Interior Dust/Dirt

I've had my 23 4R since July of last year and only have 5k miles on it but can not believe how much dust the interior of this thing collects. I've never had a car that I have had to vacuum and wipe down as much as this one. Am I going crazy or does anyone else seem to think the same thing?

 

Same. Its a darker interior that my last couple vehicles and there are a lot more surfaces. I have the moonroof and/or back window open every chance I get though too. Just the cost of being awesome I guess

 

Same here.

I've noticed the main areas that get dusty are the back seat and the cargo area. But I assume it's because I cruise around with the sunroof and back window open a lot. It's the price I pay to enjoy my ride even more.

I bet when it gets hotter (and in Texas, that time is approaching fast), I'll keep the sunroof & back window closed, so less dust will get in to the interior.

 

Same experience here, the back window lets the dust in. However, the roof open/back window down combo is so awesome that I choose to accept the fact that I'll clean the interior more often. At least the softex makes that a quick and easy process. It was more of a pain with my '19 because it had cloth but still wasn't a deal breaker.

 

I unfortunately couldn't find a lunar rock color when I was looking in ORP and I'm impatient so I had to settle for cloth and its a pain in the ass lol.

 

The trails I frequent have what we call “Moon Dust”. It’s a mess, but part of the price of admission. I’ll take it over mud which I avoid at all costs.

 

2011 Limited. I would say the opposite. I had a 2021 Rav4 that let more dust and dirt in that my 4Runner. Obvious things-cabin air filter installed correctly? Leave windows up? Doors sealing well?

 

I did check most of the obvious things such as the listed above. Even brand new off the lot within 300 miles I was wiping the inside of the car down. I have let the truck sit after a interior clean for a week or two since it is not my daily driver. Get back in to go work and just dust floating all around the interior. Just thought it was odd I have had over 20 something vehicles and never see so must dust pop up randomly even before this truck ever saw trails or mud/dirt.

 

What is the terrain where you live? Desert, mountains, coastal?

 

I live and drive in the desert so dust is just a normal thing. Only way to keep it out of the interior of a vehicle is to shut all windows tightly, then turn the fan on High to pressurize the interior as much as possible. (DON'T run the air on "Recirculate"!!!) If I were to open the rear window the dust would instantly be sucked inside!


Normal driving conditions:

 

Thanks for that tip. Recently learned the hard way after some 60 miles on a dusty road, had everything closed up on the trail. Got back to pavement, opened sunroof...all good, opend rear hatch window...all good, opened front windows...all good, opened back windows and

 

Mine gets pretty bad inside but I figure it’s because I like to open my windows in the street. I carry a microfiber in the door at all times to wipe down. I just purchased Four Cam Engineering filtered and capped pressure vents to see if it helps.

 

One of the things I miss the most from my 3rd gen was the rear spoiler. The downdraft kept all the dust from infiltrating into the cabin when driving on dusty trails. The caveat was you had to be going at least 20-25 mph for it to be effective.

 

Apparently the 4runner is dusty even if it’s not being used industy conditions then. Mine’s been really dusty, but figured it was part of the price to pay for driving on gravel or trails. That said, the all-black interior has zero capacity to hide any dust whatsoever.

Just wait it till you think of vacuuming out the cloth seats. The amount of dust that’s collected in the vacuum is impressive even when they look perfectly clean! Seriously, the seats probably hold a few pounds of dust each lol.


All the dust is the perfect excuse to roll down all the windows and enjoy the breeze

 

That black interior is the one thing I would really like to change on my 4R....if I could find a wrecked Limited that had the light tan interior I'd change out the interior body panels immediately. Far as I'm concerned black has no business being on a vehicle that spends its life in the desert!

 

You could get these and let us know if they work.

https://fourcam.com/products/5th-gen-4runner-vent-solutions

Even with the rear window up, I still get more dust inside than I’d expect.

 

Use an orbital palm sander (without sandpaper of course!) with a vacuum nozzle attached to it!

 

The Fourcam vents came in. Knowing me they will be on the shelf forever.

 

OK maybe I'm retarded, but whenever I am in crazy dusty conditions I close the windows and turn the air to "recirculate". Why do you not? My thought process is that in this way I am not making the HVAC system "inhale" dusty outside air and am recirculating the dust free interior air?

 

After moving to the Desert, I no longer give a hoot. There is dust everywhere, and it aint going anywhere. My OCD is getting old. Heck, there's even pinstripes I dont care about.

 

To keep the dust out of the interior you need to pressurize it by cramming outside air in. "Recirculate" does not pressurize the interior. All outside air is filtered by the cabin air filter. Unless you are traveling close behind someone on a dusty road the system is not inhaling dust as the air intake is in front of the windshield. Pretty much all dust gets into the interior from the back of the rig because of the vacuum created at the rear of the vehicle when moving. I've seen some desert rigs where powerful aftermarket fans were installed in the cab ceiling, they created enough pressure inside that you could feel it in your ears. For sure no dust was able to get inside.

 

Were these $400 for two?

 

They’re sold by the pair.

 

BTW... I read on another post that someone bought a Swifter to help with their dust OCD. I did the same this morning and was very happy with the results. I know it will continue to get dusty, that's okay but I can still fight the good fight.

 

This one made me giggle-snort. I am exactly at this stage in life lol.

 

Nice. I went the cheap route and bought the vent covers from opt off road.
https://optoffroad.com/products/cabin-vent-cover?variant=42078082367746

Siliconed them over the OE vents. (Similar to the "Basic" kit on 4runner lifestyle's website)
https://www.4runnerlifestyle.com/products/four-cam-5th-gen-4runner-vent-solution

Helps keep dust out but they don't vent quite as well and I feel my AC struggle when I first turn it on...
I may go ahead and buy the complete kit from fourcam with the upgraded filters eventually.

 

I quickly learned about the interior dust problem the first time I drove around on-road with the tailgate window down. Man, what a great feeling, but damn...what an absolute mess...even if you have your side windows down, apparently it creates quite a vacuum. Everything was coated with a lovely layer of dust. Bleck.

Anyway, just for giggles...I tried using one of those handheld size Swifters to dust the interior. Worked like a freaking charm!

TimG