1 Year with the Tacoma Trailhunter

[TrailAdventurer]

• Installed Aspire Fang Lights
• Ridgid rear bumper lights

I wanted the HUD but wasn't available for me.

I might do the Fang's. I'll decide once I pull the trigger on bumper/winch choice here soon.

I'm going to go with that other brand, Rigid. I saw a video one gent did where he put lights (not sure if Rigid or not) in the ARB bumper knock-outs. I put Rigid floods in the rear bumper on my Wrangler. To this day, remains my favorite upgrade.

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[tacorancher]

Can be a very expensive part you don't want to replace . 'In general' they tend to either be in the $125 range, or $625. So a friend told me...guess which one he got.

But what is it - airflow sensor?

 

[tacorancher]

I wanted the HUD but wasn't available for me.

I might do the Fang's. I'll decide once I pull the trigger on bumper/winch choice here soon.

I'm going to go with that other brand, Rigid. I saw a video one gent did where he put lights (not sure if Rigid or not) in the ARB bumper knock-outs. I put Rigid floods in the rear bumper on my Wrangler. To this day, remains my favorite upgrade.

I put rigids in the rear ARB bumper and it’s an awesome upgrade. In the process of adding Rigid ditch lights now.

 

[MrB4D]

• While on a road trip driving in very heavy rain I stepped on it to go around slower traffic and the truck shut down into limp mode it lit up like a Christmas tree with multiple warning lights only had 2,500 miles on the truck at the time. I was able to get to the side of the highway I called a local dealer he arranged a tow and gave me a rental. They had the truck for 2 weeks and found no cause for the problem and could not duplicate it. I drove the 9 hours back to pick up the truck and haven’t had a problem since now have 14,000 on the truck.
• Did read a post of someone having the same issue he believes it was rain getting sucked through the snorkel getting the MAS wet Im not sure put so far so good
• I found thePassenger seat in full recline position when it was in normal position when I left the truck this happened twice with in one month

Good point with the snorkel! I've had to remind the dealership to not put the truck through their car wash - first time they did that, it popped the snorkel off one of the retaining clips >:[

I haven't had any issue with the MAS during the rain, but it is something I've thought about. More than that is snow. I live in Michigan, so I worry about ice buildup and sucking that in... but we will see. (last year wasn't an issue due to a 2mo business trip during winter)

Humm, funny you mention the seat thing.... For the first time, doing an oil change a few weeks ago the drivers seat was in full recline. I thought something might have fallen between the seat and just pushed the lever back while I was working on it.... I will keep an eye out! Thanks!

 

[MrB4D]

But what is it - airflow sensor?

Yep! Measures the amount and temperature of the air going into the intake to help make sure the right amount of fuel is being injected

 

[Snickers]

Not so good

• Sometimes there is a high pitched whine coming from where the inverter is in the cab when the vehicle is driving, both at low speed and at high speed (no, it is not the pedestrian alert sound)

That is the cooling fan on the inverter kicking in because you have enough of a load to get it warm. Congratulations on using the inverter as advertised by Toyota. Not many will do so.

On long drives, it can be really annoying. I have to lower the cabin temperature to get it to quit.

When my warranty expires, I will dig into the inverter to replace the dc fan with something better.

 

[Congo]

Maybe? I don't think I've heard it in other hybrids though. Just a minor annoyance

Mine does it as well, just sounds like the electric motor to me.

 

[maxx075]

I have an OR, so no experience with the TH. Reading over this though, just gave me an insight. Toyota's acoustic glass is a laminate glass, not tempered. Which means that it won't shatter like a normal side window. It's more of a windshield type glass.

So it seems like it may prove to be a safety liability in the long run

 

[Taco Trailhunter Tony]

Love my 2025 Trailhunter 6' bed. 26,000 miles.
Pros:

• Cooled seats - AMAZING & very comfortable for long drives. Fan noise on highest setting but does not bother me.
• Perfect for our off-road adventures. - Under armor protection, rock sliders.
• Air Compressor. Although it is slow. love having it.
• 2400 Watt inverter - Charges Pecron E1500lfp battery very fast. As well as our E600lfp (for refrigerator in the back seat).
• Bed rail lights for setting up camp in the dark.
• 360° camera for parking and off-roading cameras

Cons:

• Fuel tank only 18.2 gallons. Waiting on LongRangeAmerica.
• Driving in RAIN - Shuts down when you accelerate and the turbo kicks in and sucks in water. Dashboard lights up - Have taken to 3 different Toyota Dealerships. No fix from Toyota yet. This has happened 4 times now. Gives my wife anxiety when she sees rain in the distance. This really is NOT safe if you try to pass someone in the rain - just don't do it till Toyota fixes it.
• Small back seat. -
• Stock Bottle Jack.

Mods:

• Tune Outdoor topper with Hest king size bed, insulation package, & fan (got this in March 2026 and have 25 nights in it so far).
• Diesel heater - installed inside & exhausted out (have 2 CO detectors). Sooo nice!
• Mud flaps - should have done these sooner. Did them with 20K miles.
• Relocated rearview mirror camera and bed camera with GG OFFROAD.

Planned mods:

• heavier rear springs -
• Need new tires soon (before winter). At 4/32" on front and 5/32" on rear. Trying to decide what to do here. HELP????

 

[lauren01]

Love my 2025 Trailhunter 6' bed. 26,000 miles.

[*]Need new tires soon (before winter). At 4/32" on front and 5/32" on rear. Trying to decide what to do here. HELP????
[/LIST]

A few weeks ago I had my Trailhunter’s stock tires replaced with Mickey Thompson 265/65 18, XL load.

This morning I had new tires put on wife’s’24 Subaru Outback Wilderness. This is an adventure vehicle for lighter offroading and camping. She chose Pirelli Scorpion A/T+ in a size 20mm wider than stock. Handles great on road so far.

Take a look at both of those tires as part of your hunt. So many choices are out there. Good luck!

 

[Kodachrome]

Driving in RAIN - Shuts down when you accelerate and the turbo kicks in and sucks in water. Dashboard lights up - Have taken to 3 different Toyota Dealerships. No fix from Toyota yet. This has happened 4 times now. Gives my wife anxiety when she sees rain in the distance. This really is NOT safe if you try to pass someone in the rain - just don't do it till Toyota fixes it.

I have a Trailhunter on order, get it in about 2-3 weeks. This is incredibly concerning, is a major safety issue and I am blown away it has not been fixed yet midway though 2026.

That is recall level bad, I hope my truck does not do this.

 

[lauren01]

I have a Trailhunter on order, get it in about 2-3 weeks. This is incredibly concerning, is a major safety issue and I am blown away it has not been fixed yet midway though 2026.

That is recall level bad, I hope my truck does not do this.

It likely will do this. Mine has.

 

[Kodachrome]

It likely will do this. Mine has.

Darn, this might actually be a deal breaker for me. I spend a lot of time out and about when rain and snow moves in.

In your case, was it a pull over and wait a bit thing, or did you need a tow / visit to the dealer?

 

[lauren01]

Darn, this might actually be a deal breaker for me. I spend a lot of time out and about when rain and snow moves in.

In your case, was it a pull over and wait a bit thing, or did you need a tow / visit to the dealer?

Narrowly avoided a tow. My truck went into limp mode on the 101 freeway in heavy rain - would barely accelerate, trans was jerking, myriad errors on the dash so I guessed it was a bad trans but it’s actually a relatively mild problem. I got off the freeway at the next exit and there happened to be a dealer down the street, North Hollywood Toyota. After they let it sit between 2pm Saturday til sometime on Monday or Tuesday, the problem went away. They sprayed the MAF to clean up and perhaps make the throttle short circuit code go away. Then they reset my ECU. Huge PITA since it wiped out many settings that took me hours to dial in…and it wiped my tune so months later I finally had time to make an appointment and drive the 100 miles when I needed to be in his locale again.

I’m going to install a Filterwear on the K&N Toyota engine air filter to help keep water out when it gets past the high air intake. Might also place netting up at the intake slots but would rather test the Filterwear by itself first.

Another dealer tech advisor looked up the problem and called to say it’s likely that the problem has occurred when the K&N filter has been over-oiled. He said it happened during manufacturing. He did not hear whether they were sent to Toyota that way or K&N might have done that. I think K&N because I heard a 4Runner Trailhunter had the same problem, and they are made in Japan. Still could be Toyota following a defective oiling protocol or bad oil—we may never hear the truth on the cause. But I think I can fix this or I would’ve stopped sinking cash into mods.

Another fix may be to replace with part of the TRD Pro intake. That would take in air under the hood, which also means no more turbo snork sounds from up high. I’ve read about folks doing that mod to get rid of the noise. Not sure how it affects performance though.

So give it consideration. It’s one of those things that gives pause but there are solutions if you’re uo to pursuing them. Also, this doesn’t happen to every Trailhunter, or there would be a recall by now. We use all of the tech gadgets and love the OME suspension performance.

You can message me directly if you have any other questions that I could try to answer. Happy truck shopping!

 

[Taco Trailhunter Tony]

Darn, this might actually be a deal breaker for me. I spend a lot of time out and about when rain and snow moves in.

In your case, was it a pull over and wait a bit thing, or did you need a tow / visit to the dealer?

Just pull over and wait (maybe 5-10 minutes). The Check Engine light does not always come on, but when it does you need to have it cleared (OBD2). I just go to O'Reily's or Autozone. I still think it is worth the truck, and other forums say that Toyota is working on it.

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