What did you do to/in your 5th Gen today?!
- Thread starter DEKA3
- Start date
97BlackAckCL
Elite Member
How bad was the install on the bushings, curious how involved it was?
hwnrunner
New member
It's 1.5 on a scale of 5. Basically 2 14mm bolts on each one. Drop one side at a time, there's enough room to take off the oem and put these on. There's no need to remove the front skid but I did anyway, why struggle? Just a few minutes more, 4 12MM bolts and then 5 #10 on the plastic filler front piece.
Steering feels firmer, less sway in corners. I like it.
Long story short. Got bored at work and made myself a Velcro patch.
Ugh, just moved out of CA in September and had not thought about in-n-out until now...damn yous.
CF_Machete
Senior Member
ForRun
New member
Cool, where does one get this? Thanks
SpeedyKevin
New member
Quick sunday adventure!
BchBum
New member
I had been eyeing this color shade, but I wasn't sure if would look this good combined together. Will post up some pics once the daily afternoon thunderstorms end.
I pulled my front mud flaps last year. I still need to do the fender liner mod on the passenger side. The tires are just 265/70/17 (but beefy tread) so the 1" front lift from the Pro take off coilovers have helped.
CO_Native
New member
First real trip in the books, 380+ miles from Denver into Wyoming & back. I chose to use I-25 for the first trip instead of I-70 just because if anything went wrong I didn't want to have to deal with mountain traffic & steep inclines.
I was able to maintain 70-80mph, dropping down to 3rd on the up-hill sections. 5th was pretty much useless so I stayed in 4 most of the way. Definitely don't rely on the "intelligent" transmission, pop that sucker into "Sport" mode and take a more active part in the drive if you want better performance. All in all we got about 11-12 mpg, which is fine for the fat trailer we had to have.
The trailer itself was designed well, the fresh tank is up front and the gray/black are fairly evenly placed in the middle so the weight distribution didn't change too much from start to finish. It's surprisingly well insulated from the sun and we weren't crying for A/C during the day like we thought we would be. That said, a generator will be the next purchase lol
Overall: The 4Runner probably isn't the best tow-vehicle, but it doesn't suck either. I'm pleasantly surprised that it gets the job done, just not as well as a pickup would. From what I read on here and saw in videos, I thought I'd be rushing out to buy a new pickup and trading the 4Runner just to use the trailer, but I actually think I'm good for a year or two.
In my opinion, the 4Runner's towing limitation is NOT the suspension or brakes, it's the lack of power and gears. Even without a WDH or swaybar (I'm cheap and like to live on the wild-side), it didn't feel squirrely or loose in the hi-wind areas of WY, which is what really had me worried. I just wanted a bit more "oomf" to get around.
And this was a new experience, the long-lines at dump-stations.
I'm going to get a robe & fur hat with a cigar & just stand there saying "shitter's full" next time. :lol:
DonutRunner
New member
Nothin crazy. Just plasti-dipped the factory roof rails. Love seeing all the stuff people are doing to their rigs. Got a long road a head of me
IndyFastlane
New member
First real trip in the books, 380+ miles from Denver into Wyoming & back. I chose to use I-25 for the first trip instead of I-70 just because if anything went wrong I didn't want to have to deal with mountain traffic & steep inclines.
I was able to maintain 70-80mph, dropping down to 3rd on the up-hill sections. 5th was pretty much useless so I stayed in 4 most of the way. Definitely don't rely on the "intelligent" transmission, pop that sucker into "Sport" mode and take a more active part in the drive if you want better performance. All in all we got about 11-12 mpg, which is fine for the fat trailer we had to have.
The trailer itself was designed well, the fresh tank is up front and the gray/black are fairly evenly placed in the middle so the weight distribution didn't change too much from start to finish. It's surprisingly well insulated from the sun and we weren't crying for A/C during the day like we thought we would be. That said, a generator will be the next purchase lol
Overall: The 4Runner probably isn't the best tow-vehicle, but it doesn't suck either. I'm pleasantly surprised that it gets the job done, just not as well as a pickup would. From what I read on here and saw in videos, I thought I'd be rushing out to buy a new pickup and trading the 4Runner just to use the trailer, but I actually think I'm good for a year or two.
In my opinion, the 4Runner's towing limitation is NOT the suspension or brakes, it's the lack of power and gears. Even without a WDH or swaybar (I'm cheap and like to live on the wild-side), it didn't feel squirrely or loose in the hi-wind areas of WY, which is what really had me worried. I just wanted a bit more "oomf" to get around.
And this was a new experience, the long-lines at dump-stations.
I'm going to get a robe & fur hat with a cigar & just stand there saying "shitter's full" next time. :lol:
Thanks for posting this travel report! We have a similarly spec’d trailer (2018 flagstaff e-pro) that we recently purchased and I’ve been curious what others have been experiencing in terms of towing with their 4runners. Sounds like your experience is similar to mine.....keep it in s4 and 11-12mpg. Our trailer is a bit over 3000# dry and about 400# at the tongue.
We do tow with a weight distributing hitch and also firestone bags pumped to about 20#. That seems to be a good combination for us. I agree that the WDH is probably not absolutely necessary, but I’ve towed short distances without it and it does make a substantial improvement in terms of stability and handling (makes the front feel more planted).....so I feel it was a worthwhile investment.
I traded in a 17 Tacoma for this 4runner last fall because of the ridiculous transmission/engine programming in that truck (I even bought a tune for it and it still was not satisfactory IMO). It struggled to tow our old popup camper without struggling and hunting gears constantly. I was nervous how the 4runner would do with this bigger camper and have been pleasantly surprised.
Happy camping!
Can someone poke their head under the front of their 5th gen TRD and tell me what color the dots are on the springs?
They're different from left to right....
I picked up some 2018 takeoffs for my 4th gen and just need to put the fronts on the correct side. The shocks are the same PN L/R, the tophats are different, but don't have a PN marked. The springs have different colored dots on them L/R.
They're different from left to right....
I picked up some 2018 takeoffs for my 4th gen and just need to put the fronts on the correct side. The shocks are the same PN L/R, the tophats are different, but don't have a PN marked. The springs have different colored dots on them L/R.
Similar threads
