Nowhere near the advertised ground clearance
- Thread starter MoonStorm
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Socalrugger
New member
Yea, I hear you there.....my "slim jim" is no where near what I advertise it to be either :laser: .........doesn't matter.....I'm married
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BLACK-FL4RUNNER
Member
I'm only getting 16mpg combined hwy/town, it's no where near the advertised mpg's.... lol
:driving:
:driving:
Excuse me for asking, but how can you compare fuel economy to fixed measurements here?
In any case, I called the dealer for an appointment for other things and asked about the discrepancy. They said it's industry standard to measure at rear diff. That's BS. The distance between the lowest point of the undercarriage of a vehicle and level ground should be used. That's the car industry standard.
In any case, I called the dealer for an appointment for other things and asked about the discrepancy. They said it's industry standard to measure at rear diff. That's BS. The distance between the lowest point of the undercarriage of a vehicle and level ground should be used. That's the car industry standard.
Overall I'm well aware this thread is going nowhere and there is no point in beating a dead horse.
It's just good info to have for people interested in the real ground clearance when purchasing the Trail with KDSS.
I'll most likely compensate soon enough with a lift kit. As someone else pointed out it'll be
2.5" lift - 1" KDSS - 1" air down - 0.5" after settling down and/or gear & beer bellies = advertised stock clearance :juggle: yupeee
It's just good info to have for people interested in the real ground clearance when purchasing the Trail with KDSS.
I'll most likely compensate soon enough with a lift kit. As someone else pointed out it'll be
2.5" lift - 1" KDSS - 1" air down - 0.5" after settling down and/or gear & beer bellies = advertised stock clearance :juggle: yupeee
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STX4Runner
New member
The lift will only get you more ground clearance under the front skid, crossmembers, etc. The rear diff, rear axle and lower control arms will still have the same ground clearance.
Damn you [MENTION=101428]Bilbo[/MENTION] , Spent my entire 2 hour traffic congested drive thinking about that rock, now I wanna master it!
Bilbo
New member
I have bad news for you, [MENTION=65505]Kotrin[/MENTION] . The rock was located on the Steens Mountain Loop at about 10,000 ft. elevation. See
Misadventures on the Steens | trailphotographer.com (not my webpage, but great info about Steens and the surrounding area)
They close the road every year during the winter, and open it up as snow melts. I believe they are opening the top of the road for the summer this week. If you look at the photo again, you'll probably see that the rock looks photoshopped because the rock sits on top the gravel. Why didn't it dig in when it fell? Because it fell onto deep snowpack and then gradually sank to the gravel as the snow melted.
Anyway, when they open the road they have to clear off the winter carnage. This particular rock is probably about 1,000 ft down a cliff now. Which is a damn shame, 'cause I would have enjoyed watching you climb it.
Dang, I may have to go over there before the end of this summer and see if I can't find it at the bottom of the valley. May even find some killer trails over there =)
jrandom
New member
LOL Only if you are driving through concrete... which I suppose is very possible in OR :biggrin1: . If you are driving through that kind of snow you want to change out your tires/wheels anyway and go with a pizza cutter whilst in the process gaining a little bit of that height back. Just sayin'
You should test drive one with and one without KDSS and make up your mind.
I am a bit sad that you've rekindled my anger on this topic. Ground clearance is very important for off-roading and I can't believe Toyota screwed this one up and also lied about it. I already got a dent in the buttery front plate. The car underneath is a ****ing mess of things sticking out.
Not sure I bought the right vechicle for my wheeling, even though originally I thought I did. It requires a lot of extra money to make it into what it should have been.
volpe30
New member
I find this topic relevant to my recent purchase of a 2016 TEP. About three months ago I began research on what vehicle would best suit my needs as both a daily driver and overland vehicle. My search was narrowed down to JKU Rubicon or the 4Runner TEP. The JKU offered outstanding "out of the box" off road capability that would require few, if any, modifications. But, while it had that attribute, it lacked many others that were highest on my list: reliability, comfortable to drive long distances and days on end, comfort for an 8 and 11 year old to ride in for long distances and days on end, good cargo space for dog and stuff, and reliability again because it was top on my list (I used to own a LR Discovery 2, if you've owned one, you'll understand! Awesome off road platform, but everything else--nightmare.) Given that, it was really a no brainer in the end. The 4Runner was, for my intended purpose, far superior to the JKU. I also went into my purchase wanting the KDSS for the great on road manners it gives the truck but knowing it decreased ground clearance approximately 1 inch up front over the other models. All I had to do was look under the different models to quickly figure out the KDSS sat a bit lower. So, I knew I would be doing some suspension mods to get an additional 2-3 inches to a ground clearance that would provide a little more wiggle room off road. Be doing other mods as well to get it where I want as an overland vehicle. When I'm done it will give me off road capability very close to a JKU Rubicon and be far superior in every other way. Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is, before you spend 40 grand on a vehicle, know what your intended purpose is for it and do your homework. I'm super psyched about my TEP and look forward to many adventures in it. Incidentally, these things are pretty damn capable in stock form. I found this article interesting: http://www.fourwheeler.com/vehicle-reviews/129-0912-2010-toyota-4runner-review-rubicon-trail/
On a side note, this forum is an outstanding resource. I look forward to continuing to learn from it and contributing in the future.
On a side note, this forum is an outstanding resource. I look forward to continuing to learn from it and contributing in the future.
RockyMountainT4R
New member
volpe30
New member
True, Toyota does not account for the lower ground clearance on the KDSS equipped models in any of their literature. When I first went and test drove the SR5 and TEP I spent some time crawling around under them. I immediately recognized the skid plate on the KDSS model sat lower. So I checked it against the literature, which didn't account for it. I agree that Toyota should have a separate listing in their literature for the KDSS clearance. But I also wouldn't, and didn't, end my research at just one source. Like I said, I conducted a lot of research before my purchase to ensure I was getting the right vehicle to meet my intended use. One of the categories was ground clearance. So I googled the hell out of all the vehicles I was looking at and read endless hours of reviews, forum topics, articles, etc. That included ground clearance. A search of KDSS specific ground clearance led to info that it sat lower. One clue was that companies offered KDSS specific skid plates.
1engineer
Moderator
Every single company in the world that sells a product for profit will always list their best numbers for performance, Toyota included. KDSS is an option fellas, not a model and this option decreases ground clearance. This is no different than a front air dam on some models and not others.
This whole thread should be a PSA to anyone buying any product: Do your homework BEFORE you buy a product and save yourself hurt feelings and remorse later.
I like how some of you are trying to blame Toyota lol. Do you think Jeep, Chevy or Ford or Volvo or Nissan doesn't do the same thing in posting best or ideal numbers?
To beat it all to my knowledge there is not even a standard set by SAE or anyone on the definition of ground clearance! You guys have fun complaining to the manufacturer.
This whole thread should be a PSA to anyone buying any product: Do your homework BEFORE you buy a product and save yourself hurt feelings and remorse later.
I like how some of you are trying to blame Toyota lol. Do you think Jeep, Chevy or Ford or Volvo or Nissan doesn't do the same thing in posting best or ideal numbers?
To beat it all to my knowledge there is not even a standard set by SAE or anyone on the definition of ground clearance! You guys have fun complaining to the manufacturer.
There should be absolutely no reason to query any source other than Toyota.
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