HELP: Thinking About Ditching My Jeep for a 4Runner

[arehman11]

Have you ever measured the garage? I think a lot of them say 80" but may actually be more.

Mine is almost exactly 80" - so no extra cushion built into the sign. If I have my awning on - it sits about 4" higher than the OEM rails - I will hit in my garage at work. I know. I've done it. Didn't damage anything. But it hits the sprinkler pipes so if I navigate carefully I get get into a couple spots and back out without going under any of the pipes. Fortunately I also have the option of parking outside if I need to leave the awning on. I definitely think very carefully about what mods I want due to this parking issue. I had GX460 air suspension in my 5th gen for a while. At some point I'd like to go back to them so I can have that adjustable height again. I'd like to re-visit the system again, but I could never sort out a viable solution for the front that is adjustable height on the fly, nor could I get a nice feeling rear shock setup to go with the air springs. I've been waiting for the Bilstein 8100 rears to come out if they ever do like the zonecontrol setup for the Tacoma. I think they'd be just the answer with the valving adjustment options to get something dialed in that works well.

At home I've always regretted not building my personal garage with 10' ceilings and 8 or 9 foot doors. It was a compromise of second floor shop space overhead vs height below due to some height/setback restrictions. My Land Cruiser has no chance at all of fitting with 7' door, but I store it at my parents' anyway - they have 14' tall doors in their shop, so it fits... lol.

That's a good point, I should definitely measure as it could be higher than listed. I know we have a parking garage in the shopping center across the street from our office and it claims 6'10" but there is no way it is that high. My wife and I just built a new house last year and our neighborhood requires 8' tall garage doors so that was a nice perk as I wanted that and we were able to get 12.5' ceilings in the garage. I badly want to get a front runner 3/4 rack but I think it would cause a lot more issues with parking than the minimal use I'd get from the rack. Although, I just saw the victory full rack and it claims to sit 2.5-3" at the highest point and that's really close to just the height of the shark fin.

 

[Rocketmandb]

How often do you run no top/doors? The 4R with sunroof does open up nicely thanks to the back window roll-down feature, but it's definitely not the same.

Like a previous user mentioned, be sure to check that height with lift/tires, it's likely to be very close...

Finally, assuming Jeep is paid off, why not keep it for wrenching/wheeling fun and get a 4R for DD and lighter duty trail trips? It'll still be very capable stock (plan on upgrading tires right away though), and you can beat the Jeep into oblivion on the tough trails while not having to worry about getting to work Monday.

I never remove the top or doors, so that's one in favor of the 4R. Also, the Jeep is paid off, but I've gotten used to no payment and don't want to absorb the full price of a new vehicle, so the plan is to trade it in.

 

[BCMUSA]

My 2019 TRD OR was only $1,200 more than the SR5.

Getting the OR is a no-brainier to me personally.

 

[Salvo Jimmy]

Jeep joke

Older guy talking to his financial advisor, saying a friend told him he should spend down on his kids so as to avoid big inheritance tax, but did not know how.

Financial advisor said to buy each a Jeep and pay for the maintenance, upkeep and repairs

��

 

[4FL]

I know this will sound somewhat lame, but let me tell you why I need the 78":

I live in the San Fran area and I frequently travel to the city (and out of SFO). The vast majority of parking garages have a 6'6" limitation for some reason. This will be my only vehicle, and not being able to fit into these garages is a key issue (I tried it on my Rubicon, and it simply didn't work for me).

I thought I saw that the '19 was 72" with rack - I was hoping I could sneak in. I might be able to squeak in at 79" with the rack. When I had my Hi Lift up top on my Rubicon for a while, I'm sure it barely exceeded the 6'6" and all it would do is bump the entry guards occasionally.

Thanks for all the info, guys.

Ah yes, 72", have no idea why I thought at the moment 75".

Understand about the parking garages, I live in the city, Miami, and park in a parking garage. I ended up not renting a nice condo once because the garage was too small, and only upon viewing did I realize it.

 

[OCTT4R]

My .02. I’ve had 2 Jeeps then a F-150. I drove the F-150 for 15 years. I have 2 friends with 4Runners, which is how I was introduced. When it came time to purchase, I looked at Jeeps first, just to make sure, and then decided on the 4Runner. I bought a ‘19 4x4 SR5 and I love it! I’m doing what someone mentioned in a previous post. SR5 because it’s more basic and I can modify it myself. I’m currently putting a 3-2 lift, which will raise and level it. I just installed a Rhino Rack and I have a Westin Bull Bar on the way. I’ll put bigger tires on it once I wear down these stock tires a bit.
I also like having room inside, for everyday use, and the trail capabilities. I get off road but nothing near as crazy as some of these guys.

 

[Decipher]

I really debated getting a Jeep Rubicon or 4runner TRD Off Road and opted for the latter. (I also live near SF BTW)



To be honest if the JL had more headroom, I'd have gotten that but it's really quite cramped in there; I can't actually sit with my head upright in a hard-top version.



My feeling on the 4runner is that it works pretty nice stock, but even slightly bigger tires need trimming and more than bolt-ons sometimes. It just seems like you have to make big compromises to get bigger tires on it, whereas on a Jeep it's easy just a few bolt-ons.



So my feeling is that the TRD Off Road is capable 'enough' stock with good tires to get me where I need to be, and it fits in parking garages and drives really great on the road.



I'm not going to lift it or mess with it because next thing you know I'd be into $10k and body mods to get to a level of off road competence that's really not hard at all to reach on a Rubicon. Plus I doubt I'd fit in parking garages anymore.



I paid $34.5K for my '19 TRD OR; I'd still be cheaper than the Rubicon if I put that $10k into the 4runner so even that wouldn't be a bad way to go, but warranties, etc are a factor to me.



BTW; I preferred the cloth seats to the vinyl that comes on the premium, and the sunroof cuts into the headroom too much anyway, so saved some $$ by going with the standard Off-Road model.

I’m sorry but your logic is honestly off. Most can fit 32” tires (275/70-17) with no modification at all. Many can fit 33” tires (285/70-17)with minimal modifications (lift, mild wheel well trimming). I, like many, have no need for anything else (UCAs, body mount chop). If you spend big on your lift then sure, you can be $10,000 into a build but it’s really not accurate to represent that as a commonality. It’s not although every rig is slightly different.

You are correct in that most Jeeps can accommodate 33s no problem and the newer ones will take 35s completely stock. Beyond that, dollar for dollar, the 4Runner proves to be a better investment in the way of reliability. Both vehicles have incredibly strong resale values.

I went with the SR5 premium so I, like many, can build it out the way I want. OP, really evaluate the type of off roading you do so you know what your needs are. Do you NEED all those fancy traction mitigation systems (crawl control) and locker? My SR5P has only A-Trac and I’ve been everywhere my fellow Jeep owners have been with ease. I’m yet to find a need for the other goodies offered in the high trims.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KingTaco]

My feeling on the 4runner is that it works pretty nice stock, but even slightly bigger tires need trimming and more than bolt-ons sometimes. It just seems like you have to make big compromises to get bigger tires on it, whereas on a Jeep it's easy just a few bolt-ons.

So my feeling is that the TRD Off Road is capable 'enough' stock with good tires to get me where I need to be, and it fits in parking garages and drives really great on the road.

BTW; I preferred the cloth seats to the vinyl that comes on the premium, and the sunroof cuts into the headroom too much anyway, so saved some $$ by going with the standard Off-Road model.

As a tall guy who drives a Trail, put on 34s, and lives in a place where it can get damn hot, I agree with all of this. Maybe not "big" compromises to get larger tires, but definitely much tighter than a wrangler.

 

[Xtremluck]

I know this will sound somewhat lame, but let me tell you why I need the 78":

I live in the San Fran area and I frequently travel to the city (and out of SFO). The vast majority of parking garages have a 6'6" limitation for some reason. This will be my only vehicle, and not being able to fit into these garages is a key issue (I tried it on my Rubicon, and it simply didn't work for me).

I thought I saw that the '19 was 72" with rack - I was hoping I could sneak in. I might be able to squeak in at 79" with the rack. When I had my Hi Lift up top on my Rubicon for a while, I'm sure it barely exceeded the 6'6" and all it would do is bump the entry guards occasionally.

Thanks for all the info, guys.

I live in San Francisco and park in one of these tiny garages with my rig which has 33s and 3" of lift + roof top tent. I can fit in a 6'10 garage.

My recommendation to you is to keep the Jeep for the trips into the Sierras and to buy a nice new car. The 5th gen 4runner is absolute garbage as a daily driver compared to the competition. It handles poorly on the road, has horrible gas mileage, doesn't have much space and is underpowered. The only thing it really is good at is being a reliable off-road platform. Since you already have a rig for off road use I would rather have something more modern for the 95% of the time when your driving down the road.

 

[badjuju4r]

I did this yesterday haha.

Well, the jeep XK is still for sale but I picked up the 4R yesterday! Love it!

 

[MSRP.]

This probably isn't indicative of ALL jeeps, but compared to my nearly 250k mile 2003 v8..

The new 2019 street Jeep that my friend got as a loaner, without any of the off-road goodies in the more expensive trims, on new street tires, wandered a LOT more compared to my v8 on tired xreas suspension and VERY tired bushings/endlinks. Good comparison because I'm on the takeoffs from previous Jeep generations, 255/75/17 Wranglers on half-tread.
Don't even know when I got an alignment done. The increased "wandering" was noticeable on the 30 minute drive into town for supplies.

It's not a game changer by any stretch, just a lot more tiny adjustments to the steering wheel to go straight, but I certainly appreciated my ole girl when I swapped keys back for the short 2hour drive home.

 

[mscot]

I’m sorry but your logic is honestly off. Most can fit 32” tires (275/70-17) with no modification at all. Many can fit 33” tires (285/70-17)with minimal modifications (lift, mild wheel well trimming). I, like many, have no need for anything else (UCAs, body mount chop). If you spend big on your lift then sure, you can be $10,000 into a build but it’s really not accurate to represent that as a commonality. It’s not although every rig is slightly different.

Heh, guess I'm doing it wrong. I have $12k into mine and I would call it very mild.

 

[Decipher]

What’s mild? It’s subjective but 12k is a good amount into these.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mscot]

I rounded up a bit but not much. You can see my build thread in my sig.