2024 Tacoma Trailhunter (+ undercarriage / underbody) and PreRunner at Overland Expo 2023 -- first public photos & impressions from 3rd gen owner

[Brunson]

Impressions and photos by @Alt-atl, a 3rd gen Tacoma owner

I went and saw the Tacomas at Overland Expo today. The Trail Hunter is cool except for the bed bar thingy which is not my style but some people like them Im sure. The bronze color is really really nice in person. The front bumper, even without the airdam, hangs down incredibly low. I get it they need to meet mpg goals...but its bad. The link suspension is nice looking but not exactly compact, there is a lot going on down there. Upper and lower links, track bar, swaybar, enormous diameter coils, big old obnoxious shocks etc. The exhaust had to be dumped before the rear axle which looks aftermarket. The spare tire hangs down really low. The rock sliders are bolted on so that is going to be a super common add-on for a lot of non-trail hunter people. They are also very "fabricated" looking, not at all OEM looking, kinda surprising. They were definitely using the trucks on the obstacle course as evidenced by the beat up skids, control arm mounts etc. Up front, everyone has seen the pictures of the Trail Hunter and Pro upper control arms that are some kind of billet/thick aluminum. The front spindles are also aluminum. Time will tell how they hold up to abuse and bigger tires. Adding gussets looks like it will be much more difficult than it was to the steel spindles on the 2nd/3rd gen. They had the doors locked today so I couldnt do any more than look in through the window. Interior of the Trail Hunter is really nice. I only have one gripe, the T O Y O T A raised letters on the dash trim piece in front of the passenger. They are disgusting, they stick up half an inch and are completely unnecessary. I hope they are able to change that before production.​

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As for the Prerunner, its not my thing(because 2wd trucks that are supposed to go offroad are stupid) so I didnt pay much attention to it, other than noticing that the rear leafs are spring under. This will make the guys turning their trucks into Baja racers happy but the leaf pack, with its pancake flat overload leaf, sticks down comically low for something meant to go offroad. It would have been way cooler if they did a 4th gen X runner instead of the pre runner.​

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As for the overall look of the vehicles. They have either made the front fenders and cab larger or the bed smaller, or both. Both trucks on display had the 6 foot bed and it just looks short. Front to back it takes up a smaller proportion of the length of the truck than on 2nd and 3rd gens. On the 4 door long bed it looks great, on the xtra cab it looks bad. The bed is too short. Im not sure how the dimensions compare to previous generations but it looks off. In the past I was all about the access cab+long bed but now it looks better in a double cab+long bed configuration. Im really curious what the wheelbase is. I passed on the double cab+long bed when I bought my current truck because I like the 127" wheelbase. The double cab+long bed has the same wheel base as a full size truck that is a 4 door with 6 foot bed. I would have just gotten a full size truck if I wanted a 140" wheelbase.​

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[Brunson]

 

[Brunson]

 

[Brunson]

Underground is really chameleon color

 

[tacotac]

Did it seem like 35s would fit without modifications?

 

[evorunner]

where's the oil filter located is what I was looking for on those pics lol

 

[chounder]

Will the Trailhunter get the Wireless Trailer Cameras (the two extra shark fin antennae)?

 

[Independence Overland]

Did it seem like 35s would fit without modifications?

to me it looked like it could, but I saw a few reels from manufacturers saying it looks to them like it will need a body mount chop to fit a larger tire.

 

[tacotac]

Will the Trailhunter get the Wireless Trailer Cameras (the two extra shark fin antennae)?

Yes optional on Trailhunter

 

[Mini2nut]

To the average non-car enthusiast it would be difficult to tell a 2024 from the previous generation. The styling is definitely evolutionary as expected from conservative Toyota.

I'm surprised Toyota didn't switch to cast iron knuckles. They are still using aluminum.

 

[Geotoxic]

Any pics under the hood? How's the snorkel hook up?

 

[JustPassingBy]

Im really curious what the wheelbase is.

Sheldon, Toyota Chief Engineer for Tacoma, discussed wheelbase and overall length 1:52 seconds into the TFL YT video here

Overall length "bumper-to-bumper" with double cab 5' bed is identical (which would be 212.3") to the previous gen. Within that they "shrunk front overhang by 35mm [~1.4"]"
5' bed wheelbase is 3350mm or ~132" vs prior gen 127.4"
6' bed wheelbase is 3685mm or ~145" vs prior gen 140.6"

All of that data suggests that overall length for the double cab with 6' bed would be ~225", i.e. the same as prior gen.

BTW, regarding the front end on Pro, Trailhunter and Off Road versions. It looks like all the plastic cladding can be removed below the main grill and lower front fenders. I expect there is already an ARB Summit front bumper designed to fit in its place as one of the 100+ add-ons Toyota has mentioned. It will probably come with recovery points pushed further forward and higher versus the standard option. Almost certainly also supporting a front winch, high lift jack points and be fully compatible with all the sensors, camera and lights fitted as standard on Pro and Trailhunter. That plus the "shrunk overhang" may address front clearance concerns. Judging by the last gen ARB bumper it will be upwards of $2k MSRP and take somewhere north of 170lbs from the payload.

 

[WIdirtfishing]

Interesting. Everything we saw on the reveal is standard except the roof rack. This is an interesting read:
“
R&T: Just visually, on a truck like the TRD Pro or Trailhunter, it looks like you’ve baked in all the usual-suspect aftermarket parts. It’s like you can just buy this truck and never open an aftermarket catalog.


Brown: Perfect point. We're doing a lot more, I'll say ‘strategic marketing’ or co-branding with legitimate partners with aftermarket off-road experience. We're taking their experience together with what we do well and trying to integrate that experience into the product. Our goal is that you can't tell where OE stops and where the accessories begin.


Everything that you see on the Trail Hunter, with the exception of that roof rack, is standard; It comes this way right from the factory. So that means as we look underneath there, you're gonna see we have a front bash plate. We've got a skid plate that protects the center body. Full fuel tank protection as well as a rear diff cover on here.”

https://apple.news/AbBYF4-T7SoivhSES4oQWkA

 

[TrailHuntman]

Interesting. Everything we saw on the reveal is standard except the roof rack. This is an interesting read:
“
R&T: Just visually, on a truck like the TRD Pro or Trailhunter, it looks like you’ve baked in all the usual-suspect aftermarket parts. It’s like you can just buy this truck and never open an aftermarket catalog.


Brown: Perfect point. We're doing a lot more, I'll say ‘strategic marketing’ or co-branding with legitimate partners with aftermarket off-road experience. We're taking their experience together with what we do well and trying to integrate that experience into the product. Our goal is that you can't tell where OE stops and where the accessories begin.


Everything that you see on the Trail Hunter, with the exception of that roof rack, is standard; It comes this way right from the factory. So that means as we look underneath there, you're gonna see we have a front bash plate. We've got a skid plate that protects the center body. Full fuel tank protection as well as a rear diff cover on here.”

https://apple.news/AbBYF4-T7SoivhSES4oQWkA

Interested to see what other parts become available as factory options in the future

 

[cvollers]

Interesting. Everything we saw on the reveal is standard except the roof rack. This is an interesting read:
“
R&T: Just visually, on a truck like the TRD Pro or Trailhunter, it looks like you’ve baked in all the usual-suspect aftermarket parts. It’s like you can just buy this truck and never open an aftermarket catalog.


Brown: Perfect point. We're doing a lot more, I'll say ‘strategic marketing’ or co-branding with legitimate partners with aftermarket off-road experience. We're taking their experience together with what we do well and trying to integrate that experience into the product. Our goal is that you can't tell where OE stops and where the accessories begin.


Everything that you see on the Trail Hunter, with the exception of that roof rack, is standard; It comes this way right from the factory. So that means as we look underneath there, you're gonna see we have a front bash plate. We've got a skid plate that protects the center body. Full fuel tank protection as well as a rear diff cover on here.”

https://apple.news/AbBYF4-T7SoivhSES4oQWkA

I know a few folks at ARB that were involved in this project. Great to see the partnership and integration…definitely took this further than Ford and ARB. BTW, GM is doing the same with AEV for the soon to be announced Colorado ZR2 Bison.

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