The later models are fine for street rigs, if you want a vehicle that can hold its own on the trail buy pre 04. Mine is locked front and rear with a new crawler with 4.70's so its not exactly stock anymore, but its funny when I go on runs and guys in stock wranglers on 29's try to tell me "your not going to make that". I just look at them and walk right up the nastiest line with my IFS daily driver and laugh. Even with just the rear locker option and some decent tires like a BFG a/t they do really well and surpise the Jeep guys all the time. Of course the Jeep crowd seem to think if it doesnt say jeep its not "trail rated".
Eventually I will go SAS and be able to dominate all but the toughest trails like the Hammers. There is a lot of room to "grow" with a Tacoma IMO while still getting you from point A to B.
Even on 33's I get decent gas mileage but I regeared to 4.56's and drive like an old man, ~ 18mpg hwy. Not too bad for a V6, auto. and its still a very comfortable day to day driver. Although, I could deal with a little less tire noise.
05's and later seem to have more quality control issues, have exploding rear ends, cracking engine mounts/ frames, less aftermarket support, and are just plain too big to wheel.
