The 2025 Toyota 4Runner Loses a Longtime Off-Roading Feature

Those of us who have literally grown up with the rugged capabilities of the current fifth-generation Toyota 4Runner have been eager to discover how the all-new, sixth-gen 2025 Toyota 4Runner SUV’s legendary off-road chops have evolved. After all, full solar eclipses like the one the day before the 2025 4Runner's reveal happen in a given location on average every 12 years—the fifth-gen 4Runner has been on sale for more than 16. One of the neat optional tricks the 4Runner has had is known as KDSS—Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System. We now know whether the brand new 2025 Toyota 4Runner will get this system. Read on to find out more.

What Is KDSS?

The original KDSS is a passive, hydraulic system that improves articulation by allowing the wheels to drop more in off-road situations. This increases traction and improves off-road comfort. Anti-roll bars, by design, limit wheel travel to limit body roll, linking each wheel together with a stiff torsion bar. Without them, top-heavy SUVs would tip over dangerously when cornering. But this major advantage becomes a hinderance off-road, resisting wheel articulation and thus traction.

See All 43 Photos43

The original KDSS system solved this problem by using a system of hydraulic lines, hydraulic accumulators, and pistons. In normal driving, the when cornering, the hydraulic pressure is the same across and between the axles, preventing the KDSS system’s pistons from moving and allowing the stabilizer bar to resist roll. But off-road, when the system senses wheel drop that differs across or between the axles, the system allows the fluid to circulate, allowing the pistons to unlock and move up and down. This effectively allows the links that connect the stabilizer bar to the chassis to move up and down, reducing the articulation-reducing force transmitted across the axle, and allowing much greater articulation.

The newer e-KDSS system uses electronic actuators to both make the system more responsive and also to un-link the front and rear axles, allowing more articulation and also less influence from the opposing axle. Toyota says one benefit of this is less head-tossing motion experienced by the occupants. E-KDSS is available on the new Lexus GX.

See All 43 Photos43

Will the 2025 Toyota 4Runner Get e-KDSS?

Short answer: no. From now on, e-KDSS is a Lexus-exclusive feature, and the 4Runner (as well as the related Tacoma and the new Land Cruiser) will make do with a less-sophisticated optional system, known as SDM. That stands for Stabilizer with Disconnection Mechanism. This is a conventional stabilizer bar with an electronic actuator directly mounted to the bar at the front axle. Push a button, and the actuator unlocks, allowing the two halves of the stabilizer bar to move independently. The system also increases wheel articulation. 

It’s the same idea as the front stabilizer bar disconnect system familiar to many Jeep owners as an option on some Wrangler models. But unlike e-KDSS (or the older KDSS system), it doesn’t operate on the rear axle. (That might actually be a benefit, as many owners found that KDSS didn’t improve rear axle articulation any.)

What’s Better: e-KDSS or SDM?

This is sure to be fodder for many forum arguments for years to come, but of course each system has its advantages and disadvantages. SDM debuted on the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, so it’s a relatively new system for Toyota. One advantage is that it gives the driver total control over the front stabilizer bar’s state. E-KDSS, like the passive KDSS system before it, is automatic. Given its design it’s unlikely that a driver would want to override it. But SDM requires a button push to unlock the axle, and some drivers are going to appreciate that. 

Given that it’s a less extensive and less complex system than e-KDSS, it may also be easier to lift or otherwise modify a SDM-equipped 4Runner. In the Toyota Tacoma, which also gets the SDM hardware, the benefit is 10 percent more flex than the outgoing truck—a decent upgrade.

How Much Will the SDM System Cost?

We can hazard a guess based on its availability on the Land Cruiser and the Tacoma. On the Tacoma, it is a $1,230 option on the TRD Off-Road trim (and eventually on the Trailhunter version). For the Land Cruiser, it's standard on the "regular" (not the heritage-inspired 1958) trim and the First Edition. We think the 4Runner trim spread will more closely resemble the Tacoma, so expect it to add about $1,200 to the bottom line on certain TRD and Trailhunter trims, provided it's a standalone option and not bundled with some other off-road-oriented goodies.