2011 Tacoma Prerunner TRD, is it 4WD or not?

I am looking to buy a 2011 Tacoma Prerunner TRD Double Cab. I was told it was 4 x 4 but when I went to look at the vehicle I could not find a 4 low or 4 high or any option to put it in 4WD. The guy insisted it was 4WD because the shifter had 4D on it.

I am not a truck owner yet but pretty sure that just meant 4th gear. It was an automatic and the shifter had 4D, 3, 2, L. This is simply a 2WD correct?

What is the TRD off road package that it says on the side?

 

Pre Runner is basically a 2WD truck on the 4WD platform.

The 4WD shifter would be a rotary dial under the drivers side center console ac vent.

Easiest way to know is to see if it has drive shafts coming out of the front wheels.

The TRD stickers may be aftermarket and effectively mean nothing.

If they are OEM all it means is the truck got the Blue and Yellow Bilstein shocks and a different coils spring rate up front from factory and effectively nothing more.

TLDR it's a 2WD.

 

Trd off-road should also have rear locker and better seats

 

A true TRD OffRoad would have a rear locking differential, if it doesn't it's not a TRD OffRoad.

 

Good job as a buyer be skeptical.

You are correct.

 

Was this guy a dealer/salesman or the actual owner of the truck? If owner, God help that poor truck.

 

Sounds like someone is pushing to sell his 2WD truck as a 4WD because he’s pissed he didn’t buy a 4WD the first time.

Run, don’t walk, the other way.

 

The 4 and D are separate gears.
4 is 4th gear and D is 5th.

 

That '-' is actually a 'W' in super small font. Really, it is, OP's guy swears.

 

I’ve seen some Tacomas that are 4x4. Can you switch between 4WD and 2WD with the dial?

 

Owner

 

Yes

 

So long as the dial looks like this yes.





These ones, no.

 

On the first gens yes this was an option but I have seen a lot of second gen prerunners and not a single one of them had the factory e-locker .

To the best of my knowledge it was only available on the four wheel drive TRD off roads as one of the things the E-Locker computer looks for before allowing the locker to actuate is the transfer case to be in the low gear range.

But I may be wrong, they may just be very rare and I've never encountered one.

 

TRD Off Road Prerunner should come with an e-locker standard. Don’t need 4WD to lock the rear diff?

 

just read my profile banner for confirmation. Theres a lot of prerunners out there, they blow. Get a 4x4, lifes too short to never cross that bridge and have fun. The prerunners did have a rear locker though and had the decal on the side. The only way to know is if it still has the mud flaps in the rear it should say 4x4 or go inder the truck to see the front driveshaft and transfer case or inside there will be a knob or a shifter with 4hi, 2hi, 4lo.

 

I have an 06 trd offroad prerunner and it has the rear e locker.

 

Dope, I guess all the trucks I've seen say on the tailgate badge PreRunner were ultimately just Faux-Runners!

 

Ok, final straw here...if on the mud flaps you see '4x4' that looks like it was written on there by a 5 year old using white colored crayons...run!