My New Ride!!!

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Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald

Hey! Where'd the mountians go?!?!?
10 Year
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
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Back in COMO
They really worked hard to keep that 7 slat front grill didn't they? Guess they figured since they sued hummer for the rights to it, they might as well use it. That's pretty sad, but at least it's not 90,000 dollars like the new land cruiser :(
 
Actually, the LC is ONLY around 78K and some change. :D

But, if I was buying a new Yota today, I think I'd get the 4Runner Trail Edition @ around 37K. Sweet Lookin' Rig.

IMG_0332.webp

IMG_0332.webp
 
The wife and I looked at those when we were shopping. Beautiful rigs.

That's still a hell of a lot of money, and... For almost the same money, there's something that is much better at four wheeling, with dual solid axles and selectable lockers, auto disconnecting sway bars, higher resale values, and a removable top right off the lot -- but I won't mention that here :)

I love Toyota, I just wish they would keep up with the 4 wheeling market :(
 
Yeah... Maybe. But, until that time comes, we'll see. I doubt Jeep has the huevos to go against the wishes of jeep consumers. IF they did do an independent Jeep, it would have to be a major cutting edge revolution type thing. I remember being whole-heartedly upset over the wrangler getting coil springs. Lol.

Anyway, until then, the Toyota group has lost another soul to the Jeep JK following today. Hahaha. I'll let you guess who....
 
black95 said:
Yeah... I doubt Jeep has the huevos to go against the wishes of jeep consumers. ....
Click to expand...

Like others it is about the bottom line. My guess is the Jeep consumer may be switching to more mall crawlers than people that actually "use" their vehicle. All you have to do is look at the line up. Maybe people want the Wrangler look but want better road manners?
 
Fitzgerald said:
Actually, the LC is ONLY around 78K and some change. :D

But, if I was buying a new Yota today, I think I'd get the 4Runner Trail Edition @ around 37K. Sweet Lookin' Rig.

View attachment 812094
Click to expand...

I agree with Travis that the new 4Runner is a worthy option if you can buy new.

I was on a trip to the Abajo Mountains, Canyonlands to the Needles District and Elephant Rock with a group of mixed rigs last summer. There were two Rubicons (one with 32's and one with 35's), two Land Rover Defenders with 33's, and two 4Runners (my 2000 with 32's and a brand new 2013 with 32's.) The 2013 4Runner was not the trail version. It had only A-Trac. A driver from Montana had bought it just for wheeling trips, so he didn't mind trail scratches though brand new. It had a custom front bumper with winch, sliders, and mild suspension lift with underbody armor. Otherwise it was stock, including the 32's.

Point is: all rigs performed well on most obstacles, but the 2013 4Runner was the clear standout. It was never severely tested, even though it had no true locker. My 2000 4Runner needed to lock up on several of the obstacles, as did the Rubicons and Defenders.

One spectator on Elephant Hill watched us all climb a hard section, and then asked, "What's that shiny SUV? I want one!"--meaning the 2013 4Runner. Here are some pics to show the group in action.

2013 4Runner on 32's from Montana


My 2000 4Runner on 32's


2dr Rubicon on 32's from Utah


Nice 4dr Rubicon on 35's from San Diego


Beautiful low-mileage Land Rover Defender on 33's from Denver


Our awesome guide Bill Burke (http://www.bb4wa.com) testing a hand-made stick bridge with his Defender on 33's. Problematic consequences!


Bill Burke winching off of the broken bridge. We reconstructed the bridge with MaxTrax and winch rope extensions. Bill carefully drove back over it. Extreme white knuckle moment. The bridge was 5 feet above the wash. If Bill broke through again, he might have flipped directly onto his top. If you want to see more pics of the bridge crisis and the very capable 2013 4Runner, you can go to the trip photos by the Montana driver himself and his wife at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/giddyupinmontana/sets/72157634071039482/
 
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Does look like a good trip, except that wooden "bridge". Pretty darn sketchy. Can't imagine what an 80 series would have done to it!!! Nice pics on that flicker account.

Jim, Why do say you if you can buy one new? Why not used?

What year did they start putting those sway bar disconnects in the 4runners?
 
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Yep, guys, very challenging and scenic trip. Five days of primitive camping away from all civilization while needing to carry lots of water and 10 gallons of extra fuel. Back to the topic:

Buying used is always a good option if you can find a well maintained one. I bought my 2000 4Runner with 108,000 miles on it. I'm happy to see Toyota is paying more attention to the off-roader now with the FJC and the Trail 4Runner. The LC has always been a good trail performer, just seems harder to find one and pay for it.

As for sway bar disconnects on 4Runners, I think you might have to go after-market. But I wouldn't do it. There is little traction advantage from disconnects with IFS, only more risk of blowing a CV from the extreme angle. Better to limit the front flex and use A-TRAC or the front locker instead. When locked, one wheel can grab all the air it wants and you still have some front-end traction. Lift the rear and put all the the flex you want onto the rear axle with your coil and shock set-up AND a custom panhard bar. The extreme flexing rear axle will help stabilize any IFS rig. Well, that's my opinion anyway as a relative newcomer to this sport.

There is no doubt that the LC 80's, older Land Rovers, and JEEPS (at least for now) have a big advantage with the single front axle. You guys with the 80's get my vote, and I think Luke's Cherokee is a lean, mean beast. He goes out of his way to find the hardest line!
:popcorn:
 
4runner in 2010 and beyond has a kinetic dynamic suspension system, it either relaxes or disconnects the sway bars, I thought. The 2013 should have had that on a trail edition. Did the KDSS change over the years? If one bought a Limited could you put the KDSS in as a mod from a donor vehicle?
 
I didn't know about the KDSS, Leon. Sounds really effective. Since the system is stock from Toyota, you can bet it doesn't stress out the CV's. I'll also bet the Montana 2013 4Runner had the KDSS because the rig crawled so effortlessly up and over anything and everything, never losing traction.

Of course, some of the performance might also be the driver. Though he didn't have a lot of wheeling experience, he learned fast and he had a lot of experience keeping track of multiple variables while keeping his cool. He is a professional helicopter pilot. When he is not fighting forest fires, he makes his living lowering parts and repair personnel onto high tension power lines!
:steer:
 
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Thanks Jim! I'm very happy with my cherokee.

You're absolutely correct about wheel travel, it looks darn cool, but isn't really necessary if you have traction devices. Vehicles with solid axles do have more stability because of it though. The unsprung weight combined with how the suspension can control the decent of the vehicle coming back down, rather than teetering for a bit, then falling over uncontrolled when the weight shifts back like an IFS rig tends to do. The real downfall of IFS has always been strength of the components. As anyone with a locker in the front of an IFS rig will tell you, those CV's will detonate with all but the most careful application of power.

On sway bars: I took the sway bar off my '88 pickup, threw it away, and never looked back. That truck is much smoother and better off road because its gone, with zero negative side effects. The first and second gen pickups and 4 runners have lower limit stops, and heavy torsion bars to control the body roll, and there is very little travel to affect the CV's anyway.

The third gen 4runners and tacomas is a different story. That suspension has no lower limit stops and does flex out quite bit. Those suspensions work very well, but you do have to upgrade the CV's if you're gonna wheel it without a sway bar.

I love the second gen 4 runners, very cool styling, I'll just have to wait until they're worn out before I can afford one :)
 
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Buying Used

Just read an editorial in 11/09/13 Denver Post about the risks of buying a used vehicle after the statewide floods. A vehicle can be cleaned up and sold as a really sweet deal on a rare find--like an LC 80. Then some of the problems from flooding will show up months later. Here is the link to the editorial in case anybody wants to read it.

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Ol...pageno=MjM.&entity=QXIwMjMwMA..&view=ZW50aXR5
 
I thought 2nd gen 4 runners were fairly cheap. Looking for another 4runner build project?

Good point on flood damage Jim. What is unclear is if those with past flood damage would show up on a CarFax report?
 
Oops, I meant fifth gen 4runners.

Nope, no new projects for me. I've made my bed and have to sleep in it for a couple years to get my money out of it. Once the finances are settled from the job change, I start looking for a 4 door rubicon JK. Gotta keep up with chuck ;)
 
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