If you're going to have a truck

Call me Boris, and in May of 2024 I finally broke down and bought one - the best truck I could identify. A fairly low mileage Gen 5 in TRD Premium, 2019. Ready to tow, with some Michelin Defenders on it which yield 19 mpg without a trailer and kept under 85 mph, no commuting. KDSS.

I've got quite a few cars, but I'm tired of tearing cars up on badly maintained Forest Service Roads. Problem solved, with this vehicle. 40,000 miles so far, but that's mostly 5 trips from North Carolina to California and back, 1/2 of which was towing. I'm very pleased with this design. Except it is great going 18 mph or less, or 65+ mph in a line - it sure doesn't shine on the twisty pavement.

I'm hoping ya'll can offer some advice as to keep the 4 Runner from reacting so strongly to sudden brake pedal input. Because we know, that 25 year old Silverado behind us can't stop that fast. I need a remedy before I get hit from behind. Is there a mod to produce a more linear reaction when that whitetail deer feints towards the pavement? Thanks.

 

You could let off the brake sooner or modulate your input? Maybe with more time you'll get used to the brake response. I have that issue sometimes with jerky brake application when I'm in an unfamiliar vehicle or one I haven't touched in a long time but eventually I adapt.

I don't think there's much you can do since legally everyone's responsible for not crashing into what's in front of them and folks don't really ask for more braking distance on the regular.

Heck, that 25 year-old Silverado probably has OK tires and ABS. Any brake system has enough power on tap to lock the wheels.

 

Welcome

 

I've put 40,000 miles on this vehicle, and I don't think I'm getting better at the pedal in these 13 months. When the pedal is applied, the vehicle pitches forward and shifts more of my weight onto the pedal and it makes me wish I had a 4 point belt system in there. It worked great for towing, very confidence inspiring, but it seems like with a passenger and a dog and a tool bag, the brakes are just too enthusiastic.

I was in "the business" so I know who pays when there's a collision, for sure. But I also know that being rear ended is one of the big pains in the rear, in our culture. Nobody has made contact with my rear bumper in over 25 years - I'd love to keep my streak alive.

 

With the base suspension, nose-dive when braking is pretty common and prominent, do you think stiffening up the front-end could help?

I got a set of Bilstein 4600’s for that

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Icebear, a First Grader question from me: Will those Bilsteins work on a 4 Runner with the KDSS? I see a lot of components under my vehicle that don't exist on most 4Runners. I'm very new to the suspensions on these trucks.

 

Oh silly me, I didn’t realize you have KDSS even though you wrote that, I cannot comment on how that drives or whether you’d want to even swap it out.

Without KDSS the 4Runner is notorious for the soft shocks and boaty-ness.

KDSS should level a lot of that out from what I heard, but I’ll have to defer to other folks.

 

Welcome

 

Thanks for these replies!

Anyone use or know of an old fashioned Metal brake pad that doesn't offer much braking force until is it good and hot? Almost every time I encounter an emergency stop type of situation, the brakes are fairly cool. And if a metal pad is cool, I'll get the stopping power I need and not way too much. Perhaps, that is.

But you can see why a company concerned about Risk would be reluctant to offer such a thing to everyday drivers. Maybe a racing brake pad from TRD? By the way, I don't mind if it is noisy - or produces a lot of dust.