ive had my 4runner now for almost 2 months and i love it, ive had alot of vehicles and this is by far the most fun to drive and practical one ive had the joy of driving. id like to make my truck a bit more capable for off roading and im interested in your opinions. my question is what upgrades and mods should i make to my truck to make it a worthy back road camping rig? here is what id like to do, please make suggestions.

1-2 inch lift--ant sugestions to a cost effective way to do this. preferably no body lift

rear mounted 400 watt inverter

hella 500 driving lights and some amber fogs

roof rack with basket- i dont have a factory roof rack so if there are any sugestions here id like to hear them.

31x10.5 AT tires

 

You can fit 31's tires no problem with no mods at all.

 

keep it close to stock as possible, save your money and find a Solid Axle. In the mean time wheel it stock it is quite capable. Then do a SAS once your ready for it. A lot of people will say get lockers/winch first. Many 2nd Gen 4runners come with stock 31's. So yeah x2 on that. I also know a few people run OME and my buddy has some sort of custom Downey setup on his 87 p/u. Just do a search you'll find plenty of information on it. Whatever you do don't get an IFS lift kit like superlift, they tend to not hold up too well. The SAS kit is about the same price. If you want I can show you pics of the carnage to the IFS kit.


Oh if you do start mods plan on finding a 2nd job or winning the lotto.
4runners like to eat money.

 

i definatly dont want to do a lift that will effect the Daily drivablity of my truck. i was thinking ball joint spacers in front and eibach springs or spacer or shackel in the rear. what are the advantages/disadvantages of shackels?

 

Yeah, 2nd gen. 4Runners don't have them. Get some lift springs from Downey or OME.

Lamm

 

you can get like Land Crusier coils and bj spacers, and longer shocks.

write up on hella 500s.
http://www.4runners.org/articles/hella500/

and as said you can fit 31s stock, i run them on my 89 4runner. but you can also run 33x10.5s with no lift and have good ground clearance and a lower COG.(center of gravity)

For the roof rack go to the junkyard and take off a stock one off another 4runner and add a basket from conferr or some other company.

good luck and lets see some pics.

 

on my stock 95' before any mods or anything I ran 33x10.5 with minimal rubbing. After spring spacers and t-bar cranked no rubbing at all.

 

im off to the junk yard today to get a roof rack, any ideas on what tools ill need?

what year and model land cruiser springs would i want to get?

 

I started with heavy duty OME springs and got pounded to death on the trails doing my fieldwork. Finally switched to OME mediums, no BJ spacers, just tightened up my torsion bars a little. You could probably do the same lift with your Eibach springs. It lifted it nicely with no other changes necessary.

The problem with most of the mods you read about here is after you mod one thing, you have to mod something else and eventually your rig eats your paycheck on a monthly basis because you're trying to fix the changed geometry of steering, suspension and all the other necessities. Slap the springs under it, tighten up the torsion bars and you'll have a great trail rig for <$200. Use the money you saved to actually get out of town!

 

http://www.bajataco.com/

http://www.expeditionswest.com/vehic...oma/index.html


tons of info at both

 

I thought id give you guys an update on what ive been doing.

i ordered a set of piaa 1700x fog's as well as a set of hella 500 driving lights with clear covers

i went to the junk yard here and unfortunatly the didnt have any 4runners ( not that i was suprised ) so i took a set of tracks and crossbars of a ford explorer. so ill just have to mod them a bit to get them to work.

as for a lift i think ill just get a set of springs from somewhere and crank the T-dars a bit. can i use land cruiser coils to get rid of the sag? or will they lift the rear end to much? if i can use them what year and model do i need?

and id just like to say thatnks to godwinaustin fro those links they are off they are awsome

 

Cruiser coils will only work if you cut them down, which really is a hit or miss deal or if you use ball joint spacers. Just order OME medium springs from Phil. You can always add BJ spacers later if you want to relax the torsion bars a little.

 

How was the Gass Milage with 33" on the 95?

 

Today i bolted on the rack i got at the junkyard works perfectly and looks great ( i would suggest this approach to anyone who dosent have a facory rack and dosent want to spend $250-$350ca for a rack system) . i also took the running boards off, it looks alot better without em. now im just waiting for my lights. what is the best way to run wires up through roof? i was thinking of getting a rubber gromet with a half inch spout on it and then using some silicone to seal it. good idea or is there a better way?

 

 

here are a couple pics






the only problem i have with it is that its hard to get the crossbars to be really tight. i think ill get a stud and lock tight it in the slider and then use a nut to hold it on.

 

Wow!! That rack looks slick. Totally factory.

Did you remove the headliner to bolt in on? What tricks did you use to seal it?

Nice job.

 

I am building my 91 4Runner to be my expedition/camping rig.
It came stock with 31-10.5's
I just put some 31-10.50 BFG AT's on it.
I already have a Yakima Rack that fit's perfectly. However, I want to put a rear mounted bar set on it, and I am trying to figure out how to do so.

Here is what I am going to do.

Full OME heavy load suspension.
ARB bull bar with a 9000lbs winch.
Roof top tent.
Can carrier for 2 fuel cans and 1 water can.
75 watts of Solar
dual batterys
Icom IC-2000 2M amateur radio
rear drawer and gear organization system.
cromo rear axles,
factory e-locker.
64 quart arb freezer-fridge.
2000 watt inverter.

 

You'll get a bunch of lift just by sticking on some 31x10.5s. If I were you that's the first thing I would do.

I was under the impression that 31x10.5s were the stock size on the alloy wheels? Anyone?

 

I went to a couple of body shops to get opinions on how to go about installing the roof rack and they all said " just screw it on" so i did. but i think should mention that the other roof racks i saw at the junk yard were not all like that so make sure that you pay attention to how it was mounted originaly. after that i just drilled some pilot holes and siliconed the holes on the track ( to seal it to the roof ) and then also the holes for the screws. and that was it.

Tigerstripe 40 where do you get a e-locker for a 2nd gen 4runner?