Trail rig ~vs Daily driver
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J-BlickPhoto
New member
Well, in my case the runner is my daily driver as well as everything else. I live in Houston Texas so the amount of "rock crawling" I do is marginal, but I do travel A LOT. I go EVERYWHERE in it and I've had it on all types of terrain...from East Coast to West Coast. Unlike a lot of guys on this forum, I "think" I'm less meticulous with my truck as others. It's a 2011 and I've only washed it once (and that was at the dealership). I find it extremely utilitarian. It does what it was designed to do. I think overall it's a great vehicle and I hate NOT driving it. It's great in the city and great in the woods. As far as reliability.....I've owned 4 Toyotas and 2 of them have been 4 runners. The tacoma and tundra were sold just shy of 300,000 miles and they were in great condition.
1engineer
Moderator
For road use and light 4 wheeling your 4Runner in completely stock form will give you the greatest reliability with the lowest amount of maintenance period. As the mods increase, the maintenance requirements increase or reliability will suffer. Aftermarket UCA's are a prime example. Even with no off roading they will need to be greased often and will still need to be rebuilt at a much higher interval than stock. You definitely get advantages with them over stock but with those pros come cons. It's a tradeoff, even if it's just worse mpg's because of weight or drag.
DannyLlama
Elite Member
For us, it's a stroller with an engine 
, road trip car, fun weekend truck, off road ready (not rock crawling) and looks good best of all
, road trip car, fun weekend truck, off road ready (not rock crawling) and looks good best of all
STX4Runner
New member
If you're not going to be hitting the trails hard all the time, keep it fairly simple. I have a mild lift, stock size tires and some skid plates and sliders and I have done some fairly hard trails (in my opinion) just fine, and I plan on doing more. These vehicles are very capable in stock form or just mildly modded. I have purposely kept my mods somewhat mild so I can keep reliability high and also good gas mileage.
Jeremy556
New member
Yep. Every point you gain in off-roadability, you give up 2 in on road performance. I love blasting down the unpaved roads to my house at 60mph, catching air, with LEDs blazing the way. It helps me to ignore the 14ish MPG, non-functional cruise control, and having to downshift at anything more than a 1% grade.
Intruder
New member
Mine is a daily driver. As long as you maintain everything properly and don't do lots of bogging or baja racing you'll minimize (but not eliminate) premature component failure. Sure you can break something on the trail, but you can do that driving in the city too - hit a curb the wrong way, back over something in a parking lot, etc.
Best thing about having a built trail rig is some of the looks you get from the BMW and Audi types in rush hour traffic.
Best thing about having a built trail rig is some of the looks you get from the BMW and Audi types in rush hour traffic.
jangoforhire
New member
Daily driver for me too. I'm at about 75% on road though - due to lack of time and good trails close by.
But I also like to travel and I'm building mine so that one day when I'm on a road trip in the middle of nowhere I won't be regretting that I didn't add that extra LED or skid plate. I can put up with the (very) mild on road inconveniences in the mean time.
But I also like to travel and I'm building mine so that one day when I'm on a road trip in the middle of nowhere I won't be regretting that I didn't add that extra LED or skid plate. I can put up with the (very) mild on road inconveniences in the mean time.
G8RB8_12SR5
New member
Mine is my daily driver, tow vehicle, road trip machine, etc. Bought it because we needed to have more space for two hunting dogs as well as out of town guests and getting to hiking trails and bird fields (my 2011 MINI cooper countryman all4 wasn't cutting it). It sort of became a tow vehicle because of extenuating circumstances but it doesn't get used for that often maybe 6 times a year. Thought I would drive it less but it became the primary weekend car and now that it is about 1600 mile round trip home, I spend even more time in it. At 36k since Feb '12, purchased with 69 miles on it
The forum has been a great resource and I remember when I first joined how the mod list grew to excess and I reevaluated what I was really using the 4R for. Mod list is definitely more practical, along the lines of STXRunner. Keeping in mind that this forum is a microcosm of the 4R community as a whole and that most 4Rs you see aren't modded can keep things in perspective, but it sure is fun as hell and inspiring to see the awesome runners on here.
The forum has been a great resource and I remember when I first joined how the mod list grew to excess and I reevaluated what I was really using the 4R for. Mod list is definitely more practical, along the lines of STXRunner. Keeping in mind that this forum is a microcosm of the 4R community as a whole and that most 4Rs you see aren't modded can keep things in perspective, but it sure is fun as hell and inspiring to see the awesome runners on here.
KCcarguy
New member
DD for me. The most off-roading I do is hunting/ fishing (which I get to do less and less these days). I could get away with a stock truck, but what fun would that be? One of these days I'll buy a commuter and maybe have a little more fun in the 4runner. From the very beginning, I bought this truck intending to keep it for the long-haul and build it to be the family workhorse...outdoor activities, towing, foul-weather vehicle, etc.
swimmerdude1127
New member
Why is your cruise control non-functional?
MeBe4running
New member
Daily here...
Tons of mods since the beginning.... almost 100,000 on her now... no MAJOR (I.E factory) problems yet. Driven Daily, never washed, almost a year now. Still a ripper down the highway. Zombie killer in the city.
I really don't need half the things on my truck however when it comes to traveling and LIVING in it whilst traveling. It makes it all that more enjoyable to have these fine, fancy features!
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/137301-mebe4runnings-travel-picture-thread.html
Tons of mods since the beginning.... almost 100,000 on her now... no MAJOR (I.E factory) problems yet. Driven Daily, never washed, almost a year now. Still a ripper down the highway. Zombie killer in the city.
I really don't need half the things on my truck however when it comes to traveling and LIVING in it whilst traveling. It makes it all that more enjoyable to have these fine, fancy features!
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/137301-mebe4runnings-travel-picture-thread.html
BigredTEX
New member
Daily Driver. You can see in my signature the mods. Nothing really wild, but I haven't found a trail that I can't negotiate. I only get into really difficult terrain once a year on my annual Ouray trip, but use it often for hunting and hauling hunting dogs. 75%+ street and highway. My next tire selection will not be as aggressive as what is on there now. I feel tire selection has the biggest impact to on-pavement performance and with the right tire you aren't giving up too much off-road performance.
CAN-03runner
New member
Have a modified 4th Gen that I offroaded, retired back to mostly just a winter DD and gravel road duty. I now use a modified 1st Gen for offroading. It would suck as a DD but I can handle driving it enough to get me to the trail.
Starting to be in the market for a 5th Gen or FJ Cruiser. After my experience with a modifed DD that was offroaded and my purpose build offroader, my new truck would remain stock.
Maybe a very small spacer lift/leveling kit, if I even need it, and not even a tire size upgrade to go with it, just to get my front bumper up higher a little to clear the mounds of snow that the snow plows push off the street onto near the side walks/drive ways.
Starting to be in the market for a 5th Gen or FJ Cruiser. After my experience with a modifed DD that was offroaded and my purpose build offroader, my new truck would remain stock.
Maybe a very small spacer lift/leveling kit, if I even need it, and not even a tire size upgrade to go with it, just to get my front bumper up higher a little to clear the mounds of snow that the snow plows push off the street onto near the side walks/drive ways.
cbielat
Senior Member
My 4Runner is used for both. It's my only vehicle. I'm in sales and my territory is all of New England. I do wheel her but am still conscience while out on the trails because I can't afford to not be without a vehicle. I bought it new at the end of November 2011 and now has 63,xxx miles on her.
Jeremy556
New member
Well, it works, but only down hill. Otherwise it will drop 2 gears, go way too fast, upshift, rinse and repeat
swimmerdude1127
New member
After responding initially, I realized that's probably what you meant. I'm starting to run into the same thing after I got the lift installed and if I'm going >60-65mph up any hill.
