Why does it hang so low

I never understood why they designed parts on the 4Runner particularly the fuel tank to hang so damn low, on my older 5th gen which was stock except for tires I would bottom out and hit a lot on very mild fire trails that a Corolla or Honda civic could do, on my Tacoma everything is tucked up high especially the fuel tank and they’re both the same size so it’s not like the 4Runner has a huge capacity fuel tank or anything pics are of my 5th gen 4Runner and 2nd gen taco both on 33 inch wildpeaks with bilstein 6112 so the lifts and tires are identical

 

Because the passenger compartment, leg room, hip and shoulder room, and the carrying capacity, typically listed in cubic feet are all impacted by what has to create a "hump" on the floorboard. The more tucked, the less interior space, or vice-versa, the more that hangs down, the more interior cargo space there is. This is a listed feature for vehicles, so it's important to the manufacturer/buyer.

 

Fuel tank is on the driver side my Tacoma doesn’t have a hump where the passanger sits

 

I'm going to second everything @Acesandeights mentioned. My Tacoma was the same way; the under carriage was flat and pretty high up, but there were a lot of humps. On the passenger side, in the back, etc...

My 4Runner is the opposite. The floor is practically dead flat, but I have low hanging fruit now! Sadly, we can't have it both ways.

 

You could have it both ways, buts you’d have like 120 miles of range every fill up

 

Just get a good gas station skid plate and let her slide. Its all good!

 

Needs Viagra.

 

I rather have humps and things be tucked away, I bought my vehicles for me not no stinking passengers

 

Half an inch less headroom and 2 fewer gallons of capacity will do that.

 

You might like the Ineos Grenadier then, but almost everyone complains about the foot space, lack of space under seats, and hump(s) in other places.

It's like setting blocks on a table, or placing them in a box, and making them flat without taking up any space.

 

Guess they didn’t make it for you. They made it for soccer moms, we just buy it because it’s awesome.

 

You need portals. Those'll get you up off the ground.

 

The fuel tank is not the lowest hanging part of the undercarriage, and they gave it quite a good skidplate. I don't know, what good would it do for the frame to touch the ground before a skid plate?

 

Actually the skid plate is just thin tin it wouldn’t do anything against any decent size rock except fold in itself

 

What do you consider mild fire road? I believe your pumpkin would hit before the gas tank. And bottoming out a 4Runner on a road that a civic or Corolla can do doesn’t make sense to me.

 

The Runner has a rear multilink on coils vs the Tacoma is simple leaf packs. The multi link suspension takes up more room with the shorter wheelbase of the Runner so the tank cannot be as long so it needs to be taller. Pick better lines?

 

The automotive press never lets us forget how "ooooold" this platform is.
Things tend to sag as they age. Some of us are more familiar with this than others.

 

Why does it hang so low?

Genetics?

 

I've had plenty of minor hits on my front skids. None on my gas tank.

 

I've beat the daylights out of stock skids on some of my previous trucks and they do quite well.

 

I have KDSS and the front clearance was horrible without a lift. Typical dirt mountain roads have some crown, often with some embedded rocks and I was hitting the front skid on very basic roads. The gas tank skid is flimsy thin metal and it did not do well with rocks. A mild lift made all the difference for me, and of course Bud Built skids.

 

How much of lift did you do and how? Only larger tires would really get it higher,.. not a lift. Lift is for more drop or travel. Tires gain height.

 

I rock crawled mine with stock fuel tank skid without any issues or damage. That location is not where you’ll get hung up often. Your differential and front crossmember are much more likely to hit something. Upgrade to strong front and mid skid plates and don’t worry about fuel tank. If concerned still- get steel fuel tank plate to replace factory stamped sheet metal.

 

no a suspension lift will lift the body giving you ground clearance. A suspension lift will not lift your axles up bigger tires do that

 

https://youtu.be/CnBj2gaTwjs?si=FWpuXozlbUAgOH_p

No lift just slightly larger tires. It wasn’t perfect, but no damage other than a scrape or two.

it’s about wheel placement, I’d rather have some pin stripping than smash the under side, and I drive fast on typical dirt roads

 

Lot of competing considerations go into a vehicle.

For me, the 4runner’s seating position and headroom is adequate while the 3rd gen Tacoma (that’s what I got to drive before) there seems to be a lot less vertical cabin space to me.

Judging from comments about the “on the floor” seating and whatnot I don’t think I’m alone.

We could get even more interior space switching from body-on-frame to unibody too, but that doesn’t really make sense given the design goals of these vehicles compared to say, a Ridgeline or Passport. (not to mention Toyota already has a fleshed out crossover lineup)

 

My Tacoma had better clearance for crawl space underneath, but actually fitting normal-sized people inside was a frequent source of frustration. Plus, its fuel tank armor was plastic.

We all have different priorities, but I’ll give up a little underneath for the space inside.

 

The factory gas tank skid didn't hold up to this very well. It was smashed to the gas tank and I was concerned that it may puncture the tank. The skid was replaced before my next outing.
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1.../AF1QipOoWMzrYqtdchWvzP6pILE2J_y7EisD7yb5pXSV

 

The front skids are very low as well.. Subaru level low.. strange.