If you’re on the fence about a PRO…

OP,
Congrats on the ride and not paying an adjustment. Got very lucky myself to have been able to replace my ORP when destroyed with 600 miles and pay MSRP on our Venture. Dig Pro’s in white and seldom see them even in Northern California which is lousy with 4Runners.

While I do kinda miss having dual zone, KDSS really wins out for our usage. Simply, many of the roads around here are batpoop crazy.

And while I totally get being reticent to get out on the trails, the resale on Pros and even ORP/Ventures is very strong regardless of getting after it.

 

Heck yea man! Never rode in the kdss 4Runners yet, but I have to say I’m pleased with the ride of the pro compared to my 200k mile Nissan Titan haha. You destroyed your orp?

 

Are these even available for the 21-22 Pro yet??

 

This lady while on “anxiety meds” utterly blew through a red light a week after driving down to Oakland to go get it. Sucked and my shoulder is just now gotten past the constant agony realm.

While I really dig my Venture and prefer the black valences on the package, I do miss having a moonroof. Guessing there are not a ton of KDSS OR/ORP/Ventures sans moonroof. Simply, in the Summer here, it really even hits 70 and never rains.

 

Ah dang man I’m sorry! Yeah I really dig the moon roof, and rear window a ton. Sure the moon roof may fail, but whatever, it’s super cool having all the windows down cruising with the doggo

 

And that’s exactly why I loved all of my T4Rs!!

 

I think they're currently working on an update. They were available until the Fox shocks were recalled and the coils were changed. Here are the older ones with flat ground spring ends.

https://eibach.com/us/2261/E30-82-071-03-20-TOYOTA-4Runner-pro-lift-kit

 

Last update said April. Someone has an order that says estimated May delivery.

 

I am really curious to see how these perform in the real world! I’ve enjoyed Eibach springs on previous cars, but never on a truck or SUV….

 

These were on my 2020 Pro. They worked out very well. I liked my Pro better with the Eibach then the stock Fox coils.

 

I've had the dual zone auto A/C in all my recent vehicles. Having this in the Pro is worth it to me. I love my Pro and love that I can modify as much or as little as I choose to do so in the future. It's awesome as it comes from the factory but you can do the same mods as any other trim level. Opinions are strong on the ORP vs. Pro debate on the internet and I'm not sure why this is. Buy what you like and what suits your ultimate plan for the vehicle but I guess this is the internet and it's less fun without the banter.

 

Right? They make multiple trims for a reason. Make the best choice for yourself, no need to shit on someone else's decision.

 

Good post, I bought a used 2018 Pro due in part to the inventory/inflation issue but also because I like the Cavalry Blue and it doesn't look like that color is coming back anytime soon. There are a TON of 4Rs in my neighborhood, I do wonder how much is due to the Toyota HQ having been in our backyard as recently as 5 years ago or due to all of the adventuring you can do in SoCal. There are also a ton of Tacos in my neighborhood. So the CB stands out among all the black, gray, white 4Rs that are on nearly every single block in our area.

I also felt a bit concerned about scratching or damaging a rig with only 35,000 miles that is in great shape, however this is our camping/offroading/outdoor adventure rig and I plan to keep it for 10+ years and likely give it to my son when he hits 16 so I am fine accepting that it will get some scratches and whatnot. I think about this Ernest Hemingway quote:

In the two months I've had the rig we've gone to play in the snow in Lake Arrowhead, I did some offroading yesterday, and we are going to Joshua Tree, Zion and Durango, CO in the near future so I fully expect to get some scratches. That's fine so long as we are doing epic s**t and making memories that will last a lifetime. My kids spend far too much time in front of tablets, I am going to enjoy every single trip where they are excited about camping and being outdoors.

I have mixed feelings on how "retro" the rig is, for instance I have a very strong desire to upgrade the head unit. We are fortunate that the ecosystem is so rich with aftermarket options. This is one of the benefits of having a very old design that has not been upgraded much of late. I am going to hold off on lifting the rig and going with bigger tires for as long as possible, so that make the Pro a good fit for going on lots of adventures in stock form. However you can easily upgrade nearly anything you like. I am adding rock rails in advance of our trip to Durango where I suspect we will see some pretty gnarly trails.

I like the interior, it feels premium in all of the right ways. Great seats, excellent off-roading capability, etc. The things I want to upgrade are pretty easy to upgrade and I feel like there is nothing about this rig that needs to be upgraded for what we have planned in the near future. I had thought about going the ORP route as I think that does give you the best bang for your buck, but I am happy with the Pro.

 

Man that quote is so perfect. I always do this crap man. I buy the best stuff, then baby it and not get the full experience.

 

I debated a long time over a ORP or a Pro. Ultimately I chose the Pro because I like it's features out the gate and I really have no interest in modifying it. Plus, I have no mechanical skills or the disposable time, energy + opportunity cost to belabor which mods, who will install it, additional expenses, etc. An ORP would have been fine, but I would have felt inclined to modify it. Happy with choice and no regrets!

 

"It's better to burn out, than fade away"!

 

the sr5 guys are the 3rd gen 4R owners of the 5th gen community i swear lmao. have yet to see a post about a pro without a sr5 shouting from the rooftops about how better theirs is.

yes your sr5 can do the same thing the pro can or better with mods, but some people want the best toyota can offer from the factory. my opinions against the pro were strong when i first got my orp to justify my purchase, but shit really doesnt matter since it's not me making payments on a pro.

 

If it was the best, they’d include the KDSS, but they don’t trust the port techs.

 

Is that the reason? Or was it toyotas decision to keep the pro under a specific price bracket. Or kdss not being the best when it comes to moderate to high speed desert runs which TRD seems to be tuned more towards. Who knows.

The point is, some people just want the pro because it's a pro. And there's nothing wrong with that. Some just want to get the pro look without having to do the mods themselves. For most, the fox shocks and roof rack are more than enough. For others, its the exclusivity. Pretty sure a lot of us would have gotten the pro if you had extra cash to burn.

It's just that there's always some dude that claims pro is a waste of money and their sr5 is clearly better.

 

Pros were supposed to have KDSS.

Canadian build sheets even had them.

Then it disappeared.

 

You seem to be stuck on the point I made about the pro being the best toyota offers from the factory at this time.

That's not even the point of my post.

Kdss or not, the pro still is. Sorry if that's not clear.

 

It’s the same truck that rolled off the factory line in 2010 with minor updates. lol

 

This was my outlook as well. Ended up buying from a dealer who charged a markup but added 1” spacer in front and 275s. So I got a bit of a customization that I didn’t have to manage or install.

Have since taken the replaced the rack (useless!) and steps with proper sliders. 9 months in and very happy overall

 

Love my pro and I’ll never understand why these threads keep popping up. It inevitability leads to people in both camps arguing non stop.
There’s about 20 reasons to buy a pro. There’s about 20 reasons to not buy a pro. Depending on which side of the fence you’re on, you’ll argue your side til the death.

 

I too was on the fence.

But in the end, I realized I really didn't need that fence..

 

It’s got the perfect suspension… Installs cheap spacer lift on top of premium suspension.

They didn’t add KDSS to add to keep the price down… Pays dealer a $10,000 premium.

 

Nope, we do know. The original Pro 4Runner revealed at auto shows had KDSS, you can see the fat swaybar and piston here.



The problem is that the shocks (first Bilstein, then Fox) are installed at the port by a "TRD team" - along with the other stuff like wheels and roof rack. You can see when they arrive "naked" at the port on steelies. The reason for this is a bit complicated, but the short version is that the plant in Tahara is at maximum capacity with little tolerance for parts mix for low volume additions (look up product mix in terms of lean production methodology).



If you've ever installed shocks/coils on a KDSS truck, you'd know that it takes a significantly longer time to do so than a truck with static swaybars. You either have to spend a lot of time with extra hydraulic jacks to get just enough space to remove/reinstall (without over-extending the pistons by letting them droop), or completely take everything apart. Either way it's a pain.

By removing the KDSS option from the Pro, they were able to cut suspension installation time (and therefore man hours, overhead, tools, etc.). It's not a matter of the Pro being a "high speed desert truck", because adding $1200 Fox shocks doesn't suddenly turn it into a prerunner. KDSS doesn't really slow the truck down either, and it adds a few extra inches of travel to each corner while making the truck corner better on the road. It's a win practically everywhere except for the people that want to do a long-travel build, as KDSS will run into travel limits at that point. Bean-counting is the reason it's not included on the Pro.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that if KDSS continues to be an option on the 6th gen, it will be incorporated into the Pro. Because on the 6th gen, the Pro will be considered part of the product mix from the get-go instead of being added to a mature production line halfway through its life cycle.

 

yay i got something right

 

Yep lol.

 

I also think the bean counters won out on the side mirrors. No integrated turn signals? Lame.