Hi all,
new to the forum. Been lurking around for a bit familiarizing myself with the gen 4 4runner and have some questions. My current ride is an 03 GX and it's been a great truck. My only real gripe with it is the lack of support, both DIY and after market. So far, except for a few drive train parts, I've had to go to the dealer, which has obviously been expensive. So, I've been contemplating trading it for an 07 Sport. I've got one in mind with cloth, basic stereo, 2wd, and v8. I'm basically trying to keep things simple and have an easier time maintaining as it ages.

Can anyone tell me how the cloth seats hold up? I'm pretty sure the engine is the same as the GX, but feels way more powerful, due to the difference in weight. Are they in fact the same otherwise?

Has anybody made the same transition? If so, what are you thinking, glad, not glad with your decision and why?

Much appreciated.

I personally prefer cloth to leather. I have never understood why leather is considered premium seating material. It is hot in the summer, cold in the winter. If you are not sticking to it, it is slippery as ice. As for holding up, my interior of my 03 looks very good. You can't see much difference between my driver's seat to the passenger seat which is used maybe 10% of the time. That is compared to my friends 03 limited who was crazy about putting the conditioners, his looks like crap. It is creased, cracked, and looks stained.

I seriously doubt you will notice any performance difference. The 4 runner is still heavy. It should ride close to the same, except the 4 runner may not feel as top heavy. Just depends on how sensitive you are to the feel.

What you will probably miss most are the gadgets and buttons that do things you really don't need, but overall you shouldn't see much of a change. You will probably want to swap your stereo, and then start the host of add ons that are out there.

I have cloth seats in a lot of my vehicles.
If you don't haul dogs, they hold up fine. You can also put covers on them to help in some circumstances.
I have a car uphostery shop near me. He can replace the cloth seats cheaper than he can sell me covers. They don't bother me. I've had good luck with them.
That said, if I can get leather in a used vehicle I'd take it.

Skip the 2WD.

I second 4WD!!

I have the grey leather and I don't find it gets that hot compared to black and as for the cold, I've got two words for you > heated seats

EDIT: I third 4wd. To quote one of my favourite T4R.org posts "Do you really want a 2Runner"

What aftermarket components are you looking for?

Personally, I think it's a bad move. The GX is a nicer vehicle albeit identical underneath.

Yes, the engines are the same. In 05 the V8's received VVT-i which gave it a slight increase in top end power - same for GX's do.

Just bought an 04 Sport with 115K miles and all the cloth seats look brand new.

Review the posts in this link to get more familiar with what 4th gen. owner's don't like...

Anything about your 4R that just drives you crazy?????

x4 on the 4wd. get the v8 with the awd. even if u live somewhere with out snow its great in the rain

I'm still trying to understand exactly why you want to sell the truck. What is it that you think a 4Runner will do that you GX can't? Your GX has a much nicer interior and all the mechanicals are the same.

I know you're not looking to install offroad gear, since you were considering a 2WD 4Runner.

So why, exactly, are you selling?

The Mark Levinson audio system sounds sweet, but the speakers are basically junk. If one blows, which they do, mostly due to age and heat, not blasting, you have very few options. I would have liked to replace the speakers with something real, but they are all 8ohm, so no real options are available, unless you go to home speakers and I doubt, they will hold up any better than what’s in the car, since they aren’t made for extreme temps.

No real suspension options besides stock. Either I pay the dealer 3K for a replacement set, or do a full offroad conversion. The stock suspension is sweet and the ride is excellent, with very little body roll around turns. It may just be worth fixing and driving another 100K, but I figured I’d get some opinions here. I’ve looked at doing a conversion too and have seen a couple of posts where people have done full offroad setups and it’s been intriguing, but I’ve gone down that path with other trucks and it’s been a never ending money pit. I’d be more interested in less aggressive solutions. I doubt the FJ/Bilstien combo will work as well on the GX, since the truck is 800lbs heavier. The suspension is not shot, but can tell it’s beginnings to show signs that new components are on the horizon, so I’ll have to decide which way to go at some point.

I have a bike rack on the truck every weekend and can’t get into the cargo area, since the tailgate swings out and the window doesn’t roll down. The two tier storage looked pretty good, but the “what do you hate about your truck” link seems to prove it’s pretty well useless.

I have used the 4WD once, or at least I thought so, till reading some of your recommendations. Evidently, I’ve been using it way more than I thought. We don’t get any snow around here and little rain, but when it rains, things get real slick with all the oil build up on the pavement. I remember this well with my Gen 3 4Runner, but thought the traction control took care of most of that concern, but sounds like that may not be the case.

There’s a huge hatred for the 1% at the moment and I have had the back wiper torn off by haters a couple of times and it’s broken now. Probably the same idiot(s), but they are expensive and another dealer item. Thank God that’s been the only thing broken so far. I’m so not a 1%er and have no animosity toward the successful. It just blows that there are so many haters around now, so keeping a lower profile is another reason to consider a trade.

Not really sure anymore after reading some of the posts! The Sport Eddition has X-REAS, no one can fix and are expensive to replace – sounds like a repeat of the GX in that regard, though there are no doubt better after market options that are proven to work.

Seems the climate control in the 4Runner is annoying, which works great in the GX and the rear air is awesome. Poor interior lighting and no way to turn on interior light manually – That kinda blows. I seem to remember my Gen 3 having that capability. No way to tap the wipers for those days there’s only a light drizzle – Again, that’s pretty strange, because the Gen 3 had it. I was thinking I wouldn’t miss my auto wiper function, but sounds like I will. The dreaded clunk – I had forgotten about this and it was fixed on the GX models, but “claimed” normal on 4Runner. Recommendations to stay away from 2Runners – I was thinking less weight and less drag will improve mileage and save maintenance in the long run, but sounds like that is a bad idea. 4WD Runners are a tough find in Arizona. It seems the dealers send most out of state, since they can get more for them, so there are very few available here. Now I’m not so sure trading cars is a wise move for me, but I guess that’s why I asked this forum in the first place. Glad I did, sounds like the 2WD was going to be an especially bad move.

All suspension options that work ont he 4Runner will work on the GX.

GL with your decision.

**** hippies.

That link might not be a good one to read if your trying to convince yourself to switch to a 4runner. Plus you have to take it with a grain of salt because alot of the stuff on there is opinion based. Personally I have no issue with the climate controls and my 4r handles plenty fine with xreas and it has 125,000miles on it.

hahahahaha...

Hey, no big deal, what are the details on your GX? I've got an 06 sport 4x4 v6 with brand new tires, brakes, and filters. Plus it's got a new Kenwood excelon Nav/dvd unit. I'd trade you straight up if you've got the right GX.

Your ride definitely sounds sweeter than anything I've seen around here. At this point I'm not seeing the advantages to trading my GX that I originally thought when I posted, and I've found out about a few more resources for the GX too so I'm keeping it.

So far as the hippies are concerned, they'll have to suck my tail pipe.