The Toyota 4Runner has been a long-standing staple in the SUV segment, with its body-on-frame design, highly capable prowess both on and off the road, and its spacious interior. It’s no wonder a lot of people continue to look to the 4Runner for their outdoor enthusiast adventures, whether it be trail running, hiking, camping, or sightseeing. The 4Runner is an excellent midsize SUV that does it all effortlessly.
Whether you recently purchased or plan to purchase a 2023 Toyota 4Runner for your outdoor adventures, there are many ways you can use the vehicle and great ways to maximize its potential. There are many accessories that will even help improve its capabilities and give you even more features to put to use, depending on your activities and your destination. Let’s take a look at some of the accessories you can use to maximize your 4Runner’s outdoor adventures.
Cargo Organizers
There’s no better way to make an outdoor adventure far more palatable for all involved than to have a bunch of necessary gear with you for your travels. Food? Check. Drinks? Check. Coolers? Check. Outdoor gear? Check. However, keeping or storing all of this stuff can sometimes prove to be a bit of a hassle. While you’ll likely never run into the quandary of cargo room with the spacious 4Runner, what you may have a problem with is how that space could be better organized.
Fortunately, there are some spiffy solutions available from Toyota and third-party suppliers that offer some nifty cargo organizers for short, medium, and long range trips. Toyota’s official mounts and tie-downs work great if you plan on bringing a lot of heavy cargo containers with you, and you don’t want them sliding or moving around. You can very easily keep your goods locked down and tied down tight during travel, ensuring that food, liquids, or any potential gear that could get damaged from being jostled around is safe and secure.
Third-party cargo organizers are also great if you just need a cargo net to keep items from rocking back and forth or bouncing around in the back. They’re especially useful if you’re planning on taking your 4Runner off-road, and you want to keep everything in place. Whether you have big or small items you’re taking with you for your outdoor adventures, you really can’t go wrong with a cargo organizer.
Bike Rack
Whether you’re rocking an SR5, a TRD Pro, or the very limited 40th Anniversary Edition, a bike rack is a good utilitarian accessory to have for your 4Runner for a number of reasons. Sure, you could fold down the second or third-row seats and take advantage of more than 88 cubic feet of cargo volume, but you have to deal with the time-consuming effort of taking apart and reassembling the bikes, as well as dealing with dirt and mud from the tires soiling the folded down seatbacks.
A much better solution is simply to equip a bike rack to the 4Runner, and it’s perfectly suited for various types of racks. Whether you’re up for a bike roof rack or a bike tailgate rack, you can make use of the different options to store your bikes as you see fit. If you have particularly long bikes, such as a tandem, then a bike roof rack makes sense. However, if you have multiple bikes for three or more people, then a tailgate bike rack is definitely the better option, as you get more space and capacity to store the bikes. If your 4Runner has a trailer hitch, a bike rack that slides into the receiver is a great choice. It’s easier to install than strapping one to your tailgate, and some even allow you to open the tailgate without removing the rack.
The excellent part is that the 4Runner is perfectly suited for carrying all different kinds of bikes, whether they’re small frame bikes for kids, or adult-sized, heavy-duty mountain bikes. The 4Runner has enough payload capacity to easily mount bikes on top of or on the back without any issues. They’re definitely well worth it if you’re into biking with family or friends.
Roof Rack Rails
You might think that if you have bike racks you don’t need roof racks, but you couldn’t be more mistaken. The difference between a bike rack and roof rack rails is in the application and versatility. Bike racks are only designed to anchor bikes, while roof rack rails are more modular. You can use them to store bicycles as well as cargo containers, canoes, kayaks, spare tires, and anything else you can think of.
The best part about roof rack rails is that they give you many opportunities to accommodate your outdoor activities, and we all know that the 4Runner is great for all sorts of off-road antics. They’re especially useful for camping gear, propane tanks, or other utilities or equipment you might need or use during your travels. Whether you’re going fishing and need to store your rods and bait on the roof, or you’re going canoeing and you need a secure system to keep it in place, roof rack rails are a great all-around solution.
The official 2023 Toyota 4Runner roof cross bars are a simple enough solution if you need something basic, but there are also some third-party rails that offer more modularity and customization based on what you need from the SUV. If you’re doing some serious outdoor adventuring and need to store a ton of cargo on the roof, there are roof rack rails that also come with a tailgate ladder, which lifts with the tailgate, and allows easy access to the roof. It’s great if you plan on stacking a bunch of equipment on the roof and need easy access to it.
Steps, Running Boards, or Rock Rails
You probably wouldn’t think much of side-skirt accessories for your 4Runner adventures because you’re busy having too much fun, but running boards, power steps, and rock rails are essential accessories if you’re consistently trekking off the beaten path with your 4Runner. The steps are a good pick if you’re of smaller stature, or you have a lot of small passengers frequently getting into and out of the 4Runner. The power side steps are great for kids because it helps them get into and out of the vehicle with ease.
Running boards also work as a great assist not only for getting in and out of the vehicle, but also for reaching the roof where you may have things stored. If you’re not keen on getting a tailgate ladder to reach your roof racks, having a running board can also get the job done. There are plenty of OEM running boards available you can get directly from Toyota, the dealer where you purchased the 4Runner, or even various online outlets.
As for rock rails, they serve a slightly different purpose than steps or running boards. While rock rails can also serve the same purpose as steps or running boards, they actually are designed primarily to prevent your 4Runner’s doors and bottom chassis from taking damage while venturing off-road. If you don’t want your vehicle getting dented, dinged, or the paint chipped while you take on trails or visit locations that consistently see you traveling over rocky terrain, then rock rails are great for protecting the lower portion of the vehicle.
Performance Fog Lights
While the 4Runner comes with its own dedicated fog lamps, if you want high-powered fog lights, you’ll have to get them separately. The importance of performance fog lamps is that when you’re venturing into areas where visibility is poor, or you’re driving at night on a path or trail where even the moon is obscured by heavy cloud cover, then your only guiding light will be the lights on the vehicle. Performance fog lamps are the perfect solution.
Thanks to the 4Runner’s design, you can equip high-end fog lamps as direct replacements for the 4Runner’s original fog lamps, or you can add them with light bar attachment on top of the vehicle, which would go great with the 40th Anniversary Edition’s livery,, giving it that extra aggressive look. Thanks to the 4Runner’s dynamic fascia, it is easy to mount a light bar either to the front grille or as part of a roof rail assembly, so you have plenty of options if you don’t want to replace the standard fog lamps, but want to add some extra lights to the vehicle.
If you regularly venture into dark or wooded areas away from natural light or any kind of additional artificial light, then the added lights from a light bar and high performance fog lamps will do wonders in aiding your travels where visibility is relatively low. It might even be an essential accessory if your outdoor adventures regularly take you to secluded places where you’re keen on spending the night out under the stars. Not only are the performance fog lights extra useful for driving, but they also make the SUV look cool.
