That is a very cool product, and for a reasonable price, too!
GX460 & GXOR B.S. thread
- Thread starter Roody
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Something I remind my fellow Jeep club members ALL the time when the going gets too hot or too cold!
Ha, I did exactly the same. That and the extra plastic lower moldings.
I saw an older Lincoln navigator on my commute yesterday, the air suspension had completely failed and the truck was "Hella flush" on all 4 corners. I literally said out loud "and that right there is why I did NOT buy the luxury trim".
Factory air suspension is cost prohibitive to repair.
I think the base is a brilliant version for those of us who came from a JL / JK, 4R, similar... it's damn near as good off road, no luxury liabilities like useless plastic giblets or an air suspension we'd replace anyway, but still a heightened sense of "niceness" as compared to those other vehicles. All the tough, minimal fluff.
OEM bags on my GX made it to about 140K and 14 years of age before they developed micro-cracks and started leaking intermittently. It was a nice system when it was working, but the handling is better with coils. I ended up putting aux bags inside the coils for towing, and manually inflate them when needed.
- Thread starter
- #3,206
1000%. Prior to the GX I had multiple 4Runners (4th and 5th gens) and a JK (albeit briefly), and couldn't agree more.
4.0 1GR in the T4R is much too underpowered for me, and has the V6 sound, which I do not like. All things equal, the GX is worth it for the V8 alone. The nicer interior pieces and sound deadening are icing on the cake.
Hiluxforever
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #3,209
Agreed on all counts.
That said, I probably should have kept my 2018 TRD Off-Road Premium. I much prefer selectable 2WD/4WD (yes yes yes I know we as a collective have discussed this to no end about whether selectable or full-time 4WD is "better" or not, but I just prefer the former), the roll-down rear window with lift-open hatch are better in every way short of not holding a tailgate table, and it had a factory rear locker.
Then again, hindsight is 20/20, and I do love my 460.
I can imagine
. A 100-hp SOHC Saturn was the slowest car I've owned, but at 2,300# and with a manual, it was still fun to drive. V8s are just good at spoiling the driver.
Hiluxforever
SILVER Star
Yep. I loved wringing out my little 5MT civic.I can imagine
I have been chatting with my best friend about his next purchase. They want reliability above all else, and no frills. I suggested a 4Runner. 5th gen. A 470 is a close second, albeit getting old now.
I think the 4L is absolutely bulletproof - no cam tower leaks, heater tees, timing belts, ect. Maybe theyd have to take care with the transmission like any WS Toyota AT these days.
I think the 10-14 Limited is the best you can get, but I have not personally driven one. They wont offroad it much if at all, but full time 4wd would be best.
Hiluxforever
SILVER Star
Next rig will be a 2TR 4wd 5MT taco. I have put almost 10k into my 1UR.
I was in the same boat with a family member recently. My extended family was all in on Subarus for a long time, bit a few of us had collectively been burned by design flaws with the 4th gen Outbacks and a string of downright awful dealer experiences. This person is retired and wanted something that 1) just works, 2) can be easily serviced by just about any mechanic without needing a dealer, and 3) could potentially still be running 20 years from now.
I came to the same recommendation as you - 5th gen T4R. They picked up a 2023 4Runner that was Toyota Certified-used. It has modern tech (Car Play, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise, 360 camera), but all the bulletproof parts you mentioned. With regular fluid changes it should easily 15-20 years, if not more. I've driven it and like it quite a bit (XREAS handles nice), BUT, it's a bit lethargic coming from my modded 2UZ with 4.56 gears.
Personally I'd have no qualms with a GX460 but would immediately put in a CSF radiator and aux trans cooler and change all fluids often (deja vu as I said this on another thread a few days ago
). And I'd swap over the wheels/tires, suspension, and axles from my GX470...and have a pretty awesome rig.
My neighbor used to have a Land Rover back when there was a dealership in town. Once a month or so a flatbed tow truck would have to come take it into town. And that was the times I seen it. She now has a Mercedes G Wagon. The flatbed only shows up around every other month now.
I've been off roading since the mid 70's. You can have my Lux with air bags when you pry them from my cold dead hands LOL. I do tow around a ton a couple times a week in the summer hauling my Polaris Ranger to shoots. And hunting in Canada and the North Shore of Lake Superior in the fall and love the self leveling bags. Even my Ranger has self leveling rear suspension. With arched A arms and 14" of ground clearance.
Every suspension is a compromise of one type or another. My Baja T|X Taco had Bilstein 6112 TRD custom valved shocks from the factory. When I test drove it hit a straight section of dirt road near the dealership and was amazed at how it handled the washboards. But I was doing 50+ mph on them, in real life most washboards I am on are curvy often icy roads. At slower speed the jarring will knock your eye teeth down to your piss sack. At higher speed it was also easier to "float" right off the road due to loss of traction on the washboards in the corners. Back to slow is fast.
I would Fluid Film the frame every fall and just did a quick shot on the shocks. They still rusted out and failed at less than 4 years and Toyota replaced them. Those lasted another 4 years and only ~40K before they gave out. When the original ones were replaced under warranty I installed Firestone Ride Rite air bags. They only take a couple of minutes to inflate\deflate but when you do it a lot is a PITA. The Firestone bags gave out at around 4 maybe 5 years and so did the replacement shocks. Replaced those with Bilstein 5100 and stiffer OME springs and didn't bag it. It was a compromise.
IME most factory shocks and bags only last 80-90K. The GX bags and shocks will go well over 100K some have gone to 200K+ I can live with that and will likely replace them with OEM at around 100K. Having to rebuild custom shocks on a DD is a trip to crazy town and one that I am not taking. Did I mention that all suspensions are a compromise of one type or another yet?
I ended up with the GX when I went to the Toyota dealer in town to look at a 2023 T4R Pro. On the test drive it had the same issue as my Taco it couldn't get out of its own way. Same when the FJ came out and I ended up with an Xterra, still only a V6 but Vroom Vroom! Sounds like you know what I am talking about LOL. Xterra was fine until the strawberry milkshake of death.
Not retired yet but I retired from the Navy 30 years ago last month. And on the 11th will receive my first SS check but still working. Full retirement age plus 1 year so nothing to loose by drawing now. And will until they piss me off or a couple more years which ever comes first. I was looking for what was hopefully my last vehicle. First 4x4 was a 77 FJ55 Iron Pig and thought it would be cool to get a LC250 but chickened out at the last minute due to it being a first year release vehicle.
Up until the GX I was more the bare bones stick a hose in the rig to wash out the mud and blood. Now I am ruined for life I can never go backwards, I didn't know what I didn't know. I can drive someplace for more than an hour and get out ready to go not spending 15 minutes or so getting my joints and body to work again.
At 60K and only put on ~10K a year so have a few years to go yet to make a decision. With the cost of new vehicles leaning toward keeping the GX. And at 90K doing a full waterside replacement plus plugs, suspension, etc. Still be cheaper in the long game. But there is a point of diminishing returns as a vehicle gets older. And the 460 is not as bullet proof as many would have you believe. The LX700h OT has my attention but there is no way in hell I'm paying 3 times what I paid for my first stick house for one.
As to a Ubiquitous vehicle world wide it would be the Chevy Suburban. Those huge land yachts that take up the whole trail and then some, hard pass. In the North woods second would be a Dodge (now Ram) truck. Another hard pass have that T shirt many years ago and went through 2 trannies plus a rebuild in 120K. The trucks are easy to work on but I don't want to HAVE to work on my rig anymore. Especially in the woods miles from anywhere with no cell phone reception.
I've been off roading since the mid 70's. You can have my Lux with air bags when you pry them from my cold dead hands LOL. I do tow around a ton a couple times a week in the summer hauling my Polaris Ranger to shoots. And hunting in Canada and the North Shore of Lake Superior in the fall and love the self leveling bags. Even my Ranger has self leveling rear suspension. With arched A arms and 14" of ground clearance.
Every suspension is a compromise of one type or another. My Baja T|X Taco had Bilstein 6112 TRD custom valved shocks from the factory. When I test drove it hit a straight section of dirt road near the dealership and was amazed at how it handled the washboards. But I was doing 50+ mph on them, in real life most washboards I am on are curvy often icy roads. At slower speed the jarring will knock your eye teeth down to your piss sack. At higher speed it was also easier to "float" right off the road due to loss of traction on the washboards in the corners. Back to slow is fast.
I would Fluid Film the frame every fall and just did a quick shot on the shocks. They still rusted out and failed at less than 4 years and Toyota replaced them. Those lasted another 4 years and only ~40K before they gave out. When the original ones were replaced under warranty I installed Firestone Ride Rite air bags. They only take a couple of minutes to inflate\deflate but when you do it a lot is a PITA. The Firestone bags gave out at around 4 maybe 5 years and so did the replacement shocks. Replaced those with Bilstein 5100 and stiffer OME springs and didn't bag it. It was a compromise.
IME most factory shocks and bags only last 80-90K. The GX bags and shocks will go well over 100K some have gone to 200K+ I can live with that and will likely replace them with OEM at around 100K. Having to rebuild custom shocks on a DD is a trip to crazy town and one that I am not taking. Did I mention that all suspensions are a compromise of one type or another yet?
I was in the same boat with a family member recently. My extended family was all in on Subarus for a long time, bit a few of us had collectively been burned by design flaws with the 4th gen Outbacks and a string of downright awful dealer experiences. This person is retired and wanted something that 1) just works, 2) can be easily serviced by just about any mechanic without needing a dealer, and 3) could potentially still be running 20 years from now.
I came to the same recommendation as you - 5th gen T4R. They picked up a 2023 4Runner that was Toyota Certified-used. It has modern tech (Car Play, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise, 360 camera), but all the bulletproof parts you mentioned. With regular fluid changes it should easily 15-20 years, if not more. I've driven it and like it quite a bit (XREAS handles nice), BUT, it's a bit lethargic coming from my modded 2UZ with 4.56 gears.
Personally I'd have no qualms with a GX460 but would immediately put in a CSF radiator and aux trans cooler and change all fluids often (deja vu as I said this on another thread a few days ago
I ended up with the GX when I went to the Toyota dealer in town to look at a 2023 T4R Pro. On the test drive it had the same issue as my Taco it couldn't get out of its own way. Same when the FJ came out and I ended up with an Xterra, still only a V6 but Vroom Vroom! Sounds like you know what I am talking about LOL. Xterra was fine until the strawberry milkshake of death.
Not retired yet but I retired from the Navy 30 years ago last month. And on the 11th will receive my first SS check but still working. Full retirement age plus 1 year so nothing to loose by drawing now. And will until they piss me off or a couple more years which ever comes first. I was looking for what was hopefully my last vehicle. First 4x4 was a 77 FJ55 Iron Pig and thought it would be cool to get a LC250 but chickened out at the last minute due to it being a first year release vehicle.
Up until the GX I was more the bare bones stick a hose in the rig to wash out the mud and blood. Now I am ruined for life I can never go backwards, I didn't know what I didn't know. I can drive someplace for more than an hour and get out ready to go not spending 15 minutes or so getting my joints and body to work again.
At 60K and only put on ~10K a year so have a few years to go yet to make a decision. With the cost of new vehicles leaning toward keeping the GX. And at 90K doing a full waterside replacement plus plugs, suspension, etc. Still be cheaper in the long game. But there is a point of diminishing returns as a vehicle gets older. And the 460 is not as bullet proof as many would have you believe. The LX700h OT has my attention but there is no way in hell I'm paying 3 times what I paid for my first stick house for one.
As to a Ubiquitous vehicle world wide it would be the Chevy Suburban. Those huge land yachts that take up the whole trail and then some, hard pass. In the North woods second would be a Dodge (now Ram) truck. Another hard pass have that T shirt many years ago and went through 2 trannies plus a rebuild in 120K. The trucks are easy to work on but I don't want to HAVE to work on my rig anymore. Especially in the woods miles from anywhere with no cell phone reception.
- Thread starter
- #3,216
I was about to head to a dealership to look at a used ~2018 TRD Pro. I was pretty set on it. It would have been my 4th 4Runner. The Pro sold but I was already planning to go to the dealer that night, so I figured a GX was worth test driving if nothing else than for comparative analysis. That was October of 2021, the 2018 GX that I test drove that night is still mine.
Acrad
GOLD Star
I normally hear a lot of hate about long term reliability of the X-REAS system on the limited 4R.
I assume it can be torn off pretty easily and re-fitted with normal shocks when it fails or leaks in the future.
I assume it can be torn off pretty easily and re-fitted with normal shocks when it fails or leaks in the future.
- Thread starter
- #3,218
Did it on my V8 2005 Limited. Relatively easy process.
I'll give this one a thorough inspection just before the Toyota Certified warranty expires. I'm sure it will be leaking and will get a new set of shocks on Toyota's dime. Its kind of an oddball "TRD Sport" model that has a mix of SR5 and Limited options on it, including XREAS and 20" wheels, but a part-time T-case.
Then, when the replacement shocks inevitably leak again a few years after the warranty period ends, I'll have them put a set of Bilstein 5100s on the rig and call it good.
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