5th Gen Build Quality Video

As my title suggests,

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0qQ2Oxan3rQ

 

Thanks for posting. I wonder if there is a way to send him a note. I’d be curious to see what if anything they will do to prevent frame rust on a 6th Gen.

That seems to be the major weak point of an otherwise great vehicle

 

Probably remove the frame and go unibody.

 

Yeah that I guess is a potential. I would think though that would remove its ability to be as good off road correct?

I liked the fact it had the frame from a towing perspective as well. Definitely seems safer to have a frame tow in general.

 

True, but we’ve seen some pictures on this forum after a deer strike and the results are bad.

If Toyota can make a 4Runner that gets 20+ mpg, I would be interested for the wife, maybe I can get her to give up that Sequoia gas hog.

 

Good point on the deer comment. I forgot about that. Very valid.

 

I doubt any rust protection will be applied simply form a cost/weight/time perspective. My 2022 Tacoma has no protection from the factory, I am assuming the new Tundra is the same?

 

It’s not just the 4R and Tundra…. Tacomas are notorious as well. There have been multiple recalls and frame replacement campaigns.

No amount of underbody coating will ever offer 100% protection. What I don’t understand is why they don’t just dip galvanize the frames the same as they do the bodies. Those of you over 40 or so probably remember how bad car bodies from all brands used to rust pre-1990. Almost no modern cars do any more and it’s because rhe bodies are dipped in zinc galvanizing before paint. Honda and Toyota where early leaders in this.

Just do the same for the frame and problem solved.

 

If it worked I’d be happy to pay more Jeremy for galvanized. I know on my 1991 boat trailer that’s galvanized it has zero rust. I mean zero to this day in 2022.

Galvanized trailers are popular for saltwater climates and mine is fresh water only but I’ll take 31 years of no rust.

Do the Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado frames have similar issues I wonder. Should read some of their forums

 

Tell me about it. Bondo and fiberglass patch where my best friend in HS and college for fixing up all the body rust on the used clunkers we used to drive. Last car I ever remember having any rust was a 180k mile '87 Honda I drove in college. Every new car/truck I have purchased since the late 90s had absolutely zero body rust even with all the New England road salt. I kept most of them at least 10 years.


I got lucky with my 2014 Tacoma. Low miles and it was always garaged and it only had superficial frame rust when I took it in for CRC coating service campaign last year... but I have friends who had 2 frame replacements in a row. Body and bed perfect however. only the frame rusts. (BTW having owned both I can vouch for what the guy in the video is saying about the better build quality at Tahara. My brand new Pro is *tight*.... The Tacoma had a hood rattle and driveline shimmy at 40mph from day one that they never where able to resolve even after a few dealer visits... not bothersome enough to make me sell but disappointing on an otherwise bulletproof truck)

 

My 2019 has averaged 21.5 since new. That's a little over 20. Most of my miles are 2-lane country roads and such.

 

Jeep XJ/ZJ/WJ are all unibody and are excellent off road.

Suspension design has more to do with it than chassis type. Honestly the chassis seems to be the Achilles heel of Toyota 4x4s.

As far as towing, the Highlander has the same capacity as the 4R, and the WK2 Grand Cherokee's max tow is 50% MORE than the 4R.

Edit: meant to also quote @mac1usa

 

Hybrid 4R will get 20+ easily. Our new Sienna gets 35+ everywhere except when in the carpool line at school, although it has a smaller ICE than the 4R would need. The biggest issue with a hybrid 4R is where to stick the battery.

 

Maybe a rear mounted spare, and stick the battery in the current spare location? Not sure how physically large the batt is though.

That would kill two birds with one stone, bc a rear mount spare would be awesome!

 

That would be a lot of weight to put behind the rear axle. Dont want it to start handling like a rear engine VW on slick roads

In the Sequoia they stuck it right over the rear axle and it kills the 3rd row headroom.

Better idea is to do it Tesla style and make the pack really thin covering the entire floor between the axles - would help with vertical CG as well. Only challenge would be fitting enough capacity if they wanted to give it a decent all battery plug in range.

 

Great point! Good thing I'm not an engineer lol.

Either way though, I still want a rear mount spare! My 4R is 9 years old, I'm pretty sure nothing short of a sawzall is getting that spare down at this point.

 

you've never used your spare in 9 years?

 

I've only owned it going on 4, and no.

Yes, I know I should deal with it now so it's ready if I need it.

I carry a plug kit and compressor.

 

If I had a rear mounted spare, my 4R would no longer fit in my garage.

 

Right? They lay this stuff down like crazy, then in a few years won't issue an inspection sticker because of the corrosion that THEY caused!!

 

I just rolled 39,000 miles on my 4runner and absolutely love it. But this video is kind of empty.
Lot’s of “10 to 20 percent thicker than other cars” comments that I’m not sure hold true. Even the dash, he says you can push in a little implying soft touch. It’s hard plastic in reality. I like the dash anyway because a hard plastic doesnt get cracking, and this one has a very nice high quality finish. My 99 accord I had till last year also had a hard well textured dash that looked new till the day i got rid of it. In fact, I like 4runner dash it so much that I dont allow anyone to put stuff on it because I want to keep it pristine lol.

Also, the doors aren't anything special regarding their feel. The new highlander with more modern manufacturing still feels good with doors and interior materials.

Love the 4runner and I agree on general durability, but this video just focuses on thickness of everything compared to newer cars. I don't think that point holds true for everything he pointed out, and isn't really related to why the 4runner is great.

 

Toyota at least does a good job on the bodies, and they design it with an eye to mitigate the sand blasting the lower body panels tend to suffer. They’re not perfect, but better than most.

I too really wish they galvanized the frames…. Nobody does it, almost as if it's a tradition to not protect frames. Body manufacturing has advanced, but frame manufacturing has not.

 

Just thought it would be interesting to look up. 4Runner V6 engine is around 370 pounds. Tesla Model X battery is about 1400 pounds. The Tesla weighs about 5400 pounds, and the 4R is about 4700. So, remove the V6 and install the same battery, and the 4R would be somewhere around 5300 pounds. I may be missing some details, but boy, that Tesla is a fattie.

 

Probably because the manufacturers don't want cars to last forever. They would prefer you to buy a new one every 10 years at a minimum.

 

The deer strike has nothing to do with a frame vs unibody. It has to do with the large soft impact space in front of the small horns up front in the current design.

I'll plead ignorant. Are there any great unibody offroad vehicles? I cant come up with one that provides better than average articulation.

 

Yeah I just did not want a Jeep for quality reasons. I drove the Hemi V8 which was fun but don’t trust quality. And for me personally the 4R looks much cooler than a Highlander as a single guy.

My buddy has new Explorer and pulls bjs boat similar to mine and swears if he had a frame he would get less sway. I came out of a body in frame Explorer from 90s and it towed well so I figured 4Runner was closed I could find

 

I once saw an internal company video from Mercedes USA where the speaker talked about shifting from vehicles that lasted 20 years to vehicles lasting only 7 years. He explained it like this: the average Mercedes owner only keeps his car for 3 years. Making a car that lasts 20 years is expensive, and makes it impossible for Mercedes to compete with other less meticulous automakers. He explained: we need to keep our first tier customers coming back, obviously. Our second tier customers - ones who can’t afford a new Mercedes today, but may be able to in the future, we want them to be happy with the used cars they buy after the first owners trade them in. Research shows that those second owners keep those cars for three or four years. Hence the 7 year lifespan of a Mercedes. Since the mid 90s that has been Mercedes’ philosophy.

 

Articulation could be done if there were solid axle unibodies like the old XJs. But seeing vids of unibody keeps getting torn in half during recoveries makes me a bit leery of the ultimate toughness of unibodies compared to framed vehicles. In fairness, a bad recovery can still tweak a frame, but at least you’ll probably be able to drive it out. Not having to take your 4wheeler out in a basket has it’s advantages.

And a tweaked frame doesn't mean it couldnt be used as a perfectly good farm vehicle.

 

blah blah blah 4runner is the greatest ever oops i need a new diff cause of needle bearing issues that they still haven't figured out going on to year 14 blah blah blah

 

Let me rephrase... current design. I'm guessing since the XJ is the answer, there are none.