After Big Bear I started seeing some of the weaknesses of the 4runner and started planning on what I should modify on the 4runner. Right when I got home I realized that my rear differential drain plug was leaking. It must have loosened up while it dragged over rocks, proving to me that some of those trails are meant to be ran by rigs with larger then 31" tires. So I replaced that with a Marlin Crawler low profile drain plug, any easy $10 fix.
Next on my list were my pillar mounted Hella 500s. I had two problems with them, firstly in my opinion they weren't bright enough and second, they shook so much that it made it harder to see when they were on. To make them brighter I just ran down to my local Autozone and picked up some Silverstar 100w H3 bulbs and a larger fuse. They dropped right in place of the stock fuse and bulbs, no other modifications needed. To stop the lights from shaking so much I removed the 'upper hood' and sandwiched two pieces of sheet metal which were held in by the Hella's mounting bolts, this made it much more stable. Here's a picture of the sheet metal, sorry it's blurry but you can make out the sheet metal in the lower corners
Everyone I wheeled with at Big Bear either had 32s or 33s and I was in major tire envy! So the next thing on my list was to re-gear my differentials and bump up to 33" tires. Since some 2nd generation Toyotas came with stock 4.88s I decided to try to find a used set to save money over just buying new gears and having a shop install them. Luckily Chris (SLOsurfer) was selling his differentials to upgrade his 4runner to 5.29s. So I grabbed a few friends, loaded up my civic and made the 350 mile journey (with a few stops along the way, I saw a Clippers Game in the Staples Center, Visited the famous Getty Museum in Los Angeles, partied in Santa Barbara and went hiking up at Lake Isabella
). Although I was stoked about the new gears, this meant I had to sell my rear 4-cylinder differential with the aussie locker
. Oh well, I'll definitely get another rear locker in the near future. After picking up the differentials I realized that the front diff was equipped with Toyota's ADD (automatic disconnecting differential) system. I could have easily just used a hose clamp to disable it, but instead I swapped my stock axle tube off my stock front differential onto the new differential. I prefer having less moving parts, less parts that can break on the trail! After I got both differentials in I also picked up a new set of BFG 33X10.5X15 ATs and had them mounted on the 4runner. Right when I had them mounted up I took it to a easy trail by my house to check for clearance. Here's a pic of the 4runner with the new tires, you can also see my repainted grille, I hate chrome!
As you can see in the second pic, it definitely rubs in the rear wheel wells. It also rubbed the pinch welds in the rear of the front wheel wells. The front was an easy fix of just pounding back the pinch welds but I had to do a little trimming in the rear. I only had to take out a about 3/4", but here's the finished product.
And finally I also threw in a set of pioneer 100w 6.5" speakers in the back of the 4runner. I originally replaced my stock 4" rear speakers with the stock 6.5" speakers from my civic, but after blowing up the engine in my civic and being forced to daily driver the 4runner for a little while I decided I needed better speakers. I just installed a head unit for a friend and since the speakers wouldn't fit his car he gave them to me, so I figured I'd make good use of them and install them in the 4runner. The 4runner's sound system is getting better, but it still has a long way to go...
Since Big Bear I've taken the 4runner out wheeling 3 times
-I led a trail run out at Corral Canyon but I don't have any pics since I was out front
-I did a solo run out to Carvacre (AKA Pancake Rock). I'll try to get some pics up later. The only problem wheeling along (no other rigs and no passengers) is that when I'm in a off camber situation and I get out to pick a line the second I get back into the 4runner I can never get a seatbelt on, I figured it locks up when it's at extreme angles. I thought about messing with it, but it's probably there for my safety.
-Finally a did a little snow wheeling in Big Bear. I learned the importance of airing down for snow. I originally ran the 33s at 15PSI, but they kept digging in. I then lowered them to 7PSI and they floated nicely on the fresh snow. I didn't get far though due to being open front and rear and the 4runner trying to plow through 3' of fresh snow