95 4runner SR5. 31x10.5r15. Stock height. My brother has an explorer with dual exhaust (flowmaster) and he really wants to hook me up for my birthday. I just compare my truck to his and I don't feel any better. His exhaust fits his SUV. I'm just feeling that maybe a loud noise from a little 4runner just might be too much. Do you ever feel small? Any tips on how to feel better about the size of 2nd gens?

 

Nah, I dont feel small, I get to look down on my buddys Jeep Cherokee all the time.
(i have a stock height 95 with 31's, and my runner sits higher than stock explorers, well a 94 anyway)
also, do u want a huge rig offroad? i've come across some areas where I wished my runner had the wheelbase of the cherokee.

 

You drive a YOTA!!! That's all you have to think! How long do you think that your brother's explorer will last? Over 200,000 miles? Not likely. As long as the exahust isn't for a ricer it'll sound great. It doesn't matter what year or model of Toyota you drive, they are the best cars/trucks out there. Yeah they don't all have the power to roast tires, but who cares. Feel good about your Toyota and don't bother thinking comparing it to anything else!

 

AMEN!

 

size doesnt matter

 

I had a 98 explorer and put 125 K on it and it was starting to fall apart....very disappointed. I have 35 K on my Runner so far, but we will see how far she makes it. I would much rather run small pipes for 250 K than Flowies for 100 K, but that's just me. (Besides, is he a big of a pimp in his explorer as you are in the Runner? Face it, chicks dig the Runner! )

 

That's right. Size doesn't matter. Its the motion of the ocean.


Nicely put Oly.

Really, chicks do dig the 4Runner. If you take care of it it will outlive the "Exploder" .

To answer you question, I never feel small. You are still bigger than all those cars on the road. Thats all that matters.
If you want to feel bigger you had better start saving your money. Otherwise you will just have to live with it.

Later

 

I can't believe your worried about being compared to an Explorer. The only thing to be worried about is being seen in public with it. Explorers are among the most rediculous 4x4's. They have a car stance, *interesting* engineering, and shock mounts that reach down to the ground. Remember: That's the only thing that has less ground clearance than a Subaru Outback. An Explorer HAS to make a lot of noise if he wants anyone to notice it.

If you want a loud 4Runner, it'll roar with the best of 'em. But you sure don't have to. If you're going for decreased backpressure and whatnot, go for it. I wouldn't go for the sound though. All that seems to do is call out for treehuggers to follow you through the woods waiting for you to skin a tree or scrape a rock so they can put pictures in the newspaper.

A Flowmastered Explorer is just the thing to Sabotage our sport. Something loud that gets stuck all the time is just what treehuggers need to nail us in the media. And the slant isn't going to be pro-offroad.

Eric

 

And I'll second that!! A co-worker bought his wife a 2003 Ford. The only thing that wreck is capable of "exploring" is their back yard. Theyve had it for 3 mos..... take a wild guess how many times it's been in the shop, go ahead, dont be shy...... SIX!!! Thats obscene. My father-in-law has a 97 w/ 37k on it. He took it to Wyoming recently and it barely made it. One trip... he blew a head gasket, o2 sensor went south, and had the rear pass. brakes lock up.
Make mine Toyota.

 

Everything veryone here just said is right on point. Be proud of your Runner no matter what. Your brothers Exploder has to sound big just to get someone to look at his rig, Runners get the look no matter what(Chic's love the Runners). But I remember feeling the same way you didand not wanting to have a big exhaust without at least looking te part. But I really wanted one, and was about to get one when I decided to lift mine instead, now being lifted make me want the exhaust even more, but I say go for it, sound the part of a bad ass Runner just like you already are, stock or lifted your rig deserves to sound as bad as it really is.

 

Everyone has hit the nail on the head!!!!!

Try driving a 87 4runner Stock height with 225 75 15's on it.. Talk about being vertically challenged??? It really never bothered me though, with 144K and still going strong with the 22re, and getting 21-22MPG, life was sweet........


Then I got this here 1995 4x4 runner AT with WOW a V6... Oh my gosh.... I am rather LARGE in comparision going down the road. Oh my, the sound of a 6 banger is like a rumbling of thunder.... (My muffler may need to be replaced?? 75k)

My father owns a 2000 explorer... That thing is flat out ugly.. It has a rear end sag, and the gas mileage is up down up down.. At least mine stays around 14.5. I sit higher then he does.

If it really bothers you put some new springs in the front and rear, or put a 2"lift on it....

After 150k, you can with good maintenance, be going strong, while the explorers head to the shop for a new motor...

Be proud!

Heck, I know I am! I own 4 RED Yotas!

1995 4runner Limited 75k
1995 Celica GT-S 103K
1987 4runner SR5 5spd 144k
1986 4x4 Longbed (now flatbed)5spd 180k

Mike

 

You drive a YOTA!!! That's all you have to think! How long do you think that your brother's explorer will last? Over 200,000 miles? Not likely. As long as the exahust isn't for a ricer it'll sound great. It doesn't matter what year or model of Toyota you drive, they are the best cars/trucks out there. Yeah they don't all have the power to roast tires, but who cares. Feel good about your Toyota and don't bother thinking comparing it to anything else!



I think you should copyrite that quote and sell it...lol...that was the best motivational speech I've heard in a long time....AMEN!!! After I read that I went out to my runner, sat behind the wheel and smiled. Proud to drive a Toyota!!!!

 

Friends Don't Let Friends Drive F.O.R.D.S. (Fix Or Repair Daily) lol

 

Persons of certain persuasions might say David looked down on Goliath
There is no comparison whatsoever between an older 4Runner and an Expedition! Even wonder why you never really see anybody with a fixed up Expedition out in the dirt? Nothing more than stationwagons with a transfercase in case it should rain or snow on the way to the grocery store.
Now, if you were to compare the new 4Runners to one...

 

BTW, I forgot to mention, you don't really want the noise if you can get around it. Trust me. I have a mildly tweaked 22re with headers 2 1/4" exhaust, free flow cat, free flow chambered muffler, and a K&N filter charger and boy does the motor breathe!
However, it sounds like a pack of Harleys going down the road and on a couple of occasions already I have found myself in avalanche zones wishing for a truck that just purred down the road instead of roared
Besides, I have found that my ears and my right foot have formed some sick union. The ears love that noise and the foot is happy to oblige. Someday a nice man in a blue shirt with a shiny star on it is going to remind me that I'm not supposed to be doing stuff like that and he'll know to tell me 'cause he heard me coming LOL!

 

They don't call them "Exploders" for nothing.....

What's the difference between a Ford Tempo and a tampon?????


One comes with it's own tow rope :pat:

 

Right next to the word Yota should come dependable, long lasting, chic magnets and offroad.

 

Man you guys hit the nail on the head everytime. I have only had my runner a short while but everything these guys say is true. One of my co-workers bought a 1998 ford "exploder" with an Intercepter Engine, and i was pretty proud to yank him out of a parking lot snow bank in my 1995 YOTA, Then drive through the drift to spite em. nuff said

 

There is nothing like the look on the face of those domestic boys this weekend when I used my 86' yota 1 ton long bed 22re to pull a race car trailer with two Honda Odyssey 250's and a Yamaha Atv on it with an additional Odyssey 250 in the bed over 2 miles of dirt roads and 38 additional miles home.

 

Just take him wheeling and laugh as his lower rear shock mounts hang-up on everything he tries to drive over and then laugh even harder when he rips one off when he hits a rock. you ever notice they are right in the middle of each leg of the axle housing and then there is that cord hanging almost below the mounts on each side? Ford really needs to rethink their rear ends! not to mention on some of the fords the leaf spring mounts under the axle rather than on top, another recipe for disaster. Moral is: don't feel bad about anything, there is no comparison between Toyotas and Fords.