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As far as off road, unless you have the 4R TRD Pro, the GX is as capable and even more so on trails than the 4R, mainly because of the V8.
With the 2010, the approach angle isn’t any worse than my 2010 4Runner. The 14+ GXs? Yeah the approach angle is far from an afterthought. It’s the reason people look down on this truck as an off road bred vehicle. I have plans to chop it up anyways. Sliders are a must especially with these obnoxious side steps. And yes, departure angle and the lack of plus sized spare tire carrying options have forced me into an off road bumper with tire carrier. This will correct the departure angle but I agree completely. My 4R was simply the SR5 premium, so none of the fancy off road wizardry and I’m grateful for that. With 4 low and A-Atrac, I could do anything my Jeep buddies were doing and I leaned the technical aspects of off roading I may have otherwise missed by relying on electronics to make me look better than I was.
You make a good point that I noticed recently...steering feel and responsiveness is way better in the 4Runner. I’m still waiting on my Ironman lift to arrive, but it’ll be interesting to see how that translates to the trail. The tech stuff I’m sure is nice but nothing that can’t be upgraded at an expense on the GX. I’m certainly missing the “party mode” button (literally a button that says party mode) for the audio system which, by the way, is so much better in the GX it isn’t even funny. The stock audio in the 4Runner is about as good as my 1990s boom box was. Haha. Congrats on the purchase though. Small nuances aside, the 4R is an incredible and ridiculously reliable truck. After 112,000 miles on mine, it didn’t miss one single beat or need service beyond normal maintenance. They’re literal tanks.
I love the roll down window! Wish the GX had it...
I had only wanted a 2010-2012 GX owing primarily to my dislike of the spindle grill. We initially wanted to pay cash as well. We drove almost 5 hours South to San Francisco to purchase a 2012 at a Lexus dealer and actually did so only for them to spend 3 days trying to get the thing to pass smog. Being trapped in Daly City is not too fun.
Y’all know the trick to ride around with the rear window lifted open on the GX, right? I also miss the roll down but this is a good work around to achieve almost the same thing.
Yea someone even sells a kit for it but it's really nothing more than a turnbuckle hook with a piece of rubber hose over it.
Haha. Got you. I’m telling myself it’s almost as good as being able to hit a button. Better than the 470 and having a fixed window I suppose.
Yes, roll down rear window would be nice, along with a tailgate too.
