The stock 5th gen has very poor steering feel of the road, so its relatively easy to accidentally sway into other lanes.

I LOVE the 4Runner, but its my biggest complaint of the vehicle as it really could be a safety issue. If this could somehow be improved, I would invest a lot in order to do so.

My understand it the height is factor that causes this, (and of course the engineering in all the linkages) and it may be impossible to really improve it.

But I thought i would ask those who might be mechanically inclines and know the intricacies of this stuff.

Sounds like a driver issue more than a car issue. Tires, alignment, and road condition all play into what you're experiencing. Never had an issue with the car tracking weird and feeling like I'm going to end up in another lane.

If you want to "invest a lot" just buy a different car that doesn't do that when you test drive it.

H, I expected some answer like "there is no problem" but the issue isn't wandering. My 4runner drives straight as an arrow. I can even take my hands safety off the wheel momentarily and on a smooth highway it drives straight.

Its FEEL of the road - as in literally, you can feel the pull of the road on your steering wheel. If you want to see what feel "feels" like, go drive an Audi, BMW X3, Porsche or Volkswagon. Now that said, I would never expect to get to that level in a 4runner. Lol just seek improvement here. Here is the example, albeit dangerous to help explain feel. And even this might not help someone might be able to explain it better.....
At 60 MPH on an open road close your eyes. (although i dont recommend this). How long can you keep your eyes closed before you feel unsafe, or you don't know where you are in spacial perception? In a 4runner, since there is no road feel, its practically immediate. In contrast, in my Audi I could, in theory, close my eyes for 4-5 seconds and know where my car is in space on the lane for that duration. (only an insane person would go longer haha - its just an example folks!)
Not trying to get into a debate about this, you either know what i am talking about or dont. (Or have no experience yet with driving vehicles with perfect feel of the road) Any old racers in here? :-)


excellent. I will investigate this option on if impacts on what i am looking for. again, its not alignment or play in the wheel.

And suspension upgrades makes sense, i would love to test drive a nice test up. Thanks ALL!!

Quoting myself, as i did a search and found people explaining it way more. ANd the analogy is way better than my terribly unsafe example. ;-)

hyundai - what is exactly steering feedback? - Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange

In auto parlance at the high end its called "Dynamic steering"
Dynamic steering varies the steering ratio by nearly 100 percent as a function of driving speed and the setting in the Audi drive select system in which it is integrated. Transitions are continuous and practically imperceptible.

This both makes the car feel more sporty at higher speeds and safer, while also making it easier to do things like parallel park or make a u-turn. Instead of trying to achieve the perfect balance of steering ratio and power steering assistance, these cars can vary it to give you the best of both worlds.

Hope that helps. Basically the 4Runner is poor at "steering feedback" and has no dynamic steering - this is what i want to improve as best I can for the near "perfect" vehicle

You can do a lot with a light duty car suspension that you can't with a vehicle that also has to be able to handle the type of abuse that a 4Runner is intended to. Everything on the 4Runner has to be much larger and heavier. The result is a relatively heavy feeling.

There are also geometry compromises that are inherent in off road vehicles. For example on most Audi models that use a design that locates the upper ball joint over top of the tire with a pivot axis that runs approximately through the center of the tire's tread. That means you can never put a larger tire on due to physical constraint. You can't do that on a vehicle where a large portion of customers are going to put larger tires on.

There are many more compromises for a big heavy SUV, but those are just a few examples.

My guess is that you'd probably solve most of your issue with a better alignment set to around 3.5-4* caster. For comparison example a typical sedan will often have a caster angle of around 7-8*.

Get a long travel suspension and you'll be fine.

You could always do what i did, it’s really smooth now.

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Drive a lifted Jeep Wrangler with bigger tires on the freeway going 75-80 mph, that will improve your 4Rs handling perspective.

Which I had to do yesterday in my wife’s Jeep on highways with heavy construction. Mad Max hanging on for dear life in those conditions! Exhausting

How long have you owned your 4Runner? Have you changed out the super soft Charmin shocks yet?

That's one of the first things I did and made a drastic improvement in road manners.

You bought the wrong vehicle my friend. Your 5th gen is sitting on an ancient chassis with outdated technology. No suspension upgrade, tire choice or modification will change that. It's a pig of truck to drive on pavement and why Im surprised people buy and use this thing for daily use. Every time I drive my car Im reminded of this.

Well my Audi (2001) is 16 years older than my truck and feels a lot better so I think its more engineering and components than tech. ;-) But yeah to have the priveladge of two vehicles would be great!

we came from a bmw x5M and in no way could I get the 4 runner to ever drive remotely like that SUV. It drives more like a truck than an sport or crossover suv. That is actually part of the reason we got 1. When the road stops the 4 runner keeps going and the Audi and X5 can't. No matter what you do to your Audi or BMW it will not go where I take the 4 runner at times. There is a trade off going to a real SUV that behaves ok on the road yet is truly offroad capable

All you need is 4.0 caster to get the feel....beyond that it isn't going to become a Road Racer no matter what.

Add Bilstein 5100s and max out the caster - handling is no problem. On this delightful stretch of Hwy 129, most cars and Harleys end up pulling over to let this boat around. Of course, I pull over to let the sport cars and bikes get around. Once you get used to the roll, cornering limits, and occasional stability control interventions, you can still sling it around the curves.

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I would assume that this type of "road feel" you're referring to wasn't on the design list for the 4Runner, and never has been. I've had three different generations, and they all drove in a similar manner - a bit top-heavy, with some lean/roll in curves and corners. It's how the truck is built. My 2019 has the nicest ride of them all, btw.

If Toyota were to build in some of the crispness to which you're referring, they'd have to change the wheelbase, centers of gravity, suspension, etc. Sure, they could make a 4Runner that drives like an Audi, BMW, Porsche, or VW, but then it would look a lot like them, too, and would have the same off-road limitations. The compliant factory suspension, while not everyone's favorite, probably works against on-pavement "feel", to some extent. The advice from many others on here might lead you closer to your goal.