Another quick 4Runner question

Since I'm looking at 06-09 V8 4Runners as a tow rig, do they share any of the same frame problems as the Tacoma/Tundra had?

I haven't found anything on it, so I'm assuming not, but figured the brain trust here would know.

what about suspension issues?

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/anyone-heard-of-foreign-market-4-runner-suspension/50235/page1/

I'd think a 99% on-road and towing a trailer won't even begin to even come close to even approaching (like my embellishment) the kind of stress those guys are putting on a truck.

Good question and I've been trying to find out too. I do know Tacoma's are built in the US using frames from DANA corp, or use to anyway. 4Runners are built in Japan. I THINK I read where they are different. I have heard of frame rot in the 3rd gen's, but not 4th gen's. I am going to do more research.

My 2007 frame is pretty chunky steel. I think the frame issues were up to about 2002.

My '05 is spotless underneath - a little surface rust on the bare metal stuff but the chassis is all original black paint. My '02 Tacoma looked very good as well.

All of this said, I looked at an '05 4Runner which looked as though the chassis was about to fold up and dump the body in the road. The outsides of the frame rails had been crudely shot w/ rattle can undercoat. Shady car and at a wierd, shady used car lot.

Bring a flashlight and look underneath first. Any signs of recent rattle can undercoat over rust, run.

Hmm, that's going to make it interesting for me then.

Since your original update a few weeks ago, essentially it looks like I'm going to need to travel to find the 4Runner I want.

06-09, with ~40k miles. There is just nothing around me and hasn't been for awhile. I also want a southern car to help with any rust issues.

I'd really like this car to be my DD/Tow rig for the next 5-7 years once I get one.

Ditto on my 08. Frame is perfect, and I see no evidence that it is the "sandwiched layers" construction that the Tacos had. It's clearly solid steel. Mine does a lot of winter duty in particular, and there's very little rust on the underside at all. As with anything, severe duty can screw things up, as can a lot of road salt and never cleaning it. But overall I've never heard of any 4G 4Runners having significant frame issues.

irish44j wrote: Ditto on my 08. Frame is perfect, and I see no evidence that it is the "sandwiched layers" construction that the Tacos had. It's clearly solid steel. Mine does a lot of winter duty in particular, and there's very little rust on the underside at all. As with anything, severe duty can screw things up, as can a lot of road salt and never cleaning it. But overall I've never heard of any 4G 4Runners having significant frame issues.

That is great news. From all my research, I'm just not really finding any negatives about this truck.

The flip side is, why is the resale value so low compared to it's capabilities.....I guess that's what makes wonder a bit.

z31maniac wrote:

irish44j wrote: Ditto on my 08. Frame is perfect, and I see no evidence that it is the "sandwiched layers" construction that the Tacos had. It's clearly solid steel. Mine does a lot of winter duty in particular, and there's very little rust on the underside at all. As with anything, severe duty can screw things up, as can a lot of road salt and never cleaning it. But overall I've never heard of any 4G 4Runners having significant frame issues.

That is great news. From all my research, I'm just not really finding any negatives about this truck. The flip side is, why is the resale value so low compared to it's capabilities.....I guess that's what makes wonder a bit.

it is? Ours KBB/Edmunds has it at about $18k retail value. We paid a shade under $27k for it almost 6 years ago. That's not too bad in my book.

But I suspect that the 4th gen values went down when the 5th gen came out, probably.

What resale values are you seeing on them? They certainly seem to hold their value around here on CL.

As to downsides....there are some, but not many.

Sportedition seats are pretty flat and not great.

Interior is not terribly spacious compared to pretty much any unibody SUV.

Stock stereo system is sucky.

Stock tires are dreadful (if you buy one with Dunlop AT20s, change them out before you try to take it anywhere that has snow/ice/mud/deep standing water.)

At least to me, it doesn't seem to hard to find a V8 with around 50k miles in great shape for $20k or less. And that's one with some options, not just a base model.

Just seems like a lot of truck for the money.

I haven't looked at resale - I think we'll drive ours another 100k or so before we think about it much.

SE seats are also flat

Gas mileage is very truckish - 17-18 with a v8 and full time 4wd

Ditto on stock tires - the bridgestones were as bad as the dunlops.

oldtin wrote: Ditto on stock tires - the bridgestones were as bad as the dunlops.

Bridgestone Dueller Revo2's (NOT the stock Bridgestones) totally transform the vehicle into good-riding, good-handling, quieter, and WAY better mud and winter traction. Should be the first mod for any 4Runner, IMO.