What makes these trucks so reliable?

brian2sun said:
I think the quality of Ford has gone up a lot in the last few years. They had their bad phases, but I think they are competing now. I have a lot of friends who have '00-02 Rangers and I think those are junk personally, but after that I think Ford's cars and trucks got better. My Mom has a '04 Expedition and it hasn't given her a single problem since she bought it new. I think it has about 110K on it and it still runs great.



That's the thing, as long as you keep driving a Toyota they almost never die. They'll just run like s**t until you fix them. :)
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Ford has gotten much better in quality - 03 and up
 
Im surpised no one has mentioned how you have to be crazy to try and flex a unibody v8 on a trail. your just asking for trouble! Ive seen cracked unibodys on xj's all the time.

Not to mention, you can get away with a budget lift on either suv, but gears and lockers your gonna wanna go with a toyota with the factory E-locker runner that came with 4.30 gears, which are perfect gears for 33's

And my runner doesnt ride like a truck, its got coils all around too, i get compliments on the ride quality all the time. my 92 pickup, now that rides like a truck.

hope some of these points help, a jeep is a jeep. they are great off road, but you have to put a lot of money in axles, gears, lift, lockers, and frame stiffiners to achieve greatness. and after all that your still more likely to break down on a trail before my stock yota on pucks.
 
Well to start off with the 4runners are the only body on frame suv on the market today, super tough drivetrain when compared to other stock units in comparable vehicles.
2nd.
When maintained properly they last a really long time.
3rd.
The aftermarket products that make them even more tough has grown so much over the past few years.
4th.
A consumer can find a reliable used toyota at a fair price if they look good enough.
5th.
They hold the value alot beter than domestics.
From my personal experience I had a 88 pick-up before I bought my 4runner that had 417,000 miles on it when I sold it and beat the heck out of it. The only reason I sold it was because I did not want to change the water pump or install a new rear main seal in its 3 liter V-6. Read in a magazine just the other month that 87% of toyota trucks and 4Runners are still in use today since 1984. Bet none of the domestics can say that? Infact read the atricle on this link Why Rebel Groups Love the Toyota Hilux - Newsweek I know its mainly on the pick-ups but the 4runners up to 2002 are not a far cry from thier pick-up brother, especially the earlier years.
 
I just bought my 2nd Toyota last weekend. I picked up a 2002 4Runner with 95k. It looks and drives like its brand new. I have to agree with the quality of the 3 gen 4runners. I am absolutely impressed. Just the feel of the interior seems solid.

Ive had a 94 pickup with the 22re for 3 or 4 years now. It had 136k on it when i bought it. In less than a year I got water in the intake. I blew the engine shortly after. I drove the truck back and for to work for 3 weeks with a blown engine. When I was deployed I had a friend put in a brand new engine and a few other things. He forgot to fill the transfer case with gear oil. I drove it for 2 weeks then took a 7hr road trip back to where I am stationed before the transfercase locked up 5hrs into the trip....I drove it the rest of the way.... Yes I destroyed a needle bearing and the input shaft. My point is... if you take care of it...it will take care of you. Yes i have broke stuff on my truck (lots actually) but thats what you get when you wheel it and it has never left me straned.

Also, Top Gear did an episode on destroying a toyota pickup. If i remember right, it was a hilux. Watch the video. Its awesome...

And yes the V8 GC are fun but that's about all they have going for them. I do wish i could get my grubby hands on a new GC SRT8 though. That would be fun to test drive.

P.S. This is my first post. So hi everyone. I've been stalking this forum for awhile and just couldn't hold back talking about Toyota quality anymore.
 
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For me, my 1998 is awesome. Not one problem throughout my entire ownership...not one! It amazes me that I cannot even hear anything rattle, or make noise. I have been in friends' rides that are only a few years old; either I hear strange noises, or see cheapness in the quality.
My interpetation: From the engineers, down to the assembly worker, the Japanese people value their honor, over their paycheck and benefits. They are truly loyal to the brand.

I just hope that my 2010 TE was made by people who still hold to those beliefs and values.
 
DewRunner said:
Im surpised no one has mentioned how you have to be crazy to try and flex a unibody v8 on a trail. your just asking for trouble! Ive seen cracked unibodys on xj's all the time.

Not to mention, you can get away with a budget lift on either suv, but gears and lockers your gonna wanna go with a toyota with the factory E-locker runner that came with 4.30 gears, which are perfect gears for 33's

And my runner doesnt ride like a truck, its got coils all around too, i get compliments on the ride quality all the time. my 92 pickup, now that rides like a truck.

hope some of these points help, a jeep is a jeep. they are great off road, but you have to put a lot of money in axles, gears, lift, lockers, and frame stiffiners to achieve greatness. and after all that your still more likely to break down on a trail before my stock yota on pucks.
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These are some great points that set the 3rd gen 4 runner apart from other modern suvs. I like a body on frame vehicle, and I will probably enjoy ride from the independent front suspension down the line. I don't really need to flex much. I will never use it to do any sort of rock crawling, but I do want to ad a lift, and larger more aggresive tires to get me into treturous hunting locales.
What i can afford is a 100k +/- mile vehicle and the obvious reliability pedigree of the 3rd gen 4 runner seems to really scratch my itch, not to mention all the right modifications are easily available, and fairly economical as well.
 
Factory Gear Ratio?

Man I sure would like to find one with 4.30 gears, and factory e-locker. Anyone know of a simple way to check the gearing on a potential purchase?
 
4wd-n-archery said:
Man I sure would like to find one with 4.30 gears, and factory e-locker. Anyone know of a simple way to check the gearing on a potential purchase?
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Ha, the only simple way is a pain. You can't trust any of the door jamb stickers, or VIN codes, or anything. You have to jack the truck up, and turn one of the wheels....while counting how many times the driveshaft turns over.

If it's a 3.4 Auto, and it is NOT a complete base model, it probably has 4.10's. Base models sometimes have 3.90's. Usually only 3.4 Auto's with e-lockers got 4.30's.
 
88xtraSR5 said:
Well to start off with the 4runners are the only body on frame suv on the market today,
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Huh?

Dont forget Pathfinder's, Xterra's, Armada's, Landcruisers, Explorer's (current ones, not the new ones coming out), Tahoes, Expeditions, Sequioas, etc. There are actually quite a few body on frame SUV's left, however they are decreasing as the years pass.
 
hey i got 275k miles on my 4runner and it runs like a beast. just take car of ur car and it will take care of you. we bought it back in 2003 or so. ever since then i dont recall any problems. one time we had to replace the driveshaft but other than that we keep it running in tip top condition
 
Paulos said:
My interpetation: From the engineers, down to the assembly worker, the Japanese people value their honor, over their paycheck and benefits.
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I worked in Kyoto for almost 3 years. From what I saw honor is still a very real thing in Japanese culture. Much more than it is to most American's.
 
Satter said:
The irony here is incredible. Not only can an American auto companies not come anywhere near the quality of reliability in a Toyota Hilux, American tv producers of Top Gear can't match the quality of the original english version.
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Well, they have some advantages that the Americans won't be able to match. Mainly, they are BBC, which is basically state TV in the UK, so they don't really need corporate sponsorship, which means they can insult car companies, and their bottom line isn't affected.

Do you really think that an american car show, which sells advertising space primarily to american car companies, is going to tell the truth about how garbage the American cars are? It's sad but true.
 
Nelsonmd said:
Well, they have some advantages that the Americans won't be able to match. Mainly, they are BBC, which is basically state TV in the UK, so they don't really need corporate sponsorship, which means they can insult car companies, and their bottom line isn't affected.

Do you really think that an american car show, which sells advertising space primarily to american car companies, is going to tell the truth about how garbage the American cars are? It's sad but true.
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Agreed. I was over in the "Comparison" forum yesterday looking at the thread about Motor Trend's comparison of the 2010 4RTM vs. 2011 JGC. The comparison was obviously squed to the GC, and I know it was because Chrysler bought a ton of adverts. They didn't even compared the same models. Consumer Report's review of the 2010 4RTM was horse hockey because the lady was saying it didn't have a feel of nicer riding GC. Well, with the suspension that the TM has of course you're going to get a rougher ride. And neither emphazied the 4R's long standing reliabilty.
 
The advertisements or rather the rating given by Motor Trend, should read like this:

Buy a GC as the ride on the flat bed tow truck will be much smoother than the ride of the 4R.......ha ha ha!
 
fightman80 said:
The advertisements or rather the rating given by Motor Trend, should read like this:

Buy a GC as the ride on the flat bed tow truck will be much smoother than the ride of the 4R.......ha ha ha!
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Yeah, see that right there is what I am talking about. Jeremy Clarkson can say that, but Chrysler will start crying and stop advertising with them if they say that here.

I don't believe a single rating/award/best-in-class-XXXX, etc... They are all made up for advertising, or in the case of the awards, probably bought each year by one company. I much prefer consumer reports or similar service with actual measurements and results.

And yeah, American top gear will never be as entertaining as the British version.
 
I thought the 1st 2 episodes of Top Gear US started off pretty slow and the hosts weren't very funny, but I'm really starting to warm up to it now. Taking the Caddie through Uwharrie was simply awesome and it really showed me that thesse guys can be ridiculous and entertaining like the BBC version too. I think the guys are starting to feel comfortable with eachother and the show also now. The BBC TG had to change their host line up at 1st to get the right chemistry so they had a less than glorious start too. I really think the US version is going to be a great show as time goes on.

I think Tanner Foust is a seriously bad ass driver too. The Ford Raptor racing the high elevation skydiver was sick. And he did talk some s**t about the interior of the Raptor (which I agree with completely) so I think they are as honest about the vehicles as they can be without loosing their advertisers. I don't think the American cars they feature are garbage either. Now yes, if they were testing out Chevy Equinoxes and Buick Skylarks than they would have a challenge to keep interest in the show, but if you don't think that Viper ACR and that Raptor are absolutely sick to the sickest degree of sickness, then I dunno.
 
brian2sun said:
I don't think the American cars they feature are garbage either. Now yes, if they were testing out Chevy Equinoxes and Buick Skylarks than they would have a challenge to keep interest in the show, but if you don't think that Viper ACR and that Raptor are absolutely sick to the sickest degree of sickness, then I dunno.
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Oh, now we have a problem... I can tolerate a lot sir, but not ungentlemanly insults of the illustrious skylark!

I DEMAND SATISFACTION!!!!!
 
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