Ground clearance numbers have me confused

[stioc]

I'm trying to understand how the GC figures Toyota lists are measured? Are they under the diff? or other parts of the body?

For example, how can the first gen Tundra have 10.4" of ground clearance with 265/70/16? when a 3rd gen 4Runner has 9" also with the same tires? You would think the diff would be beefier in the Tundra and would hang lower than the one in the 4Runner. Also, how high the frame sits is irrelevant because given the same tire size a solid axle will more of less be the same height unless you make the diff itself smaller. So what do these number represent exactly? I don't have access to a stock 4Runner so I can't verify, however, when 8.3" was listed for the Pathfinder it was in fact 8.3" under the rear diff.

I'm just curious if anyone here has actually compared it with the specs.

 

[huntoon]

Dont know, but. Maybe something hangs lower still on the 4runner.

 

[tanglefoot]

Ground clearance figures are measured to the lowest-hanging spot on the vehicle--it could be a shock mount or a suspension link bracket that might hang down lower on the 4runner multi-link rear end compared with the Tundra leaf spring system. The ground clearance figures are pretty goofy and useless. A truck may have a very helpful 23" under the rockers but if the shock mount way out on the ends of the axles is 9" from the ground, that's the number it gets in the specifications.

 

[stioc]

Valid points guys but I find it hard to believe that 10.4" is the 'lowest' point on the Tundra. If my Pathfinder wearing 30.4" tires sits at 8.8" under the diff a Tundra wearing 30.5" tires can't possibly have 10.4" under its diff -unless the diff on the Tundra is that much smaller which I doubt.

Can anyone with a stock Tacoma/4Runner/Tundra etc verify?

 

[AxleIke]

Valid points guys but I find it hard to believe that 10.4" is the 'lowest' point on the Tundra. If my Pathfinder wearing 30.4" tires sits at 8.8" under the diff a Tundra wearing 30.5" tires can't possibly have 10.4" under its diff -unless the diff on the Tundra is that much smaller which I doubt.

Can anyone with a stock Tacoma/4Runner/Tundra etc verify?

What type of rear axle does your Pathfinder have? Drop out third style housings like the Toyotas and Ford 9" tend to have better clearance than similarly sized Dana axles, stock to stock, as an example. With a 30.5" tire, the axle center is 15" above the ground. It is possible that the First Gen tundra's only have about 4.5" of drop below the centerline. The first gens had smaller rear diffs than than the current generation. Again, possible that the rear end of the tundra is no more "beefy" than the Pathfinder. They are only a 1/2 ton truck.

I can confirm that the 4runners have very low hanging link mounts, but the clearance under the front end is pretty bad as well.

Hopefully a tundra owner will be able to grab a quick measurement and post up a real world tire size and diff clearance.

 

[jim65wagon]

It would help to know where exactly they are measuring from. I've got 13" under the front crossmember (just below the front differential), 17" under the framerails, 14" under the rear axle tube, and 11" under the center of the rear diff. The rear diff is the lowest peice overall, everything else is pretty well tucked up and out of the way. Keep in mind I'm sitting on 285/75/16's with about 10/32" of tread left.....

 

[stioc]

...11" under the center of the rear diff. The rear diff is the lowest peice overall, everything else is pretty well tucked up and out of the way. Keep in mind I'm sitting on 285/75/16's with about 10/32" of tread left.....

That makes a lot more sense to me. Since you're running 33" tires which is 3" over the stock size that gives you about 1.5" lift under the diff. So stock GC should be 9.5 or so, which is more or less the same as the 4Runner.

Thanks for posting the numbers!