2024-08-15

Phew, 5th gen 4runner owners really don't know how good they have
it.

We already knew that the 6th gen 4runner would lose the storied
1GR V6 engine but it's becoming clear that Toyota has really cheaped
out for the North American market.

Recently, it has come to light with the release of the 4th generation
Tacoma truck, that Toyota didn't actually install frame mounted
bumper stops and instead relied on shock-mounted bumper stops.

For those that aren't into off-roading. Frame mounted bumper stops
are used to prevent excessive travel of the front control arm over
serious and harsh elevation changes. They do this by having a piece
of rubber physically block the up and down movement of the lower
control arm as it goes over harsh terrain...which prevents the
shocks and the springs from fully compressing to their limit.

Frame mounted bumper stops are so basic of an offroad necessity
that every off-road Toyota truck has had them for decades. They
are effective and they work.

So the fact that the new Tacoma and the new 4runner DON'T have them
is astonishing. It is absolutely unbelievable that trucks that are
marketed so heavily for off-road use don't have these traditional
and reliable bump stops and instead rely on cheaper and less durable
shock bump stops.

And the consequences are already evident. 4th-gen Tacoma owners
that have taken their trucks to do off-road things that are directly
advertised that these trucks can do are having their shock bump
stops shoot through their top shock mounts ruining their front
suspension.

And we have confirmation that the new 6th-gen 4runners have this
exact same problem. There are really 2 egregious issues with this:

1. The first issue is that Toyota has greatly increased their prices
for the new 4runner and Tacoma by offering "off-road" ready versions
of these trucks. They lean heavily into their "TRD PRO" trims or
their new "Overland" trims. But even these premium trim versions
of these trucks don't have frame mounted bump stops which seriously
limit their off-road reliability in terms of suspension strength.

2. To add insult to injury, ALL OTHER Toyota trucks that are based
on the exact same platform DO have these frame mounted bump stops.
In other world markets, the Prado 250 and the J300 Land Cruisers
have these bump stops installed! so Americans are basically getting
weaker, crappier toyota trucks than even developing countries get!

Now, north Americans aren't completely screwed because both the
Prado 250 and J300 Land Cruisers can be bought in the USA...  you
just have to spend 55000 for a Toyota Landcruiser (Prado 250) or
65000 dollars for a Lexus GX550 (Prado 250) or a whopping 93000
dollars for a Lexus LX (J300 Landcruiser)

but an affordable mid-size truly off-road capable toyota truck has
basically been taken from us with the 6th-gen 4runner and 4th gen
Tacoma. And it is truly a shame because the only reason for it is
pure cost-cutting. The platforms are the same for the GX550 and
the 4runner so there's really no reason that a frame mounted bump
stop couldn't have been added.

It's genuinely sad when the new version of a car is less capable
and less reliable than the older version. Toyota is all about kaizen
which is constant continuous improvement. Where is the improvement?

Now for the vast majority of 4runner owners, the lack of these
frame mounted bump stops won't affect them because 80% of these
trucks will never see serious off-roading. But the fact that even
the "premium" off-road oriented trims don't even get these frame
mounted bump stops is actually disgusting. Toyota is charging
ridiculous money for these trims and giving them tricked out shocks
and suspensions...only to leave them with woefully inadequate shock
mounted bump stops.

talk about all show, no go.

sad.