6MT OR Does Eastern Slope of the Rockies

So it took me way longer than I’d hoped to get this truck off the pavement but finally did it this past week. I put over 300 km on gravel and about 15km on some technical OHV trails up a small mountain. Long story short, this truck is a beast in stock form, except for wheels and tires which are Toyo RTs in 285/70R17.

On the trail I aired down to 20 psi and stuck it in 4LO. Which the clutch needs to be pushed in to switch from 4HI to 4LO. 1st gear in 4LO is VERY slow, around 5-6 kph at 2000 rpm. Great for crawling. I didn’t have any big boulders to contend with, but had some steep switch backs on loose rocks that required a three point turn and I was very happy with how the three pedals handled it. I thought I might need to try the clutch cancel start feature but didn’t need to. Now heading down the mountain 4LO was just as impressive. On super steep sections I barely needed to touch the brakes, the engine held back the truck and didn’t feel like it wanted to over speed, great control.

There was one spot where the sway bar disconnect would have come in handy as I had a wheel in the air and had to make a couple extra points on a different hairpin turn. I spun out once on a steep section with loose fist sized rocks, but threw in the rear locker and walked away. A couple 1-1.5’ deep mud holes with locker and no problems.

Back on the gravel highway I played around with tire pressure a bit. There were some decent washboard sections and 25psi at 75-80 kph was VERY comfortable, very impressed with the stock suspension here. I wasn’t super comfortable going that fast for an extended period of time with the psi that low so I bumped up to 30 psi and it definitely got a little bumpier but smooth road sections at 100-105 kph could’ve been done all day if it wasn’t for the 80 speed limit.

So the highlights for me were the suspension on washboard and the control of 1st gear 4LO for crawling situations, up or down. I haven’t owned a Tacoma before, but this is a seriously capable truck, even in stock form. That said, it still probably won’t stop me from shopping for a small lift and a sway bar disconnect if/when they become available.




Earned some pin-striping too unfortunately.

Great to hear first hand. The buzz around here has been about how much better these are than the 3rd Gen, especially the low end torque.
Looking forward to mine.

Very cool and thanks for sharing. I like hearing that it is very capable right out of the box and then it will only get better as you build it out a bit.

Loved seeing the pictures of a 4th gen out where it belongs and doing what it was made for.

Why Toyota screwed us 6M folks in Canada on the sway bar disconnect and locker is beyond me. I was excited to have both of them and very disappointed to learn I'd have to lose them both AND more if I wanted the 6M.

Yeah - that is nuts. It might not even be Toyota doing that. Different distribution regions in the US get different choices of options. When I bought my 2nd gen I wanted traction control and Toyota offered it, but I could not get it in Ohio.

Lando said:

Great to hear first hand. The buzz around here has been about how much better these are than the 3rd Gen, especially the low end torque.
Looking forward to mine.

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I didn’t have the pleasure of owning a 3rd gen, but there’s plenty of low end torque with the 4th. Couple that with the very low gearing and it’s very competent in steep terrain, even with the manual.

Kielly said:

Why Toyota screwed us 6M folks in Canada on the sway bar disconnect and locker is beyond me. I was excited to have both of them and very disappointed to learn I'd have to lose them both AND more if I wanted the 6M.

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So I’m in Canada and have the rear locker in my truck with the manual. I was under the impression that all Off Road models have the locker, but I didn’t have the option for the sway-bar disconnect.

Hopefully there will be some sort of manual disconnect on the market soon.

I have a 24 OR Mt with a locker.

I just have an SR5 and it has performed great offroad, and on some trails typically reserved for ATVs. Its also super comfortable on rough gravel roads, like what I thought paying for legitimate aftermarket suspension might feel like on older Tacomas. Ive never owned a 3rd gen but it blows my 2nd gen out of the water. And if I keep my foot out of it I can get 25 mpg on the way to the mountains. Love the truck so far.