How cool would it be if the 3rd gen bacame such a cult classic that Toyota decided to bring it back in a slightly re-engineered model. Hey, you never know, maybe one day it will happen. Now put yourself in the shoes of a lead designer and engineer for Toyota. What would you do?

Heres what I would do:

1. Widen the whole thing by 3". This would include the body, interior, frame, wheel base, a arms, the whole deal. This would have several benefit.
- A wider wheel base makes for more stable handling in any condition. It would give a smoother ride on and off road, and would obviously help elimintate body role and sway.
- Would provide a bit more space for a bigger engine and transmission!
- Would give us more interior space.
- Though the 3rd gen body looks good from almost any angle, Ive always thought it looked a bit narrow from the front or back. I would keep the exact same lines, just make it 3" wider.

2. Engine and drive train: With the extra room, a bigger and stronger engine!
- Basically something like what theyre putting in the 5th gens. Something in the range of 260-300 hp.
- Stronger tranny and drive train components, including axel and gears.
- Radiator and tranny cooler as two seperate units.

3. Redisigned suspension:
- A stronger steering rack. There tends to be a lot of issues related to the racks on our 3rd gens. The engineering has advanced so that they could eliminate those issues, producing a rack that will go 200k with no problems if well maintained.
- A arms/solid axel. So this one is up for debate. I know the majority of you would hands down opt for a solid front axel. To be honest I would prefer IFS, but would increase the length of the a arms by 1.5". This would make it more like a long travel setup, would provide less angle on the arms, allowing for a taller front lift, would give a smoother ride, and net more suspension travel.
- An adjustable fine tuned progressive front coilover.
- Watts linkage in the rear. No more panhard drops or adjustable panhard bars. No more rear axel sway. Perfectly verticle articulation but with the ride of coil springs rather than leaf springs. How awesome would that be.
- Beefed up rear swing arms.

4. Redisigned interior.
- With 3" more room, there are alot of options. More storage space, cup holders, navigation system, bigger cargo cubby, etc.
- Some heavy duty floor mats.
- How about optional 3rd row seating like the LC!
- Standard field monitor
- Rear climate control with overhead vents
- A few standard power outlets like the newer tacomas have
- Better interior lighting
- Bigger glove box
- And the list goes on

5. Exterior
- A few nice fender flare options
- How about a refined looking Sotoshi grill, like those on the fj cruisers
- The 96-98 style bumper, but significantly beefed up for collisions and with nice fog lights built in
- A JDM style spoiler

So what would you guys add/redesign??

Sounds like you just described a Land Cruiser.

Agreed, you might as well just buy a UZJ100 since it meets the majority of your criteria. If Toyota did this from the start then they would have 2 SUV's competing with each other.

I do think that they should have included the JDM tire carrier as an option from the start, made the supercharger an option that was installed in the factory, multi-mode available with the R150 (like it was on the Hilux Surf), a 5-speed auto with paddle shift, and a winch installed under the factory bumper.

Yeah, landcruiser.

Only thing I would change is stopping the elocker and 5speed after 2000. I would love multimode with 5speed. Other than that, its a perfect machine.

you guys are dream killers. except for dirtdawg cause he liked my post

I saw some where a guy with a Brazilian t4r CAME WITH a 3rd row. So cross that one off.


And since were going crazy with widening the whole shabang, lets add a few guns the the grille? Ehh?????? Haha jk, your ideas are pretty cool and Id prefer a bigger t4r than an lc. Just because of looks.

But man do those lc's look awesome with just a bit of armor and lift.

I really love the 3rd gen 4runners. The new 4runners remind me of the mammoth car from the old speed racer cartoon. At least the front end does to me. As far as Landcruisers go , I really dig the one that the lead cop drives on the series Grimm.

Ya I mean I love the LCs too. But I would keep the EXACT same lines and body style of the 3rd gen, just with more width. Not more length. And I had several other things listed that are not on an LC, i.e. Watts linkage in the back, longer a arms in the front, an engine like that in 5th gen T4rs, which kills the LC in gas mileage.

Anyways, just for the hypothetical if I could tweak my 3rd gen to be whatever I wanted, those are the things I would do. My point was to see some of the creative ideas YOU guys had. And based on the relentless modifying of your rigs, I know for a fact there would be some changes made.

Well for sure I'd put:

Hideaway license plates
Guns in grille
Oil slicks out the back

And dual storage compartment (one on each side)

Most of all

THE ****ING SUN ROOF!!! I am so tired of holding that damn button!
I'd do double tap for auto close and open and then we could hold it like normal if we wanted to open it what ever random gap we wanted.

I love the idea lol. Yea sounds like a land cruiser but IMO hands down a 3rd gen 4runner looks better. This post has made me hope toyota will do such a thing lol.

I'm basically modding mine to be my version of this DREAM truck.

The only things I want to add, and now sure if I'll ever afford them:


1) Sport Hood

2) E-locker

3) Supercharger

4) Color Matched Limited Flares

5) Surf Tire Carrier


I've added alot of other items, that I believe to be "TRD" worthy:

1) TRD tundra Struts w/ LC coils

2) my "TRD" ISR mod / Deckplate mod

3) TRD lighted dash screen

4) Satoshi Grill with TRD badging

5) Upgraded tail lights and Headlights w/ Auxiliary lighting

6) Upgraded wheels (but would rather some Tundra wheels)

7) TRD quarter panel decals


And let's not forget:

8) Larger, more aggressive tires