Who Stores their T4R through the winter...?

[MStudt]

I store mine outside all night after I get home from work.

 

[TOY2G]

If they are showpieces meant for selling parts off of, then yes that is acceptable, however I'm assuming the same standards apply to mudding/off roading with them. Essentially they are driven on road only as an advertising piece.

If they are a privately owned vehicle they should be driven in the snow but properly maintained (rinsed weekly, undercoating, etc...) during the winter months while salt is on the road.

I drove my 4runner for years in the salt and snow and never had any rust issues. I would rinse it off weekly and get underneath in one of the DIY car wash bays... It was a 3rd gen and had no rust on the bumpers or anything. Held up very well.

We like to play in them and we take them wheeling at every "show" we go to, but here in Ohio I play it safe because even with two jobs (one being Pathfinder Outdoors) I cannot afford to let components rust. If I were a bigger company, perhaps it would not be an issue, but for someone in my tax bracket on a single income family budget, I simply don't think the risk (no matter how small) is worth the small joy from driving these in the winter. FWIW, my winter 4runner and Tundra get washed EVERY fill up (twice a week or more) but even with that, the chemical they spray on the roads here is causing ruse on the welds of the frame, and not the surface variety..

I understand if they are show/advertising/business exhibits. That is what makes you money. I don't like clowns either.

Mostly just advertising, however most of my advertising is done on the CO, TX, NM trails....I can kinda only afford the billboards I have and don't want them looking like many of the vehicles I see around here.

I didn't look at it as 'snow or show', I figured they were for 4-wheeling on dry desert trails in Texas where the OP is from.

I wish I were back in TX, I have never had a winter vehicle in my life, even in Oregon where I grew up and went to college. We use to snow wheel browns camp and sweethome pretty much every weekend, even alot of beach time in Florance. but they use cinder on the roads there and it does not cause rust at all. My 1973 F150 spent its whole life there and had not one spot of rust when I sold it for my first Toyota in 2001.

 

[nguyenn]

I bought my 14 TEP to be driven in winter/fall/summer in any condition. Isn't this what a rig is for? But to each their own I guess ;-)

 

[gm350reratliff]

Soooooooooo glad I don't live in the rust belt! Bring on the snow!

 

[hounddogman]

You have me loosing sleep about the mice now.

When I was a kid growing up in the Mojave desert we had a 68 FJ40 with no top so it spent most of the winter parked next to the wood pile . One spring my dad started it up and it started backfiring, and every time it backfired a mouse would be shot out one of the duel exhaust pipes. By the time it was done there was 3 or 4 mice on each side, wondering around in circles, dazed and ' exhausted '.

 

[91'4bee]

I worry about rust a little mainly because my runner boards on my '91 have a good amount of rust underneath(they are the factory originals). But everything else including the frame underneath this 23 yr old truck has no rust or even surface rust!

That being said I do put it in a garage every night and wash it when I can(paint or clearcoat is sun bleached peeling so I dont hard core wax everytime)

However I can see the OP storing them because if my 4runner wasnt a DD I would store mine and give it a lot of cosmetic attention and fix the little things :happy:

 

[tH1e swiN1e]

I kept yours in the heated warehouse last year, it was a little spoiled but it deserved it. I miss it every time I smash the skinny pedal in my 5th gens...

Its still spoiled. When its not on the move its in the garage and gets hand washed regularly. Just had the cladding and rear bumper redone and new wheels should be delivered in the next few days.

Toyota needs to offer a V8 in the 5th gens.....

 

[RiFF RaFF]

I can understand storing vehicle(s) during the winter. I do that with my 2008 Pontiac Solstice GXP. Still looks show-room new.

My 93 4Runner on the other hand gets out to enjoy off roading in any kind of weather. Especially winter driving.

:crazy:

 

[68dave]

This may sound stupid, but on my 00 runner and 04 tacoma (both 4x4's) i put them on the lift at work during the winter months and wipe down the frames & suspension parts with oil soaked rags. Then i use the bulk oil dispenser gun and shoot oil into all the frame holes that are accessible from the front to the rear. Even during the summer months you can still feel a oily film on the frame. So far no rust issues.

 

[Super-G]

This may sound stupid, but on my 00 runner and 04 tacoma (both 4x4's) i put them on the lift at work during the winter months and wipe down the frames & suspension parts with oil soaked rags. Then i use the bulk oil dispenser gun and shoot oil into all the frame holes that are accessible from the front to the rear. Even during the summer months you can still feel a oily film on the frame. So far no rust issues.

In 1994 when I was still on active duty in the Marines I bought a brand new Jeep Wrangler. When I got out of the Marines in 1995, I brought the Jeep home to Pennsylvania. I daily drove that Jeep from 1995 to 2012 when I bought my 02 4 Runner Sport. I still have the Jeep. It's parked under a carport at my vacation home in the Pocono mountains of PA.

I did the same thing to my Jeep and to this day it's not all rotted out underneath. Trust me I drove the snot out of that Jeep in all weather conditions. I used it for skiing in the winter and in the summer I used it to drop my fishing boat into our lake. As long as you take the time to properly care for your vehicle you should be fine.

My 4WD's ALWAYS sit outside because my Musclecar has a reserved spot in my garage.

 

[LandCruiser]

I like having the most capable and safe vehicle there is during the winter.

I don't understand this entire buying a "winter beater" deathtrap mentality people have in Colorado... but then I don't understand a lot about the people in this state.

 

[TOY2G]

I like having the most capable and safe vehicle there is during the winter.

I don't understand this entire buying a "winter beater" deathtrap mentality people have in Colorado... but then I don't understand a lot about the people in this state.

I get your point, but our winter (beater) vehicles are:
Tundra 4x4
4Runner 4x4
Lexus 4x4

I would hardly call any of them a death trap.....If it were not for the rust, I would not even own winter vehicles.

 

[LandCruiser]

I get your point, but our winter (beater) vehicles are:
Tundra 4x4
4Runner 4x4
Lexus 4x4

I would hardly call any of them a death trap.....If it were not for the rust, I would not even own winter vehicles.

I have a 97 80 series, while it can go over the thickest and deepest snow and ice, it has proven moody when it's -20.

I really don't trust it to drive from Colorado Springs to Woodland Park at night in the dead of winter.