Me and my '02 4Runner SR5 (auto/air) are headed for a tour in Tunisia in July. I added a set of Goodyear MT/R's to the stock rims and they worked extremely well on some rough excursions in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and most recently, Ukraine. Other than the tires, the vehicle is completely stock. I'd like to hear from anyone having a 3rd gen 4Runner or knowledge of 'best practices' for desert ops and sourcing suggested upgrades. Tks!

I don't know what level of wheeling you are planning on getting into, and I don't have any experience with the 3rd gen 4runner or africa for that matter, but recovery gear is the biggest thing I would recommend. Doubt that helps but my .2 cents

Might want to look into doing the electric taurus radiator fan mod. Also i think there is some stuff you can add to your radiator to keep a couple degrees cooler. Then I would add a beefy hayden tranny cooler and get some cling tint for your front windows/windshield to help cool the cabin.

x2 on the recovery gear. I visited Tunisia in the early nineties and had a great time. Good luck!

There are some water recovery systems you can get to save the coolant in the event of an overheat... you will want some recovery gear like a couple of shovels and some of that "hole plate" steel stuff in case you get stuck... a high lift jack... a personal distress beacon... a good local guide person...
watch out for camel grass it almost always destroys the dakar race vehicles if they hit it... I think if you check for info on the Dakar Rally there is a link page there under "my dakar" or "your dakar" that talks about vehicle and personal preparation that will give you lots of tips...

I've got nothing to add, but maybe a lift and bigger tires. Good luck with this. Get some good pics, too!

I agree get pics, o boy I wish I was going that sounds awsome, good luck laddy

No more free advice till we see some pics from your previous trips!

I'm not a racer, just a casual roller and do my best to avoid rocks. I always check with the locals - although my Russian & Spanish ain't gonna mesh too well with the local's Arabic & French. Hand signs & pointing at maps will have to do. I've been on some seriously harsh 'goat trails' in the Andes with a number of 3-wheel on and 1-wheel hanging off the cliff, no-way-to-turn-around trips. I'll be diggin' out the digichips of some of my previous excursions and download some of the shots. Info from the group has been appreciated - the water recovery & cooler, tranny cooler, a good sand jack -&- definitely one I didn't think of: the 'marston' matting (steel slats w/holes) will be an add. Camel grass! Yikes - never heard of it but I'll steer clear.

Recommendations for a urethane. 2" inch lift kit that's easy to install...?

Roger Brown (4Crawler) offers a great and complete 2" body lift kit, just make sure you're closing up all the gaps that result.

As for other recommendations, go over to Ultimateyota.com and find Blake Davenport (neliconcept) and pick his brain, he was at one point wanting to head to SA and Africa

I would invest into a transmission cooler with a fan. Also I would run mostly water in the cooling system. Water dissipates heat way better than anti-freeze can.

James

x4 on the Tranny cooler. Summit racing has one I believe. Not too hard to install if I remember correctly.

In terms of offroading maybe you could get a locker for the rear of your 4runner. It does really good offroad and will get you out of a "sticky-wicket".

In Africa, I would need a gun, gallons and gallons of water, sunscreen, sunglasses, double check your A/C 10x over, and your Toyota won't let you down.

What dissapoints me is you have no pictures to show of all these cool trips with your 4runner. Don't come back till you have awesome pictures (jk lol). But seriously it would be cool to show us some stuff.

yeah x2 on the gun, just pick up an kalashnikov and store it with the recovery gear

A will:

" In light of the reported kidnapping of two Western tourists in the Tunisian-Algerian southern desert region, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens to exercise extreme caution if traveling in this area. "

http://tunisia.usembassy.gov/travel_...h_13_2008.html

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...a/pa_2258.html

X2, and lots of ammo.

3 things:
seal all your electrical components...namely your ECU.
Beadlocks
and 2nd, google search Maya Hunter Tacoma and Dakar parts

I'm not sure exactly how easy it would be to sneak an AK over there. I want to know how he plans on getting the 4runner there in the first place and how much transportation costs, etc. would be...

Based on what I saw on TV back when Speedvision was covering the Dakar [when the coverage was excellent and really in depth, why they dumped the Dakar for the lousey Barret Jackson auction I don't know]... Camel grass is those large clumps of grass you see in some pics of the desert... basically you are booting across the sand more or less floating due to the "give" of the surface and suddenly you can hit the grass and it is akin to running into a boulder I saw a few pics were a whole half axle/wheel was ripped off and another where the car had actually flipped on it's roof... these guys were going flat out across the sand though so unless you are racing across it you should be ok... watch out cresting dunes as well some of them are like sand cliffs almost on the lee side...

'Sneaking' an AK - or any other firearm into any country is waaaay off the list. The 4Runner will be containerized and shipped from Baltimore via some unknown trans-Atlantic route and eventually show up POE Tunis. Luckily, I'm a USG employee (civilian) so along with my gear, the 4Runner takes a duty/import and licensing free ride to Tunisia. The active duty military folks on the site know the deal.

Tunisia, check out this thread over at Expedition Portal for some tips from a guy who went on an expedition in Tunisia and more.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...hlight=Tunisia

Trips
http://www.jamesuk.net/Overland_Trips.html

Tunisia
http://www.jamesuk.net/Algeria.html