Hey yall, im pretty new to 4x4 but its a hell of a lot of fun the few times i have gone. I own a 1996 Model Toyota 4runner. I'm looking to make it better at offroading. Right now everything on my car is stock. I was wondering if any1 could give me any advice on what i need to modfiy.

my friends say i should get a body lift first and i found a 2.5" lift in ebay
heres the exact title:
PRO COMP POLY SPACER 2.5" LIFT KIT 96-02 TOYOTA 4RUNNER
for 65$. is this worth getting?

any advice on the multiple things lol i covered in the above space would be greatly appreciated. thx in advance.

also i one more thing: i really need to get to learn all the names and functions of everything inside a car that makes it work, like gears and stuff (? lol) and yea. if anyone could send me a link to a good website so i could learn how mycar works i would appreciate that a lot. thx.

 

Well it all depends on what kinda of tire size you wanna run and how serious your going to get. 90% of people on this forum will tell you that you should lock your truck front a rear first, then get armor, then go for lift and tires. I dont 100% agree with that seeing as I did tires and lift, locker, and armor is on the list still.

If I was you I'd go for that kit (which is made of pucks btw. they are a 2.5inch spacer between the spring and the frame) get a 2 or 3" body lift and grab some 33's (Wrangler mt/r's by my preference). Alot of people on here will disagree with me but thats my opinion. After that I would lock the rear and possibly the front and start looking at armor. What ever you do dont half ass things cause you will pay for it...

 

haha what do you mean i should "lock" my front first, do u mean differentials? i dont even really kno what those are that was just a guess...and armor - to protect the underside of the car? (this is a guess)

could some1 plz explain sorry im new at this...

also stomis u said get that kit and then get a 3" body lift. isnt the kit a 2.5" body lift kit or am i wrong?

 

Welcome gilly! My first recommendation would be to post in the Newbie section. This site has some pretty strict rules, and you'll be much better off here than on other sites, but it'll be better in the Newbie forum.

My next recommendation would be to search around a little on here - you'll learn A LOT. Some terms to search on:
Armor = sliders, skid plates, and bumpers. Sliders protect the area between the wheels.
Lockers = https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f31/locker-faq-43572/
1996 was the first year of the 3rd generation of 4Runner

I disagree with Stomis a little. I would armor first - it gets real discouraging when every time you go 'wheeling you beat your truck up. It will also give you the confidence to try harder lines and advance your driving skill faster. Next, I would do lockers. Only driver skill has more impact on the capability of the truck. Then, spend quite a bit of time wheeling the crap out of the truck. You'll learn A LOT about what kind of wheeling you like, and how you need to build the truck to do it. Then, if you decide you need long travel IFS or a solid axle swap, you haven't put any money into lift that just gets cut off. It also eliminates all the stress and wear that results from lift, and allows you to spend money on gas for 'wheeling instead of repairs! When your tires are worn out is the time to be looking for bigger ones and how much lift you'll need to fit them.

 

Lockers = Locked differntials aka both wheels spin all the time.

Armor = Skid plates mostly but also includes bumpers and sliders


If your gonna go with bigger tires on IFS dont go any bigger than 33's your just asking for trouble. That kit your looking at isnt body lift its coil spacers. That counts as a suspension lift and pushes your coils off your frame more.

Like TC said watch what you dumb into your IFS because you may wind up cutting the IFS and rear coilovers off down the road and going for solid front and leafs all the way around. From the looks of things your a long way from that though. Take some time search and see what other people have done with the same truck. Then ask yourself am I going to wheel rocks, mud, trails, sand? That has an important weight in where you go with your build.