Tacoma to 4Runner

Hey everyone!

New to the forum but not new to Toyota. I picked up a 2007 SR5 as our new family vehicle last week. I’ve been looking for the last 4 months pretty much daily, and got lucky and found a pristine 07 with only 124k on it for a good price. The paint is in great condition and the interior is absolutely spotless!




The only issue on the exterior is moisture in the passenger side headlight, which I already have a new one ordered and should get it Wednesday. As well as HIDs for the low beams and some yellow lamin-x for the fogs.

Couple pics of my 16 Taco I had prior.



I’m looking forward to modding the new rig and checking out the advice from this forum and it’s members!

 

Welcome MNT_RNR! Lots of members on here, including myself, have made that jump for a variety of reasons. Your new to you 4 Runner looks new! Good find! You’ll love it.

 

Welcome from Phoenix, that is quite the change, I hope it works out well for you and the family.

 

Welcome, looks nice

 

That was a nice taco. Surprised you traded for that.

nice runner though

 

Thanks! I loved the taco but wanted to get a more family friendly vehicle since we have 2 dogs and a baby on the way next month. So figured picking up a 4Runner and pocketing some cash was a good idea.

 

Well played!

What engine does that one have?

 

This one has the 4.0 V6. Feels more powerful than the 3.5 I had in the taco.

 

Welcome from Oregon!!

 

Welcome from SoCal!​

 

If you've never owned a Tacoma (especially 3rd Gen -- I had a 2017 Quicksand OR) this may seem like a weird trade, but I get it.

The Tacoma powertrain is bad...real bad. Rear cab space is a joke.

As you make the vehicle sexier off road (and it does look sexy), the daily drive becomes noticeably worse.

 

Welcome from Colorado..! Great find.. Congrats..!

 

That’s an interesting comment, fajitas21, about diminishing high speed driveability with increased off reading capability. As you modify a vehicle, the challenge is to use after market parts that are properly engineered, and based on decisions that don’t reduce the integrity of the vehicle. Tacos and 4 Runners have tremendous driveability and off road capability in stock form. The Toyota engineers have engineered a unique vehicle that can drive safely at modern high speeds, and at the same time negotiate rough terrain and difficult conditions at slow speeds.
It’s a balancing act, and hard to do right. That’s why the collective experience on this forum is so important, because most DIY folk engineering is trial and error.

 

I wasn’t a big fan of the lack of power on the taco when it was stock, but I got use to it. And then as I slowly added all the extra weight it definitely got more noticeable. But for an off-road and daily it wasn’t terrible.

The 4Runner is just a more practical vehicle for us as a family. And my goal with it isn’t to go as crazy as I did with the taco. Really just want to do a 3” lift, wheels and tires, a front lo pro bumper like the C4 fab or victory, and add a touchscreen with a backup camera.

Just go for subtle and clean. Similar to this..

 

You bet. Sounds like you been there too.

While I made my Tacoma an offroad monster, daily drivability, especially in highway form, was worse and worse. I went from 22MPG highway down to 14.5. Every hill needed to downshift from 6 > 4th.

The 4Runner, on the other hand (2016 Trail Premium), I carefully crafted into a road tripping beast with much better than stock offroad chops. My friends joked at me at first, saying I was taking only half measures. However, as I continued to follow them on the trail without much trouble, and at times simply refused to do a trail I felt was too challenging, the "quite capable" 4Runner didn't have body panel damage, wasn't breaking rear diffs or CVs, and still got 19MPG on the highway. It was still a pleasant vehicle to road trip, and tow my teardrop with. It was also getting more than 180 miles per tank of gas.

Then slowly, I kept providing advise as to which things people needed, think they needed, or ultimately wanted but didn't need. My 2016 4Runner is now being sold to one of my buddies who specifically wanted it because he knew I took care of it, but used it for it's purpose at the same time. It's reliable, capable, highway friendly.

Those 33's look good, those 35's look better. I totally get it. But what's frustrating is my 32's with a 2" lift keep up with most of what we call "wheeling" here, and i still get 19 MPG on the highway.

 

Looks good, one suggestion, consider 3/4 rack. Aerodynamics testing from my 4runner suggests the wind noise and drag are dramatically reduced behind the front doors, about where the sunroof ends. It also will likely not hit the MPG as hard, because some roof racks will knock it down 2MPG.

 

Good advice, thanks. Just trying to decide what to do. My experience with a mildly modded 4 Runner is similar to yours, even when I go out with the Jeep guys who drive some pretty extreme mad max style vehicles.

 

A roof rack is probably something down the road for me. But I will keep that info in mind when I eventually throw one on.

I had similar experiences when I was on trails with my buddy who had a decked out JK. Looking at our rigs next to each other’s you’d think I couldn’t hang with him. But we finished some serious trails in both rigs together. And I definitely didn’t baby my taco.

 

My Favorite quote is "If you want to go on Safari take a Land Rover. If you want to come back take a Land Cruiser."

Same for Jeep vs Toyota. Tough little trucks. Maybe not as much flex, not as much "cred," but in the end I regularly wheel with people with 250-300k on the odometer.

 

The amount of times we would be out on a trail and I would be the only Toyota was pretty funny.


But that yota got me every where I wanted to go. I’m positive the 4Runner will do the same.

 

Beautiful trucks! Curious, why not 5th gen?

 

Being in Colorado trying to find any Tacoma or 4Runner that’s a reasonable price is incredibly hard. People want 18k for 5th gens with 150k+

Plus personally I like the 4th gen body style more over the 5th. And this one I found was a single owner and well kept. I’ll get some pics of the interior tomorrow to show how immaculate it is.

 

Got some upgrades done over the holiday weekend. Installed my lift, new lights, wheel spacers and switches. Have new wheels but waiting for my tires to come in. Should be here between now and Friday. Once those are here I’ll get some better pics.

 

How are you liking it so far? How was the transition going from a newer vehicle to something that’s a decade older?

 

Honestly, really enjoy the t4r. I do miss having the taco sometimes because it was so built when I got rid of it. But having a solid family rig that I’ll be able to enjoy with the wife and our daughter once she’s older makes it all worth it.

Plus the amount of money I’m saving by having the 4Runner over the taco is nice too. We’re moving to Michigan in about 7 weeks, so I wanted to get the 4Runner set and ready before the move.