To end it once and for all! A 4Runner is a truck!

M-Piers97

M-Piers97

New member
Lots of my friends get mad at me when i call my 4Runner a truck so here are the facts proving that a 4Runner is infact a truck.

This is what i found on Wikipedia "A truck (US, CA and AU) or lorry (UK and Ireland) is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile"

So basically the definition of a "Truck" is a vehicle designed to transport cargo. So if someone try's to tell you a 4Runner is not a truck because it has no bed, you tell them they are getting confused with a "Pickup Truck",

Wikipedia states "A pickup truck, often simply referred to as a pickup or pick-up, is a light motor vehicle with an open-top, rear cargo area (bed)."

So a 1st gen with its top off could be classified as "Pickup Truck".

Wikipedia also states " SUVs are considered light trucks in North America, and often share the same platform with pick-up trucks," We are talking REAL "body on frame" SUV's here NOT little "unibody" AWD independent rear suspension Crossover's.

Besides all gens of 4Runners are a "body on frame" design with a solid rear axle and share there engine's with a "pickup truck" of some sort.

So there you have it! Next time someone try's to tell you your 4Runner is not a truck just tell them the fact's.

That's a fact! Jack!
 
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In the most common terms (US) the 4Runner is a mid-size SUV.

If you are going to hang the definition on "hauling cargo" then you have to add MANY other vehicles to that classification. Hell, you have to add the Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda Element....you get the idea.

The 4Runner is a great vehicle, it is not a truck. I love them, and own one.....still, it is not a truck.
 
BigNuge said:
In the most common terms (US) the 4Runner is a mid-size SUV.

If you are going to hang the definition on "hauling cargo" then you have to add MANY other vehicles to that classification. Hell, you have to add the Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda Element....you get the idea.

The 4Runner is a great vehicle, it is not a truck. I love them, and own one.....still, it is not a truck.
Click to expand...

I understand where your coming from. But a Santa Fe and Element and many other Crossovers are unibody with independent rear suspension, on the other hand all 4Runners are a body on frame and have a solid rear axle plus they all share there power plant with a "Pickup" truck
 
M-Piers97 said:
So a 1st gen with its top off could be classified as "Pickup Truck".
Click to expand...

Could be? Come look at my 1gen next to an '85 mini. It IS a pickup truck, modified for extra passenger capacity, so it kinda straddles the line between "SUV" and "truck". Once you get to the second gen and beyond, though, the line gets fuzzier. The 2gen is almost mechanically identical to the 1gen, but it's definitely a passenger vehicle with cargo carrying ability as opposed to a cargo vehicle with passenger carrying ability. Subsequent gens are as well, and they get more so every year. The 1gen is the closest to being a truck, but even the earliest 4Runners were not "a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo".

I call 4Runners a truck too, even the late models. But your 4Runner is not a truck by your argument, being primarily a passenger vehicle, so I wouldn't try that argument on your friends or you're bound to get another ration of shit.
 
KidVermicious said:
Could be? Come look at my 1gen next to an '85 mini. It IS a pickup truck, modified for extra passenger capacity, so it kinda straddles the line between "SUV" and "truck". Once you get to the second gen and beyond, though, the line gets fuzzier. The 2gen is almost mechanically identical to the 1gen, but it's definitely a passenger vehicle with cargo carrying ability as opposed to a cargo vehicle with passenger carrying ability. Subsequent gens are as well, and they get more so every year. The 1gen is the closest to being a truck, but even the earliest 4Runners were not "a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo".

I call 4Runners a truck too, even the late models. But your 4Runner is not a truck by your argument, being primarily a passenger vehicle, so I wouldn't try that argument on your friends or you're bound to get another ration of shit.
Click to expand...
I totally agree a 1st gen is a truck with a topper and a bench in the back, and yes a the newer 4Runners are SUV's but i quote "SUVs are considered light trucks in North America, and often share the same platform with pick-up trucks," So yes a 4Runner is a SUV but as long as i can call it a "Truck" with some truth too it, i am happy :cool:
 
I guess you need new friends. lol

I remember when the 4Runner was in it's infancy and I've never had anybody debate that the 4Runner wasn't a truck since then and this includes my extended family of big Ford truck owners.
 
M-Piers97 said:
Lots of my friends get mad at me when i call my 4Runner a truck so here are the facts proving that a 4Runner is infact a truck.

This is what i found on Wikipedia "A truck (US, CA and AU) or lorry (UK and Ireland) is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile"

So basically the definition of a "Truck" is a vehicle designed to transport cargo. So if someone try's to tell you a 4Runner is not a truck because it has no bed, you tell them they are getting confused with a "Pickup Truck",

Wikipedia states "A pickup truck, often simply referred to as a pickup or pick-up, is a light motor vehicle with an open-top, rear cargo area (bed)."

So a 1st gen with its top off could be classified as "Pickup Truck".

Wikipedia also states " SUVs are considered light trucks in North America, and often share the same platform with pick-up trucks," We are talking REAL "body on frame" SUV's here NOT little "unibody" AWD independent rear suspension Crossover's.

Besides all gens of 4Runners are a "body on frame" design with a solid rear axle and share there engine's with a "pickup truck" of some sort.

So there you have it! Next time someone try's to tell you your 4Runner is not a truck just tell them the fact's.

That's a fact! Jack!
Click to expand...

quoting wikipedia to backup your statements is like using milk crates to hold up your truck. It may seem like it's enough support but there's really no substance behind it.

youre gonna have a tough time in college if you keep using that strategy
 
Well that didn't end it all...



FWIW, I call it a truck too. I feel like a douche for saying "I'll take my SUV" instead of saying "I'll take my truck".
 
It has a truck chassis and drivetrain, with a wagon body on top of that chassis.

Maybe it's a station wagon. :D


Seriously, I call it a truck too. Thankfully, I have bigger concerns in life than worrying about the terminology used by others to describe a given vehicle.

At 16, I'd be more concerned about getting good grades, and becoming friends with the cute girl you sit next to in class. :)
 
I call my 3rd gen a truck too. Heck it shares a lot of parts with a 1st gen tacoma. From the frame down it's a truck, but the body is a SUV.
 
I call mine "The Runner" and not an SUV or truck. In the end, I don't care what others say, as I know what it is and convincing someone else is of no importance to my happiness with the vehicle.

.02
 
I've always called mine a truck. Both my 1st gen and my 4th gen. They go where trucks go and cars can't go, and do what trucks can do and cars can't do.

However, in the eyes of the law (what do they know) that's not the case. Last year I put "Classic" plates on my '86. The DPS (DMV to you northern folk) would not let me buy "Classic Truck" plates, only "Classic Auto".

They said it's been registered since '86 as an "auto" not a "truck" can't be changed. I'm curious if the early 80's pickups were registered as "auto" as well.
 
If the 4runner really was a truck, it would be subject to the "Chicken Tax", and therefore would be built/assembled in the US, and not imported from Japan.
 
Redneck rule number 223: A truck must have a tailgate*.

* allowable substitutions would be the modified goose neck/5th wheel gates and/or original one was tore off by tractor/mad cow/girlfriend. Lift gates and those horrible nascar wanna-be gator nets from the 90's do not count.
 
I know this is awful, but some of my friends call our 4th gen with an OME lift, a CBI rear plate bumpers, Demello sliders, and 32" BFG ATs a minivan! :roadkill:
 
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