2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter Trim

The 4th Gen Toyota Tacoma is finally here and with it, the all-new Trailhunter! I was lucky enough to see this all-new trim level at both its release in Hawaii and also at Overland Expo West in Flagstaff, Arizona. Toyota, along with consumers, are really excited about this trim level, and for good reason!

Toyota’s official press release reads:

“Toyota has long been a top choice for overlanders due to its legendary quality, durability, and reliability, and now enthusiasts can get a factory-developed overlander straight from Toyota.”

In this article, I’ll go over everything that we know so far about the all-new 2024 Trailhunter. Also, be sure to check out my detailed walk-around. Embedded in the bottom of this post.

What Is The Trailhunter?

The overland movement has absolutely exploded over the last few years! If you look at the vehicles that consumers are purchasing to build their rigs, a good percentage of them are Toyotas. With that in mind, Toyota, like any profitable company, wanted to get a bigger piece of the overland action. Instead of just supplying the consumer with a base vehicle, they’ve decided to give you an overland-ready rig straight from the factory. The Tacoma Trailhunter has been developed from the ground up to be an off-road-ready vehicle.

This model is available with a slew of OEM accessories and modifications to tackle any adventure. To achieve this, Toyota partnered with Australian powerhouse ARB to co-develop the truck and its accessories. With this partnership, Toyota and ARB developed their vision of the ultimate Tacoma.

So, who is this for? In my opinion, it’s for the customer that wants a vehicle that is ready to take on any trail right away without the need for any major modifications. The problem with major modifications is the potential loss of warranty and added costs to an already expensive truck. All of the concerns of sourcing parts, installers, and voiding your warranty are alleviated. Not only is everything included with one price, but it’s also all fully warrantied.

I was also told there will be even more options for this truck come production time. If you demand even more, additional accessories are available through the recently announced Associated Accessory Products program (AAP). This program will allow you to customize your build exactly the way you want, straight from Toyota’s participating dealerships.

From a financial standpoint, this means that everything can be conveniently rolled into customers’ monthly payments; both the truck and its accessories. This program won’t be exclusive either, making accessorizing your Tacoma easier than ever.

Off-Road Performance

Suspension

The Tacoma engineers wanted to make sure that the suspension on the Trailhunter would perform well not only on the trail but also when loaded down with overlanding gear.Toyota asked ARB to co-develop Old Man Emu (OME) position-sensitive 2.5″ forged monotube shocks with rear external piggyback-style remote reservoirs.

It also gets unique billet aluminum UCAs to help compensate for its additional 3″ of track width. This suspension setup just isn’t an off-the-shelf OME kit. Rather, it has been tuned specifically for the Trailhunter to tackle whatever you throw at it. If you aren’t familiar with OME, I’ll sum it up for you; they’re freaking awesome. I had their BP-51 kit on my 3rd Gen Tacoma and to this day, is still one of the best suspensions I’ve had on a truck.

Tires

Powertrain

This model will come standard with only one powertrain option, the all-new i-FORCE MAX hybrid. This powertrain pairs the 2.4-liter turbo-charged 4-cylinder engine with a 48 hp electric motor. It’s mated to a new eight-speed transmission, with sadly no manual transmission option available.

This electronic motor feeds off a 1.87-kWh NiMH battery pack (unfortunately placed under the rear seat) that creates a total system output of 326 hp and a whopping 465 lb.-ft. of torque. That’s nearly double the torque output of the outgoing 3rd Gen with the V6 engine!

A high-clearance exhaust tip and low-profile high-mount Trailhunter-branded air intake are also standard.

I can’t wait to see how good this new powertrain is when I am able to drive this truck, hopefully later this year.

Exterior

The Trailhunter will be available with either a 5′ or 6′ bed, and will only be available in Double Cab. 18″ bronze wheels are also standard.

This model has a “TRD Pro” style grille, but it is unique thanks to a bronze-colored “TOYOTA” heritage lettering. This grille also has an integrated 20″ LED light bar pushing close to 10,000 lumens. This light bar is complemented by white/amber switch-back RIGID LED fog lights that are surprisingly really bright. The model also has integrated bedside scene lights to help illuminate the area surrounding the bed for setting up camp at night.

Upfront, you’ll notice that it has an OEM-style “viper cut” for better ground clearance as well.