Back in a 4th!

hearno

hearno

Senior Member
So, I'm back in my 2nd 4th gen in 4 years and my 4th black 4Runner in the same time.

First: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/176188-not-so-built-thread.html

Second: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/179059-my-build-log-thread.html

Third: Decent 3rd gen that I was too busy to do anything with except drive

Fourth: My unicorn!! A clean 07, black, sport, V8. Also, it's parked in front of my own home, with not one but TWO garages. WOOT.

4th_zps8wawbhoe.jpg~original


New sound system went in today, nice Focal stuff with a JL sub coming. Running boards off tomorrow, huper optik tint going in, detail coming from my favorite local detail shop, and some pet protection stuff for the rear so my furchild can have his space. The headlights and one foglight need some love, as do a few other minor things, but overall VERY clean, esp the interior. Also, V8. Holy crap this thing rolls.

Looking forward to being on this forum again, definitely the best forum I've ever cruised.
 
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hearno said:
so, i'm back in my 2nd 4th gen in 4 years and my 4th black 4runner in the same time.

First: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/176188-not-so-built-thread.html

second: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/179059-my-build-log-thread.html

third: Decent 3rd gen that i was too busy to do anything with except drive

fourth: My unicorn!! A clean 07, black, sport, v8. Also, it's parked in front of my own home, with not one but two garages. Woot.

4th_zps8wawbhoe.jpg~original


new sound system went in today, nice focal stuff with a jl sub coming. Running boards off tomorrow, huper optik tint going in, detail coming from my favorite local detail shop, and some pet protection stuff for the rear so my furchild can have his space. The headlights and one foglight need some love, as do a few other minor things, but overall very clean, esp the interior. Also, v8. Holy crap this thing rolls.

Looking forward to being on this forum again, definitely the best forum i've ever cruised.
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nice!
 
Congrats and enjoy. If you have a few minutes to share, I am curious of your pros/cons 4th gen v. 5th gen minus of course the financial aspect.
 
hearno said:
Sold my 5th when I bought my house. Didn't want to have to swing both.



They'll be off in a few hours. Send a pm if seriously interested. Short drive down 95 to 460.
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PM sent... or at least I think it did. There was no confirmation of it sending. Let me know if you don't get it.
 
gbaker said:
Congrats and enjoy. If you have a few minutes to share, I am curious of your pros/cons 4th gen v. 5th gen minus of course the financial aspect.
Click to expand...

Not to jack this thread, but I recently did the same thing. I had an 04 that I loved dearly, but ran into the head gasket issue at 120k. Several shops wanted 3k+ for the work and in my mind I couldn't justify spending half the car's value on a 10yr old vehicle, so I traded it in for a new 2015 Sr5 Premium 4wd. I missed my 4th gen through the almost 2 years that I owned the 5th gen. I toyed with trading in the several times, but the 4th gens seemed so expensive that it just seemed silly to trade in a practically new vehicle for a 8-15yr old vehicle. Finally I talked with the wife, and the only way she agreed to let me, is if promised to throw at least 10k from the trade into our house that we just bought too. So I did, and picked up a sweet little 07 Sport in 4wd in galactic gray with 96k miles. Not my number 1 color choice, but it was surprisingly hard to find a 4th gen with what I was looking for.

These are just some of my opinions and are not by any means complete or universal.

5th gen pros as compared to the 4th gen
- Creature comforts and safety - Air bags are updated knee/chest/side standard, and the mirror turn signals.
- Steering wheel control interface and XM radio
- ATRAC is pretty cool
- Softex seats. Thought I would hate these, but they ended up being really cool. But the gray/black seats IMO look terrible compared the black trail version.
- the 14+ face and the 10-13 trail look pretty sweet.
- the open instrument cluster
- Gas Mileage
- Rearview camera

4th Gen Pros
Power, same engine, but the 5th Gen is like 1000lbs heavier. The 4th Gen just seems like it has more go.
- Anytime 4WD
- Handling. The 5th gen's turn radius was pretty awful. I'd cut the wheel all the way left, and it just seemed like it should be able to turn another 2-3in, but its just stuck. 4th Gen makes way tighter turns.
- Quality. To me, the quality in the 4th gen seems way better. There are some things that are nicer in the 5th gen, but the inside seemed really cheap, especially when you're paying 35k for a vehicle.
- Audio, if you like the stock look, a scion upgrade is king. When I traded in my 4th gen, I could not get over how terrible the 5th gen audio was. I did some things to help, but it sucked that I couldn't change out the radio without completely changing the stock look and losing the awesome steering wheel control interface.
- Size. This can go either way, but I'm 5'7". I had a 2/1 lift on my 04 and am going similar in my 07. My 15 had a 1" lift and felt a little tall. The cargo compartment felt harder to get into, and just overall the 5th gen seemed like a boat to me, big and boxy.
- DIY maintenance, the 5th gen's hood is so tall it's hard to get in there, and everything is cramped. Although I never had to do my own oil change because I sold it with 25K, I did every oil change on my 4th gen, and with the filter up top, it's super easy.
- Storage. The 4th gen was better designed in my opinion for storage options. On Non JBL options that side cubby in the back is awesome. And up front, the 5th gen had these little weird open shelfs that didn't really work for me.

So yeah, that's just some stuff from my perspective. I'm super pumped about modding y 4th gen again, and I have the feeling again that I want to keep it forever, which is a feeling I never got with my 5th Gen.

And hearno, Looks good!:guitar2:
 
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gbaker said:
Congrats and enjoy. If you have a few minutes to share, I am curious of your pros/cons 4th gen v. 5th gen minus of course the financial aspect.
Click to expand...

That would be a LONG response. I'll try to be brief.

The tech. on the 5th is crazy compared to the 4th. The entune which everyone hates, I liked. The a-trac is awesome too, I wish my 4th had it. My 4ths all had tape decks... you can imagine the rest of the truck had that same era tech in it. 4th gens felt like a crappy bridge between the 3rd - regarded as the best ever made and the 5ths which are great but have evolved way past just a capable suv. They get nowhere near the aftermarket love and the issues they've had make me think toyota didn't put much effort into them. The v8 is hands down the best part of a 4th gen runner. The 6 was nice but the head gasket issues on the earlier ones is a problem. The motor in the 5ths is decent but they're bigger and heavier and its noticeable. Even a 6 cyl 4th feels quick. Can't say that about a 5th. Notice I said "feels," not saying stats aren't similar.

I think the 5th gen is a little on the large side, I liked the extra interior room compared to a 4th but I'd rather have a slightly smaller vehicle, esp on a trail. In the end, personal preference wins. I've always wanted an 07 sport v8 in black and the only reason I bought a 5th was because my search for that vehicle hadn't turned up anything but losers. I loved my 14 trail and I was sad to see it go but mostly because of the time I spent in it vs what it was. I'm hoping the new 4th gives me as much fun in a vehicle I like better.
 
i also think the 5th gen is a bit low on power. between the 5th and 4th gen v6 the 4th gen seems a bit faster. good to see your back in a 4th gen
 
hearno said:
That would be a LONG response. I'll try to be brief.



The tech. on the 5th is crazy compared to the 4th. The entune which everyone hates, I liked. The a-trac is awesome too, I wish my 4th had it. My 4ths all had tape decks... you can imagine the rest of the truck had that same era tech in it. 4th gens felt like a crappy bridge between the 3rd - regarded as the best ever made and the 5ths which are great but have evolved way past just a capable suv. They get nowhere near the aftermarket love and the issues they've had make me think toyota didn't put much effort into them. The v8 is hands down the best part of a 4th gen runner. The 6 was nice but the head gasket issues on the earlier ones is a problem. The motor in the 5ths is decent but they're bigger and heavier and its noticeable. Even a 6 cyl 4th feels quick. Can't say that about a 5th. Notice I said "feels," not saying stats aren't similar.



I think the 5th gen is a little on the large side, I liked the extra interior room compared to a 4th but I'd rather have a slightly smaller vehicle, esp on a trail. In the end, personal preference wins. I've always wanted an 07 sport v8 in black and the only reason I bought a 5th was because my search for that vehicle hadn't turned up anything but losers. I loved my 14 trail and I was sad to see it go but mostly because of the time I spent in it vs what it was. I'm hoping the new 4th gives me as much fun in a vehicle I like better.
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4th's do have A-TRAC. Shift to 4low for the most aggressive setting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JpAdct said:
How so? This is news to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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green_manalishi said:
This is common knowledge. TONS of threads on it here.

Edit: It ended up being way too much work, but I uploaded a video of mine in action. You can even hear the brakes pulsing, which is pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O1_2Gx8GS8&feature=youtu.be
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I did a quick google as I had no idea either but he's absolutely correct. I just assumed that because there was no button like on my 5th gen, it didn't have it. That's gd great news.
 
hearno said:
I did a quick google as I had no idea either but he's absolutely correct. I just assumed that because there was no button like on my 5th gen, it didn't have it. That's gd great news.
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Same here. I wouldn't have Googled that since there's no button.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
4th gen better

4th gen has the flick ignition, where you have to hold the key to start the 5th gen. 4th gen has the nice rear closing liftgate, 5th does not. V8? What happened there?
5th gen has party mode, so that's cool. The extra outlets are good, too. The faces on '14+ are mean! (Except the limited, get rid of that chrome belt)
I will be in another 4runner. Don't know when, but I will be back!
My jeep is boring and all I do is think I'm still driving my runner, even over a year later.
 
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