and now it's even MORE top heavy and tippy ... no thanks

 

I don't know which wheels better, my guess is the 4Runner with more even weight distribution.

The pickup would be easier to customize, and I think leaf springs are have lost of benefits.

In the real world, I can carry my fishing gear (or other bulky expensive items) around and leave it in a parking lot without worry. I can also take it winter/fall/ spring camping and crank the heat before I go to sleep. I also have the ability to drive away quickly if someone interrupts my sleep (or, this might be important if you have a girlfriend).

4Runners in my area typically sell for less than pickups of the same vintage.

 

I have a fiberglass topper on my doublecab Hilux (4dr pick-up).

I can carry 4 passengers, I can recline my seats almost flat (175° or so) and with all my stuff in the back I have great weight distribution. I can keep spare driveshafts and axleshafts in the back all the time. The wheelwell is an excellent mounting place for an airpump. I can also put roofbars on my topper and keep a couple of shovels there. And with the tinted windows in my topper there is not much too see for prying eyes.

I can also carry diesel in the bed with no problems, and the topper keeps most of the snow away from my stuff and the snow won´t weigh me down either.

The truck also has more wheelbase than the 4Runner which is good for hills.

 

There are like a million flippin' threads on this, and here is my same response from all those:

Buy whatever you find that you like, because you are going to have to live with it, not us

And then, it doesn't really matter, becasue if you get a truck, then you will see 4runners, and be like "I wish that I had a 4runner"

or you get a 4runner, and then you see a truck and you are like "I wish I had a truck"

Buy one of each and save yourself the trouble


and what the hell is a "butter mud racer" ???

 

it comes down to space the 4runner has more room. both can be made into serious mud boggers. if only for mud than a truck will do. but for all around i would go with the 4runner and put 1tons under it

 

Unlike the 4runner; your friends will never call your Tacoma a "Grocery Getter".

 

I think it comes down to what you want to do.
If you are into expeditions and exploring, the 4Runner would be better.
You have a place to sleep
All your gear is in the cabin, locked up
It can be outfitted just at well as the truck, if not better....
If you are into just rockcrawling, the Taco would be better.
Lighter
Easier to modify, such as cutting the fender flares
Can bolt down your stuff in the back
Can also use the bed to carry stuff, such as a dirt-bike

kinda depends on what you want to do.....

 

Can you clarify?

4Runner only has more room for PEOPLE.

Truck has WAY more room for STUFF.

Every time Molly or I go on an "expedition" style trip, we end up putting stuff in someone's truck. A 4Runner starts as a shortbed standard cab, and then they put seats in it which take up a ton of space.

 

i have both, and i prefer my truck. a little fore thought is needed if it is going to rain, but i'll take my truck over the 4runner.

 

what i mean by more room is that the 4runner keeps your extra stuff clean and out of the elements

 

meh - nothing a tarp or rubbermaid containers won't take care of

 

I found a red 85' 4runner selling on ebay if your interested at looking at it.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Toyot...em130206383635

 

I'm luck to have the best of both worlds. My p/u is a great off-roader but the 4Runner is great for road trips and has a lot more "creature comforts."

If I had to choose now, I would probably deck out the 4Runner to make it more off-road capable as it's more comfortable to drive.

 

I feel safer and more stable in a pick up but I like the runner for camping with the family. We take both. X2 on what SteveO said.

 

If you "run out" of gas on a back road with your girl friend, you're probably going to wish you had a 4Runner.

 

4Runner is a better day to day vehicle as on the highway at 75+ it handles windy days much better than a light rearended open bed does and this is coming from me driving two Tacomas on a road trip across Nebraska. Cover help but wind still buffets a truck around more than surprisingly a brick shape of the 4Runner.

Also no need to throw dead weight into the back of a 4Runner to get it to handle better in the snow.

 

You are going to do it sooner or later just get one of each

 

Well seeing as I own one of each, an 87 Pickup and a 93 4Runner, I would say It depends on what you are using it for. Here in Colorado I like the 4runner, stuff in the back isn't getting snowed on freezing up, and then getting soaked. But when I lived in Vegas the truck was better, trips to the lake, sleeping in the back (cause the weather is pefect all year long) A truck you can haul jerry cans and really dirty things. Just depends on what you are using it for. I like my 4runner better... =)

 

Right now I have a pickup, love it, do wish it was an extended cab though. Kinda hard to have the myself the lady and the suitcase she has for a purse. I can leave for a week in that bag she carries...any way. I have a cover for the bed which is nice until you try to snap it in the cold. I'm getting a cap next weekend so that will work out alright and then I can take my yellow dog with us as well. I do haul a bunch of stuff as well, wood (wood burner), tractor, yard stuff so the truck is good for me.

We're looking at getting a 4Runner as well for her and highway trips. As previously stated...get one of each. But I need a truck.

 

If you want the V6 (aka 3.slo), than the 4Runners are known to be kind of sluggish compared to the Pick Up. And if you are talking about pre-90 models, than you have to think about solid axles vs IFS which changed over in different years. I think the Pick Up was solid until 87 and the 4Runner changed in another year but can't remember which. And as stated already, the 90+ 4Runners have rear coils vs the PU having leafs.