For those with the gas powered 2019 + AWD rav4, how offroad capable do you find it stock and also with A/T tires.
offroad capability
mountainman
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For those with the gas powered 2019 + AWD rav4, how offroad capable do you find it stock and also with A/T tires.
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It should be able to go unpaved road or light off road. Check youtube for some examples. Due to the clearance and power, you may not want to do extensive off road driving.
It’ll take you 90% of places you need to go. For that other 10%, you probably wouldn’t want to attempt it in a brand new vehicle anyways.
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It is reasonably capable off-road. Stock it is more limited by breakover angle than anything, in my experience. Lifts and decent ATs do actually make a very notocable difference in these vehicles.
Granted, I am lifted ~2 inches up front, ~4" rear, have no anti-sway bar's, and am running 2" taller tires than stock (which are ATs), and have the ability to air them down for off-road use. That said, I'd put my XLEP up against, for example, any stock 4WD vehicle without locking axle(s) . The biggest remaining weakness is the lack of low range, which will cause the transmission fluid to get warm with a lot off slow-speed, high-load driving (like a long, steep climb, or a lot of 1mph steep obstacles). I monitor these Temps and haven't had issues, but am aware of the possibility.
**Yes, with the same mods, any 4Runner or whatever would be back ahead in off-road prowess. But, that is where I'll cite the balance of my 50% better fuel economy
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Granted, I am lifted ~2 inches up front, ~4" rear, have no anti-sway bar's, and am running 2" taller tires than stock (which are ATs), and have the ability to air them down for off-road use. That said, I'd put my XLEP up against, for example, any stock 4WD vehicle without locking axle(s) . The biggest remaining weakness is the lack of low range, which will cause the transmission fluid to get warm with a lot off slow-speed, high-load driving (like a long, steep climb, or a lot of 1mph steep obstacles). I monitor these Temps and haven't had issues, but am aware of the possibility.
**Yes, with the same mods, any 4Runner or whatever would be back ahead in off-road prowess. But, that is where I'll cite the balance of my 50% better fuel economy
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Most of the jeep trails in my neck of the woods have low hanging branches and other overgrowth. I'm pretty sure my RAV4 could handle most of them but I'm not eager to scratch up the paint. With stock tires, my RAV4 does well on often washed out gravel mountain roads and also paved but snow covered mountain roads. A beater F150 is used when we need to get deeper into the woods.
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Actually managed to get a little stuck today! Fully stuffed the right rear and left front coming over a hill with a sharp bend, with the right front hanging in the air about 4". There wasn't quite enough umph in the braking system / traction control to drive forward on the two stuffed tires, but squeezing the traction boards under the two light tires was enough. My tires, while aired down to ~16 PSI for thtis, only have about 30-40% tread left which certainly didn't help.
The recently lift helped a lot today with no bottoming out, though I need to work out a way to increase my downtravel because I only have like 1.5" right now hah.
My question with this: why not just wheel a cheap used 4x4 and then keep the RAV4 for everything else? Something 2 or 3 grand that you won’t mind scraping and dinging up. To each their own but nonetheless cool to see the capability
I’d just personally be hesitant about wheeling a new $35k crossover like that.
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I usually don't wheel much anymore just for the sake of wheeling, but rather as part of day trips and such. Driving a couple hundred miles in a realtively quiet, dual-climate-controlled, almost-self-driving vehicle that still gets 25+ MPG on said trips is pretty pleasant. Driving a couple hundred miles in a loud $2000 Jalopy that may or may not reliably get me there and back without breaking down sounds a lot less exciting to me--and even less exciting for my wifeMy question with this: why not just wheel a cheap used 4x4 and then keep the RAV4 for everything else? Something 2 or 3 grand that you won’t mind scraping and dinging up. To each their own but nonetheless cool to see the capability
I’d just personally be hesitant about wheeling a new $35k crossover like that.
. Fortunately, I do have enough experience off-road to know how to flirt with the boundaries between stuck and unstuck without approaching the boundary between stuck and broken
. I don't particularly care about the occasional light scratch or ding if I earn it while out having a good time. FWIW, I also wheel our 45k TRD Pro 4Runner
.Understandable. I’ve gotten used to only having to drive an hour tops to go wheeling, at least for the past 8 years. Had an old 84 solid axle pickup that wasn’t pleasant during transport, but never left me down once on the trail.I usually don't wheel much anymore just for the sake of wheeling, but rather as part of day trips and such. Driving a couple hundred miles in a realtively quiet, dual-climate-controlled, almost-self-driving vehicle that still gets 25+ MPG on said trips is pretty pleasant. Driving a couple hundred miles in a loud $2000 Jalopy that may or may not reliably get me there and back without breaking down sounds a lot less exciting to me--and even less exciting for my wife
Fortunately, I do have enough experience off-road to know how to flirt with the boundaries between stuck and unstuck without approaching the boundary between stuck and broken
FWIW, I also wheel our 45k TRD Pro 4Runner
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Yeah. I historically have just daily-driven more off-road-oriented vehicles. But, like I said, evolving priorities have led me to seek to do what I can with the Rav (which is fun in its own right--for example, dual solid axles with dual selectable lockers can almost get boring on all but the most extreme trails).
This was my previous daily-driven 4Runner until a few years ago. But, even without any modifications, I was $10k into just the base vehicle and preventative maintenance to get to where I trusted it on road trips. A $3000, 20-year-old XJ certainly wouldn't have been in the same ballpark.
Hey so, I'm considering buying the prime new here shortly.. a few questions for you kindly:
1. Where did you get your lift?
2. Why did you take out anti-sway bars?
3. which exact tires are you running, and why?
4. how are you monitoring the temps? (OBD II connector?)
5. Theres no way to add a cooler?
6. any way to add air suspension? (to ride low during highways, then go really high for off roading.)
7. Do you think this can all be done on the RAV4 Prime (I know this isn't the Prime forum, just asking)
Thanks!
1. Where did you get your lift?
2. Why did you take out anti-sway bars?
3. which exact tires are you running, and why?
4. how are you monitoring the temps? (OBD II connector?)
5. Theres no way to add a cooler?
6. any way to add air suspension? (to ride low during highways, then go really high for off roading.)
7. Do you think this can all be done on the RAV4 Prime (I know this isn't the Prime forum, just asking)
Thanks!
I am lifted ~2 inches up front, ~4" rear, have no anti-sway bar's, and am running 2" taller tires than stock (which are ATs), and have the ability to air them down for off-road use. That said, I'd put my XLEP up against, for example, any stock 4WD vehicle without locking axle(s) . The biggest remaining weakness is the lack of low range, which will cause the transmission fluid to get warm with a lot off slow-speed, high-load driving (like a long, steep climb, or a lot of 1mph steep obstacles). I monitor these Temps and haven't had issues, but am aware of the possibility.
**Yes, with the same mods, any 4Runner or whatever would be back ahead in off-road prowess. But, that is where I'll cite the balance of my 50% better fuel economy
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1) It started as a ReadyLift kit. I just googled it. I am not currently using any of the rear pieces since that is all custom now, but still have the front 2" spacer. I think functionally speaking pretty much all the lifts provide about the same overall benefit.
2) Removing anti-sway bars allows each tire to react more independently to trail undulations. It is not necessarily something I'd recommend for your average driver--I don't drive aggressively on the road and I literally calculated the relative increase in rollover probability and was comfortable accepting that small increase in risk. However, it does make the ride smoother on rough trails, and provides a noticable increase in traction on said rough trails where the easier articulation translates to more even road force on each tire.
3) I am running Atturo Trail Blade ATs, only because they were decently-rated but cheap enough to not feel bad experimenting with multiple sizes (I think I might have been the first on this forum with 30", and then 30.5" tires). Pretty soon I am going to Toyota Open Country AT3s because they are a highly-rated AT that, after a couple dozen hours of research comparing anecdotal evidence, are also among the quietest ATs.
4) Yes. I bought a blue-tooth OBDII connector for like $14 off Amazon, and spent a few bucks on an OBDII app for my phone. I just searched on Amazon for "Bluetooth OBDII" and bought the one with the best ratings and tried a few apps recommended in the description / reviews.
5) A few people have added aftermarket coolers on this forum. I have pushed my Rav pretty hard on some pretty high-strain trails on hot days and never seen more than 230 degrees trans fluid temps. If I start to see consistently-elevated temps I will probably look into aftermarket cooling, but for now I am content with just maintaining somewhat regular fluid changes.
6) You could probably do a full-custom air suspension, but I doubt it would be cheap (easily a grand to do 100% yourself, using halfway-decent stuff designed for articulating in dirty conditions, and several times that if done professionally). To be clear, this would definitely be 100% custom.
7) I have zero experience with the Prime (and no hands-on time with a Hybrid), but I would be surprised if the Prime is so structurally different that relatively basic mods like spacer lifts, tires, and OBDII scanners cannot be used or at least adapted for the Prime. I wouldn't worry about fluid coolers on a Prime, given so much of the load will be supported by the electric motor.
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