Just now getting around to posting with pics and review after an expedition through the western U.S. in July.

Short synopsis

The Good:

1. Stock TE climbs like a billy goat (plenty of capability without mods)
2. Fuel Economy is great (average 20mpg over the trip, including off road)
3. Comfortable seats, ergonomic controls layout--excellent long hauls
4. Good highway handling (i don't have any issue with body roll that some describe, and i don't have KDSS...nose dive, yep, body roll, no)
5. Sport mode is fantastic for mountains (even though the up/dn shift direction is backwards, ha)

The not so Good:

1. Crawl control practically useless for me (horrible noise, no noticeable advantage over user input at all)
2. Lack of stock extended rear differential breather tube (simple mod, but that's the issue--toyota should just provide it, JK has it)
3. Black upholstery (shows dust, gets hotter than a lighter grey)

The path:

1. Dallas
2. Caprock Canyons State Park
3. Blue Lake, Cuchara Colorado
4. Durango, Colorado
5. Silverton, Telluride, Ouray Alpine loop trails
6. Moab
7. Salt Lake City
8. Boise, Idaho
9. Reno, Nevada
10. Santa Cruz, California
11. San Dimas, California
12. Phoenix, Arizona
13. Tuscon, Arizona
14. El Paso, TX
15. Dallas

Colorado Trails:

(we did a fair amount of driving off pavement, but these are the 'named' trails I recall--plenty of other routes we took, just didn't record the locations)

Medano Pass--was overcast and rained a fair portion of the day, but we had fun. Numerous shallow water crossings, I got out and manually checked each and every one. Great trail, cool areas in Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Governor Basin--Beautiful! At the top, the colors of the environment are so rich and vivid it was like that Robin Williams movie.

Imogene Pass had high water crossing with closed bridge, and I didn't have a breather tube mod, so elected not to do it.


Moab:

Top of the World--this one was cool. Long--several hours, and fairly challenging with the stock TE and a goal to do it with zero damage (goal achieved, the single bump was almost imperceptible tap on the gas tank skid, quarter sized abrasion). my wife learned went from a novice to a really good spotter by the end of the day. the trail is doable with the stock TE almost all the way to the top. I stopped just short and walked the last climb because the shelves were too high for the wheelbase and clearance. I could have done it, but there would have been substantial scraping of the undercarriage. taller tires, 3" suspension lift with improved travel, sliders and additional skid plates would get there

Lots of forest/desert trails in utah and nevada, then a week surfing/swimming in Santa Cruz/Capitola

Primarily pavement on the way back through Arizona, needed to make the mileage to get back.

And now, some pics:

Attached Images

       

i'll add more pics soon, need obscure license plate on many of them...

Overall I'm very impressed with the TE. The capability is honestly surprising. I took a rented JKU with a mild 2" lift and 33" tires out in Moab last year, and the TE doesn't have the approach and departure angles to get it the same places, nor the front locker, but it will get us where we need to go.

I do prefer the lower crawl ratio of the Rubicon over the TE for rocks. I like slow articulation, and the low range on the TE is still just higher than I prefer for rock terrain. But, I can live with it because that kind of stuff is seldom for us.

Family of four and camping gear for two weeks fit fine, with good visibility out the back. I like the reclining rear seats. Sound system is great. Low wind noise at highway speeds.

Coming from a 2006 Ford F150 Supercrew 4X4 that we put through the gauntlet for 150,000 miles. My first Toyota. Happy with the purchase.

It has it's uses. Descending very steep slopes that low range 1st gear doesn't have enough engine braking for, it can modulate the brakes individually, which the driver cannot. In deep snow, it can get manage to get through areas that turn away a locked diff.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I just took mine up to our cabin in the blueridge mountains and I know it's not extreme but it drove extremely well. Handles really well. 2014 tundra had a lot more power but the old 1gr is a good engine much improved from the 2007 4runner I had. I had bfg km2 and bfg at on my old runner with Billy's. How loud are the bfgs on the new trail. Thinking about doing bilstein at 2.5 and 285 at.

+1 on crawl control. Used it last week going downhill over some shale and uneven ground. Set it on medium, then high. It walks downhill better than you can hold it in 1st using engine braking. Didnt think I would use it. I loved it.

i'll have to keep trying it--haven't had it in snow yet

i only had the stock tires for a couple of days, so i'm going off distant memory here, but the bfg ATs are slightly louder, but not at all bothersome to me. the duratracs i had on my F150 were much louder to my ear, even though i really liked their wet road and snow performance

Engage it in the center speed position. Noise is considerably reduced and you can simply adjust your speed up or down with the knob. Considering that high is still under 7 MPH the middle position still has plenty of crawl. I piddled with mine a couple months ago and it definitely handled the rockier terrain better than I was able to with my own foot. You just really have to make yourself try it a few times to gain confidence in it.

Looks like a great trip.

Thanks for the nice Medano pic. It's been edited to fill my monitor and I will be looking at it a while. Brings back some good memories and, coincidentally, Medano was one leg of a 4,000+ mile on/off road trip I took that was similar in many respects. The truck (4th gen) was only a few months old and the trip served as a thorough introduction to the features and capabilities. I, too, had to be mindful of the lack of a rear diff breather a couple of times and agree that the non-inclusion is a head scratcher, especially now with the specific offering of a Trail Edition.

That trip provided many weeks of entertainment afterwards editing photos and playing with maps and data.

Here's wishing you a similarly pleasant afterglow.

JB, thanks for such a thoughtful post.