Toyota Reads From the Book of Dirt

It seems every manufacturer with a pickup truck in their quiver is busying themselves creating numerous off-road variants; trims like Trail Boss, ZR2, Desert Boss, Tremor, Raptor, and Power Wagon are cropping up faster than auto journalists at the buffet. 

Determined not to be left behind, Toyota dropped (yet another) teaser of the 2024 Tacoma – this time with a new Trailhunter trim targeted directly at overlanders.

This marks the 928th teaser (approximately) from Toyota about the upcoming Tacoma revamp, a truck that promises to incorporate several design cues from big-bro Tundra while retaining a few anchors from the current – and insanely popular – model, a truck which is now roughly old enough to get a license and drive itself. Stylists at the Big T know better than to completely mess with a good and profitable thing.

These images suggest Toyota is putting its eggs in different off-road baskets, supplementing the TRD Pro with a rig that incorporates a few items from the aftermarket pros at ARB. Present at the rear are beefy tow hooks, painted red and jutting out from under what looks like a multi-piece steel bumper. The latter remains studded with backup sensors and towing gear, suggesting it is not a device tacked on at the last minute. A gloomy shot of the truck’s frontal area gives us out clearest (official) look yet at the new headlamps and grille; those peepers shown here have the word ‘Trailhunter’ incorporated into their light signature.

Aggressive brightening of these PR images reveal the strongest evidence to date that the Tacoma will bin rear leaf springs in favor of coils. This isn’t a total surprise given what’s been on display in various spy shots, plus what we know about the Tacoma using a modified version of the platform which underpins the Tundra. 

When will the new truck officially debut? Surely soon, given the sheer number of these teaser shots flowing out from the company. Old money would have been placed on it showing up at the State Fair of Texas given the brand’s ties to that state, but the Fair is still five months away. We’ll keep our ear to the ground for ya.

[Images: Toyota]

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