2wd with locking diff or basic 4x4?

I do a lot of driving on desert dirt roads to get to hiking trail
heads. Most of these only require 2wd with high clearance, but the
occassional road is 4x4 recommended. These are not really hard core
roads, although sometimes sandy. Even if I have 4x4, I'm just not
willing to go on crazy roads as I'm often by myself.

Question - I'm looking at the basic 2006 Tacoma 4x4 with the SR5
package, not the TRD. This does not have the locking differential. Do

you think this will meet my basic needs of light 4x4 use?

<dc.nc@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1160267181.282999.256160@c28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I do a lot of driving on desert dirt roads to get to hiking trail
> heads. Most of these only require 2wd with high clearance, but the
> occassional road is 4x4 recommended. These are not really hard core
> roads, although sometimes sandy. Even if I have 4x4, I'm just not
> willing to go on crazy roads as I'm often by myself.
>
> Question - I'm looking at the basic 2006 Tacoma 4x4 with the SR5
> package, not the TRD. This does not have the locking differential. Do
>
> you think this will meet my basic needs of light 4x4 use?
>[/color]

If you only occasionally need 4 wheel drive, then the locking differential
is probably not necessary.

My '81 4x4 pickup did not have a locking differential and was a pretty bare
bones vehicle, and the only time it ever got stuck was when I was in 2WD and
got it buried in sand and high centered trying to pull someone else out.
Once the tires no longer contact solid ground, even 4WD doesn't help.

I've taken a lot of vehicles off road, including FJ 40 and FJ 60 Land
Cruisers, 4X4 Tercel, All-Trac Camry, 4X4 vans, All-Trac Previas, 4 Runners,
pickups, and most lately, a Sequoia, and have never used the differential
lock on those vehicles that had them.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
news:aab69$4528563a$180ffe52$18058@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=blue]
>
> <dc.nc@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:1160267181.282999.256160@c28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=green]
>>I do a lot of driving on desert dirt roads to get to hiking trail
>> heads. Most of these only require 2wd with high clearance, but the
>> occassional road is 4x4 recommended. These are not really hard core
>> roads, although sometimes sandy. Even if I have 4x4, I'm just not
>> willing to go on crazy roads as I'm often by myself.
>>
>> Question - I'm looking at the basic 2006 Tacoma 4x4 with the SR5
>> package, not the TRD. This does not have the locking differential. Do
>>
>> you think this will meet my basic needs of light 4x4 use?
>>[/color]
>
> If you only occasionally need 4 wheel drive, then the locking differential
> is probably not necessary.
>
> My '81 4x4 pickup did not have a locking differential and was a pretty
> bare bones vehicle, and the only time it ever got stuck was when I was in
> 2WD and got it buried in sand and high centered trying to pull someone
> else out. Once the tires no longer contact solid ground, even 4WD doesn't
> help.
>
> I've taken a lot of vehicles off road, including FJ 40 and FJ 60 Land
> Cruisers, 4X4 Tercel, All-Trac Camry, 4X4 vans, All-Trac Previas, 4
> Runners, pickups, and most lately, a Sequoia, and have never used the
> differential lock on those vehicles that had them.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]

DC,

I've done a lot of driving around the southeastern California deserts when I
lived there and am very familiar with that sort of terrain. I'm going to
concur with Ray; you likely don't need a locking differential for the
driving you're contemplating.

The "4X4 recommended" roads are flagged that because of the sand, which 4WD
will handle just fine especially driving as conservatively as you
contemplate to the trailheads and back. If you were using your truck to
"play" and were climbing steep rocky slopes you'd likely benefit from a
locking differential; otherwise no.

You'd be better off spending the money on a decent (street legal) set of off
road tires - I happen to prefer the FC II radials sold by Mickey Thompson (I
wish they still made the bias ply in other than monster-truck sizes) and you
can improve sand traction by letting air out until they're around 20 PSI
(this widens the footprint.)

In fact, I'd venture to say that you can get about 95% of the places you
want to go in a 2WD pickup with good tires as with a 4X4.
--
Mike Harris
Austin TX