Cruising at 85-90 mph seems like the sweet spot

I defy anyone to distinguish bear bits from chupacabra bits at night, in the dark, on a lonely road, probably on a moonless night.

 

What if it's day time and a Chupacabra is in your yard?

 

Yikes! Same procedure as for a zombie. Immobilize, then immolate.

 

I agree with @McSpazatron. There really is no “swerving” the 4runner for an animal at 80mph+. You just kinda hit the breaks and take the hit if the animal isn’t quick enough.

I hit a deer at 80 in a Tacoma, and while there was a perceived “hit”, I think most of the sensation came from the crunch sounds of the front of the truck. That experience made me realize how much safer it is to just hit what’s coming rather than try to swerve (excluding a moose?). I mean you can swerve a little within reason, but it’s not gonna get you far at high speed.

 

Yup. Brake and brace…

 

I wonder if those with kdss vs not have different experiences….

 

My Lexus GX460 has KDSS, vs my SR5 4Runner. At 80, the GX is like sitting on a comfortable sofa, and going down the road at 30 mph….

 

Brakes. Brakes.

 

That’s the most terrifying face..no eyes and that long proboscis to suck the lifeblood of its prey. Yuck! And what’s up with that tiny tail on the other side?

 

Coyote with mage is what it was determined to be, after showing the picture around. I jumped back a bit after walking into my kitchen and seeing that in my back yard.

 

I hesitated saying I steered to avoid a chupacabra or soft fleshy animal because I wasn’t quite sure it was soft at all. If it was a solid object, it would have put me on my roof. Which is why I steered. Just to be clear, it was a small and gentle input, yet it felt like that was definitely the limit of steering input it would take under heavy braking. Had I been sure it was an animal, I would have braked straight ahead. It’s just not worth trying to steer away from an animal at high speed.

 

You mean to tell me that’s not a proboscis? I know what I saw man!!!

 

Judging from the humungous sway bars on KDSS equipped 4runners, I would guess it would feel quite a bit more stable during high speed avoidance maneuvers. Although brake dive would probably be similar.

 

same for Pa

 

I would say this is accurate. When I test drove mine, I intentionally swerved a few times and thought it felt surprisingly planted. I was impressed enough to buy it. With the Bilsteins, it's even better.

As you mentioned, brake dive is not affected by KDSS.

 

from my understanding, kdss is dynamic and is related to articulation at low vs high speeds….this is accomplished via 2-way controlled cylinders via hydraulic. At low speeds the kdss allows for a “crawl” over rough terrain. When Cadillac first introduced a similar technology it was night and day compared to mechanical solutions, 2002 STS for you fans of sopranos era mob cars.

Perhaps I am wrong and it’s a static design. if I am right about it’s function, I would assume the bars are secondary.

 

You're mostly correct. The hydraulic cylinders are attached to the sway bars, and act like a partial sway bar disconnect. Because of the sway bars' ability to move freely, they're able to use stiffer sway bars, which reduce body roll significantly.

https://youtu.be/SkPCvB7WY5Y

 

mine is steady as a rock at 60, 70& 80+ mph with my set up. I think it rides better the faster i go. Lol

 

Dog with mange

 

Coyote.

 

and run a steel bumper

 

im not a rocket surgeon but that looks like a coyote with mange.

 

Interesting bit about Cadillac.

The swaybars aren’t really secondary. Depending on who toyota is pitching it to, KDSS makes handling much better and safer because of that huge sway bar. They can also say it makes off-road comfort and articulation much better because it essentially “disconnects” the swaybar and makes each wheel independent from one another, allowing better traction when highly articulated.

Both are accurate descriptions. However, without the thicker swaybars, it could not improve the on-road handling.

 

I love how straight forward that answer was.

not to knock the owners of such systems, but I’ve always been adverse to electrically controlled suspension. Maybe it’s the chills of thinking about how unreliable the c5 audi allroad suspensions were (and most pneumatic factory systems

secondary in the sense that active management is the first and primary means of damping

 

I don't blame you at all! There have been enough failures for it to be a concern. They seem few and far between, but, when it does fail it is very expensive to repair.

Plus, even though it provides a slight advantage off-road for vehicles that have sway bars, it eventually becomes a limitation. If mine were to get totaled out, I would most likely replace it with a non-KDSS model and delete the front sway bar.

I still consider a great option for those who want the best of both worlds for street use and moderate technical off-roading. And, I'm looking forward to seeing how much better the next version is.

From what I have seen with the newer Land cruisers, they are getting rid of the hydraulic link from front to rear, and I believe the entire system is going to be controlled electronically. I think this will provide more potential travel for off-road use, which is one of the things the current system limits.

 

Driving fast isn't always about being young. Sometimes it's about having 1400 miles to go, and the sooner you get there, the sooner you are fishing![/QUOTE]

LOL, I can relate to that as well, although I DO NOT feel comfortable towing the boat going that fast. Sure, the truck and boat are stable, it's the braking distance that worries me...

 

Haha! I definitely keep my distance when towing. I don't exceed ~65 with the pop-up, but I've gone faster when towing a boat. Luckily, there's a boat that lives in Florida where I visit, so it's just the 4runner. Although, I've hauled the kayak down the last few years, so that slows me down a lot.

 

Haha! I definitely keep my distance when towing. I don't exceed ~65 with the pop-up, but I've gone faster when towing a boat. Luckily, there's a boat that lives in Florida where I visit, so it's just the 4runner. Although, I've hauled the kayak down the last few years, so that slows me down a lot.[/QUOTE]

yeah, when towing the boat across the country on the I-40 I would do 80 but that was mainly downhill sections to build up some momentum to get up the hill. I'm probably going to pay to have the boat shipped back, because I don't feel like towing it across the country again. I guess its my sign to buy another boat...

 

So I had to panic brake my KDSS when it was stock. Was doing (I'm guessing) about 75mph to a complete stop. I typically pride myself of looking ahead and avoiding those types of situations but whatever happened on the interstate that day happened quick and there were no indicators.

I essentially had to stand up on the brake pedal to stop. Thought about swerving into the emergency lane (i was in far left) but checked my mirrors and saw it was already taken - or soon to be taken. Even completely stock, I could feel it rocking back and forth as the ABS system tried keeping me upright and straight. I think it did a damn good job as I was able to stop quicker than some of the sedans that had swerved into the emergency lane and ended up beside me. Even with KDSS, I can't imagine having to panic brake with the lift and all the weight I've added

 

the T4R brakes are pretty good despite what some other people say. They are 4 pot with fairly decent sized rotors. Sometimes in a panic stop I’m worried that the car behind hit me.