4th gen vs 5th gen : the horse still shows life

[ddnww]

I know, I know. Tis been beaten to death already. But my interests lie in other areas of importance. I know most 4th gen guys who went to a 5th gen regret it. But I also remember that was mostly based on only a v6 available and the lack of power. I care about neither.

My main concern is with the 4x4 capability between the two. Does the multi terrain and crawl control perform superior to regular atrac. I'm thinking about situations where I'm 4 hours deep in off-road territory all alone stuck in mud or sand etc. Which will get me home better.

Secondly my concern is with maintenance costs, aftermarket parts costs. Besides the price of the vehicle, will a 5th gen cost more to build into a nice off-road rig and maintain it.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Transmission programming was another let down for some as well as a couple other things.

As for the capability of the software features, not sure? I mean if you're really stuck I don't think much of the nannies will do you any good vs. recovery gear. Most of that stuff seems more like an "Easy" button for people when they're off the pavement, though to be honest I haven't extensively played with 5th gens off-road to be entirely sure.

But look at DAC for example, it does a good job for what it is. But then again you can manually downshift and modulate the brakes your self for probably similar effect with experience.

Maintenance costs should be roughly the same, though spark plugs don't need to be done every 30k on the 5th gens. Everything else is the same, recommended every 30k diffs, 10yr/100k for first coolant service (5yr/50k after that), suggested 100k transmission fluid service under normal operating conditions, 3yr/30k for brake fluid, ect.

Depending on what year 5th gen you get, you'll have to deal with extra bullshit like BSM and such if you're going newer.

 

[theoutbackdream]

My main concern is with the 4x4 capability between the two. Does the multi terrain and crawl control perform superior to regular atrac. I'm thinking about situations where I'm 4 hours deep in off-road territory all alone stuck in mud or sand etc. Which will get me home better.

Secondly my concern is with maintenance costs, aftermarket parts costs. Besides the price of the vehicle, will a 5th gen cost more to build into a nice off-road rig and maintain it.

My friend has a 5th gen and we went out off roading both in stock configuration. I noticed two things. the 4th gen is superior due to it's weight, but the 5th gen's multi select gives it an upper hand, but it only does so much. The 4th gen was quite a bit more nimble around obstacles and was quite more settled. Because of the added weight, of the 5th gen, steep climbs made the 5th gen throw dust up. That said, with multi select, these obstacles made it STUPID easy. Of course, ATRAC does a lot, but in deep sand, driver inputs/ATRAC will not be able to defeat multi selects brain. That said...
If you're stuck, don't expect something like multiselect to get you out. It can only do as much as what your tires are capable of, and more than likely, if you're stuck, they're pretty much nothing you can do without proper recovery gear. You're better off getting proper recovery gear, and relying on that, rather than multi select.

Because it is a newer vehicle, it may cost more to build up with aftermarket parts. Maintenance wise, it's hard to say. They're DAMN reliable vehicles...