klennop
New member
So I mentioned a couple times how I was using the 4Runner this year for our yearly motorcycle trip. I have a 08 Limited V8, rear air suspension, volant, magnaflow, etc. I added the Yakima MegaWarrior and also Yakima's new Far Out Pro bag.
We were going from Appleton, WI to Tellico Plains, TN, to New Bern, NC, and then back to Appleton, WI. We had some crummy weather so we did a couple day trips from Tellico Plains to the Jack Daniels Distillery and then also a day trip to the Biltmore Estate. All this added up to just under 3500 miles.
There were 4 adults, motorcycle riding gear for everyone, clothing and food for 10 days. The MegaWarrior held all our motorcycle gear. The rear of the 4Runner held our normal clothing and food. The 6.5' x 12.5'(internal dimensions) aluminum trailer had 2 large coolers and then one super large cooler, and 3 motorcycles, 07 BMW F800S, 07 BMW R1200S, and a 09 BMW R1200RT.
Here is what she looked like ready to leave:
My gas mileage averaged about 10-11. I figured it would be about that with the bag on top, etc. I put the truck in drive once on level ground to see how it would do, that was a negative. So the whole trip I just left it in 4th. I kept the speed at 68-72 air pressure in the tires I set at 38psi.
How did it pull...fantastic!!! I wished for better mpg but with the constant up and down through the mountains at least it got 10mpg. Now I did think that on the way home with the coolers empty, it would have gotten better but it didn't.
We hit a lot of rain, storms, wind, etc. but the truck never skipped a beat it felt confident, brakes were enough, just did a good job. The auto leveling rear suspension is AWESOME also. I can't say that I didn't feel the load behind me but as the front end feeling light or the truck feeling really loose in turns, nothing. I felt really confident with the full load flying around some of the mountain corners. I had also taken the 4runner through the Cherohala, and Deals Gap. Boy does Deals Gap take a long time in a truck!! However now I can put dragon stickers on it!:lmao: Also the brights on the truck are great in the middle of the night.
Here is a picture of when we got there in the Cherohala. This was after I drove the 13 hours, only stops were for fuel.
The Biltmore, lot of historic stuff:
Jack Daniels, a must see even if you don't drink whiskey:
The riding weather was kinda crummy, mostly raining and foggy. At one time it was 37 degrees, raining, and winds at about 40mph. Even with me being used to Wisconsin weather, it sucked! Here are some pictures of the crap we rode in. Sometimes it was just so crummy, you were better off leaving the helmets on!!
You can hear the wind and see the crap in this video!
Then we had the highlight of the trip:
And when the weather is good, the riding is good!!!
After that we headed to New Bern, N.C. to visit my Uncle. Again, I drove for 9 hours stopping only for gas. It was a really bitter sweet trip. The sweet was the engagement but the bitter was my uncle has stage 4 cancer in his esophagus, lungs and stomach. So this was probably the last time I would see him.
After this we headed home, that was the long one, took about 20 hours. I admit I had to stop and take a 15-20min nap.
So one thing I can also say is that I love this truck. The Volant intake can get very annoying when you are pulling up the mountains. If the truck doesn't downshift, it will howl very loud in the cabin when it is working hard. So much that it is hard to hear. Now if it does downshift, it will be loud for a couple seconds until I think the VVT-i does it's adjustments then it is quiet as a stock truck. So it was a love hate with the Volant. Nobody ever complained about drone of the Magnaflow and my folks are old and like to complain so it passed the test.
At times the 4Runner would be in 3rd gear at around 4500RPM for a good couple of minutes pulling up an incline. This is where I feel the Magnaflow and Volant pay for themselves because they show results in the higher RPM's.
If anyone has any questions, comments, etc. feel free to shoot.
We were going from Appleton, WI to Tellico Plains, TN, to New Bern, NC, and then back to Appleton, WI. We had some crummy weather so we did a couple day trips from Tellico Plains to the Jack Daniels Distillery and then also a day trip to the Biltmore Estate. All this added up to just under 3500 miles.
There were 4 adults, motorcycle riding gear for everyone, clothing and food for 10 days. The MegaWarrior held all our motorcycle gear. The rear of the 4Runner held our normal clothing and food. The 6.5' x 12.5'(internal dimensions) aluminum trailer had 2 large coolers and then one super large cooler, and 3 motorcycles, 07 BMW F800S, 07 BMW R1200S, and a 09 BMW R1200RT.
Here is what she looked like ready to leave:
My gas mileage averaged about 10-11. I figured it would be about that with the bag on top, etc. I put the truck in drive once on level ground to see how it would do, that was a negative. So the whole trip I just left it in 4th. I kept the speed at 68-72 air pressure in the tires I set at 38psi.
How did it pull...fantastic!!! I wished for better mpg but with the constant up and down through the mountains at least it got 10mpg. Now I did think that on the way home with the coolers empty, it would have gotten better but it didn't.
We hit a lot of rain, storms, wind, etc. but the truck never skipped a beat it felt confident, brakes were enough, just did a good job. The auto leveling rear suspension is AWESOME also. I can't say that I didn't feel the load behind me but as the front end feeling light or the truck feeling really loose in turns, nothing. I felt really confident with the full load flying around some of the mountain corners. I had also taken the 4runner through the Cherohala, and Deals Gap. Boy does Deals Gap take a long time in a truck!! However now I can put dragon stickers on it!:lmao: Also the brights on the truck are great in the middle of the night.
Here is a picture of when we got there in the Cherohala. This was after I drove the 13 hours, only stops were for fuel.
The Biltmore, lot of historic stuff:
Jack Daniels, a must see even if you don't drink whiskey:
The riding weather was kinda crummy, mostly raining and foggy. At one time it was 37 degrees, raining, and winds at about 40mph. Even with me being used to Wisconsin weather, it sucked! Here are some pictures of the crap we rode in. Sometimes it was just so crummy, you were better off leaving the helmets on!!
You can hear the wind and see the crap in this video!
Then we had the highlight of the trip:
And when the weather is good, the riding is good!!!
After that we headed to New Bern, N.C. to visit my Uncle. Again, I drove for 9 hours stopping only for gas. It was a really bitter sweet trip. The sweet was the engagement but the bitter was my uncle has stage 4 cancer in his esophagus, lungs and stomach. So this was probably the last time I would see him.
After this we headed home, that was the long one, took about 20 hours. I admit I had to stop and take a 15-20min nap.
So one thing I can also say is that I love this truck. The Volant intake can get very annoying when you are pulling up the mountains. If the truck doesn't downshift, it will howl very loud in the cabin when it is working hard. So much that it is hard to hear. Now if it does downshift, it will be loud for a couple seconds until I think the VVT-i does it's adjustments then it is quiet as a stock truck. So it was a love hate with the Volant. Nobody ever complained about drone of the Magnaflow and my folks are old and like to complain so it passed the test.
At times the 4Runner would be in 3rd gear at around 4500RPM for a good couple of minutes pulling up an incline. This is where I feel the Magnaflow and Volant pay for themselves because they show results in the higher RPM's.
If anyone has any questions, comments, etc. feel free to shoot.
