Hi. I Need advice from the smart people here. I have had several Tacomas over the past 10-15 years and they have all been great vehicles. I typically do not modify them just add a camper shell and slightly bigger tires and it gets me to pretty much surf break in ca or Baja or mtn bike trail for access and its great to camp in. Love having the bed for a sleeping platform, wet dogs and gear. So.... Here's my problem. I have been driving my dads 4th gen 4Runner around lately which has more miles and is 2 years older and i forgot how nice it drives. It just seems drives better than the Tacoma. It is also stock with no mods. Just want to know if a better ride quality could be accomplished with a simple suspension upgrade? Not planning on doing serious off-roading but a nicer more comfortable ride while still having a bed would be the best of both worlds. Any advice would be awesome! Cheers!!!
4Runner better drive quality than Tacoma. Need advice
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Clawhammer
Adventurer
The Tacoma is made in the USA. The 4Runner is made in Japan. There you go.
plainjaneFJC
Deplorable
That's a rather simplistic answer that really is false. They are built to spec in USA. If the 4 runner was built here it would be the same as the Japanese version. The guy on the assembly line doesn't engineer the vehicle.
plainjaneFJC
Deplorable
OP what in particular do you like better about the 4 runner? Maybe the combination of rear coil springs and a fully boxed frame make it sticks to the road a bit better?
truman3
New member
I think it's hard to achieve the same type of ride as the 4Runner. I personally don't think the leaf springs can ever feel like 4R rear coils and I think weight distribution might play a part in it too... I am not an engineer though so don't take my word as the gospel. You could read through spring compression rates of different makes/models and try to come up with something close. There is a thread "sticky" on T4R.org that somebody created and compiled a list of many published coil rates in one document - for 4Runner and I would think most will work, or have an equivalent, for a Tacoma. There are a lot of 4Runner guys that ditch suspension pretty quickly too if you wanted to try some stock components.
I have a 4th gen 4Runner and recently did the Tacoma suspension swap using 2014 TRD parts. The ride is definitely stiffer but handling/roll is better and that's what I was going for, since my factory hydraulic suspension (XREAS) was beginning to fail and $2k to replace.
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I have a 4th gen 4Runner and recently did the Tacoma suspension swap using 2014 TRD parts. The ride is definitely stiffer but handling/roll is better and that's what I was going for, since my factory hydraulic suspension (XREAS) was beginning to fail and $2k to replace.
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fbksurferjoe
Adventurer
Agree with truman, i have had both now and the 500 dollar lift i put on my 4runner feels better than the thousands i dumped into my tacoma to get an ok ride.
Clawhammer
Adventurer
Maybe, but it's also the most obvious difference between two otherwise very similar vehicles. My buddy's 4runner was built at the Aichi plant in Japan, my Tacoma in Baja, CA - guess which one is a better built vehicle? The guy on the assembly line may not be doing the engineering, but attention to detail, fit, finish and build quality certainly matter.
Finlay
Triarius
I have both a 4runner (06) and a taco (12). The 4runner has a better ride, generally. But it's a SUV - the weight distribution plays a large part in that. I don't think it is fair to make a straight comparison - they are really very different vehicles. For example, the 4runner doesn't kick the rear end out as much, but it has a lot more body roll in turns.
Personally, I love the harsh ride of an unloaded pickup - your mileage may vary on that. Still, my Taco (OME suspension), loaded with about 5-600 lbs on it, rides equally nicely to the T4R - even my wife agrees on that. It's a manual, so the shifting is a lot better, too. It makes sense - a pickup is designed to handle loads of varying weight and distribution. So, they engineer it to hit the sweet spot somewhere in the middle of the range and still cover all the bases - but performance will vary across the range. A SUV has a much narrower profile, and so it's much easier to tune for.
I like both of them for different reasons, and I prefer the 4runner generally. However, if I had pick only one, I'd go with the pickup because of the versatility.
Personally, I love the harsh ride of an unloaded pickup - your mileage may vary on that. Still, my Taco (OME suspension), loaded with about 5-600 lbs on it, rides equally nicely to the T4R - even my wife agrees on that. It's a manual, so the shifting is a lot better, too. It makes sense - a pickup is designed to handle loads of varying weight and distribution. So, they engineer it to hit the sweet spot somewhere in the middle of the range and still cover all the bases - but performance will vary across the range. A SUV has a much narrower profile, and so it's much easier to tune for.
I like both of them for different reasons, and I prefer the 4runner generally. However, if I had pick only one, I'd go with the pickup because of the versatility.
Taco04
Toyota Junkie!
I also have both and have to agree with the above if I could only have one it would be a Taco.
preacherman
Explorer
The 4runners also have coil springs in the rear and the taco leaf, that also contributes to the better ride on the runner.
Thanks for all the replies. I guess like anything there's pros and cons of each. I might try one of the icon suspension kits. From what I've read they make the truck drive better and potentially get better mpgs. Just wish they had one I could go drive and see. Oh well I guess it's only 2k for an icon stage 2/3 and near about time to replace the suspension anyway. (115k miles and counting)
Clutch
<---Pass
Could link the rear suspension on the truck.
Trail Gear has a kit.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-tacoma/633356-trail-gear-3-link-my-tacoma-2.html
Trail Gear has a kit.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-tacoma/633356-trail-gear-3-link-my-tacoma-2.html
dman93
Adventurer
Not really relevant to the OP's question, but last time I checked, Toyota's plant in Baja California, which builds Tacomas, was not in the US. It's in Mexico. I've owned 4 Japanese-built Toyotas and currently own a Mexican-built Gen3 Taco and so dark it's quality is fine. I suspect the OP's concern is more a function of suspension design and GVW and GCW ratings, and laden/unladen weight distribution for the truck.
p nut
butter
It sounds like you're in Cali. I would try Deaver to see if they can make you a nice riding set of leaf springs.
http://www.deaverspring.com/products/toyota-leaf-springs/tacoma-2wd4wd-6-lug-2005-2015/
http://www.deaverspring.com/products/toyota-leaf-springs/tacoma-2wd4wd-6-lug-2005-2015/