Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Best new off-road truck?

Looks like a pimped out mini van on steroids...

I just bought a new Tacoma after a couple of years of looking. If I had plans to do serious off roading right away I would have gotten a TRD Pro. They had one I could have gotten for a little over $41, 000 with the buys you can get right now on new ones.

That said, I wanted to get another smaller truck for around town that would haul grandkids so I bought a new 2020 Tacoma TRD double cab V-6 Auto last week. I really like it. We got it for $35,000 and change. I wanted good off road capability and excellent traction characteristics for sand and mud. The thing that sold me on it was the crawl control. It also the e-locker of course. It has some options that will take me some time to get used to and I am not sure how much I will use it off road until I know it better and test it. It will get stiffer leaf springs, skid plates, jacking points and a canopy right away. Until I get rid of the '98 the 2020 won't see much serious off road use. Consumer Reports says they are dated but reliable. So am I.

I still have a 1998 Tacoma V-6 extended cab 4x4 (that won't wear out) and is set up pretty well for off road. We also have a 2013 Tundra Rock Warrior that is going very well. I have owned a 77, 81, 94, and the 98 in Tacoma and HiLux form plus the 2013 Tundra. All but the 77 were 4x4's. My hunting buddy has a 2010 Tacoma TRD and loves it. My youngest boy inherited the 94 and has sinced owned 2006, 20011 and now has a 2015 TRD. He wredcked the 2011 or would still have it. Based on our experiences I saw no reason to get anything else.

I have had no issues with any of them. I also had Dodge, Ford and Chevy full size trucks during the 90's and 2000's. With the exception of a 1994 Chevy Silverado 4x4 3/4 ton I replaced at 20 years of age with the Tundra I had no luck with the others and do not plan to ever own another Ford or Dodge 4x4.

The new ford ranger is supposed to have locking differentials and a few feature that seem to go after the tacoma TRD market. Thats what I saw in commercials. Not sure if that would be on the radar for you. Maybe they are still using Mazda components,

A good friend has 2017 or 2018 Raptor with the 10sp/3.5 Ecoboost combo. It is an amazing machine on and off road.

The thing that blew my mind about it was when we towed a 20 or 22 foot enclosed trailer full of wheelers and camp gear from OK to CO with it elk hunting a couple years ago. That little gas turbo coupled with the 10 speed is a formidable towing rig. It had no issue whatsoever pulling the passes and got over 13mpg for the trip.

That is what I would guess to be the most capable off the lot 4x4 available today. I

You guys touting the Power Wagon as the best off road truck realize than the thing is still a Dodge, right?

LOL!

Certainly isn't bragging rights, but at least it's not jap.

Or a Ford.

People love the taco's and I need to drive one to see if I like it.

My wife was looking at a Rav4 so I jumped into a taco at the dealer... hit my knees on the steering wheel and put my legs straight out and low to the floor.I'm not sure I would like that for my my 5 hour drives and wearing heavy winter boots in MN.

I imagine its what you get used to, but I'm used to my full size pickup and room for bulky clothes.

The tacos have a good reputation so my brother and I keep contemplating getting one for trail bombing though

Toyota has just extended their plant shut downs in KY at least another 2 weeks, into May. Fiat has as well.

If you can wait - deals are to be had once they open.

Drove a tundra today
Seems like a nice truck
Had plenty of power with the 5.7 and pulled hard with 4:30 gears
Gonna need that 38 gallon tank though

I nearly got a Taco as a 'run around' vehicle. Was wanting something smaller and handier than my crew cab Super Duty diesel. Like you, sat in one, and said 'nope'.

Bought a 2020 Tundra in late August. Couldn't be happier with it. It isn't as nimble in town as a Taco would be, but its better than my big Ford is. Only a few thousand more than a Taco, minimal fuel mileage loss, and I get the advantage of more cab room, more bed room, and more payload.

I can't be too much different than the majority of you guys having owned a 4wd for most of my adult life. Now that I've gotten a little gray around the muzzle, my idea of fun isn't winching my 6,000# truck out of two feet of mud, repairing a broken axle, replacing an ignition module in the middle of nowhere, scratching the hell out of a new truck or repairing sheet metal. Been there and done all that. It is a pretty hopeless feeling to be miles from any help with a disabled vehicle that you are depending on to get you back into civilization. I've wrecked my dirt bikes and had ATV's that failed, but those were not my primary means of getting back home. I like a nice capable 4wd as much as the next guy, but there is a limit to just how much off road stuff that most of us will actually use. The proliferation of wilderness bikes, dirt bikes, ATV's and UTV's tells me that a tricked out off road 4wd SUV or truck isn't a necessity.

I don’t drive a Raptor or lifted and tricked out anything. But I do demand some off-road capability, I won’t settle for a truck that doesn’t at least come with locking differential and Low Range let alone a 2wd.

While I agree that buying a $50k truck and bombing around like it’s a rusted out beater isn’t for me. I also don’t have a UTV, ATV, or dirt bike. And if I did it would be difficult to carry 5 10’ surf rods, a bait bucket, rod holders, cast net, chairs, ice chest and other gear down to where I catfish. Sometimes off-road capability can be utilized without destroying your rig.

I was at the Toyota dealer's place a week ago, they had a TRD Tundra in the showroom. Nice truck, stickered at 50K, but dealer add-ons had it up to 71K+


. I can easily remember when you could buy a house for that, AND have money left over for a damned car, besides. No sale................

I thought I was overdoing it a bit when I paid 28K for my Frontier back in '16, still do, to some degree. 71K for a pickup? Nope.

Bought my house for that 5 years ago.

Like you I have owned 4WD vehicles since I was 22 years old, and I am 68 now. I have had Toyota FJ40 LC, two CJ5, a CJ7, 4Runner, 1986 full size Bronco, a couple of Subaru's that the wife had and now has a Highlander, and my 2002 Super Duty. I also have been there and done as far as winching, digging, repairing, etc. and I try to avoid that at all cost today. My offroading is very mild compared to my younger years, but I do want to get home so I do require good off-road performance.

Now when I was a kid, back in the 60's, I tried my best to get my father to trade the old 1954, and later a 1957, 2WD truck for a 4WD since we liked to hunt. His response was always "A 4WD JUST ENABLES YOU TO GET STUCK IN MORE INACCESSIBLE PLACES", of course he had me and my brother to ride the rear bumper to get up muddy hills, to dig out of mud and snow, and to install chains so he could go to work. Looking back on it he may have had a point.

My son has a 2019 Ford Ranger Lariat with the FX4 package. To my mind it has the best combination of size, powertrain, and off road performance of any truck out there. It's a foot narrower than an F-150 so will fit tighter trails. It has good ground clearance. The FX4 package gets you an electronic locking rear differential. It comes with decent all terrain tires (Hankook ATM). Everything underneath is well tucked in and protected. The crawl control system is amazing, much better than what Toyota offers. It has 4 wheel disc brakes (Toyota's still using archaic drum brakes in the rear). It has a 7500 pound tow rating. My son gets up to 26 mpg highway with his truck. It has power to spare.

How much weight is it rated to put in the bed?

No offense, but the OP said truck in the title, I don't see the Rangers, Tacos, et al as a truck per se. But that's just me.

That's exactly the reason I'm keeping my clean one owner/garage stored '02 Chevy 2500HD w/123K miles...pd $31K in '02

Another reason my last two vehicles have been pre owned with under 100K miles....both Toyota/Lexus of course

Yes he did say truck, but he also said his current vehicle is an 03 Tacoma, so it seems possible he may be looking at a similar size/capacity vehicle. Last new truck I purchased was an F250 crew cab diesel - definitely a truck, but a new Ranger will go places off road that the F250 won't.