Need advice on new 2022 Tacoma trim

I'm torn between the 2022 TRD Off Road Premium / TRD Sport Premium trims (locker vs no locker / 5ft vs 6ft) and I need your inputs.

Intro:
I am completely new to the scene. This will be my very first truck. Was previously looking at 4runners but ultimately decided that a Tacoma is a better value for $.

Primary Use / Need:
- Daily driver - most of which will be around lower mainland city area.
- Camping - I do not have plans to install a camper shell just yet, maybe in the future. No rooftop tents. For now I will get by with some ghetto low cost DIY to make things work.
- Off road - Probably. The reason I even started looking at 4runners. I will be learning more about going off road in the future so I will need as much help as I can get from my vehicle. Especially with snow.
- Double cab - I don't have a big family but I'm usually the designated driver for snowboard trips with my friends, so the access cab is out of the picture. Or is it..?

Concerns:
Logically speaking a 6ft bed would be ideal for my camping needs as a sleeping area (I'm 5'11), better fit for snowboards and the rare occasional bicycle hauling (last one is not that important) but,

1. Most people don't go off road with a 6ft bed?
2. I will be missing out on the MTS / Crawl / rear locker with the Sport Premium trim since that's the only other option? I'm aware that I can still get all that on the access cab but I'll have to strap my friends in the truck bed.
3. This will still be a daily driver so I'm worried about parking in the city area with the 6ft.
4. You'd imagine that the multi / pano view camera would be more useful on a 6ft bed, but that's exactly what I'll be missing out too on the Sport Premium. All in all that's a lot of features to be missing out on for that extra 1 ft bed.

So I guess it ultimately comes down to... juuuuuust how important is that 1 ft bed exactly.

Thoughts?

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

Welcome to TW!

 

welcome to tacomaworld.
that 1' really will depend on you feeling out your needs. my snowboard works in a short bed. I have an off road before the pano camera. I also run my mountain bike in the bed/over the tailgate. personally in a smaller/midsize city in wisconsin I already hang out a bit. Honestly sometimes that 1' would be nice but then I realize so would width. I don't camp in mine but I'm 5'4" so just barely taller then my bed length. I just bring a tent and am looking at a RTT

at this point for me I'm like hmmm tundra? eventually down the line maybe. Won't fit in my driveway and there's no way to widen my drive. for small light off roading we have trees and old forest roads, I already scratch the sides of the truck sometimes so I can't imagine trying to put a larger truck through it. Also had to remove my old ball hitch and hard mud flaps because of angles I was already close to dragging my bumper. I run a DCSB because I had a 130lb malamute shepherd when I got it.
I also haul my kayak and run a hard fold bed cover on mine. 27.5 bike over the tailgate fits perfectly against the cover that folds in 3rd and the cover helps keep it from moving around.

hope that helps

 

That's the thing tho around 80% off road camping builds I've seen online are DCSB + RTT, and the RTT is what I'm trying to avoid.

For me it's either the camper shell for stealth mode, or cot tent for mobility, although I'm not really sure how a camper shell with DCSB is going to work out.
I might also be restricted to either sleeping at an angle or the tiger knee position. I could leave the tailgate open for more length but it won't be stealthy / secure and I might slam my shin into the side walls in the middle of the night.

It is also near impossible to find a used DCSB for test drive (or test sleep) in my area.

 

get a long bed. thank me later

 

sounds like a long bed will suit you better than

 

Not sure which to recommend, but I can share some of my experience as I went through a similar dilemma trying to figure out which trim I wanted. I ended up getting the 2021 TRD off road access cab.

-Depends what kind of off-roading you're getting into. I've never been off pavement in a vehicle before and I wanted to try exploring some FSRs and campsites around the area, which is why I started looking at the Tacoma. So far, all I've done is just switch from 2WD to 4H and I've never found myself in a position where I'd be remotely close to being stuck. I do like that I have the bells and whistles in case I'd like to try real off-roading in the future or I find myself in a sticky situation, but for the FSRs I'm exploring, I think I'm overkill.

-Whether backpacking or car camping, I like being able to stretch out completely to get a good night's sleep. I'm only 5'4 and I got the 6' bed, so it's like a mansion when I'm by myself. When my 5'10 bf joins me, the size is just right. I do see some people solo sleeping diagonally curled up with the 5' bed, so I think the alternative does work. Not sure about 2 people sleeping in a 5' bed though.

-I use my truck as a daily driver as well. I live in the outskirts of Vancouver and will be commuting to downtown once we need to be back in the office. I'm also a new driver (this is my first car, got it May of this year), and parking has been kind of anxiety inducing for me. Out in the country or suburbs I'm totally in my element, but once I get into downtown it's scary. I end up parking farther away and have to walk a bit or plan ahead of time to see if there will be ample parking spaces. I see fullsize pickups parking just fine downtown though, so it's probably a me being a new driver thing. I really wish I had some sort of front/rear parking sensor.

Oh one extra thing about the access cab. I thought the back seats would be completely unusable, but I've actually been driving friends around on trips very often! They all complain that it's squishy back there, but hey the driver (me ) is comfy and at the end of the day, they're still seats!

 

ok so hypothetically I went with the Sport Premium DCLB, which could potentially be a nightmare to drive/park around downtown, is there any off road capable stock features? I don't see any mention of ATRAC / standard off road gears other than the basic traction control which is on every modern vehicle these days. Is that really it?

Do I need an aftermarket locker, ARB or some sort, to compensate?

 

IMO... Stock Tacoma tires are junk on any of the models (sport/trd/pro). Better tires will take you farther off road than the electronic gizmos.

 

Thanks for your input!

Is there any particular reason that you went with the access cab off road instead of double cab sport? Locker and shorter cab?
It's a shame that the access cab doesn't come in army green.

 

Yup no problem! Yeah I totally would've gotten army green, oh well I got cement and I'm happy with it

For me it was more so my inexperience in driving and the size that made me go access cab over double cab. If I lived in the middle of nowhere, I probably would've gone double cab as I could see myself using the truck longer down the road. For example, I don't think it's as realistic fitting baby seats in the back of the access cab. I remember seeing some posts where people did it, but it just renders the front passenger seat useless.

But I thought I'm thinking too far out and I want to enjoy my truck as is in the moment and in the few years to come, so access cab it was! I'm also doing mostly city driving and just a weekend warrior, so I thought it'd be better to prioritize the size, but I made up for it to myself by getting the TRD off road trim vs SR5. Honestly, I think SR5 would've been just fine for my off pavement needs, but that's just me! Maybe you'll get to do cooler stuff than I haha.

 

If it were me to do it all over again I would have got a offroad just for the locker.
But I wheel just fine in my 2nd gen double cab Long box

 

Just for the peace of mind or did you ever come close to actually needing it? You can always get aftermarket lockers.

I know most people don't need it for regular off pavement adventures, which is what I've been doing with sedans.
However I will be trying to get into the off road scene eventually, and without any experience I have no idea if I'm ever going to need it in the real off road trails in BC.

Do you also drive around downtown Vancouver? Curious about the driving / parking conditions and just maneuverability in general.

 

I've came into a couple situations where a locker would have been handy but luckily I have a winch Wich got me out, and for Vancouver no I avoid that city like the black plaque, plus I just moved out of the Fraser Valley to cache creek area.

 

Long bed!

 

I have a 21 off road dcsb and I bought a victory 4x4 roof rack to make up for the lack of bed space

 

Lockers are nice because they allow you to take challenges at much lower speeds, which lets stock suspension do its work without hammering it.

I currently don't have one and I don't really miss it because of the delay in engagement, I'd rather have a truck with upgraded suspension and tires over a locker.

 

Jeez thanks, that's good to know.

I'm trying really hard to avoid getting that access cab but it's looking increasingly like the more sensible option here. Ughh....

 

I am on the same boat but between the TRD OR or the sport , maybe the trail edition because the new lift that it have but really hard to choose .