Picked up a used 4th-gen today

Found this '03 with low mileage (130k!) and the 4.7L V8 for a good price, so I had to jump on it. I've wanted a V8 4th-gen for a while now. This one is just for a family hauler, so it's 2WD. The red '21 in the background of some of these pics is the off-roader.

4-year-old standing next to it will probably end up with one of these trucks one day!

 

Looks like a great find! Make sure the timing belt and associated parts have been serviced and if not, you’re overdue.

 

Think it's good it's a 2wd because of the extra weight and all the extra parts that can fail, since i did not need 4wd or a v8 i bought a 08 2wd in V6.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

Yes, those services were done 38,000 miles ago, so we're good for a little while!

For my use case I completely agree. My daily is a Tundra, my off-roader is a 4WD V6, and this is something that can comfortably and reliably haul a couple of kids in car seats, with a stroller and other kid necessities in the back. So it's exactly the vehicle I need it to be.

 

I had a Ford Bronco 4wd but hardly used it, i was really suprised when Toyota dropped their v8s in the 4runners but quickly noticed they were uping the HP in the v6s.

Even my 08 4runner with a much smaller v6 then offered today still has enought HP and torque to get things done.
And i sure don't miss the extra weight larger v8 would add.

 

Looks like your son is sayin, "dad, with a 2" lift and some bigger tires, we could wheel this thing..."

 

One thing I didn't realize is that the V8's torque curve is so much better than the V6. This truck may be over 20 years old but it's more responsive off the line than the wife's 2021 that has 35 more HP. The V8 makes 80% of its peak torque at 1100 RPM, and both my wife and I felt the difference immediately.

The other big surprise is that I got better MPG driving it home in traffic when I bought it yesterday than I typically do with the newer 4.0 V6. Granted that V6 isn't known for its fuel efficiency...but I expected it to have a slight edge over the V8. My theory is it's because the V8 just doesn't have to work hard at all to move the vehicle.

 

I always wondered why Toyota used a belt on v8 where it's a chain on the v6s, people are always worried about these belts failing where i never read of a chain failing.

 

Yeah, I think that's one advantage of the newer UR engine series. My 5.7L Tundra has a chain. If the 4.7 did, it might have been as close to a perfect engine as you could ever hope to find.

That said, back in the days of the 22R I did have a Toyota timing chain break! It was one of the common issues with those otherwise great engines.

 

Haha, yeah I'm sure he'd love that! We'd have to bring mom's 4WD along as a recovery vehicle if we tried taking this 2WD off road, lol.

 

I am not to worried about anything failing soon i bought my 08 new in 08 and the other day i went over 10,000 miles.

 

2wd and the V8 it should run pretty well, congrats!