Overheating in 4H? Why 4L is Better for Slow Trails in 4th Gen Tacomas

drktacoma · 2026-02-10T01:34:04+00:00

As a wheel-obsessed guy, I can’t tell you how many times I went back and forth about which wheels to get for the 4G. I knew I wanted polished but just unsure of the brand. I was pretty set on getting KMCs; however, the price was not working for me. RRW had their Black Friday sale, and I pulled the trigger on the RR7s in polished and am the biggest possible fan of how they look, especially for the price! I also got the billet protection rings and am pumped on the complete look with the gold bolts. With that being said, I spent forever going back and forth on tire sizing, and at the time, my suspension was stock, and with a brand new truck, I didn’t want to cut body (I was fine with cutting fender). I also knew it wasn’t going to be possible to NOT cut, I was just curious about how much I would have to cut. Since the truck is new, there is hardly any information on 35s with stock suspension and a +12mm offset. There were a handful on +25mm or even 0mm, but still not any on +12. I initially took the risk on ordering 315/70/17 only to find out they didn’t work for me… but DANG they look so good. The +12 was too aggressive, and with a quarter turn of the wheel in either direction, it was bending the inner body corner and front corner of the bumper. With some cutting, it absolutely would’ve worked, but at the time, I wasn’t ready to do that. Discount worked with me, and I sized down to a 285/70/17 and it was the move for stock suspension with no cutting (I did remove the crash plate). 315 initial test fit above. I’ll size up when I lift my truck, but for now, I’m happy with not cutting up the truck and enjoy the ride and look of the 285. I applaud Toyota for allowing bigger tires to fit without really any cutting as compared to the previous generations. Let me know your thoughts as well as how it all looks! 315 vs. 285 above. 285s on stock suspension. The final setup I went with.

Rico's4G

Member

Aug 29, 2025

Has anyone ever wondered what the solution is for maintaining normal transmission fluid temperatures when driving in 4WD High at speeds below 15 mph?

I know someone who manually downshifts to S1, but this does not prevent the temperature from rising.

For those who might want to know, 4H is for Baja racing, while 4L is for trails and crawling. If you're going slow, it's best to just use 4L.

In contrast, though, using 4WD Low does not cause temperature issues, although it requires some adjustment to drive in the lower gears.

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