How is the ride comfort on a stock SR5?

Everyone says the trd pro is really comfy but not that much mention of the sr5 4Runners ride quality?

 

It’s good, not to stiff, not to soft. Off-road it’s very comfortable.

Most people upgrade cause they like spending their hard earned cash.

 

On ride comfort and traction anybody try adventuro at3 tires?

 

My only complaint on ride quality of the stock SR5 suspension is the terrible nose dive when braking.

 

What JohnD said. My 2019 SR5 rides nicer than my 2005 Grand Cherokee did, it's quiet and really good on long trips. The nose dive under hard breaking is pretty extreme though.

 

I would just add that tires can impact ride quality. The Michelins I just put on mine are way better than the Nittos that came on it, especially after 35 or 40k miles.

 

As someone who loves softer ride SR5 ride very comfy on road and offroad. Stock Dunlop grandtrek at20 was pretty good on easy trails as well. Yes it has some nose dive when braking hard or descending from rocks offroad which I would expect from a relatively heavy body on frame vehicle and soft suspension. But my taste might be different from some one who likes firm suspension that would break my back on a rough road.

 

My 2017 rides better than my Avalon.. No complaints.

 

lot of body roll.
I dont mind but my dog does.
Need to upgrade suspension to get firmer ride.

 

Whoa, thats saying something. Isnt Avalon almost lexus like in terms of ... everything? basically just the toyota badge but you get a lexus otherwise?

 

Pretty much. My wife likes the 4 runner better than the Avalon.

 

I don't know how the modern ones feel, but one my wife's company cars was an early '00s Avalon. The suspension was really mushy, like a '60s-era Detroit version of a luxury car.

 

Too much body roll and braking nose dive for me . . . and I drive with a very gentle foot. My wife who likes the "go/stop/go/stop" method of driving really gives the springs a workout ;-0

I replaced all four corners with Bilstein (5160/6112) and am very pleased.

jason

 

It's relative and I think mainly what people are used to or want the truck to be. Perfectly fine stock and most people will be happy. After market options available for improving on body roll, nose dive, firmness....

I did debate a little bit about removing new suspension components that are perfectly fine. After 10k miles of getting to know the truck well and what I wanted to change I did it. So many options to choose from and what you want to achieve.....look, ride on road or off road....

For me the only real benefit that mattered to me on Pro was the suspension upgrade. I liked the look side by side non Pro models. Easy choice to not spend the extra $ on Pro and pick the suspension I wanted for my needs.

 

It is not terrible, but will nose dive bad when braking and accelerating. Lots of body roll cornering too. I test drove one and then test drove an OR with KDSS and much prefer the KDSS.

 

AMEN TO THAT. the nose dive is HORRIBLE. Part of why I switched to the Eibach Pro 2.

 

Why not take a test drive and judge for yourself?

Haha. So true. She likes the front seat, but once in a great while she’ll hit the dash hard.

 

I have driven mine on 3500+ mile road trips twice. Both times with 33's and a roof rack.

I averaged 15.7 to 16.2 mpg both trips.

I find my 4Runner to be exhausting on road trips. It rides OK and isn't jarring. The seats are acceptable, but 500 miles a day is about my limit.

I recently came into some money and am looking at changing my vehicles. I want something that I can commute the 15 miles to work in all types of weather, can tow my utility trailer into the woods and negotiate medium-difficulty roads, and be comfortable on a road trip to Seattle or down to Arizona, all while getting at least 20 mpg. And I need lots of space for my dog and gear.

The 4Runner meets all criteria except the road trip comfort and MPG.

The main issue with the road trip comfort is the constant stress of the motor having to downshift to maintain freeway speeds. It annoys the heck out of me to see the engine revving over 4k rpms to go the 75 mph speed limit in relatively flat Southern Idaho.

I may look into a supercharger and see if it adds enough power to keep the poor thing from killing itself to maintain the speed limit.

 

In this case may be the suspension and tire load rating played a role getting you exhausted? Maybe a stiffer swaybar could also contributed in ride comfort? Maybe a personal choice also.

I've done such trips on stock Tokico shocks and didn't feel this way compared to relatively softer vehicle like Toyota Venza we used in the past for long trips. The high seating and softer feeling on stock suspension didn't gave us that tired feeling.

Recently a 400mile 6.5hr drive one way on my TRD Pro with relatively firm Fox suspension ( edit- I mean compared to Tokico on other trims, yet softer than most aftermarket suspension) also didn't gave me tired feeling. But TRD Pro exhaust was annoying. Wish I can have a bolt on option just for the resonator.

The stock 23gal fuel tank is just enough for my comfort zone of range and anything like a supercharger or if it had a V8 option the fuel range would be annoying to me planning for fuel stops. Especially remembering those signs "no service for next 100miles".

What I'm trying to say is to me softer suspension, softer swaybar, softer tires, "ok" fuel range made my 4runner a nice road trip vehicle to me and family. Aftermarket support for even smaller things like auxiliary lights made it more enjoyable.

 

That has got to be the 33s. I have 265 and while understandably the vehicle isn't rocket, I feel it has plenty of power. I kinda like that I don't speed too much in this vehicle, and if one is trying to, they have got the wrong vehicle for sure.

When you mentioned its exhausting I thought you will mention something about the seats. Even in new england weather in summer it feels like the stick a bit more than my leather seats in prior/other vehicles. They seem comfortable otherwise, but that is one "sticking" point I felt

 

Depends on who you ask. Me: "Very Comfortable" My better half: "This thing rides like a fu**ing hay wagon"

 

I think it's the 285's and extra weight. Mine is heavy with roof rack, skids and sliders. It's never been fast but I have progressively noticed small mpg decreases with each addition of weight. This is the reason I chose to stay with 265's. Right now it's all I can handle managing the gear hunting on interstate anticipating grades speeding up hitting the incline and planning to drop out of overdrive. Regear would also be an option along with supercharger or tune. I make it work but do ask myself if a GX or Land Cruiser would have been the better play knowing I was adding weight pushing the v6 to it's limits.

For seat comfort I have found the seat risers really help with comfort. Just did a 500 mile trip last week and definitely help on the longer drives.

 

I have an Off-Road Premium that came with the off-road upgrade package (black TRD wheels, larger tires, etc). Mine is all stock and very comfortable. I’ve rented SR5s before that were very comfortable as well. Though as stated above, at low speeds (like pulling out of my garage) the nose dive when braking is pretty bad/annoying.

 

The nose dive while braking gets me. I don't drive the 4Runner more than once or twice a week. My daily is a 1996 379 peterbilt and my other is a f150. The brakes on the 4Runner are very touchy...so I usually unintentionally slam on them and the bumper about hits the ground haha.

Once I hit a few stop signs/stop lights and get acquainted with the brakes it's no longer an issue.

I do look forward to upgrading to bilsteins or similar down the road....it has 2,000 miles on it so I'll live with the stock suspension for now.

 

It isn’t the V6 but the transmission. You said it yourself, it’s gear hunting on highway. A V6 with more gears would have been enough to handle the 285s I think.

 

Yes I think your right gear ratio is the real fix. I can't convince myself ready to regear and the chain reaction. Obviously a front locker would make sense if re gearing the front diff. Regear is the solution I don't think a 6th gear in transmission would help. But who knows....

 

I added Bilstein 5100’s up front and it solved the nose dive issue. It was super cheap and a huge upgrade.

 

Just up front? Usually I have seen it replaced on all 4 to make sure struts are all same.
I am planning to do the same relatively soon! Just want to get it done from a mechanic though, which means saving $$ beforehand.

 

I'm not aware of your mechanical abilities or disposition, but can tell you that swapping out front coilovers is definitely a reasonable DIY job. It's really nuts and bolts with no technical aspect. Directions from Bilstein are both simple and very well written. There are good videos on how to remove and replace the assembly. A mechanically inclined DIY job could take as little as two hours. Most likely will take 4.

Jason

p.s. - added bonus: DIY person cares more and has better incentive to do a good job than handing off to a shop whose incentive is to churn the jobs as quickly as possible

 

I am pretty handy, oil changes (engine, tranny, transfer case) brakes etc. The only thing that gives me a big pause is that I will have to compress the springs. I do not want to mess with that.