So we bought our first 4Runner…

First off, I’ve been a Toyota boy for most of my life. Growing up, all of my friends had an old tacoma or 4Runner and I with my lowly 98 Altima always dreamed of owning one as well. Fast forward to 2016 when I bought a 2015.5 Tacoma with the 4banger, 5spM, 4x4. I’ve driven it all across the country, I’ve offroaded, overlanded, it’s never left me stranded. I left it stock from the factory and I couldn’t be more pleased with a truck. That said, when it came time for wifey to upgrade from her long series of Toyota and Lexus sedans, there was only one option I’d trust the most important asset in my life behind the wheel of; a 2024 4Runner. After exhaustive searches across our tristate area (MD, VA, NC) we finally found one that had all the options she wanted in a color she liked; classic silver, just like daddy. now that she’s got it, she loves it and honestly so do I. My only question is, and I know this has been extensively answered in the past for various other model years; what have you other 2024 owners done to improve the build quality overall? Obviously from the factory Toyota is much akin to Glock.(RIP Gaston) Leave it alone and it works forever, but there is always room for improvement without sacrificing reliability. We are new to the 4Runner community but I’ve long dreamt of this time in my life. It took a lot of work to get financially stable enough to outright buy a new truck for my wife. Now that I’m here, I can’t help but wonder; “how could I make it better?”

 

Welcome and congrats! Upgrades on 4Runners are like cool things you can do to that Glock - endless. But, the value and feasibility of all of those are: A. Purpose-driven (what are you going to do with your Runner); B. Subjective (what is cool and feasible to one owner isn't to someone else); and C. Driven by which model 4R you're starting with (you might approach upgrades on a Limited differently than you'd approach an ORP, TRD Pro or Base SR5).

So you might provide us a bit more detail about your new 4R and a pic is always appreciated too!

Again, welcome!

 

"How could I make it better" will depend on what you intend on doing with it. Me, I bought a '23 Limited, which has full-time 4wd with a locking center diff. I don't offroad, so to me it's like having a Subaru, but in an SUV (excuse the Subie reference). I put bigger AT tires on it (275/55-20s to replace the 245/60 all-seasons), an Airaid intake, Summit Racing oval muffler, and have an oil catch can on the way. For now, that's pretty much all I intend to do to "make it better". If I intended to use it for offroading, overlanding, camping, zombie apocalypse, etc., that would dictate what things I would do to "make it better" for those particular functions. In any event, enjoy your new 4Runner, the 5th gens will be the last of the breed...

 

Since you have been happy with a stock Taco, a good set of AT tires should be all you need. There’s plenty of great options out there, so take your pick.

 

100% Ditto!!!! That's why I bagged 2 of them BTW and it's till death do us part.

 

Bilstein 5100s, that's it

 

I like my stock 2019 SR5 Premium, pretty much as is. An altimeter due to heart problems, a phone mount for the wife, internal storage, a roof rack with retrieval gear, a First Aid, shovel, ax, small tool kit, satellite radio (for long trips to SoCal), sliders, and better tires are most of what I have. One or two trips to SoCal, usually early spring and/or fall along the Cascades and Sierras and usually 4-5 months of Cascade winters.

The "Blue Beast" at Chaco Canyon during monsoon season.

 

My youngest daughter got a '23 TRD ORP in Lunar Rock several months ago, with the XP blackout package and some other things, it's her dream vehicle. I told her with it being a 5th gen, she needs to keep it until it's no longer safe to drive on the roads. Yeah the mpg's certainly not the best, but all things considered, it's a keeper for sure!

 

This may be just semantics, but one cannot change "build quality." Build quality is how it comes out of the factory. And as you already know with most Toyota products, that's pretty darn good already.

Working at a Toyota dealership, I can offer one big caution on quality in general though. Don't screw it up with poor quality aftermarket parts and accessories. I can't tell you how many relatively new Toyotas come into our Service department with various "issues." In many, many cases, these issues were caused by well intention folks falling for marketing hype on various (generally Chinese made) products promising to be 1) plug and play, 2) completely compatible with your vehicle, 3) better than OE quality, 4) improve performance by 200% - and the list goes on and on. In the best-case scenarios, our Service Technicians can fix the problem by simply removing the offending aftermarket part and installing a real Toyota part. In the worst-case scenarios, damage has been done to one (or more) important / expensive OE systems and extensive repairs are needed.

So how does one know if a given aftermarket part / product is going to cause problems? I always say that "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I also add that "if a given aftermarket miracle product was really that good, why didn't Toyota install it at the factory?"

Hope that helps.

 

I assume that 2024 ClS TRD OFP translates to 2024 Classic Silver TRD Off Road Premium (most shorten this to ORP) - it's pretty much way more capable and well made than the 2015.5 Tacoma you were so pleased with that you left completely stock. As others have said, if you use your new 4R like you did the Tacoma, new tires and perhaps a front leveling with Eibach or Bilstein shocks, done.

Although, if you spend any time at all on this forum going forward, you'll discover dozens of things you 'can't live without'...

Welcome to the forum.

 

That's easy, cost. I traded in a '22 Ford Explorer ST, which had the Ecoboost 3.0 twin turbo V6, factory rated at 400 hp and 415 ft-lbs of torque. The OEM intercooler on that thing was a joke, but it was more or less the same intercooler that Ford uses on a bunch of other Ecoboost vehicles. So from an accounting perspective, it made sense. Certainly not from a performance perspective, but it kept the costs down. I ended up replacing the shoe-box OEM intercooler with a Steeda full-size one, which had over 200 percent more volume and over 250 percent more frontal surface area, but it cost about $900 and five hours of my time to install it. Ford should've had a full-size intercooler like that one stock from the factory, but the cost would've been passed on to the buyer.

 

The nice thing about these is that they're so solid from the factory, you don't really have to make improvements to them other than addressing issues that you personally don't like.

I would say the only must do is to have the chassis treated with wool wax or fluid film or similar if you live in an area that uses road salt.

The other thing may be tires if you plan on taking it off road, the stock tires are not the best. Other than that it's great.

Things like seat covers, the center console organizer, window vent shield, things like that you can add to personalize your ownership experience, but there are really no hard parts that need to be immediately added.

 

Improvements? Tires should do it. Drive it with some nice ATs and after some time in the saddle you’ll know if you need anything else. Congratulations!

 

Having spent over 35 years in high volume manufacturing prior to getting my retirement job at the dealership, I will absolutely buy your argument.

On the other end of the spectrum though, I've seen way too many cases of cheap aftermarket LED bulbs causing problems you simply would not believe.

 

Welcome from Arizona!
Drive it,use it,enjoy it.

 

Start with LED interior bulbs. Not sure if the newer years have them or not but makes a big difference. (Mine is a 2019 TRD ORP)

 

Welcome to the club!

I put a OEM chrome exhaust tip on mine! Not sure if I like it, though. Seems to stick out too far.

Otherwise, a glove box organizer, a console organizer, an all weather cargo area mat, and a Fumoto drain valve for the next oil change.

 

Welcome & congrats!

 

Congrats! I picked up my first 4R (classic silver) two days ago and I've been all smiles since. Less than 24 hours after getting it I swapped out the junk tires for all terrains and what a difference that makes.

 

congrats

 

Welcome and congratulations! I absolutely love my ‘23 ORP and plan on keeping it for a long time. I have the crappy Duellers on it now but plan on putting AT tires on it next month. I have swapped the interior lights with LED interior bulbs, added the sequential turn signal lights in the mirrors, swapped the 3rd brake light with the smoked lens version from Yota Xpedition, and changed the license plate lights to LED. I also added the glove box organizer, added a wireless CarPlay adapter, and added a wireless phone charging tray to the center console.

 

Welcome to the family. Tires and reverse led's & she should be good to go.

 

"I can’t help but wonder; “how could I make it better?” - you cannot. you can only make it look differently from your neighbor T4R, but at huge expense and same time compromise safety and efficiency of original vehicle. It is a oxymoron: to be a husband, father, head of family and same time throw thousands of family dollars to change appearance of something for result that is not serve practical or life saving purpose.

 

I think there’s room for improvement, but it is an overall well designed truck.

Compromises are made and it’s up to the consumer to decide what needs to change to make it fit for purpose.

 

you can make it better by putting the supercharger on it, and the custom tune just to have that extra cherry on top.

 

Funny that you mention that, but this is exactly where I am coming from. I can't stand CVTs, Subaru went all-in on these (no more MT or AT on larger cars) and I ended up with 4Runner Limited. I am also keeping my MT Outback, but it is getting rather old. I would have purchased another new Outback if they still offered it with a non-CVT gearbox.

 

I know you are likely not serious, but SC requires internal engine work, head bolts and gasket at a minimum, or you seriously compromising its longevity. Plus, SC is uneven in power delivery, you would not get any notable boost under 2000rpm. Doesn't seem to fit the application on 4Runner.

 

internals? not for mild boost. More than few have done it with no issues after many years.

 

As everyone here has pointed out, better is going to be subjective. For me, there are a handful of things that generally improve the the comfort / use of my 4Runner that don't stray quite as far into use case specific upgrades.

1. Interior LEDs, don't forget the hatch lights (avoid cheap Amazon options here)
   
2. Glove box divider, potentially a center console divider as well. Has allowed me to use the space more efficiently
3. Rav4 side mirors that include blind spot mirrors.
4. PPF on the front end if you intend to have long term ownership
5. All weather mats if you don't already have them

Invariably one or more members here will say you don't need any of these things. They're right, you don't need them, but I do find that these are minor improvements to the stock form. If you start identifying other use cases beyond daily driving (i.e. off roading), the list can get long pretty quickly.

 

Welcome.