Now, I know what most people are going to think on a Toyota forum about which is better...

But I would like honest opinions from either people who have owned 3rd gen Runners or 97+ XJs with the 4.0 (I wouldn't get any other engine) OR better yet, people who have owned 2nd gens like myself, and have knowledge of the other two and would be able to make a recommendation. I've had my 2nd gen for about 6 months, and I absolutely love everything about it except for the pitiful power and gas mileage the the 3.slo tends to get (I'm averaging about 13mpg mixed driving, and I don't have a lead foot). I'm also not opposed to engine swaps (96+ 3.4 and Chevy 4.3 come to mind). Any thoughts! Thanks in advance!

 

Should be interesting .

I can say now that all the Gremlins are worked out I like my 3.4 in my 92 4Runner.

I must say I have never really checked mileage in any of my vehicles If I wanted Mileage I would not be driving a 4x4.

 

Yeah to be honest a 3.4 swap would be really cool, and from what I've heard it's a fairly easy swap as far as engine swaps go. The only thing for me is that I use this as my DD, so it'd suck to have no transportation during the x amount of time it took to get the engine swap done. But the question is... would it be worth having a sweet 2nd gen with a 3.4?

Yeah, true. I mean, I'm not wanting to get extremely good gas mileage, I mean let's be honest, it's a 90s 4x4, it's not going to get great gas mileage. I just thought maybe a V6 would hit closer to the 20 mark highway than the 3.slo does, but shame on me for not doing my homework before I got my 95!

Since this is up, I've also considered going full size, to something like a Chevy Tahoe, or the full size Blazer. So that's also potentially on the table. I sure do love my 4Runner though.

 

I am single and have 4 vehicles on the road I could never go back to having just one.

Because !!it never fails the simple projects turn into money pits that take weeks

 

Haha! Yep, I'm single but unfortunately I'm also a college student which means I don't have piles of money to spend. Otherwise heck, I'd have my 4Runner with the 3.4, a Jeep XJ and a Tahoe just for fun!

 

And other than the time it would take to do the swap, I'm also a little bit concerned that if I did the swap, I wouldn't be able to pass smog as I live in CA and we have ridiculous smog rules that other states don't have.

 

Bump?