Did you ever find the torque on the 4.0L insufficient for some off-roading?

Okay back to 4Runner topic. Did the torque on 4.0L ever disappoint you when you were offroading? I'm not talking about speeding and how fast the 4R can take off, I'm talking about going over obstacles. Did you ever feel that wish you had some more torque?
Thank you

 

Thats why 4LO

 

*laughs in 4 cylinder Taco*

 

Imagine there is a dirt road which is a mile long, and it keeps going uphill at constant 45 degrees. The 4Runner should be able to keep marching uphill, right?

 

No. Considering the granny gears they put in them, they do pretty well, IMO. With 295's, though, I wouldn't mind lower gearing for creeping up and down steep grades.

In general, I think a lot more people would be happy with the 4.0 if Toyota gave it a 6 or 8 speed transmission and 4.10's. But, gas mileage would suffer, so it would anger the CAFE overlords.

 

I loved the feeling when I got stuck and then put it in 4Lo, and then moved so freaking slowly, but it kept going like a tank. No momentum whatsoever. I love the 4Runner. What a complete vehicle.

 

LOL! In 4lo mine will crawl up a wall if it could be attached, but yeah, on the road I've pretty much given up on trying to pass other vehicles unless I have at least a mile to do so. The 4R feels like a beast compared to my old 4 cyl Taco.

 

I had a '94 4Runner with the 3.0. Passing with that thing was always interesting.

 

Short answer, in 4LO you never run out of torque. Even done it at 13,000 feet in Colorado where that's about as bad as a N/A Engine gets, and it felt effortless.

I however, was out of breath.

 

I have a 2nd gen 4cylinder taco as well and I feel like it's equally capable

 

That’s a unicorn.

 

Almost as rare as a 1st gen regular cab V6.

 

She's a 5 speed manual as well, the only options are ac and heat with cd player and radio. Manual windows and locks, no cruise control, love it!

 

I had a red 2010 2 door MT 4x4 with the old man mid height topper.

I gave it to my dad.

 

I couldn't drive it. Unless it was just a dedicated trail rig, or Sunday driver.

My '85 Celica had power windows, locks, and cruise. If I'm not mistaken, every vehicle I've owned since then has.

It baffles me why these aren't standard equipment on every vehicle sold.

 

There’s only 2 windows. But no reason not to have them.

Mine lived in Hanalei most its life.

 

My work truck has no power windows. It's awesome when somebody walks up to my passenger window to try to talk to me and I have to yell at them to come around to the driver's side because my arms aren't 4 ft long.

 

Until I brought over to the mainland I don’t think that truck traveled more than 30 miles at a time its entire life or had a passenger.

 

Funny story about me trying to be a gentleman and an FJ-40 owner.

Before I (18 yr. old) met my G/F (now Wife), Cruiser life was all I had. Local trails and traveling to the trails, solo camping and general solitude.

I met her through her younger brothers (partying). So the first date, I go to her apt. door and walk her to the Cruiser. I was embarrassed to tell her that I had to go in from the drivers side to unlock the passenger door.

She asked if it was broken? No, it was designed that way. So I jump in and unlock it and jump back out to open it for her but, she beat me to it and climbed in on her own.
So from then on, we laughed about it. I had that Cruiser for 34 yrs. before I sold it but my Wife is still with me.

 

Looks super cool though.

 

Mine was not that fancy.

This was when my Dad still owned it. His boat.



Still a fantastic vehicle!! This one had separate heater controls for the backseat. None of the four runners I have had since then have had this. It's kind of weird that they got rid of such a cool feature.

Edit: looking back, I think a good buff job and a set of wheels would have really made a difference.

 

Hey it is pulling a boat, slow but steady

 

I got a question. What is the 4Lo feature of? Does the engine have to be designed in a certain way to support 4Lo, or the 1.8L on a Corolla can also support 4Lo as well?

 

Funny thing. My dad bought this boat, and the 4Runner could tow it, but it pretty much sucked. This made him decide to buy a full size truck. When he bought the full size, he decided to sell the 4Runner to me instead of trading it in. So, basically this Crestliner boat is the whole reason I'm here (on this forum) right now.

 

For me, the torque is all about pulling our 5x8 off-road trailer. Having to drive in 4th gear all the time is a bit annoying, and the gas mileage is bad. Another 70 lbs or more of torque would be great. Also a tranny with 7 or 8 gears would be nice. The gap from 4th to 5th is lacking.

 

Yeah but 4Runner is never a Pro tower. The torque on the 4.0L seems enough for offroading as many here say. 4R can tow 5000 lbs but I don't think many tow with it. Tundra is for that purpose.

 

4lo changes the final output ratio of the transfer case.

Our differential gear ratios are 3.73/1. Low range on the transfer case is 2.57/1. So, in 4lo, it's like having 9.57/1 gears in the differentials.

It gives you a lot more torque and also the ability to crawl through things slowly with more control. So it's not really a matter of the engine being compatible with it, but just a feature of four-wheel drive vehicles that have a two-speed transfer case.

 

I agree that the gearing could be better, but I've driven up to 70 in 4th and it's not really bad.

And, the 4Runner surely isn't the first vehicle that recommended not Towing in overdrive. Having to tow in 4th shouldn't be a surprise.

What speed are you towing at?

 

Thanks. Another question. Why the hell hybrid Toyotas don't rev? You push the gas on 4R and it revs, but the stupid Prius doesn't? What the hell is going on? Is it because of CVT? Also on a TFL video, the Subaru Outback just halted. It cut power. Why?

 

No idea. I know CVT transmissions are intended to keep the engine in the most efficient RPM range at all times, but I have no idea why they wouldn't rev-up when you step on the gas.

But, even with the 4Runner when you're trying to pass people, you have to floor it and hold it down before it will downshift. Some people find that really annoying, but I have just adapted to it