[Cytronus]

Well guys, it's official. I'm moving on from my beloved 3rd Gen to my first brand new car, the 2016 4Runner Trail Premium. I'll share my plans, build and adventures with it all right here. I still have my 3rd Gen and haven't decided what to do with it just yet but time will tell.

Preamble:

When I was a kid and the 3rd Gen debuted, I lusted for one. I loved the styling, proportions, size, utility and practicality. Then close to 5 years ago, when I had a little spare change, I bought a used one with about 130 K on the ODO - the '99 Limited, finally achieving the dream.

At the time, I was definitely more enamored with the new 5th gen but the cost was far out of my range. I recall seeing it for the first time as one of my co-workers pulled up one morning in a brand new blizz LE. That chiseled masculine styling, those gorgeous 20" rims. It laid in wait in my mind.

Back to my then newly acquired 3rd Gen...I immediately latched on to T4R.ORG for basic advice on maintenance and common problems on the 3rd gens. I just wanted a decent SUV with some light off road potential for camping, mountain biking and snowboarding, which I often do.

But then one day, I attended a "mod day" meet up with local forum members and there my perception would change. I saw all these gigantic, lifted, bar-worked, beefy bumper, mud-terrain clad beasts that made mine feel so small and pedestrian in contrast. Hearing the overland stories and seeing photos further mesmerized my interest in off-roading. I wanted to join the club. Upon learning more, I realized I was missing one of the most basic items for off-roading - a locking rear diff. Had I done my homework, I would've sought a fully loaded L.E. with that option.

Mod day after mod day, the urge and the itch burned within. My 4Runner would need a lot of work to transform it into an overlander and I had to ask myself if it would be worth it to spend all that money and time on a high mileage, aging vehicle. I waited...

Now, years later with the means and will, I planted the cross hairs on the coveted 5th gen. This time around I had purpose and intent, a direction I'd want to take this vehicle into an Overlanders dream. I decided upon what the desired end state would be and worked backwards.

Enter the Trail Premium. I was planning on getting a used one but they were all selling for just 2 - 3K less than new with 20 - 30 K miles, so it made more sense to go new. It has all the off road features, the easy-to-clean Softex leather, nav, moon roof and more. I would've loved to have had some of the features of the Limited, such as dual zone climate, real leather and more but the refined exterior chrome trim on an off-road vehicle didn't seem appropriate for the desired direction. After having driven an SR5, Limited and Trail with KDSS, I was amazed with the KDSS handling on road. Knowing I'd be going with 33s and an Icon lift, the TRD Pro was out of the question. After all, aside from its looks and air cleaner, you're paying all that extra dough for its suspension, which in my opinion is medium-good. There's no point in buying a TRD Pro if you're going to rip the suspension right off it, unless you're into having that rare official badging.

To me, the 4Runner isn't just a car, it's a symbol of heritage, reliability, Japanese honor & duty in making a quality product, relentless discovery and best of all, brotherhood. It's the tightly bound community of 4Runner owners, guys on this forum and others, who put their souls and identity into these trucks and who are so willing to help each other along in their quest for adventure and individuality that make me a proud 4Runner owner.

[nb rob]

Good read, and congrats on the new trail!

I put some tires on mine initially and then waited a year to do suspension, just to get used to it. I love KDSS, and I love how this thing handles offroad. I need my 4lo fix more and more.

[gm350reratliff]

Congrats! Look forward to the build.

[Cytronus]

Here is a list of planned mods for the build broken out in stages. Things may deviate a bit depending on logic as I go.

[Cytronus]

I've received 5 new TRD Pro 17x7 inch wheels in matte black, along with 5 flat black TPMS valve stems, ordered from eBay via description: "31 Inc 17-43018 TPMS Programmable Smart Sensor BLACK ALUMINUM REPLACEMENT STEM". They are not Toyota specific but they do fit the rim nicely. I'm not sure if the TPMS sensor that mounts inside the rim will actually fit yet but I'm assuming they will. I will order a new set of sensors to be programmed to the vehicle.

Also ordered black chrome lugs and wheel locks from Wheeler's Off-Road. Unfortunately, after hours of searching, I could not find matte or flat black lugs & locks but it should still look mean with the wheels all blacked out.

The TRD Pro rims are 7" in width, as measured correctly from inside lip to inside lip, where the tire meets the rim. The overall rim width is a hair over 8".

Many ask why Toyota went with the narrower 7" wheel on the TRD Pro vs. the wider 7.5" Trail wheel. It was primarily to reduce weight and friction and improve fuel economy, compensating for the vehicle's larger stock tires with heavier tread and added suspension weight relative to the other models. The goal was to keep advertised MPG the same across the 4Runner line up. I would've loved to have these TRD Pro wheels in a 7.5" though.

[FoRunnah]

Like that wheel color choice

[Cytronus]

Here are the Gorilla black lugs and wheel locks from Wheeler's Off-Road for the 2016 TRD Pro matte black wheels.

[HOJeepster]

By the style of your writing, this should be a good build

[Cytronus]

My initial impression of the new 2016 4Runner Trail Premium (stock) is that it's likable overall. I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10 across a blend of categories. This is in relation to overall expectations of a modern vehicle and in comparison to my 3rd Gen '99 Limited. I bought this car for off-roading and overlanding so it's got a ways to go before it is what I want it to be but for now, as is....

Likes - my biggest from top down

• Ride Quality - KDSS rocks. Handles amazing considering vehicle size
• 4WD controls - crawl control and terrain select, manual 4WD shift lever
• Improved approach & departure angles on stock bumpers
• Good braking
• Tons of room in the engine bay for mod additions
• Exterior styling - fan of '14 redesign
• Rockers - shorter than earlier Gen 5 non-trail models. Great for sliders.
• Interior styling - love the new gauge cluster and overall shapes are good
• Interior accessibility - everything in its proper place, easy to reach
• Controls/knobs that can be handled by gloved hands
• Comfort - seats are the best yet
• Reclining rear seats with plenty of leg room (way nicer than the 3rd gen)
• Rear seat cup holder/arm rest center fold down
• Softex - while not as soft/natural feeling as real leather, I think they'll last longer and still feel great. Could fool most that they're real leather.
• Roomy interior, headroom even with moon roof (and I'm 6'2")
• Sound quality of OEM stereo (non-JBL)
• Visibility out front is very good, back is decent for a vehicle this size
• Sliding rear window
• Door seals are solid and door closing sounds nice
• Rear bumper valence (armor)
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
• Powerful A/C and fan speed
• Heated seats
• Ground clearance although front is a little low for a Trail

Dislikes - my biggest from top to bottom:

• Lack of power and acceleration on road
• Engine vibration, mild power loss between 1 and 2 K RPM in every gear
• XM sharkfin on roof - bad location, roof rack blocks signal
• No grab handle on the driver side A pillar, nor a place to install one
• Paint/clear coat scratches far too easily
• Plastic interior parts scratch easily
• Gloss black finish interior parts looks cheap (matte would've been sweet)
• Overall interior design - a bit too many textures and colors going on
• Entune system is buggy (Pandora errors out half the time)
• Bluetooth phone audio quality is extremely POOR
• Interior lights are very dim, just like the 3rd gen. They haven't learned yet.
• Headlights and fogs are dim. Come on Toyota, HIDs standard!
• KDSS makes loud noises, even when parked with key in, radio on, engine off
• Center cup holder sleeves come out with cups
• Small glove box - like the 3rd gen but come on Toyota, it's a truck!
• No dual compartment center console. I loved this on my 3rd gen.
• Size - the front end feels huge and boxy. Hard to pinpoint exactly where it is near objects. The proportions of the 3rd Gen made it so easy to know where your corners were. Perhaps with time, I'll figure this one out too.
• no TRD Super Charger or V8 Platform available
• Air - with fan off, air blows through vents like the fan is on
• Rear cargo area not 100% flat when rear seats are folded down
• Hood bounces/flexes/vibrates while driving
• MPG but what the heck, it's expected with this car

[SteadfastZach]

Well I've subscribed! Excited to watch this transform.

[codyHTX]

Originally Posted by Cytronus

I've received 5 new TRD Pro 17x7 inch wheels in matte black, along with 5 flat black TPMS valve stems, ordered from eBay via description: "31 Inc 17-43018 TPMS Programmable Smart Sensor BLACK ALUMINUM REPLACEMENT STEM". They are not Toyota specific but they do fit the rim nicely. I'm not sure if the TPMS sensor that mounts inside the rim will actually fit yet but I'm assuming they will. I will order a new set of sensors to be programmed to the vehicle.

you get the wheels/valve stems installed? if so, did the TPMS work with the new stems?

[Cytronus]

It turns out the beautiful matte black valve stems I bought will not work with the eOEM TPMS sensors. The OEM TPMS come permanently mounted to the valve stem - they are not detachable from one another as most others out there are.

I ordered the next best thing, a replacement part by Dorman that's about $20 cheaper per unit than OEM and has the sensor that can unscrew from the valve stem. It's a polished aluminum stem with stem sleeve. I will be taking both the OEM unit and the Dorman TPMS part to an anondizer/powder coater this weekend to see what they can do with both. If they can paint the OEM matte black without affecting the sensor itself (since it's permanently attached), then I'll go that route. The goal is to have the paint bond extremely well so as not to chip too easily over time.

I'm fairly confident the dealer or 3rd party shop with a proper TPMS programmer could get either one working just the same.

More soon!

Originally Posted by codyHTX

you get the wheels/valve stems installed? if so, did the TPMS work with the new stems?

[Cytronus]

The new 2016 Trail has just completed its very first and last trail in its fully stock configuration.

Destination: Mono Lake, CA. Approx. 700 miles round trip.

I deemed it appropriate to give the 4Runner a proper break-in, paying homage to its native soul infused by the passion, intent and toil of the men who created it. This trip would also serve as a healthy comparison to the ride & handling qualities before and after the upcoming lift and tires later this month. Below is a synopsis of unbiased impressions, a Range Rover face off tale and a few of my favorite images from the trip.

In summary, the 4Runner felt just fine on road. It's compliant, comfortable and quiet. One exception though is high altitude, steep uphill climbing, where the transmission/ECU had a hard time shifting at the appropriate points. In D, the automatic transmission stubbornly remained in 4th gear crawling up hills at too low an RPM. The car felt 10 times heavier in this situation than it should. When pulling the shift knob over to Sport mode and manually attempting to shift to a gear lower than 4th, such as 3rd or 2nd and even sometimes 1st (from 4th), many times the computer would not comply, leaving the gearing in 4th. The computers and O2 sensors may require some time to understand how best to perform in these conditions. If no improvement arrives after the next couple of trips, I'll bring this up with the dealership service department for a look-see. To my supreme disappointment, uphill climbing in the 2016 4Runner TP is the worst uphill driving performance I've ever had in any car in my lifetime, even going back to experiences with horrible high mileage vehicles from the 80s & 90s. I do hope this improves.

As for off road driving, the 4Runner absolutely sprung to life, singing a happy song in its true territory, soaking up bumps with ease and delivering all the throttle response and visceral feedback you'd expect of it. It brought me back to the reason I bought this car and gave me high hope of how thrilling it'll be post lift.

Range Rover vs. 4Runner
The off road highlight of this trip was a versus moment against a stock Range Rover crossing a stream with a water level above the lower door seals.

As we set up camp along the bank of a babbling stream, I noticed a silver Range Rover approaching from the opposite side. He stopped just shy of the edge and got out to survey the potential for crossing safely. I yelled out sportingly, "hey if you do it, I'll do it too!" He replied, "oh yeah, with what?" "A stock 4Runner....a cheap ass Toyota." I hollered back, my ride just out of site behind some shrubs. He chuckled with a sliver of confidence and a hint of concern on his face. He had a female passenger with him and no doubt had to prove his boulevard beast could do much more than a Toyota.

He dipped his front wheels in. I walked to the waters edge, capturing the whole thing on video, attempting to guide him to the best line until he gave up after 6 in-and-outs, afraid of water entering the cabin. He turned around and drove away. We all laughed. But not 30 minutes later, unable to find an easier way to cross elsewhere, he returned for one more crack at it. This time, after 2 in-and-outs, he went for it and made the crossing. I congratulated him as he came up our side and Air Dropped the crossing video to his iPhone, his ear-to-ear grin evident of the relief that his pride and vehicle were luckily still in tact, especially in sight of his girl.

The Range Rover driver then hurled out, "okay let's see what you got!". Without hesitation, I jumped in the 4Runner with a buddy, cell phones all around capturing the drama and I gunned it across the stream with ease, hit the shore, turned around and came on right back. It turned out, water didn't enter either vehicle. Smerking, the guy said "awesome!", thanked us for the fun, video sharing and took off. We later caught up with him at the lake shore, where I snapped a face off photo to post here on T4R to exaggerate the fun of the moment.

Well enough reading already and on with a few of my personal favorite images from this trip, shot on both an iPhone 6S and Nikon D810 with 14-24mm f/2.8 Ultra Wide and 24-70 f/2.8. Enjoy!

[Cytronus]

nightfall

[Cytronus]

South Tufa