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Having just completed several weeks of traveling CO and UT with many days of easy to moderate off-roading, some problems have surfaced.
Even though Toyota replaced my brakes at 2,000 miles because of the embarrassing howling noise, the noise is actually worse. This was particularly annoying since we were in campgrounds for the entire trip.
In low range, the shift pattern seems wrong to me; although it reasonably goes from 1st to 2nd, it won't go to 3rd until 3500 rpm which makes 3rd and higher gears nearly unusable when crawling in low range. I was not able to get it into 4th or higher.
When starting the engine at elevations above 6,000', the engine occasionally starts, sputters, quits. This is unsettling when we're miles into the boonies. A visit to a Toyota dealership in CO revealed a stored code confirming the situation but they had no solution. I'm assuming a computer is providing incorrect air volume info. I traded off my Jeep because it would sometimes start but would refuse to move. Different problem, same anxiety. I'll visit my dealer soon.
I have Westcott Design rock sliders installed with blind bolts since my ORP doesn't have threaded holes. Some folks have suggested that the mounts might not be strong enough. One of my sliders took a moderately hard hit to the kick-out when I came down against a rock. Although I lost some powder coat, the slider is fine and did it's job along with my Trailhunter front skid plate. Lots of scrapes but no significant damage.
My Cherokee Trailhawk had poor articulation and frequently had wheels off the ground. And without the rear locker, it was somewhat helpless. After lots of relatively rough trails with the 4Runner, it never had an articulation problem. I'm impressed with the multi terrain select; I had no need to engage the locker--not once.
Top speed in Crawl seems a bit slow to me.
This trip was about 7,000 miles. We averaged 24.1 mpg driving 55-65. It's a relatively comfortable car to travel in. My wife says I have a love/hate relationship with it. There's a lot there to like, but the 3 significant problems mentioned above and some less significant ones sort of "dull the shine" and deserve some dealer attention.
Even though Toyota replaced my brakes at 2,000 miles because of the embarrassing howling noise, the noise is actually worse. This was particularly annoying since we were in campgrounds for the entire trip.
In low range, the shift pattern seems wrong to me; although it reasonably goes from 1st to 2nd, it won't go to 3rd until 3500 rpm which makes 3rd and higher gears nearly unusable when crawling in low range. I was not able to get it into 4th or higher.
When starting the engine at elevations above 6,000', the engine occasionally starts, sputters, quits. This is unsettling when we're miles into the boonies. A visit to a Toyota dealership in CO revealed a stored code confirming the situation but they had no solution. I'm assuming a computer is providing incorrect air volume info. I traded off my Jeep because it would sometimes start but would refuse to move. Different problem, same anxiety. I'll visit my dealer soon.
I have Westcott Design rock sliders installed with blind bolts since my ORP doesn't have threaded holes. Some folks have suggested that the mounts might not be strong enough. One of my sliders took a moderately hard hit to the kick-out when I came down against a rock. Although I lost some powder coat, the slider is fine and did it's job along with my Trailhunter front skid plate. Lots of scrapes but no significant damage.
My Cherokee Trailhawk had poor articulation and frequently had wheels off the ground. And without the rear locker, it was somewhat helpless. After lots of relatively rough trails with the 4Runner, it never had an articulation problem. I'm impressed with the multi terrain select; I had no need to engage the locker--not once.
Top speed in Crawl seems a bit slow to me.
This trip was about 7,000 miles. We averaged 24.1 mpg driving 55-65. It's a relatively comfortable car to travel in. My wife says I have a love/hate relationship with it. There's a lot there to like, but the 3 significant problems mentioned above and some less significant ones sort of "dull the shine" and deserve some dealer attention.
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