Offroad capabilities of 2015 Limited 4WD

regeaux

regeaux

New member
Last week I saw the light, and purchased my 4th 4runner after a time away with other vehicles. It is a 2015 Barcelona Red Limited 4WD. I will post pictures soon. This is my first 4WD 4Runner.

What led me to this one was the full time 4WD, the climate control, leather interior and sunroof. 2 of my previous vehicles had all of these and I really do enjoy these.

While I was away from 4runners, I was introduced to adventure motorcycle riding with a BMW GS Adventure by a buddy. I really didn't get into it but in October of last year, I did ride it to Yellowstone, Lake Tahoe and the Pacific Coast highway. This did introduce me to our great National Park System and the West.

What I see myself doing over the near future is driving my 4Runner to explore our National Park System and other areas similar to that. I'll be getting off the beaten path a little on dirt roads and gravel roads, but I don't see myself climbing rock bolders and doing some of the things I see in the pictures on this website.

I live in Texas so I have to drive a good 700 miles just to get to some interesting places, so I want to keep the stock features of my 4Runner.

What I plan doing soon is replacing my stock rims and tires with the great looking new rims and 265/70/17 tires.

So my question to you is with the addition of the tires and rims above, what is the off road capability of my 2015 Limited 4WD? Also, how will it do in the snow? as I plan to go to Colorado and surrounding areas in.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the pictures and information that is on this site. This is a great place.
 
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You will be fine.

Unless purposely going hunting for abandoned mining roads that go into the difficult scale and 2 ft boulders a box stock 4Runner is more than sufficient for the needs of most of us. I have lived in Colorado my whole life and never felt the need to lift a vehicle. If it's that difficult of a trail it's for the hardcore off road guys, not me (nor my new $43K vehicle).

Most of the national parks like Rocky Mountain are fairly limited to on road travel and 2WD passable dirt roads. They really don't want people going into the boonies and tearing up mother nature. In fact its happened a few times and the guys that did it got in a whole lot of trouble and faced some serious fines and jail time.

There are lots of really cool places outside the national and state park system to investigate. Lots. The Rocky Mountains are chock full of cool stuff to search out.

I will start you here:

Colorado ghost towns, mining camps, four wheel drive trips, hiking trails

Just Google "Colorado ghost towns and mining camps" and you will find all sorts of cool stuff. And they almost always rate the difficulty so you know what to expect.
 
It has more capability stock than you have bravery. You will wimp out long before the 4Runner will quit going lol. Have fun with it!
 
1engineer said:
It has more capability stock than you have bravery. You will wimp out long before the 4Runner will quit going lol. Have fun with it!
Click to expand...

What 1Engineer said.. and if you don't wimp out, your wife will likely wimp out and tell you to back it up... soooooo No worries; you'll be fine! :wave:

Okki

PS: Sliders may protect you from some of your own stupidity (it did for me) and you may want to consider beefier skids, but I did the FJ summit with a stock 2010 Limited without the 20 inch rims and with sliders. Really, that's all you need for 90% of the stuff you'll likely do.
 
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regeaux said:
Last week I saw the light, and purchased my 4th 4runner after a time away with other vehicles. It is a 2015 Barcelona Red Limited 4WD. I will post pictures soon. This is my first 4WD 4Runner.

What led me to this one was the full time 4WD, the climate control, leather interior and sunroof. 2 of my previous vehicles had all of these and I really do enjoy these.

While I was away from 4runners, I was introduced to adventure motorcycle riding with a BMW GS Adventure by a buddy. I really didn't get into it but in October of last year, I did ride it to Yellowstone, Lake Tahoe and the Pacific Coast highway. This did introduce me to our great National Park System and the West.

What I see myself doing over the near future is driving my 4Runner to explore our National Park System and other areas similar to that. I'll be getting off the beaten path a little on dirt roads and gravel roads, but I don't see myself climbing rock bolders and doing some of the things I see in the pictures on this website. I am headed to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Rocky mountain national parks next week.

I live in Texas so I have to drive a good 700 miles just to get to some interesting places, so I want to keep the stock features of my 4Runner.

What I plan doing soon is replacing my stock rims and tires with the great looking new rims and 265/70/17 tires.

So my question to you is with the addition of the tires and rims above, what is the off road capability of my 2015 Limited 4WD? Also, how will it do in the snow? as I plan to go to Colorado and surrounding areas in.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the pictures and information that is on this site. This is a great place.
Click to expand...

Look at my pictures. It will not work at all. :lol: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...ride-trying-warm-up-freezing-norhterners.html I bought my Limited for the same reason. I love the features and you picked the best color.
 
It's very capable on mild trails and slick snowy roads.

What is more important is that you get some experience off-road with it where there is some experienced folks along to help you understand the limts and techniques. There are some places to do this in Texas (depending on where you live). PM me your location... I'm a member of an off-road club and we are having a beginners run in mid June in central Texas where you could get your feet wet. However, it is hard to get out on any trails (even the super easy ones) and not be willing to take some minor trail damage...

I personally "try" to keep any body damage to a min, but the reality is that if you don't have some scrapes under your bumper.... you are probably not off-roading it in a place where 4wd is required in the first place..
 
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I concur with what others have said above and go one step further to say that you don't even need to buy new wheels and tires.....If you look at my photos, you will see that I kept the stock rims and have successfully navigated my '14UnLimited through some pretty cool terrain.

Congrats on the purchase!
 
1engineer said:
It has more capability stock than you have bravery. You will wimp out long before the 4Runner will quit going lol. Have fun with it!
Click to expand...

Okki said:
What 1Engineer said.. and if you don't wimp out, your wife will likely wimp out and tell you to back it up... soooooo No worries; you'll be fine! :wave:

Okki

PS: Sliders may protect you from some of your own stupidity (it did for me) and you may want to consider beefier skids, but I did the FJ summit with a stock 2010 Limited without the 20 inch rims and with sliders. Really, that's all you need for 90% of the stuff you'll likely do.
Click to expand...

Pfffffttt! Come on guys! LEs are for wimps.
 
Thanks a ton for all the information. I've lived in Texas for 14 years and just now discovering Colorado. Can't wait.

Blitzkrieg said:
You will be fine.

Unless purposely going hunting for abandoned mining roads that go into the difficult scale and 2 ft boulders a box stock 4Runner is more than sufficient for the needs of most of us. I have lived in Colorado my whole life and never felt the need to lift a vehicle. If it's that difficult of a trail it's for the hardcore off road guys, not me (nor my new $43K vehicle).

Most of the national parks like Rocky Mountain are fairly limited to on road travel and 2WD passable dirt roads. They really don't want people going into the boonies and tearing up mother nature. In fact its happened a few times and the guys that did it got in a whole lot of trouble and faced some serious fines and jail time.

There are lots of really cool places outside the national and state park system to investigate. Lots. The Rocky Mountains are chock full of cool stuff to search out.

I will start you here:

Colorado ghost towns, mining camps, four wheel drive trips, hiking trails

Just Google "Colorado ghost towns and mining camps" and you will find all sorts of cool stuff. And they almost always rate the difficulty so you know what to expect.
Click to expand...
 
wfo9 said:
It's very capable on mild trails and slick snowy roads.

What is more important is that you get some experience off-road with it where there is some experienced folks along to help you understand the limts and techniques. There are some places to do this in Texas (depending on where you live). PM me your location... I'm a member of an off-road club and we are having a beginners run in mid June in central Texas where you could get your feet wet. However, it is hard to get out on any trails (even the super easy ones) and not be willing to take some minor trail damage...

I personally "try" to keep any body damage to a min, but the reality is that if you don't have some scrapes under your bumper.... you are probably not off-roading it in a place where 4wd is required in the first place..
Click to expand...

You guys are like my buddy who got me into riding adventure bikes. I'll shoot you a PM. Thanks
 
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I have one and wheel with wfo9. No joke, you'd be shocked at what it can do. Drop the running boards and rocker trim (free) and switch to 17" wheels and tires and it's *extremely* capable.

I've been called a soccer mom by jeep guys and then run right up trails they were struggling with. Shut them up real quick.

PM either me or wfo9 with questions. That beginner run on 6/13-6/14 would be a great chance to see what it can do!

EDIT: switching to 17" wheels/tires isn't required by any means. It's definitely more comfortable though and less stressful. You will almost assuredly end up with rock rash on the 20" wheels if you run them in central Texas.
 
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Welcome and you will enjoy. Like everyone else you will be surprised at what it can do. I've put mine in some places that people are like, "That's a 50k Rig. I didn't buy it to drive to the mall...".

But enjoy, best thing to do is snag someone to go with you and push your limits till you know them.
 
My take on it is that LE off-road capability is exactly the same as SR5 capability and TE capability minus rear locker. In other words it's as good as you can get in stock vehicle.

If you plan to drive on the trails that require skid plates you probably would be better off replacing all stock skids with aftermarket ones, stock skid plates are not very strong. Plus you could get some sliders. Personally I drive stock except the tires but I either avoid really bad spots or use a good spotter. Bent my running board once, hope it breaks one day so I can justify buying sliders for myself : )

And LE is really great in show, better than SR5 and TE due to full time 4x4. Providing that you have right tires of course. Stock tires are not very good in snow but if you know how to drive in the winter they can get you through. Not sure if you should invest in winter tires living in Texas, but probably you could get yourself adequate AT tires decent in the show like Firestone Destination for instance.
 
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scanny said:
My take on it is that LE off-road capability is exactly the same as SR5 capability and TE capability minus rear locker. In other words it's as good as you can get in stock vehicle.

If you plan to drive on the trails that require skid plates you probably would be better off replacing all stock skids with aftermarket ones, stock skid plates are not very strong. Plus you could get some sliders. Personally I drive stock except the tires but I either avoid really bad spots or use a good spotter. Bent my running board once, hope it breaks one day so I can justify buying sliders for myself : )

And LE is really great in show, better than SR5 and LE due to full time 4x4. Providing that you have right tires of course. Stock tires are not very good in snow but if you know how to drive in the winter they can get you through. Not sure if you should invest in winter tires living in Texas, but probably you could get yourself adequate AT tires decent in the show like Firestone Destination for instance.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input.
 
Great input

Thanks everyone for the input. I've had a crash course on the sliders and skids (I'll be honest, I had to google them as I didn't know what they were).
 
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