Anyone rock crawl a 3rd gen?

just curious!
My cousin bought a new rubicon and those things are pretty stout when it comes to crawling. Made me want to trade in my taco for one lol.

I know they’re not in the same league, but instead of getting another new vehicle I figured I’d just mod the crap outta the taco.

With that said, any pics of people rock crawling their taco?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rock-crawling-in-a-taco-cringe-worthy.572648/

 

https://youtu.be/qKQ6q7Q5XQ8

 

No videos here but I have been through some cool areas where the Jeep guys have cringed to take their jeeps (mostly pansies though).

The Tacoma can wheel almost anywhere you wanna take it. If you have skids, a decent suspension/tires, and a good line, you'll keep up with the jeeps all day.

 

Maaaan that’s such an awesome picture!
Did you make it down that trail?

 

Yup. That was an easy one. I just thought it was a cool shot so I posted it

 

I’ve seen a 3rd gen taco on hells revenge and hells gate at Moab

 

That’s awesome man! I guess the thing with jeeps is you can buy steel doors and take off the top. So even if you crash into something it’s probably easily replaceable lol.

 

Skills!

 

Find a totalled 3rd gen, take the doors and make half doors. Just as fun as a topless Jeep. I had a 1st gen runner with a soft top. I just kept the top on because the hassle to remove it. Once the effort of removing the top outweighs the cool factor of a topless Jeep/4runner, the top stays on for most people.

 

It cost about 6x as much to make a taco good rock crawler.

Mod for mod Jeep wins. I rock crawl mine hard and have found all the weaknesses. A fun one to note. Flex the frame too much and your radiator fan will hit the housing and make some very angry noises.

 

I disagree. The Jeep has a lot more options for bolt on parts that may make it seem like a better rock crawler. However, I think that what stops most people is that they aren't willing to cut up a Tacoma to make it a better rock crawler, ex: solid axle, dual cases, etc. Those can be had for about 15 grand (more or less depending on front suspension setup) and the Tacoma will run laps around most jeeps with 15k in them.

If you're only counting bolt on parts then maybe you're right but some of us have taken our tacomas places where the jeep guys would would wonder why they didn't buy a Tacoma.

 

15 grand? Pass me what you're smoking cuz I need some.

To be perfectly blunt, if you solely want to rock crawl you bought the wrong vehicle. You can buy a Rubicon throw 35s and some basic upgrades and it'll crawl circles around a Tacoma with $15000 in it. You'll be able to get a Tacoma through a lot of the same trails as a jeep, but you sometimes won't be able to take the same lines as jeeps and it won't be as easy with the Tacoma's shitty break over angle and shitty IFS travel.

 

You sure about that.

https://youtu.be/WrRBbh6-eGU

 

Just light pebble strolling.

 

Yep I am sure.

I am familiar with Marlin's concept truck, its a neat truck, but I would bet that truck has at least $15000 in parts and customizations on it. If you dumped that into a jeep it would still be more capable than that truck.

 

To be fair, if you want a dedicated crawler you wouldn't buy a jeep either. For the 30-40k for a stock rubicon then add the parts... you're better off buying a tube buggy.

As for a tacoma doing what a jeep can do, with the suspension travel of a solid axle and lower gearing, the tacoma would go anywhere that an equivalent built jeep would go. Approach/departure angles are a factor but not that much once your suspension gives you the freedom to choose/create your own line. I have owned a solid axle 4runner on 37's and it would go absolutely anywhere I wanted it to and put a lot of more expensive jeeps to shame.

Mike's tacoma is sweet but bang for the buck it's not an economical setup. A consumer would have to spend 15k in the front end alone to get what he has, then throw in a dual case, wheels, locker, etc... And you still dont have the articulation in the front end as a solid axle rig. Yes, it's a cool truck but not what I would consider a competitive rock crawler compared to other build solid axle rigs.

 

Fuck a Jeep.

 

I've always liked this guys media

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdjUlA0Dby5/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=o7ryzahmduwt

 

Check out @alex.busta he wheels his pretty hard and has a lot of videos on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhK2hIQFBMD/?hl=en

And FWIW, I'm in a 3 linked sased second gen with 12" kings upfront and 37s, and i also agree that a rubicon would still be better on the rocks. I'm around 15k into it, but a lot of that is shipping