Video: 4Runner Trailhunter vs. Tacoma Trailhunter COMPARED: Which One Would (or Should) You Choose?

That’s going to happen to someone at highway speeds and cause an accident.

 

TNGA-F

 

Definitely. We got potholes on the highway here that could easily cause that to break, based on what I saw in the vids.

 

They do, because their shocks aren't as fancy as the Tacoma's:

https://youtu.be/SXSeyjxihnM?t=156

Interestingly, the Tacoma frame doesn't have the holes with weld nuts at that location, so it won't be a simple bolt-on mod to add the LC250 bumpstop to the Tacoma.

 

The Tacoma passenger side is double-shear:

https://youtu.be/qX6gUJrlyW4?t=1707

It seems the Tacoma LCA design is unique, while the SUVs (4R/LC250/GX550) share a common LCA design. You can see the 4R's LCA has a dimple in the front; that's to clear the front-mounted KDSS sway bar on the GX550. Meanwhile, there are no frame-mounted bumpstop provisions on the 4R:



Did you catch the bit in the TFL's video that the OME-branded shocks on the Trailhunter are made by Bilstein?

 

There's much more than just two reports from 2024 Tacoma owners unfortunately. With the pushed back launch of the 4runner, hopefully Toyota will nip this in the bud and not have it be an issue for the new 4runner at all.

 

I hope 6g 4Runner will be a complete fail. Make our 5G worth more.. perfect time to sell it

 

Could sell now, just say they aren’t making them anymore

oh wait they really aren’t making them right now.

 

ARB purchased Old Man Emu (OME) in 1988.

ARB has manufacturing operations in Australia and Thailand.

ARB / OME BP-51 shocks are manufactured in-house in Australia.

However, Monroe makes OME shocks. ARB has a business deal with Monroe for the highest quality Monroe offers, and the OME shocks are made to exact ARB specifications, including vehicle weight and also when mated for OME spring rates and heights.

Tenneco owns Monroe and Rancho.

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Bilstein shocks are made in Germany, USA, Mexico, and I believe a few other countries. Some Bilstein shocks have parts made in one country and then assembled in another.

So you could have Bilstein shocks made in Germany but assembled in Mexico. Or made in USA and assembled in Mexico. etc.

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No idea why Toyota would use OME branded shocks made by Bilstein. Doesn't really make sense. I wonder where they got that info.

 

Why would they still be making them? The new 6th Gens were supposed to be coming in Sept. From a manufacturing standpoint, it means Toyota would have started manufacturing the 6th gen already, receiving millions of 6th gen parts from all their suppliers, retooling the factory line, etc.

Toyota would need to order a bunch more 5th gen parts from suppliers and have everything in the pipeline already to continue to making 5th gens.

Toyota didn't make the delay announcement until July, after they already started making 6th gens.

It's quite a screw up for Toyota.

 

The people at the press event probably told TFL this. I imagine ARB doesn't have in-house mfg capacity to fulfill OEM orders by a long shot. If ARB can contract Tenneco to build its shocks, it can certainly contract Bilstein to build its shocks. A lot of these decisions can change when the order exceeds 100,000 shocks a year...

Fun fact, Tenneco also owns Ohlins, but I'm reasonably certain they don't share any manufacturing with Monroe

 

I hope 5th gen prices hit the toilet, so I can pick up another one for cheap in a few years. But that likely won't happen simply because 6th gen prices will be a lot higher.

 

Exactly my point tho. Why not just go to Bilstein? Seems fucked by Toyota to tell everyone "hey look, OME shocks!" and then give us Bilstein. Even though Bilstein manu's them to ARB specs.

Obviously the reason is because they signed a deal with ARB for their tow hooks and bumper stuff. So I guess they had to stick with them for shocks.

 

Well...maybe it's just because they are new, but I prefer the older gen in both cases. The prior gen Tacoma was just so freaking smooth looking--just perfect, and this thing seems a bit like a cross between the prior gen Taco and a family truckster.

 

It was a sarcastic post, sorry if that didn’t come across. But my point was, no 4runners being made right now.

I don’t see it as being “quite a screw up”, I see that they decided not to put out a vehicle that could be prone to some bad shit, like the new models already out there that are having issues.

 

funny you say that about the last gen tacoma when everyone complained about the crap transmission when they came out.

it took them about 2-3 years to iron out the transmission gremlins, but man did people complain.

 

What are you going to buy instead?

 

Still had issues on the turd gen trans people still complained

 

If the ineos test drives well, I am selling the 5G. however if the 5G will go up in price, like how the older Tacoma is, after the fail of the new gen.. I may wait 9mos or so.

It’s hilarious how I am placing more trust in a new auto brand than these new gen Toyotas.

Ineos is offer 2.9% financing right now.. that’s free money, when considering market return

 

You can get a Tundra at 1.99% I believe

 

That doesn’t seem like a smart move. Good luck getting parts and repairs done.

 

...on a newest gen Tundra.

 

Yeah waiting 9 more months may be prudent.. to see how reliable the vehicle is as the miles add up.

so far it’s been good.. but North American ownership is less than one year.

the ineos has the same engine as the new Supra. Same ZF transmission used in wranglers. Built by the same company that builds the Mercedes G wagon

 

I almost wonder if some of these LCAs are being updated to double shear. I’ve seen various videos showing the same model having either type.

Yes, I feel a bit better that the LC250 does have frame mounted bump stops. It’s probably the reason it can have normal shocks, instead of the “fancy” shocks needed on the Tacoma, where it has to pull double duty as part of the virtual bumpstop scheme.

But I’m disappointed the 4runner will not have bumpstops.

I don’t think it will be possible to add physical bumpstops to frames that don’t have it. It’s not just a weldnut they don’t have. They are missing the entire welded structure that holds the bumpstop rubber pad. This is what the LC250 looks like:

 

No. An Ineos.

 

Huh, are you looking at the same structure that I'm looking at? From the Car and Driver video at the timestamp I linked, the ~8" steel bump stop bracket is bolted to the frame. Edmunds made a comment this could make it easier for the aftermarket to swap in a fabricated bracket for hydraulic or air bumps. On the Taco/4R it's probably feasible to drill holes and install rivnuts to use the same bracket.

 

You’re right, I missed that! I recall seeing a video where I saw what I could have sworn was a welded on structure.

I wonder if the LCAs will be different on the models with bumpstops. Like a landing pad for the rubber stop pad, or if there might extra strengthening on that area of the LCAs.

 

The point is the new Toyotas have the same challenges that you attribute to ineos.. the contrast is subdued

 

Agreed that thing will probably be a nightmare

 

But it’s so sexy