Liking rear glass hatch to access back of LC

[LCOceans]

Not sure how to word it, but the longer I have my Land Cruiser the more I appreciate this feature. Coming from 4Runners with lift gate and roll down window, I thought that was the best. And also a Lexus GX470 with side opening tail gate - that has its benefits as well. But the LC glass opening is really quick and easy and I find myself using it all the time (and it avoids the noisy beeping from lifting the whole hatch ). I think I would miss it if I went back to the 4Runner.

 

[Nuke]

Although was careful, and no issues, did not like the dust/silt that would get into our 4Runner rear window area. Would even go to the trouble to cover the end openings with tape when operating on dry lakes, etc. So, yes, the new LC is better in this respect. If they only would have figured out a way to top mount the wiper to protect it! I cringe when going through the car wash.

 

[evillinux]

As you said the benefits of the rear window are nice that you can easily reach in and grab items or place stuff in without having to open the whole back hatch. I find myself using a good bit with grabbing things in and out of the back area of the trunk must easier and quicker than then opening the whole lift gate.

I will admit I do sometimes miss the roll down window which my '97 4Runner has. But I've found that opening my sunroof when the weather is nice and driving around that more than makes up for getting air into the car and feels much like having the back window the 4Runner had was like.

One thing I did notice the other day when I was washing the LC is that if you go through dusty areas like I was down in the desert probably about a month ago with a lot of fine sand/dirt it will get semi-trap in the window's area. I'd recommend if you are in a dusty/sandy area to just pop the window open every so often and just clean it out. There wasn't too much and it wasn't like it was coming inside of the LC's cabin, but was something I noticed and manually cleaned up that I'll note next time I go off-roading in those types of conditions. Also Toyota did a nice job of painting all the metal parts including the area hiden by the window.

 

[Nuke]

My rule when off-roading in dusty conditions is to "pressurize" the interior, i.e. HVAC to outside air, and fan at, or near, max. Commuted for many years on silty Nevada dirt roads.

 

[Ed1]

I do like the functionality of the openable glass. But it does seem a bit finicky - to get it closed and latched properly, quite a hard slam is needed. Otherwise, the glass seems closed but is not actually latched - which produces a warning light on the dash.

 

[PACruiser]

I think the open/close rear hatch button also doesn't work if the glass is not closed firmly.

 

[LCOceans]

I do like the functionality of the openable glass. But it does seem a bit finicky - to get it closed and latched properly, quite a hard slam is needed. Otherwise, the glass seems closed but is not actually latched - which produces a warning light on the dash.

Yes I find not a hard slam, but a firm push is needed to properly close and avoid the alarm sound.

 

[evillinux]

My rule when off-roading in dusty conditions is to "pressurize" the interior, i.e. HVAC to outside air, and fan at, or near, max. Commuted for many years on silty Nevada dirt roads.

Thanks for information and suggestion I'll give that a try next time I'm down in the desert with the silty sand. It wasn't too bad overall and it didn't seem to make it way into the car, very thankful for the cabin filter. Driving my old '97 4Runner I was eating dust at times without a cabin filter - can't say I miss that lol.