Switching from 4th gen to 5th gen

[waypoint]

The time has come, my '07 Limited has hit end of useful life at 308K miles. The rear differential is grinding and diagnosis is likely failed pinion bearing shortly after I paid the local dealer to replace the pinion seal and yoke to fix a small leak.

It's anyone's guess why this happened given the age & mileage, I had kept up on fluid changes over the years and used Amsoil Severe Gear fluid...but it was leaking gear oil. Maybe it wasn't filled after the repair, maybe the new yoke wasn't torqued properly, maybe the pinion bearing was already worn due to the leak and the act of replacing the yoke caused it to fail. I wish I'd checked the fluid before having it towed back to the dealer.

Fixable, but the road salt up here is brutal, and every salvage yard rear I've seen has been has been rusted badly. I'm getting the '07 ready for sale as-is with the known problems (rear diff, timing cover oil leak, one small frame rust repair below the AC drain) fully disclosed. Making the move to a '24 TRD Off Road Premium and switching to the 5th Gen Forum.

I appreciate all the info shared here over the years and wish y'all much continued happiness!

 

[Cezar]

Probably the perfect 4runner model.

The 6th gen is a heap of crap.

 

[Babs187]

Sorry to hear about the pinion, thats shitty, but congrats on the new car! if you cant sell it, keep it around as a woods beater!

 

[verman84]

I just made the same decision. After chasing too many problems of an old car and corrosion, I needed to move on. We went with a '23 TRD off road premium as well. It's great. The gas mileage isn't fantastic but we have a Prius for our daily driver and I don't own a 4Runner to be good on gas. It's nice because I'm certain ways it feels familiar to our old 4Runner but newer.

The thing I noticed is it feels larger. Side to side and front to back, plus wheelbase are nearly identical, but I think the 5th is just more boxy and less aerodynamic. It also feels much taller.

The acceleration on the 4th gen was much better, it felt more responsive. The 5th Gen acceleration feels very sluggish and needs a lot of right foot encouragement despite supposedly having 30+ more horsepower, but it's also taller, boxier and weighs 700+ lbs more.

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

 

[verman84]

I just made the same decision. After chasing too many problems of an old car and corrosion, I needed to move on. We went with a '23 TRD off road premium as well. It's great. The gas mileage isn't fantastic but we have a Prius for our daily driver and I don't own a 4Runner to be good on gas. It's nice because I'm certain ways it feels familiar to our old 4Runner but newer.

The thing I noticed is it feels larger. Side to side and front to back, plus wheelbase are nearly identical, but I think the 5th is just more boxy and less aerodynamic. It also feels much taller.

The acceleration on the 4th gen was much better, it felt more responsive. The 5th Gen acceleration feels very sluggish and needs a lot of right foot encouragement despite supposedly having 30+ more horsepower, but it's also taller, boxier and weighs 700+ lbs more.

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

 

[simple]

The tiny gas pedal doesn't help either. Also the turning radius seems terrible to me. The biggest deal breaker for me though is the lack of torsen diff for 4wd. I love being able to go 4hi at any time.

 

[mafern21]

4th Gen

You should have kept the 4th gen . I've got both but the 4th gen is my favorite!

 

[SocalSam]

I just made the same decision. After chasing too many problems of an old car and corrosion, I needed to move on. We went with a '23 TRD off road premium as well. It's great. The gas mileage isn't fantastic but we have a Prius for our daily driver and I don't own a 4Runner to be good on gas. It's nice because I'm certain ways it feels familiar to our old 4Runner but newer.

The thing I noticed is it feels larger. Side to side and front to back, plus wheelbase are nearly identical, but I think the 5th is just more boxy and less aerodynamic. It also feels much taller.

The acceleration on the 4th gen was much better, it felt more responsive. The 5th Gen acceleration feels very sluggish and needs a lot of right foot encouragement despite supposedly having 30+ more horsepower, but it's also taller, boxier and weighs 700+ lbs more.

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

I've thought about 4th to 5th gen. No salt in So Cal but we have the dry heat which is slowly destroying the wire harness. Wire insulation is brittle. It's just a matter of time.

I had read conflicting specs on the 5th gen regarding weight. Hard to believe 5th gen added 700 pounds for almost no interior space gain. I'm disappointed to hear acceleration is labored compared to 4th gen. I find my V6 to have more than enough power to stay out of trouble.

On a side note, 4th gen fold flat rear seats are a real benefit over 5th gen. Why Toyota?