Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire New Toyota 4Runner 4wd base model

My 05’ Tacoma qualified for the frame recall. Toyota put a brand new complete chassis under it about 10 years ago. IIRC the issues with the bad ones they were either made in Mexico or with bad Chinese sourced steel.

Dana was the subcontractor for the rusty frames. I had a new frame put on a 2002 Tundra.
Comparing the 4.7 V8, verses the 4.0 V6, is not even close. The 4Runner could use some more torque for sure. My Tundra got 15/16, the 4 runner gets 20/21 or so. I still miss the 4.7, but I like the mpg and less gas station stops.
I looked at videos of the new 2.4 turbo in the highlander, and it looked pretty unimpressive.

My wife bought a used 2014 4 runner in fall of 2015,had very low miles. We still have it and it has about 106,000 miles on it now. All we ever did to it was a steering sector shaft (joint) that got pretty tight, and brakes and tires. She just bought a 2019 Highlander and really like's it so I don't know what we will do with the 4 runner. The dealer has offered us 19,000 to 21,000 dollars but I kind of don't want to sell it. The gen 5 4 runner's are great vehicle's. I think it is good on Toyota for keeping this series of 4 runner unchanged for this long as if it work's leave it alone. I also don't think it is that underpowered or terrible on gas for what it is (a big square block)

I’m gonna test drive the new Pilot tomorrow and see how we like it. I don’t need to test drive a 4Runner. I know exactly how it rides.

I have a 2019 4Runner XP 4wd with the 4.0 engine. I have noticed no loss of power or under power. Love that truck.

Highlanders & Pilots are nice, car-like AWD's but they sure as he'll aren't off road 4WD vehicles by a stretch of anybody's imagination.

If that matters to you.

MM

As I told another member via PM, my objective mind says to buy a 4Runner vs my subjective mind buying the new pilot(if I like it).

Apples to oranges. There’s not a Honda pilot forum on any off road forum that I’ve ever seen. It’s an AWD minivan. It’s transgender, a car that identifies as an ORV.

I have actually had my wife’s Pilot in a few places that I never thought it would go. It does have a sissy look to it, but it is more capable than you might expect.

Drove the Pilot today and felt the body roll was a little better than my current version. The 10 speed transmission is different but not in a bad way. Tomorrow I’m test driving the SR5 4Runner.

Tim,
Phil and another friend had Pilots. While they were no rock crawlers it took a lot of snow and a big hill to have it not make it. I watched them go places I thought they wouldn't. They were almost a perfect match for a Dog/Upland hunting vehicle with their cargo space.

Addition. Phil isn't known for taking care of his vehicles....and he got around 225K out of it with poor maintenance before the trans went down.

Laffin....... I can see Phil being hard on a vehicle. Yep, I can see a AWD Pilot being a great rig to do some upland hunting with. Plenty of room for the dogs too. Laney will be getting our Pilot in the next year or so. Hopefully it will last like Phil’s did. . Give Phil my absolute best!!!!!!

2023 trd pro owner here. With quality snow tires it goes up my unplowed (sometimes pushing the snow becasue of depth) driveway that is a 300’ elevation gain over 1000’ of length - and it’s not strait.

Decent “all terrain” tires and it chugs along through 12-14” of mud during mud season. Picture no less than 6” of mud depth for at least 1.5 continuous miles.

It rides smoothly on poorly maintained back roads.

It’s roomy enough for people/animals/gear.

The mpg average 20.

I hauled a 4k lb travel trailer with it through the white mountains of NH with zero issue.

Going down the town and city roads it feels very responsive with plenty of power to me. (My other vehicle is a 5.3 V8 truck).

It was $50k and took 3.5 months to get on the allocation program last fall.

They will roll over on uneven terrain. I know this because I was in the 4runner this one replaced when it rolled over! And still, it was replaced with another 4Runner.

I admittedly don’t know anything about the new 4 cyl turbos, but if all other elements of the newest runners are equal, I think they’re a solid all around choice (IF) you need/want to get off the pavement.

Otherwise there are better options.

Just my $0.02

If spending a lot of time in the mountains off pavement i couldn't agree more.....

Ive bought and traded 4wd SR5s in the past 6 years, but im pretty much a flat lander with perhaps a bit of mud....

Drooled over the TRDs more than a few times but could never imagine needing the 4wd upgrades it affords....

Heck, i can barely justify 4wd in what I have.....
The limited slip differential in 2wd has handled 98% of the slop ive encountered.

The 4runner is impressive at any level in the low country...

Update: I went to a couple Toyota dealers within reason that had an online presence to make going not a waste of time. Told them what I wanted was a sr5 4wd in white without any BS accessories. They really tried to get me a white one but it came with crap I refuse to pay for(wheels or running boards).

They wanted a $3500 “market adjustment” over msrp.

Picking this up tomorrow. SR5 4wd but not any expensive accessories. $41900 plus tax and tags.

I have 238,000 on my 07 Tacoma with the 4.0 and have done almost nothing to it. Same engine in the 4-Runner. I've never felt underpowered. No it isn't a racecar but it is adequate.

Some mechanic friends have noted that they believe a big part of Toyota's longevity is due to the fact that they design and tune their engines and transmissions for moderate, but adequate performance Seems like a good trade-off to me.

Stop thinking logically?!

Congrats, Woodson. Hope it works well for you. Same color as mine. Good taste.