Has anyone here put a rear locker on a 2WD 4Runner and felt like it wasn't a waste of time/money?

I've read through the threads where the conclusion is just to buy a 4WD but I haven't convinced myself of that yet. My 4th gen has 70K miles and it's still in great shape especially compared to what is on the market. Plus, there's all of the time/money I spent bringing maintenance items to up to date.

I would like to make it more off-road capable but have a feeling I'm going to still end up needing 4WD at some point... stuck and kicking myself.

I've also read through all of the conversion threads. I just can't see myself replacing a perfectly good transmission with an expensive unknown rebuilt one. It had good fluid at 65K miles and I just changed it. It was really clean.

I don’t have any experience with a 2WD with lockers, but there are a ton of YouTube videos that compare 4WD vs 2WD w/ lockers on other cars like a Tacoma. My guess is that you can get an idea if it’s worth it.

Your situation is understandable since your 4th gen has such low miles and in a known reliable state. 4WD 4th gen prices are also inflated right now, so you would probably end up selling yours for less and buying a more expensive high mileage 4WD.


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Thanks, I completely forgot about the 2WD Tacomas with a factory locker.

If I were you, I would take it offroad if you haven't already, find some local Toyota groups and travel with them and do some easier trails. If or once you get stuck, they'll just pull you out. Then you can decide if you want to try to upgrade or trade-in.

A winch would get you through and out of more than 2wd locked. 2wd locked sounds like a good way to get a little further into where a 2wd doesn't belong, with no way to get out.

Not familiar with coil suspension but a leaf sprung truck will experience axle wrap when trying to drive obstacles in 2wd locked. I assume a coil sprung 4runner would to some degree as well. It puts a lot of strain on the rear.
Also, the rear end will want to swing out when it loses traction in 2wd locked. I don't see locking a 2wd being worth the cost