Limited vs TRD

https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/manly-know-how/gearhead-101-full-time-4wd-wheel-drive-work/

An excellent explanation of AWD vs full time 4 wheel drive.

 

I’m my case the xreas failed (twice). At which point I set out to mod it. Once xreas is out of the picture you can pretty much go any direction with it. To address the break over and approach/departure angles I got rid of the rocker panels and bumpers.

After you get past those concerns, you can got for it! As someone said above, it is a 4Runner under all that plastic and chrome. Have fun!
Mike

 

I'm going to lose quite a bit of the chrome on my Limited by having the factory roof rails removed and replaced with the Toyota kit that fills in the holes and keeps the roof sealed. I don't intend to put on a roof rack or strap anything to the roof and think the vehicle will look better without the rails. Maybe I'll pick up a sliver of gas mileage though I doubt the vertical rails provide much wind resistance. I'd prefer that the other chrome trim on the Limited was black, but am not going to spend any money altering it.

To the OP, look up some videos of the Limited off road and you'll see it's plenty capable. Other than adding some body armor, I'm going to leave mine stock until I decide exactly what I want it to do that it can't do but could with modifications. I doubt that will ever happen.

 

Did you replace XREAS 2 times?

• Just curious how much for parts, how much for labor?
• What parts did you have to buy? Was it all 4 shocks or shocks with lines and valves as a whole part? Nice if you have a pic of the parts. Never see someone buy XREAS before.

 

If/when the Xreas system on my Limited starts leaking, I've already decided it will come off and I will go to conventional shocks, probably something like the Bilstein 6112/5160 combo without a lift. I'm not going to spend thousands repairing a suspension when I might have to do it again in 50K miles.

 

what is the part number of the plugs and the cost

also the cost to remove the roof rack
thanks

 

Here's a link to it on Amazon, $63.44 with free shipping.

$59 TOYOTA 2004 to 2020 4Runner 2006 to 2018 Rav4 ROOF Rack Removal Delete KIT OEM Genuine

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KTQ4HTC?ie=UTF8 I just ordered it a couple of days ago after seeing it somewhere on this forum.

I don't know exactly what it will cost to make the switch, but I would think it would be at most an hour of labor. From what I've read the main thing is to loosen the 2 bolts that are together (at the front and back on each side I believe) a little bit at a time and be careful not to lose a screw or washer down a hole where it will be hard to get out. I have a 4x4 shop that's about to remove running boards and replace them with rock rails, replace the differential fluid and put on a set of 3 skid plates, so I'll have them do the rail removal at the same time. Somebody who is DIY (which is not me) could easily do it themselves. It doesn't cost that much for the parts and labor, and you can easily reverse it if you want to add a roof rack at some point.

 

The first time xreas failed I got the dealership to warranty the claim. The second time I ditched it. After that, I went all in.

• LT front
• LT Rear
• 35” Toyo MT on Methods 701
• 4.88 with ARB lockers (ECGS)
• Custom length Fox 2.5 DCS on each corner
• Twin ARB compressor
• C4 Front and Rear bumpers
• C4 Sliders and skids
• Some lights, Sherpa roof rack
• Cab mount relocation, Pan hard bar correction kit, tubbing
• SwitchPros and PowerTray
• Misc stuff

All for about 36K. I needed help with the 3rd members and welding.

My wife and I wanted to get in and out of the Sierra Nevada and Moab etc and still have a decent road manners.

Could we have done more? Of course, but until something else happens we stopped at this point.

Whew, that’ll do!

Getting ready for our next trip

 

That's a fkn awesome build...!!

 

The explanation of the differences between AWD and 4WD posted above is pretty good. One thing it doesn't mention is that a lot of AWD systems are primarily FWD and only send power to the back wheels if slippage is sensed - but usually they are 100% FWD (like an AWD RAV4). The Torsen center diff in the Limiteds is sending some power to all the wheels all the time. I think the least amount of power sent to either front or back wheels by the Torsen center diff is 30% when in H4F. It also mentions gas mileage - but in the case of the 4Runners all the different trim levels are rated at 16mpg city and 19mpg highway - even the 2WD models. So, I don't think (for 4Runners) there is a significant difference between driving in 2WD or H4F (high 4 free diff) in a Limited. In other vehicles there may be a measurable difference in gas mileage between a model with 2WD and AWD (i.e. a BMW with Xdrive vs. one without) - but the 4Runner is a fairly heavy, non-aerodynamic vehicle (it is not designed for optimal gas mileage) so differences in gas mileage between 2WD, part-time 4WD, and full-time 4WD models is most likely negligible.

 

Agree about the mileage. My limited consistently gets better than 19 mpg on all highway driving. On a trip back from Florida I got 21.2 mpg on one tank. Around town is a different story. Overall I am pleased with the slightly better than expected mileage and glad I got the limited. I will be doing more off-roading with the 4Runner as soon as my 11 year old Jeep wrangler craps out.

 

Curley - my mileage experience over the last three months is nearly identical. Driving on the highway at ~75mph I can consistently get above 20mpg. Stoplight to stoplight driving around town is usually in the 15.5-16.5mpg range. Pretty much what Toyota advertised. I am happy to be getting what Toyota said I would - even a little better. I didn't buy the 4Runner for its gas mileage. However, I put less than 10K miles a year on my daily driver - maybe 11-12K tops if we take a long trip that year. If my normal driving was 25-30K miles per year I would likely be driving a different type of vehicle. But I love the 4Runner.

 

Are you somehow under the impression that shocks only wear if they are xreas? 50k is a long life for any shock.

 

I know shocks and struts have to be replaced. I replaced the back ones on my Lexus RX 350 a few years for something like $350. I'm sure they would be more on a 4Runner, counting the installation cost. From what I've read, repairing or replacing the XReas system is a few thousand dollars, which I presume is why I haven't come across anybody online who says they replaced their XReas system out of their own pocket without financial support from Toyota under a warranty claim.

 

Ok that’s a little different then. I spent thousands on Kings and I’m not going to get 50k miles out of them before I have to rebuild, but I’m at least getting custom tuned and valved remote reservoir kings out of it, not OEM stuff.

 

What's an "orp"? There's a TRD Off-Road and a TRD Off-Road Premium. I haven't heard of an "orp" without a TRD in front of it.

 

ORP=Off-road premium