Back from a 2800 mile road trip!

[Ducman]

Pretty much the same trip I posted about back in 2009, from Wisconsin to Outer Banks North Carolina... roughly 1400 miles each way.

My wife and I along with our 2 boys (1 and 4) had a great trip. 24 hour each way including a few delays due to construction and or accidents. The rear DVD player got a real workout

Even with the Yakima Skybox on the roof I averaged a hand calculated 19 mpg. Tires were at 38PSI and a fairly new OEM air filter. The Revos are sooo nice and quiet on the highway

The V8 powered through the mountain roads with little effort even our fully loaded travel weight and the brakes performed really well on the steep downward grades with 70mph speed limits, 55mph turns and people driving like idiots.

There were a few times where I really wish the truck had just a tad more room (caught myself wondering what the trip would be like in a Sequoia) but aside from that it was pretty much all positive.

The longest stretch of nonstop driving was 19 hours long where we only stopped for fuel and bathroom breaks. The truck ran great.

Negatives:

I do feel the need to again voice my strong dislike for the pathetic 4Runner seats. They are short, hard, and downright uncomfortable after only 2 or 3 hours. The lack of headroom from the sunroof is pretty annoying too and just makes the cabin feel smaller than it actually is.

Another 4Runner roadtrip completed, just rolled over 80,000 on this trip!

:cheers:

 

[K.C.]

 

[blaniac22]

There were a few times where I really wish the truck had just a tad more room (caught myself wondering what the trip would be like in a Sequoia) but aside from that it was pretty much all positive.

My 4Runner has 42,000 miles on it, and most of it is a series of 2600 mile roundtrips to SoCal - 8 total with varying passenger numbers. In that time we've made the trip with 1 dog (Golden Retriever in the back), 2 dogs (Golden and a Cha-weenie), 2 dogs and 1 kid, and 1 dog (RIP Golden) and 2 kids. The kids are/were anywhere from 6 months to 2 1/2 years.

So, I know what you're saying about MORE room...we're considering a Sequoia to go with our 4R as our Camry wears down.

All that said, our most recent trip was a dream as far as how the truck handled. New Michelin tires and the comfort you come to expect...and portable DVD players were our strongest ally.

I still love this truck....

How do you like that Yakima Skybox? We have a small Thule Ascent 1100 we are outgrowing - or we just pack too much stuff!!

 

[Ducman]

So, I know what you're saying about MORE room...we're considering a Sequoia to go with our 4R as our Camry wears down.

All that said, our most recent trip was a dream as far as how the truck handled. New Michelin tires and the comfort you come to expect...and portable DVD players were our strongest ally.

I still love this truck....

How do you like that Yakima Skybox? We have a small Thule Ascent 1100 we are outgrowing - or we just pack too much stuff!!

Yes I've been toying with the idea of a Sequoia for awhile... if the right deal came along I think I'd go for it, but the 4Runner has been great too.

The Skybox is on loan from a buddy of mine. I was VERY IMPRESSED with it though, the thing is silent, no wind noise at all that I could detect and it held a ton of stuff. Lightweight but feels solid with the metal rails on the inside.

 

[progress4m]

Sounds great! Glad you had a good trip. We had our longest trip in 2009 (if I remember correctly ) from Texas to Yellowstone and back and it was 3600 miles total, wife, kids and I had a great time. My 4Runner (I think identical to your, with exception of color and lift) performed great as well!
I do have a question however, is your DVD player built-in and connected to your Kenwood or it is stand- alone? I am looking for DVD player or just LCD to use with my Eclipse that is why I ask.

 

[Ducman]

Sounds great! Glad you had a good trip. We had our longest trip in 2009 (if I remember correctly ) from Texas to Yellowstone and back and it was 3600 miles total, wife, kids and I had a great time. My 4Runner (I think identical to your, with exception of color and lift) performed great as well!
I do have a question however, is your DVD player built-in and connected to your Kenwood or it is stand- alone? I am looking for DVD player or just LCD to use with my Eclipse that is why I ask.

I have an aftermarket overhead DVD player that was in the truck when I bought it. It transmits audio either over an FM channel or IR headsets. If I had the cash laying around I would probably put in headrest screens and run them from the headunit but what I've got now does the job and it was free.

The Kenwood DNX has worked well. Most of the trip I either ran DVD audio to the back speakers or to the wireless headsets. The NAV worked flawlessly too, gotta love Garmin.

To keep myself awake during those long stretches of driving at night I would put in one earbud and listen to internet radio or MP3s through my Android phone while letting the rest of the fam sleep.

 

[4Runners]

Awesome trip! Hey i do really long road trips to national parks during the summer and was wondering what kind of maintenance you did before leaving for yours. A detailed background on my 4runner and the trip i'm taking is here: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/90074-4runner-has-150-000-miles-want-take-4-000-mile-trip.html


Also i just set up a whole entertainment system in my 4runner. Overall the headunit i put (pioneer 3300bt) and two head rest screens was about $600. I got a good deal on the head rest screens for $80 each! Check out the pics of my set-up on the last page of this thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/91473-headrests-screens-them-2.html

 

[Levinz11]

We took our 2003 to OBX the first week of this month. It was 1800 miles round trip. The runner averaged 18.4 mpg's round trip at about 74 on the highway. Here are some shots of her playing on the beach. This is in Avon.