New to Forum & Toyota, and need advice on 2015 TEP

[JimJr15]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and have never been a Toyota owner, primarily have been a Ford/Chevy full size guy. Currently, my F350 Diesel Dually, which has been an DD for 5 years and 135k miles is in the shop awaiting a $10k replacement of its entire fuel system due to a catastrophic failure of the high pressure injection pump. I'm going to fix and keep it, because I need it to tow my 5th wheel still, but I've grown tired of commuting into Boston and finding parking for it.

After researching, I've come to the conclusion that a 4runner is really the only quality, true off road capable 4wd rig left on the market. And since my Dad had such excellent luck with a Sequoia, which now has well over 230k miles and is still going strong, I've decided to go with a 4runner.

Was originally lusting after a TRD Pro, but realized a Trail Premium was the same only with KDSS and a sunroof, so I think I will opt for the Trail Premium and add my own shocks, springs, tires and rims.

Questions:
Primarily being used for highway commuting, but wanting to get a more aggressive styling, what's my best Avenue for mild suspension lift while maintaining ride quality? Keeping in mind that I would also eventually like to add the ShrockWorks Front bumper and a winch, and the CBI Rear bumper/tire carrier. I'm pretty sure that effects spring rate choices?

How to the relationship between a lift and the KDSS work out?

By keeping the OEM rims, I'm planning on a summer set and a winter set. Which aggressively styled tires do you guys find work the best on the 4runners? I've always been a BFG All-Terrain guy. Just tried a set of Coopers on the dually, they work well, but am also considering the Toyo All-Terrains.

Tire size I'm thinking will be the 285? It seems to be the most recommended on the forum? How much of an effect will I feel from a gearing standpoint. I'm already a little bit unimpressed with the stock acceleration, but maybe I'm just not kicking it hard enough to get an appropriate downshift on the test drives I've been on thus far. Usually a salesman with me and I don't want to go all Jeff Gordon Pepsi commercial on him I guess.

Thanks in advance , from everything I've seen here so far, it seems to be a great forum!!

 

[wfo9]

I'm not an expert, but I will give you my opinion. I have had my tr4 for about 1yr now and started much like you coming to the tr4 as a huge chevy fan. I got mine because I wanted something that was not full size and offroad capable. I had previously had a 3rd gen and knew the reliability was there. The only other contender for me was a jeep and I knew they had horrible reliability. I already had a full size GMC truck in the family (which is great).

The KDSS will work with a mild lift, but it will limit you from going with an extended travel setup. Once you want more travel, the KDSS will need to be removed. If you keep it close to stock, the KDSS should give you better on and offroad performance (think of it as a dynamic swaybar system controlled by hydraulics). If you do get a truck without KDSS, you need to remove the front swaybar(or come up with a manual disconnect system) for hardcore offroad performance. Most of the hardcore guys here have the swaybars removed.

As far as the power goes. The motor is not really that bad, but it likes to rev to make power. It makes great power 4k and up due to the VVT-i, but the gearing and tranny make it fall out of the sweet spot. There is very little aftermarket support for the motor. TRD has been promising a supercharger, but nothing has happened yet. I've got a K&N and a catback on my truck and it seems a little stronger than others I have driven, but obviously not a big difference. It is totally adequate, just not as strong as what I'm used to (My other daily driver is a 400hp v8 sedan) The tr4 can tow a little, but I would never tow anything substantial with it. The motor and tranny are pretty outdated compared to the domestic trucks. It is however very reliable and seems to be happy taking abuse.

Once you lift, add a bumper, bigger tires.. the truck will start to get much worse MPG and feel more sluggish. It's still adequate, but to counteract this, the best option currently available is to re-gear to 4.56. Although I have not done this yet, I feel it is a very good match for a modified 5th gen.

As far as the trail goes, It comes with some gimmicks like crawl control that are pretty useless IMHO. It has a useful rear e-locker, however all 4x4 tr4s come with an electronic offroad traction system called ATRAC. This actually works very good and allows all wheels to maintain traction at low speeds via the abs system. It is not as smooth as being fully locked at the diff, but it is adequate for most conditions. Lockers are still nice to have though.

If I was to buy another tr4 today, I would be torn between getting a trail or an sr5 4x4. It would really depend on the price difference. In the long run, I would probably end up re-gearing with air lockers on both diffs and removing the KDSS. I'm guessing the price difference is at least 5k, so that would cover a lot of mods including the re-gear with lockers, plus lift and tires. If I just wanted to keep it pretty mild, I would go with the trail and a mild lift and stop there.

 

[JimJr15]

Thanks for your insightful reply!

When you say mild lift, I don't intend to ever lift it beyond 2"-3", and I would attempt to maintain the original rake. Would this still be compatible with the KDSS?

I don't believe I will be doing enough off road driving to justify losing the KDSS in favor of longer suspension travel.

For my lift, I'm leaning toward the Icon VS 2.5 regular travel remote reservoir shock front and rear.

For tire size I'm considering 285/70-17 or the 255/80-17, as the narrower tire would perform better in the snow I believe.

 

[JimJr15]

Seems to me that these trucks would benefit tremendously with the change to a 6 or even 7 speed tranny?

 

[wfo9]

When I say mild I'm inferring stock travel, not really the height of the lift. My understanding is that any extended travel at all is not compatible with the KDSS. I think this is the reason it is not on the TRD pro.

Sounds like a trail with KDSS would meet your goals, Your goals do seem a little conflicted since you mentioned front and rear bumpers and a winch. Those are usually found on the more hardcore builds.

Yes, the tr4 would greatly benefit from a closer ratio trans. Toyota tends to move slow in favor of reliability.

 

[JimJr15]

The bumpers and winch are mostly an asthetic thing, the bumpers especially. However i do like the winch for the purposes of winter recovery of other vehicles. Seems Im called upon to pull others out of stuck situations with my dually frequently, neighbors and friends mostly. Im also a rather have it and not need it kind of guy.

If the weight of the winch becomes a problem, Id just rig up some kind of quick removal setup for summer commuting when im not going to use it, and slap it back in if im going wheeling or for winter.

After doing more lurking on here, Im now considering 2 front bumpers. The ShrockWorks and another that replaces the small bump out under the grill and replaces it with a winch mount. Much lighter than the ShrockWorks, if I recall its around 75 lbs, so that and the winch would be about 150 lbs if I recall correctly. This migt be a good compromise for my situation.

 

[Raven]

JimJr15:
Sounds like your needs / wants are very similar to mine. I also want a serious front bumper, especially with a good brush guard/bullbar on it, but I don't really want to have to upgrade the suspension to handle the weight. If I lift at all, it will be no more than 2".
I like the Shrockworks and the ARB, but I don't like the idea of all that extra weight out front. - what to do .......... ?

Have you considered carrying a cradle-mount winch that just slides into the REAR trailer hitch receiver? It would serve for occasional use, can be left at home when not required, but then you'd be giving up a fair amount of cargo space to lugging the damned thing around all the time just in case you needed it!
How about a major re-build? Put a big winch between the frame rails, right behind the front seats, with cable leads running out the front AND the back! LOL!