994runnerguy

Hello all....as some of you guys might remember, i was looking and researching for lockers and tires. I have a 99 4runner 2WD auto......i just put on the BFG A/T KO's in a 31" with the stock 15" rims with no lift...looks sooo much better and seems like its taller....and my truck is in the shop right now getting the detroit EZ locker installed.....now what kind of terrain would i be able to attack and degree of difficulty? I know it's not 4wd .....but i dont want to sell it...opinions or thoughts are gretaly appreciated....i live in orange county and know that ppl go out to big bear off roading....id like to go out there with all u guys .....but makes me sad to know that IM not 4wd!

994runnerguy

for starters 994runnerguy.......you should have bought a 4WD .......anybody ??

Bob_98SR5

99,

hopefully casey will chime in here since he was in the same dilemma as you about a year ago. he recently converted it over to 4wd though, so you'll get two perspectives. also, he's in OC too.

how about dem apples!?!

bob

Tacoma Dude

Member Pretacopower (Ryan) did awesome at Big Bear

A loaded rear is good to have.
If you check out the trail reports/pics of the last Big Bear run, someone's got a vid of Ryan getting out of a stuck position. That was the worst encounter we had that day. Overall not bad - was solved by getting extra weight on that rear.

994runnerguy

just load up the back with some weight huh...i did see a pix with a couple of plp on his trunk.....i missed the video though........so i guess with a locked 2wd.....momentum and power is the key with some added weight in the back....cOOl Thanks!

Tacoma Dude

Well... certain situations like Pismo, keeping momentum isn't a problem as long as you watch out for the drop-offs.

Some of the more rocky places a more slow and easy approach is what you want to do - the momentum and power may not be what you want there.

Experience is the best teacher. Come on out to the next trip and have some fun learning your limitations

Nitro Hotpants

my suggestion...

take ur 2WD runner everywhere, get a feel for what its capabilities and limits are. once you have done that, you will come to one of 2 conclusions
1st - you will be happy with things you have been able to overcome in your 2wd
2nd - while you have done some pretty cool stuff, you will always encounter something that just would have been 10 times better if you had 4WD.

eventually i got sick of trying to charge everything, fish-tailing on hills, and just trying to bump up everything. so i took the plunge and went for the converion. i had too much time and money invested into my runner in its 2WD form to just sell it and start all over again. plus, i learned a whole lot about my truck in the process.

not telling u to convert, but take ur truck out, get a feel for what it can do, if you want more out of it, convert it, if you are satisfied, keep it as is.

-Casey

994runnerguy

really good points i should keep in mind...thanks!! Yeah i will definately go out with you guys next big bear trip....Im in costa mesa....Ill keep an eye out foer the next runs! i hope my runner does ok for its locked 2WD @$$!!

994runnerguy

hey Nitro thanks for the PM u sent me earlier about ur 4wd conversion....did u pull this off urself or did a local shop pull off the conversion....i might be interested...mines a 99 runner auto..u mentioned that u spent about 3500 for the conversion....would u say that doing a conversion is reliable/?

Pretacopower

I agree with what Casey said...get a feel for what you can do in your locked 2wd, and then decide where to go from there.
Personally, for me, it just made me want a 4x4 even more :pat: But on the bright side, it's a night and day difference between a locked and unlocked 2wd. You'll go so much further locked.
Since you have a 4runner, weight in the back end won't be as big a problem for you as it was for me, since I have a truck. It still wouldn't hurt to put some more in there though.

994runnerguy

i also have a heavy @$$ speaker box in the back with 2 alpine s-type 12's..that should help out somewhat....but i look forward for the next big bear trip! i want to see what my baby can do..!

Nitro Hotpants

i actually had gotten help out in AZ from Steve Schaefer (sschaefer3)
basically he was the one who planted the seed in my head and it just kinda got going from there.
as far as reliability, i havent had any problems yet. my front 4WD components only had about 30k miles on them, and the tranny and t-case only had about 36k on them. so far everything has held up beautifully. all we rebuilt were the axles, replaced the wheel bearings and ball joint boots.
ive had the 4WD on there since April and been out wheeling probably about 10-15 times since.

if you're going to do it, make sure u research as much as possible, and be patient for the parts, you can get good deals on quality used parts if you just wait for them.

994runnerguy

yeah will definately do some research..thanks for the info.....i want to take my baby out to see what it can do....then go from there...just like everyone else suggested....!

SolidDigital

I'd take it out on trails with friends and make sure you have a tow strap, do just about everything the 4wd guys do then if you get stuck you'll know it's limits..
I'm about to put a lockright in mine and I'm curious as to what they're charging to install your locker?

994runnerguy

well a buddy of mine recommended this local transmission shop...they chrged me $140 to install it.....i think its a deal because 4wheelparts was charging me 300$ !!