tacoma. Even if I have mod'd it a lot.