4th vs 5th

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the lack of multi-mode 4wd in the 5th gen. Multi-mode was one of the reasons I chose a 4runner. I love being able to put the truck in 4wd on intermittently icy and snowy streets and being able to leave it there without having to worry about damaging the drivetrain.

OTOH the early 5th gens had a real T-case shifter which would have been nice. From what I've heard, though, they've deleted that on the later models.

I think 5th gens on factory wheels look ungainly. I've used the term before but "hippo on roller skates" is what comes to my mind. With a slight lift and bigger tires, the 5th gen looks nice, though.

I didn't know about the spare. So do they use a space-saver spare? That seems strange on an expensive semi-luxury vehicle.

To be honest, if my 4runner was totaled tomorrow I would first probably try to replace it with another 4th gen. If I couldn't do that, I would probably go to an R51 Pathfinder or Xterra before I'd go to a 5th gen.
 
Martinjmpr said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the lack of multi-mode 4wd in the 5th gen. Multi-mode was one of the reasons I chose a 4runner. I love being able to put the truck in 4wd on intermittently icy and snowy streets and being able to leave it there without having to worry about damaging the drivetrain.

OTOH the early 5th gens had a real T-case shifter which would have been nice. From what I've heard, though, they've deleted that on the later models.

I think 5th gens on factory wheels look ungainly. I've used the term before but "hippo on roller skates" is what comes to my mind. With a slight lift and bigger tires, the 5th gen looks nice, though.

I didn't know about the spare. So do they use a space-saver spare? That seems strange on an expensive semi-luxury vehicle.

To be honest, if my 4runner was totaled tomorrow I would first probably try to replace it with another 4th gen. If I couldn't do that, I would probably go to an R51 Pathfinder or Xterra before I'd go to a 5th gen.
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Since I was looking specifically for a V8 4WD when I was shopping for a 4th Gen, multi-mode was actually something I didn't want vs. Full-Time 4WD. But depending on the vehicle trim, a multi-mode system like the 4th gen is available.

Many people have this misconception that the 5th gen's/FJ's "Manual" transfer case is truly manual; the reality is that only the shifter is manual, the front axle still has an ADD and there is still a 4WD module that monitors and manages shifting of half the system. In reality it is still very much an electronically controlled system, you just have the option of shoving the lever around instead of the transfercase actuator. But 4WD is still selected via the 4WD module deciding based on all the sensors in the transfercase and other inputs whether or not it will shift the ADD on the front axle and allow 4WD to function.

The spare on the 5th gens is a full sized spare, but almost all of them are painted this ungainly yellow color for some reason.
 
Martinjmpr said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the lack of multi-mode 4wd in the 5th gen. Multi-mode was one of the reasons I chose a 4runner. I love being able to put the truck in 4wd on intermittently icy and snowy streets and being able to leave it there without having to worry about damaging the drivetrain.
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^This^

The "decontenting" of the center diff on the 5th gens (except for the Limiteds) is a huge deal IMO. For those of us that live in places that get lots of ice and snow, it is a big boon to be able to leave it in 4WD and enjoy the handling benefits without having to worry about the wear/steering issues of 4WD systems that lack a center diff.
 
RunnerAK said:
^This^

The "decontenting" of the center diff on the 5th gens (except for the Limiteds) is a huge deal IMO. For those of us that live in places that get lots of ice and snow, it is a big boon to be able to leave it in 4WD and enjoy the handling benefits without having to worry about the wear/steering issues of 4WD systems that lack a center diff.
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You can leave a part time 4wd in 4hi, just don't make parking lot turns on dry pavement. How do you think nearly every 4wd pickup and most (older, real) SUVs get around in the snow?
 
Jeremy556 said:
You can leave a part time 4wd in 4hi, just don't make parking lot turns on dry pavement. How do you think nearly every 4wd pickup and most (older, real) SUVs get around in the snow?
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Exactly what I meant when I said wear/steering issues. With the center diff, you don't have to mess with transferring to 2WD every time you want to park or make a tight turn.
 
4th gen V8 all day long. Have both and no comparison. V6 in 5th gen makes noise. Sr5 is wobbly. Rear drive sucks compared to all wheel drive.
Cheapened up 5th gen. Gas cap lock, ghetto radio antenna, no V8, no across the line AWD, horrible wheels.
Toyota let us down. If they had the 4.6 in the new fifth gen everyone would be buying it. But toyota is so vanilla they cant offer any spice to the mix. Ugh
Oh lexus gets it. But you get you some hideous sheetmetal. Oh wait the new refresh on the 5th gen looks like some dude who failed design school got top choice in the refresh. The new limited looks stupid with that chrome bumper. 20's. Eek. 20s with girly skinny car tires.
Sigh. Owned 6 4runners. 4th gen all the way.
6th gen with new front end, AWD and the 4.6 would be a winner. Oh and loose the camry rims and tires thank you please.
 
Wife and I recently took road trip to New England. Drove 3,800 miles in our '08 T4R Limited. Constantly used mirrors on D pillars when returning to right lane after passing. Also used both driver-side visors (I understand 5th gen removed second smaller visor). And used full-size visor fully extended over driver window (5th gen visor itself does not slide on post; just a small plastic extension sticks out of the visor). And used grab handle on driver's A pillar. And used pull strap on soft close hatch. And always used standard running boards when getting in/out (to save wear and tear on seat bolsters). Also appreciated not worrying about gas cap as 4th gen has locking cover; and not worrying about breaking off antenna since 4th gen antenna is in rear side window glass. We drove 875 miles on our last day to get home. It's the little things that made it bearable. Please, Toyota, bring it all back! (Along with oil filter on top of the V6).
 
RunnerAK said:
Exactly what I meant when I said wear/steering issues. With the center diff, you don't have to mess with transferring to 2WD every time you want to park or make a tight turn.
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If the roads are bad enough to need 4wd, the parking lots are covered in ice anyway. I have gone months without shifting out of 4hi.

My dumbass friend left his Yukon in 4hi when he went back to Florida, and drove it for thousands of miles after he got back, before realizing it.

Drive trains are not made of glass, you're not likely to break anything in a part time 4wd, without trying to.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
Since I was looking specifically for a V8 4WD when I was shopping for a 4th Gen, multi-mode was actually something I didn't want vs. Full-Time 4WD. But depending on the vehicle trim, a multi-mode system like the 4th gen is available.

Many people have this misconception that the 5th gen's/FJ's "Manual" transfer case is truly manual; the reality is that only the shifter is manual, the front axle still has an ADD and there is still a 4WD module that monitors and manages shifting of half the system. In reality it is still very much an electronically controlled system, you just have the option of shoving the lever around instead of the transfercase actuator. But 4WD is still selected via the 4WD module deciding based on all the sensors in the transfercase and other inputs whether or not it will shift the ADD on the front axle and allow 4WD to function.

The spare on the 5th gens is a full sized spare, but almost all of them are painted this ungainly yellow color for some reason.
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But, the lever is what is moving the transfer case, instead of the failure prone motor, which seems to fail much more often than the ADD. The 4wd module and sensors are much less prone to failure than the actuator.

If the ADD gives up, I can manually fix it on the trail pretty easily, not so much on the actuator. Spinning the front ring/pinion/drive shaft in 2wd won't make any difference in my mileage, anyway.
 
Jeremy556 said:
But, the lever is what is moving the transfer case, instead of the failure prone motor, which seems to fail much more often than the ADD. The 4wd module and sensors are much less prone to failure than the actuator.

If the ADD gives up, I can manually fix it on the trail pretty easily, not so much on the actuator. Spinning the front ring/pinion/drive shaft in 2wd won't make any difference in my mileage, anyway.
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I don't think we've had as many of them failing outright as much as leaking. Granted I have heard a few members who have had them fail from lack of use or the odd ball random death; but for the most part the largest complaint has been the seals leaking and not the units failing.

But either way, it doesn't matter to me much since they didn't make a V8 5th gen. :(
 
BlackWorksInc said:
I don't think we've had as many of them failing outright as much as leaking. Granted I have heard a few members who have had them fail from lack of use or the odd ball random death; but for the most part the largest complaint has been the seals leaking and not the units failing.

But either way, it doesn't matter to me much since they didn't make a V8 5th gen. :(
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I'm probably mixing reports of failed 4wd actuators from other vehicles in my memory, so I'll concede that point.

For sure, I would have a 4.6, if it was offered in the 5th gen. Nice motor, lighter than the 4.7 and no timing belt. I make due with 4.56 gears.
 
Gents, sad to say it but Toyota will never offer a V8 in a 4runner again. EPA regulations aside, the V8 is a premium engine and belongs in a premium car, i.e. Lexus. How else do you justify a $20k premium for GX over a T4R? Leather and Nav? I wonder how the story would have gone if Toyota never offered the V8 in a T4r? Gens 1-3 have a spectacular reputation among enthusiasts as great vehicles despite some of their quirks. The FJ and Tacoma guys have had the 4.0 for nearly a decade and this hasn't prevented both from enjoying a massive reputation. Toyota goes and shares the Land Cruiser engine with the "peon" vehicle for 7 years and people have been up in arms about their decision to reallocate the premium engine for the premium vehicle (GX) ever since. Ill say it again, the T4R will never ever get a V8 again.

I love my 4th gen TE but it will die eventually and my need for a rugged all purpose vehicle will not. Given the increasingly thin pool of BOF SUV's, as long as Toyota continues to offer the best (only) BOF option, one will probably be in my driveway for the foreseeable future, regardless of how many cylinders it has.
 
Synister said:
Gents, sad to say it but Toyota will never offer a V8 in a 4runner again. EPA regulations aside, the V8 is a premium engine and belongs in a premium car, i.e. Lexus. How else do you justify a $20k premium for GX over a T4R? Leather and Nav?
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:iagree:

On other forums I've referred to the V8 4runner as a "baby land cruiser" and that's pretty much what it is. V8, full time 4wd and most of the V8's I've seen are pretty loaded up on options.

I think the business people at Toyota looked at their sales and said "what the hell are we doing? We're giving people LC value at a 4runner price? Stop it!" and they did. Now if you want LC power and LC features, you pay big, big LC $$$$.

From a business standpoint, it makes sense. Yeah, it's kind of a "screw you!" to the customers, but remember, Toyota isn't in business to make us happy. They're in business to make MONEY.

This is the same reason, BTW, that we'll never see a 70-series LC or a "poverty package" 4runner in the US. Not because people don't want it, but because Toyota can't make money selling it.
 
To be honest, if they never offered the V8 in the 4th gens, I probably would not have bought a 4Runner; maybe ended up with an old LC or something else that was similar in size to the 4Runner with a V8.

Long story short, I got so badly burned with having a V6 in that crappy S10 Blazer I owned that I would not put up with anything less than a V8 in anything mid-sized or larger when I was shopping for an SUV (I don't feel as strong about it as I did back then now that I have my 4th gen, but it was a very large reason why I went with the 4th gen when I could have gotten a nice 5th gen or FJ Cruiser.)
 
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BlackWorksInc said:
To be honest, if they never offered the V8 in the 4th gens, I probably would not have bought a 4Runner; maybe ended up with an old LC or something else that was similar in size to the 4Runner with a V8.

Long story short, I got so badly burned with having a V6 in that crappy S10 Blazer I owned that I would not put up with anything less than a V8 in anything mid-sized or larger when I was shopping for an SUV (I don't feel as strong about it as I did back then now that I have my 4th gen, but it was a very large reason why I went with the 4th gen when I could have gotten a nice 5th gen or FJ Cruiser.)
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Whoa... not to pick but that's a horrible engine to base any of your future purchases on. :biggrin1:
That V8 you have now though is a smoooooth running motor. :)
 
Never say never.
Toyota had the v8 in both lexus and 4runner before. I guess i could say even now the LC and Gx are same underpinnings.

I think Toyota is too cheap now. Look at how the make min updates on the Taco and Tundra and call em new. Joke.

I think we were heading in right direction of engineering progression up to the 5th Gen. Then Toyota with no balls came knocking and cheapod the line up. Massive profits have ensued.

The boardroom erupts!
 
Some of the 5th gen "deletes" are just silly. Locking gas door? How much did it save Toyota to remove that? Thirty bucks a vehicle? Fifty maybe? Jeez, even my 3rd gen had a remote locking gas door.

Ditto for the in glass antenna. The soft close rear hatch - honestly I can take or leave that (seems like everybody else wants to slam it, so I have to make sure I close the tailgate myself.)
 
Martinjmpr said:
Some of the 5th gen "deletes" are just silly. Locking gas door? How much did it save Toyota to remove that? Thirty bucks a vehicle? Fifty maybe? Jeez, even my 3rd gen had a remote locking gas door.

Ditto for the in glass antenna. The soft close rear hatch - honestly I can take or leave that (seems like everybody else wants to slam it, so I have to make sure I close the tailgate myself.)
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Am I the only one that doesn't care about the locking gas door? Anyone that wants to steal a little gas will have a screwdriver or little pry bar to bust it open anyway... So I'd rather they just opened my unlocked gas door and steal it so I don't have to fix something that they break.

Antenna is back in the rear window on my 4runner. I believe it was brought back in '14 and maybe the '13 model... I agree, it was silly when Toyota put that old style antenna on the first few years of the 5th gens. I had it on my previous 4Runner (2011) and was not fan. :/
 
Shawk00 said:
Am I the only one that doesn't care about the locking gas door? Anyone that wants to steal a little gas will have a screwdriver or little pry bar to bust it open anyway... So I'd rather they just opened my unlocked gas door and steal it so I don't have to fix something that they break.

Antenna is back in the rear window on my 4runner. I believe it was brought back in '14 and maybe the '13 model... I agree, it was silly when Toyota put that old style antenna on the first few years of the 5th gens. I had it on my previous 4Runner (2011) and was not fan. :/
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You can't siphon gas from either.

Who listens to AM/FM radio anyway? I removed my mast antenna the day I bought it and threw it out. Did the same on my previous 2 vehicles.
 
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