I don't know how to explain this so I'm calling the sensation 'hollow.' Every once and a while when I open the drivers door the handle/latch mechanism feels tinny and hollow - like there's no weight to the pull. The pull isn't really 'smooth' and whatever mechanical awesomeness is supposed to be going on normally doesn't feel like it's happening. Instead of feeling expensive the handle 'action' feels like something I bought at Home Depot. This doesn't happen all the time and seems to be worse when I make a straight and fairly quick pull. Is there something I can adjust to make the door handle move smoother/adjust where the door latches with the beam?
Hi Mike,
I've never pulled the inner door panels apart so I can't say for sure how sturdily the doors are built. But when I look at the challenges that Toyota's engineering dept is having to overcome, then some things start to make a lot of sense.
For instance. People who "Review" the 4Runner like Edmonds, Motor trend, Consumer Reports, Car and driver (and the like), will either love it, or they'll hate it (seems that nobody is on the fence). But the one thing that seems to be unanimously agreed upon, is it's poor gas mileage. So Toyota put the 4R on a very strict diet, just so that they could keep one of the things that ppl were asking for...more horse power. They got rid of the V8, and put the V6 on steroids.
One of the ways to gain more "free" H.P. and better fuel economy, is to trim off some of the excess weight, which they have done through the use of lighter materials to build it with, hence, low mass fenders, bumpers, and
doors; which you've alluded to. Another thing that they did was to use narrower, low friction rubber tires to help with gas mileage; which quite a few of us here on this forum protested, by getting rid of, and replacing them...right out of the showroom!
Some speculating on my part, but Toyota still makes a great product (imo), so they did what they had to do, and kept it moving. "Just some thoughts"
rigtec, Cheers
