Now what should I look to do first other than a tune up (dist cap rotor etc)

Also is the tune up easy to do myself or is it a pita?
This looks like it has a suspension lift, what tools are needed for a body lift? and what steps/how long should that take. Also looking for any ideas on some <600$ upgrades

 

poop can the nerf bars and get some sliders that function
get rid of the pre runner bar.
put an aussie locker in the rear.

hard to say since you say you have $600 to blow but you don't say a thing about what you want to do with the truck.

 

no body lift. thats just lame.. if youre looking to wheel at all get a locker in the rear. or maybe if you want more power and mpg find some factory 488 3rds ive got a front and rear with lockrite lockers for under 375 but dont expect to find them that cheap

 

ah k solid

 

Just drive the truck.

Take it out and put a thousand miles on it before doing anything major (other than tuneup and maintenance). Then, youll know where it falls short and where it needs to be upgraded to suit your needs.

 

yea what he said

 

Great buy looks good! I say just drive it around for a little and see what you like and dislike and go from there.

 

I'm gonna have to agree on ditching the pre runner bar and NO on the body lift. Nice clean truck man.

 

I like the prerunner bar.... That right there is my dream rig. My 4runner turns a lot of heads and it's slightly more modded than that truck, wanna trade? JK... sort of.... Great buy!

 

Do PM and tuneup first. Drive it, learn it. Decide how much actual wheeling you'll be doing and sell nerf bars to buy sliders - nerfs are damage multipliers offroad. Buy recovery equipment and CB for communication with your buddy in another rig. THEN start thinking about other stuff like traction devices and armor. Remember more traction = further down the trail towards damage = NEED armor. When doing bumpers - people seem to do front first probably because it's more aesthetically pleasing - but useless w/o a winch, thus much more expensive to do right. Your light bar is better than stock as is so I'd leave it. Front is also less likely to hit something unless you're bad driver, but the rear is always dragging on long truck like ours and you usually can't control what happens to it - thus needs protection first IMO. Seems you already have decent tires and wheels that'll fit 12.5" wide tires when you're ready to upgrade those when they wear out. I'd either do locker before/now or when you need to regear because you got tires - this will be the costly addition (tires + gears + lockers)

 

OK very solid advice guys and thanks I got thos truck for 4k btw, Also I'm a complete noob on gearing and lockers, can I install these myself or a pain in the ass?

 

Also in terms of off-roading Im not too big intil rock crawling im more of a hitting puddles at 30mph and mudding type. So with that in mind what mods should i be looking at?

 

Mudding?

 

What is that not the propper "slang" you guys use for going through muddy terrain?

 

its the right word for it but alot of people on here dont like mudding because they claim its tears your truck apart, as long as you take care of it and keep up with proper maintenance you will be fine...but dont hit the puddles too fast or you risk the chance of sucking water in the intake...

 

Ain't nothing wrong with hitting some mud at high speeds. I will tell you that my truck will never be as clean as I hope ever again though. It certainly does ruin your vehicle. If you are serious about offroading I can almost guarantee you will find your tastes changing as you look for more challenging terrain. Also, if you want to hit big puddles fast consider an electric fan and a snorkel.

 

I think if you're into the whole mud scene then you should just buy a second engine with your $600.

Hitting puddles at 30mph is a good way to hydrolock your engine.

my .02

 

A couple of little things:

Hella H4 conversion. Should run ~$100 and is more than worth it if you drive at night much. Maybe look into a diy relay setup that's floating around here while you're at it for even better performance.

How are the shocks? If they're trashed you can net a nice improvement with cheap monroes from kragens. ~$20 each and .5hr of work can completely transform the truck if what's on there is toast.

Probably the best bang for the buck stuff I've done to mine so far.

 

Are you talking about converting the headlights or those lights on the front bar in the picture?

 

^^ H4 is a headlight conversion to HID's.