Toyota 4Runner

beagles3 · June 2002

I can't wait until the new ones come out...I just hope that they keep roughly the same exterior shape and don't go hog wild on making the vehicle rounded/etc....I have a 1999 SR5 that has been a beautiful rig,but, I want the V-8 power.

spfotey · June 2002

Is it confirmed that there is NOT a third row seat??

md2002 · June 2002

I wasn't planning on getting anything until December/January anyway so the V6 SR5/Sport works out. I liked the hood scoop on the current ones. Besides let the initial hype die down some to get a decent deal.

tbcreative · June 2002

I've heard it from numerous sources that there won't be a 3rd row seat option on the 4Runner, at least for it's introduction. Word is they're only offering it on the GX470, but I'm guessing they'll eventually offer it as an option or maybe standard on the Limited. Who knows, they may be planning to offer it on the Limited right away, but are keeping tight raps on the info. Time will tell...

Speaking of time, I'm with you, md2002. Waiting for the hype to die down is exactly what I'm doing before I purchase a '03. It's probably smart to wait for them to get any kinks or recalls out of their system with an all new platform too. Beside I want to drive the V6 to be sure I've made the best choice.

beagles3 · June 2002

I think you all are right about waiting and letting the hype die down (prices too). But, with the economy the way it is and the dealerships wanting business, I will drive the V-8 & V-6, make a decision and try to deal,but, if they are not willing to give good deals, then I will be patient. My 99 SR5 has 97,000 and has been just superb,but, I am hungry for more power and for the heated leather seats,so, I am biting at the bit to do a test drive on the 2003......

rward99 · June 2002

I had heard that the JBL was going to be offered in the new 4Runner. That's one area that I REALLY want to splurge on this time - a kick a** radio CD player. I rented an Avalon with the JBL in it and I've been missing it ever since. If it doesn't shake enough viscera I'm driving down to Circuit City for a bigger amp.

The automatic climate control is another option the Avalon had that I liked. None of that turn the air on, air off, air on, air off stuff. Set the temp at 72 and just listen to the JBL, cruising down the highway and pulling the Ranger on down to the lake....

Yep, that's what I'm dreaming about today. Can you tell I have a fishing trip coming up? 8 more days to zero hour

mtm13 · June 2002

Has anyone heard if the 03 will offer memory seats? -- at least on the Limited model hopefully. This is one area that I think Toyota completely overlooked on the current lineup of vehicles. You know they have the technology worked out because it is in all the Lexus vehicles and on the Avalon -- so why not on the SUV's that cost $30k-$40k? The LandCruiser and the Sequoia should both have it -- esp the Seq since it is a newer design. I would probably get the Seq if it had the memory seats in it, but I have always loved the look of the current 4Runner, it was just a little too cramped on the inside and was a little underpowered in my opinion.

In my perfect world the new 4Runner will be proportioned just right (little larger - not too big though), will still have the same aggressively styled look it always has had, get all the techno touches it should have -- like memory seats, wheel mounted audio controls etc, and the V8 will really move. I'll drive THAT truck until the wheels fall off.

tbcreative · June 2002

From what I hear, the GX470 has memory seats, which should carry down to the 4Runner. And I should certainly hope so, with all the competition out there that does offer that!

If this next generation 4Runner is everything I it seems to be (and I'm hoping for), I'm right there with you. I'll be driving this vehicle until the wheels fall off as well, which could be a very long time, given Toyota's track record. When this truck comes out, unless someone needs a huge hauler or a little run-about, I'm not sure why they'd look any further than the 4Runner or GX for their next SUV!

bodydouble · June 2002

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but will the '03 4Runner still be a truck-based rig with a separate ladder frame?

tbcreative · June 2002

Yesiree! It will indeed continue to be body on frame! Thank goodness Toyota understands and respects 4Runner and off-road loyalists. For more info, well the only info we have available about the platform of the new 4Runner so far, check out the article about the GX470 on http://www.suv.com. And be sure to check my posting above about the latest on what will be offered with the SR5 Sport Edition for the '03, from a Toyota insider.

cliffy1 · June 2002

It must be a bummer to have to wait so long between fishing trips. FYI, I had my Ranger out on the Potomac yesterday like I do every Thursday.

rsholland · June 2002

<< I had my Ranger out on the Potomac yesterday like I do every Thursday. >>

Hmmm... Ford really does believe in "No Boundaries!"

Bob

rward99 · June 2002

>It must be a bummer to have to wait so long between fishing trips

(heavy sigh) You don't know the half of it. Every day I pass by it sitting in the garage, gathering dust. But I'm all fired up about going to Minnesota in less than one week.

rdavis2710 · June 2002

Hello everyone!

I have been reading this board for 6 months now. About 2 weeks ago, after many test drives, research articles read, deliberations...I made the decision and bought a 2002 Toyota 4Runner Thunder Cloud Silver, Sport package!!!!!! The car came with everything, including the moonroof, rear heater, and heavy duty brakes. The sticker was $33,800. With the rebate, I paid $29K (did I get a good deal???). I have many questions for this board - and will be posting all of them!

My decision came down to the 4 runner and the Pathfinder. I really liked the additional horsepower on the pathfinder - but it came down to my wife saying to me - "aren't you going to be dissapointed if you don't get a Toyota?" We have a camry and it is rock solid.

I love the Toyota dealer - no pressure, and they seemed very honest.

Rick

rdavis2710 · June 2002

I appreciate if someone could help me out with some answers to these questions...

1. What makes the brakes on the new 2002 heavy duty? - Does anyone know the reliability of these new brakes? I should have asked the dealer...

2. When should I get the first oil change? Its free and the salesman said at about 2K - is that enought time to get the oil circulated?

Rick

cliffy1 · June 2002

The front brakes have larger discs than are considered "normal." Since I've left the sales department, I forgot the exact size, but I believe they are 12.5" front discs. That is part of the alloy wheel package.

First oil change according to the book is at 5000, although I personally prefer 3000.

cliffy1 · June 2002

Did I mention Ranger is a boat? I saw your post and said "Doh!"

Did you know that Toyota made and effort at boat building a couple of years ago? They made two inboard, stern drive ski boats. They had a marine modified version of the 4.0 liter V8 from the old LS400. The effort was a complete failure for a number of reasons. The primary one was the limited market for stern drive ski boats and limited distribution network.

If Toyota built a 225 HP outboard, I'd buy it in a minute. I hate Mercury.

rsholland · June 2002

I know, I was just pulling your leg.

BTW, you could always buy a Honda outboard...

Speaking of Honda: Did you know that they just introduced a 3.5L V6 outboard, which is essentially a marine conversion of the MDX/Pilot/Odyessy engine? And that they also have a 2.3L 4-cylinder outboard which is a marine conversion of the Accord engine?

Here's the Honda Marine link:

http://www.honda-marine.com/hmframeset.htm

One version of the V6 Honda outboard does put out 225 HP.

Bob

cliffy1 · June 2002

The Honda 4 stroke is nice but may not be the best thing for my purposes. Four stroke OB motors don't develop torque quickly enough for smaller "pad boats". They are great on off-shore boats, but if you need to jump onto plane VERY fast, a 2 stroke is still the way to go.

Honestly though, after all the trouble my Merc has been, I'd probably live with the slower hole shot. Say... wanna buy an outboard?

rdavis2710 · June 2002

I appreciate the answer.

Since you used to be in sales, what do you think of all the "gimmicks" offered by the dealerships - you know - the paint sealant, fabric sealant, undercoating..I did not purchase any of it. It seems to me a good wax job twice a year will help keep the paint looking good, and the car already had the undercoating on it, and I don't allow food in my car...so why pay for all fo that?

By the way, when can I first wax the car?

I just love this vehicle!!!!!

Rick

cliffy1 · June 2002

That's a hard question to answer. Some of it depend upon where you live. I used to think paint sealant was nothing more than snake oil, but two things changed my mind over the past year.

First, I went to Florida. Florida does not have problems with acid rain and it shows. Even very old cars still had their paint. Here in VA, 7 to 8 year old cars are VERY faded. It wasn't until the trip to FL that I realized just how bad things are up here.

Next, a potential subcontractor told me something I didn't know. We were looking into setting up an arrangement with Line-X for spray-in bed liners for our trucks. I asked the guy if it was necessary to scuff the paint prior to applying the liner. His response shocked me. "No, with Line-X, we don't have to scuff the bed. The material we use is heated to 170 degrees and instantly adheres to the paint itself. It cools rapidly and is bonded in. Now, we want to do this before your guys get to it with the paint protection. That stuff is very hard and it doesn't melt. If you guys have already applied that stuff, then we have to sand the bed before applying the liner."

As to wether there is value to you depend on where you live and how much the dealer is charging. I am lazy by nature and I know wax melts at about 130 degrees. If I were a long term owner (I'm not, I lease), and if the price was decent, I'd probably get it done to my truck.

norwesterner · June 2002

A different prop, maybe stainless, will give you a better hole shot. I think you sacrifice on top end however.

cliffy1 · June 2002

I know if I comment too much on this, we will get a topic drift warning but... We're talking about 225 HP engines here and I don't know of anybody who uses an aluminum prop with that much power. I've got a fantastic hole shot right now with the Mercury Optimax 225, but I've heard that the new Honda and Yamaha 4 strokes suffer in this department on performance bass boats. They are well suited to slower and heavier off-shore center consoles because they are not as dependent on getting on plane in shallow water.

Ummm... how do I get this on topic? Well... if Toyota could take the 3.4 engine from the Runner, switch it to a direct injection 2 stroke, keep the weight under 520 pounds, not loose any reliability, attach a reliable lower unit and hang it off the back of a boat... I'd buy it.

stever · June 2002

We'll cut y'all some slack since it's the weekend :-)

I thought 2 strokes were on some ban list so they were going to be phased out by the end of the decade? My buddy is looking for a 4 to 6 horse outboard to push his cataraft around.

As always, watch those anchor lines....

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

cliffy1 · June 2002

Thanks for the reminder on the anchor rope. I can still see the imprint and bruise on my right ankle from last year's experience. I'm heading out on Thursday to the same area but this time, I have a wreck anchor.

rsholland · June 2002

I've got many years of motorcycling under my belt, and I've owned both 2-stroke and 4-stroke motorcycles. 2-strokes always have a power advantage, displacement-for-displacement. However, they are dirty engines (as compared to 4-strokes), more subject to seizure, and are very thirsty for their size.

Give me a 4-stroke any day.

Bob

norwesterner · June 2002

What do you mean drift, we were just getting to the right Toyota to pull these watercraft....right?!!

rsholland · June 2002

and it's vacation timeeven from 4Runner discussions!

Bob

rdavis2710 · June 2002

3 weeks old and I have 1,700 miles on it!!!

This car/truck is a dream!!!

cevans2 · June 2002

I seem to remember sometime back that someone mentioned that they had trouble balancing the OEM 16" rims on their runner, but I can't find the post. I just replaced the tires on my Runner with 275/60 16 Dunlops on the factory rims - OEM is 265/70 16 Goodyears. I've got this shimmy in the steering wheel above 60MPH that does not appear to be a result of wheel balancing since I have had the wheels balanced at 2 different places. I'm wondering if there is something weird with these rims that I don't know about. The old tires shimmied a little but not this much but they had 40K on them since the last balance. Anyone have any ideas? I'm driving 2000 miles round-trip soon and I CANNOT stand vibration for that whole time.

beagles3 · June 2002

I have a 1999 with the factory 16 in rims/tires. Seems with the last two sets of tires that I have purchased since new, I have had trouble getting the tires balanced well enough so that I would not feel it in the steering wheel. I have had excellent luck with Discount Tire here in the Seattle area and I am not sure how many miles you have on your 4-Runner,but, at 89,000 I had to replace my front shocks/rotors because their failure was adding to the problem. In previous e-mails, it was mentioned that buying a good tire like a Michelin seemed to help because of the way that they are made, there is less chance for bad tires/etc....

joatmon · June 2002

I previously posted about Michelin tires. The port installed Michelin LTX M/S were changed at 74k and probably had another 10k in them if I had wanted to stretch it. I replaced them with Michelin Cross Terrains. After 15k, I can report that they are great tires. I do not go off-road, and I fell that they are not the tire for any serious off-roading. But the XTerrains give a great highway ride, and are noticably better that the LTX M/S in rain. No balance issues with either tire.

Another possibility is the over tightening of the lugs. With those big impact wrenches, it's not too hard to get a rotor warped.

Knowing the long life of Michelins, I tend to rotate my tires at 20-30k. Less chance of a warped rotor because of over tightening. I'm on my original pads and rotors at 89k. Looked like I had another 20k when inspected at 85k.

This 4Runner is a keeper. I usually trade at 50k, but I like it better now than when new.

Happy trails,

Jack

cevans2 · June 2002

Thanx for the responses. I had the tire shop where I bought the tires rotate them for me today to see if it helped - back to front, front to back. It seems like it did help greatly. The vibration is almost totally gone - I really only noticed it because I was looking for it. Looks like I might have gotten a defective tire. The shop is in the process of ordering a new pair of Dunlops for me. They are concerned about the increase in tire size, 265 to 275. I don't think this could be a problem, but I'll let them do their research and tell me what they think. If I do go back to the original size, I think I'll buy 3 Goodyears, use my full-size unused spare (Goodyear)and put 1 of the old Goodyears I kept as the spare. The Goodyears are expensive though and they rate just OK. Anybody have any experience/suggestions?

PS - I have 42K on the 4runner and I think the Goodyears were the original set.

beagles3 · June 2002

I have OEM Goodyear Wranger RT/S and I have had no problems what so ever. Seems like each tire dealership has their favorite balancers. I have had good luck when they have used a machine called a Road Force/Road Variance machine?? Seems it finds the right spots in the tires in which to put the weights, rather than the conventional balancer which I guess is not quite as accurate?? I drive up here in the Pacific Northwest where the winters are wet and use my rig for skiing and I have never gotten stuck nor have had any handling problems?? I don't use this vehicle for off-roading purposes and I personally think that the all-season tires handle better in my particular climate. We used to own a CJ-7 and we had the mud terrains and swampers,so, our ride suffered because we were playing in the mud/snow.

brian124 · June 2002

I managed to drop a bottle of wax beside my 4Runner and wax squirted up on to the running board when the bottle hit the ground. I've tried scrubbing the plastic with a water detergent mix and am not having any luck removing the residue. I've heard that wax is tough to get off of rubber/plastic. Any suggestions?? Thanks.

beagles3 · June 2002

Have you tried Armor All Cleaner?? Then follow up with Armor All Protectant...I usually keep either Armor All or Meguiar's Spray Protectant on my running boards...Hope this helps??

g_husky · June 2002

You might try Simple Green. I have that thick textured coating along the bottom of my Ford truck that I suppose is there to keep rocks from chipping the paint. It has accumulated much white wax in the dimples from past couple years. I sprayed some Simple Green on it (straight up) and hosed after 5 or so minutes. Took most all of it off with zero elbow grease. I'd read the bottle first to make sure okay on plastic, etc.

tiredofmanual · June 2002

All-natural peanut butter will get the wax off of plastic.

beagles3 · June 2002

The dealers up here in Seattle are suggesting September rather than an early release date?? I can't wait because want to see the new body style/engine combo's before I sell my 1999 SR5 4-Runner...

semantics · June 2002

They are right.
Dealers still are unable to "preference" this model for 2003 and that is indicative of a car for September and October. I wouldn't look for an early release of the 03 models at all. It's not in the plans.

The first week for production is around 8/20/02, meaning they are being built in Japan that week. It's at least 6 weeks before we even SEE one on the west coast available for sale.

tbcreative · June 2002

I can't wait!

Any word on a press release date yet?

Did I mention...I CAN'T WAIT!!!

amy8222 · June 2002

By any chance is there a possibility that the 2003 might be offered in a manual transmission, or is it to soon to ask this. Why did Toyota stop producing the 4Runner in a 5spd in the first place?

12monkeys · June 2002

I HAVE A 97 4RUNNER SR5 WITH 105,000. SINCE ABOUT 90,000 AND AFTER EXCEEDING 50MPH, THE STEERING WHEEL STARTS VIBRATING. I THOUGHT IT WAS THE TIRES SO I REPLACED THEM WITH BF GOODRICH. THAT DIDN'T FIX THE SHAKING. ANY IDEAS ANYONE?

tbcreative · June 2002

As far as I know, there won't be a manual transmission offered on the '03 4Runner, at least in it's introduction. The V8 definitely won't have it, but it's possible there may be a base model version with the new V6 that could have a manual transmission. From what I gather, after Toyota dropped the extremely wimpy 4 cylinder, soon also went the man. trans. Usually, dropping something like that means there was too little demand for it, and therefore not cost-effective to keep on the production line. I'm guessing that's the case with the 4Runner as well.

With automatics being governed by so many advances in electronics that allow shift points to occur at the most efficient intervals, resulting in matched or bettered fuel economy and acceleration, in many cases, coupled with the fact that over-populated city highways have created driving conditions undesirable for a stick shift, manual transmissions have become really unpopular, especially with a vehicle this size.

cliffy1 · June 2002

Tbcreative is on the right track here. It is my understanding that manuals went away because of emissions. Because shift points are governed by the various computers, ignition is retarded during the shifts. This makes for fewer emissions and keeps the EPA happy (well, nothing actually makes the EPA happy so lets just say it made them less irritated).

With a manual transmission, the engine computer can't predict when the shifts are coming.

cliffy1 · June 2002

As was discussed yesterday, it does look like an October release for the new Runner. Today, we received the launch itinerary but somebody seems to have lost it. One guy who saw it remembers it is due into the dealers on or about October 15. First allocation isn't even until mid September. If the memo shows up, I'll post the exact dates.

tbcreative · June 2002

Thanks, cliffy1. I forgot about the fact that Toyota/Lexus is touting this new truck platform as a Low Emission Vehicle, which means probably no manual transmission is in the 4Runner's cards for the reason you mention.

I can't wait until you find that memo!

rsholland · June 2002

I wonder if it will be the 5-speed automatic that the Lexus GX470 is getting? And... if the Land Cruiser, Sequoia Tacoma and Tundra will also get that 5-speed auto unit?

Bob

tiredofmanual · June 2002

Have your alignment checked. In all the cases I've seen where this type of thing happens, the vehicle gets out of alignment and that leads to the tires wearing badly. You've fixed part of the problem with new tires, now have your alignment checked before you ruin your new tires.

mrwhipple · June 2002

You might try checkng the steering dampener shock up front. They tend to leek after a while and need replacing. The steering generally tends to feel a bit mushy and can cause shaking when this happens.

Toyota 4Runner

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