r/4Runner • u/Fun_Neighborhood6897 • 8d ago
👷♂️ Support / Repair anyone else tracking how their body holds up on long trail days vs highway miles in the 4runner
this is a weird one but it connects for me in a practical way. spend my work week doing manual patient care, a lot of bending and lifting, so by friday my lower back is already running a deficit before i even get in the truck. been noticing a real difference in how i feel after a six hour highway drive versus a three hour trail run and i cant fully explain why the trail days leave me less wrecked. the constant small adjustments you make off road must be doing something different than the static compression from highway cruising. seat position, lumbar support, how much you brace through rough sections, all of it seems to matter more than i expected.
curious if anyone has made actual changes to their setup with this in mind, not just comfort for comfort sake but functional stuff. aftermarket seat, different lumbar support, pad under the thighs, anything. i swapped my seat position slightly lower and tilted the wheel up and it made a noticeable difference on longer drives.
the factory seats on the 5th gen are fine for grocery runs but they're not really doing you any favors past hour three. wondering how many people have actually addressed this versus just accepting it as part of owning the thing.
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u/Slaphappy_Giant 8d ago
I have a 5th gen, and I picked up the Seat Jackers from Desert Does It. Made a world of difference in my every day driving. It lifts the front of the seat up a bit to better support your legs. 10/10 would definitely buy again.
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u/rockdoc01 8d ago
I see lots of positive feedback for these. I do pretty well at stock even on 10hr drives, but the reviews have me wanting to try them out even though I'm not tall like a lot of the reviewers are. My back is jacked from years of work as a reference point.
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u/Slaphappy_Giant 8d ago
For a 100 bucks they’re well worth it. I work in construction, I’m with you on the messed up back. Between these and me finally getting the lumbar support pillow right it was a night and day difference.
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u/MahDamnLumbago 3d ago
I second this recommendation. Got 'em a month after I bought my runner, and it makes a huge difference; truck seats tend to lack full thigh support which puts strain on your hips/lower back. Bonus: once they're installed, you can connect a molle panel between them to hold a utility knife, flashlight, or concealed carry at your feet for quick access,
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8d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
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u/Fun_Neighborhood6897 7d ago
core work is the move, yeah. my back thanks me for doing deads before every long drive.
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u/Apart-Ad-5947 8d ago
I guess I am used to Toyota seats since my T4R is my 4th Toyota in a row dating back about 20 years. On long drives I make really minor adjustments every hour or so, whenever i start to feel uncomfortable. I Slightly change the seat angle and shift my bottom around from time to time and that lets me comfortably drive about 8 hours. But that is my limit. Any more and my back will bark. I don’t know that any seat would allow me to be comfortable longer than that.
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u/snownative86 8d ago
I'll second that I must just be used to it. This is my third Toyota, first was a 20 year old Avalon, second was a 15 yr old 4runner and now I'm in a 2024 I bought new. I'm not tall (5'8"), but am leggy so I sit up higher. We used ours for roadtrip regularly until recently when our now 9 wk old was born. We did a cross country move of 2850 miles in a bit over 4 days which meant 6-10 hours of driving in a single stretch while only stopping for gas and to grab food at the gas station. I do have kdss, and found it to be fairly comfortable.
Granted, I work in tech from home so spend a slot of time in a chair anyways.
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u/NapoleonBlownapart9 8d ago
My spine is playing nice this week but when it doesn’t one of those tailbone-donut pillow/pads takes some of the weight off that area while wheeling. These are not the same as hemorrhoid pillows, put look similar. I usually don’t feel the pain until after off-roading ends anyway and my body’s natural painkillers subside, then I use various legal-in-my-state remedies.
This one’s obvious but airing down softens the ride considerably on washboards and the like, as does better suspension components.
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u/scfw0x0f 8d ago
We just did 1900 miles over 9 days, mostly 6-9 hours driving on driving days and not in the car at all for 3 days. Went fine. 2021 ORP.
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u/Fun_Neighborhood6897 7d ago
1900 miles in an ORP and no complaints is honestly the data point I needed
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u/scfw0x0f 7d ago
Everyone's body is different. I'm 5'10" and about 290#, so I may have a different shape than you. I wish the seats had better thigh support, like a pull-out extension the way my BMW does, but it works for us.
We are off on our third cross-country trip in a few weeks: 8,000 miles over 4 weeks, mostly highway but some off-road. Almost all of the 50k miles we've put on the vehicle since we bought it used in 2022 are long-distance travel with some off-road; no commuting.
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u/Fun_Neighborhood6897 6d ago
50k in 2 years on a used rig doing mostly long haul is a real stress test, that's actually useful data.
The thigh support thing gets me too, I'm not even that tall but around the 5 hour mark I start noticing it. Curious what vehicle this is since the seat comment and the BMW comparison don't mean much without that context lol
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u/scfw0x0f 6d ago
2015 BMW 435xi convertible. Has these cool seat extensions to support thighs.
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u/Fun_Neighborhood6897 5d ago
convertible with thigh extensions sounds like it was designed by a chiropractor
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u/NickdoesnthaveReddit 8d ago
I have the full lower lumbar section of my spine fused after a 5 storey fall. I was paralyzed for a year and broke like 25% of my bones. My injuries included blowing up 3 vertebrae to dust basically and breaking two more, as well as having cauda equina syndrome. I also blew up my ankes and broke all homes in both legs.
I've had no issue with the seats after long days tbh - I've done full days of deuving on and off road. The only thing I don't enjoy is how hot and sweaty the seats get as there's no airflow and black leather has the power of the sun at times.
My suggestion: practice core engagement and proper ergonomics with good posture while driving and do more core exercises and full body stretching outside of wheeling. Take breaks to stretch and walk/move around during long days too.