I'm the only one that ever drives my truck usually. I would never let anyone drive it in the snow, especially with a locker.

My headlights are crap. I hate them. I have 2 cheapo "off-road" lights from Advanced and I just turn those on when I'm driving through neighborhoods and stuff. HUGE difference. I could hardly see a dark car parked on the side of the road till I was almost there with just my headlights. I want to get some flood lights soon, my bumper has 4 mounting points; and a couple lights for the rear so I can see where I'm backing up.

I think I'm going to wait on the winch, as suggested above.

Right now it looks like 4.88's, lockrite rear, rock sliders, a budbuilt crossmember, budbuilt ifs skidplate, and front and rear diff armor. Oh, and tires. Which brings me to my next question: are 33's really that much more capable than 31's? The tires I really want only come up to a 31x10.5 size, they're the Greendiamond Icelander MT's

 

Would the BudBuilt tie rod and drag link be a good upgrade for me? I noticed that they require the FJ80 rod ends. So this means they do have tie rods premade for the FJ80 rod ends ? Anyways, I do have a tendency to break stuff on any car I own so I'm still thinking this would be a necessary upgrade. Let me know what you think

 

If you're gonna 'wheel it, ground clearance under the diffs is priceless, and there's only one practical way to get it - taller tires.

 

Good point

 

Oh.

Are you sure these aren't annoyingly bright and white?

 

Not in your current suspension set up. If you hack off the IFS, then yes.

 

Well, I confused the H4's with HID's, but you missed the point. The safety concern is for OTHER drivers.

HID's light up the road great too. That's awesome until you get behind someone or someone approaches you oncoming. Then you blind them.

I'm all for someone using super bright lights when they are the only ones around. I love being able to see better like anyone else. You just need dim lights for other people.

I have an enormous complex about it. I'll leave it here.

 

I've got this set up and did fine with it in the snow, 4H will solve the fishtail thing. If you've got the cash go with selectibles I will one day just not today. And the off road performance is awesome, I'd recommend dual t-case too. Well worth the investment, plus you won't have to wheel by throttle so repair cost will be lower.

 

I don't think you'll need front dif armor, it's got a crossmember and skidplate. Some bad mouth the factory skid plate, I've pounded it and hammered it back out later. I tried to avoid putting to much into the IFS, knew I'd SAS it that's coming soon.

Greendiamond Icelander MT's aren't in 33", I liked them too. But they do sale the retreads that have the Diamond compound. They're tread pattern looked like BFG M/T's and they recommended the 16" rim d/t tire availablity.

When you have the front dif out replace the stud for the CV axles with grade 8 bolts, makes it easier to swap out CV's if you break one. You'll have to search for the write up or maybe someone else will post it for you, I didn't book mark it. If you search on line you can find bolts hella cheaper than Lowes pay by the piece.

 

I disagree. Neither the stock cross member nor the front skid do much of anything to protect the front diff, unless you are referring to something coming at it from the front, like a log.

Without front diff protection, on rocks, you will pound and bash the front diff quite a bit.

A rear crossmember from sonoran steel will help quite a lot. A skid plate is better.

I do agree that, if you plan on SASing immediately upon having the funds, DO NOT waste money on the front end. If you want to wheel difficult trails, and save a bundle of money, armor the IFS.

 

That's pretty much exactly what I want to do. Wheel with the IFS. It will probably be another 5 years before I can do the SAS

 

Just what part of the front dif are you concerned about. I agree about the t-case mount being replaced with a low profile skid plate mount, many choices of venders. Can understand concerns for stuff entering the engine compartment from below. I've never had any problems with the front crossmember it covers the lower aproach of the dif face. The skid plate does the rest. Like I've said my set up has taken some heavy hits but nothing a hammer couldn't fix on the skid plate. But I'm in a diferent part of the country.

 

You know for the lighting issue, all Ive done so far is replace the regular headlights with GE Nighthawks. They are more expensive than regular replacements, but that alone made a huge difference for me

 

i HAVE SOME VERY COOL FOG LIGHTS FOR YOU, LINK IN MY SIGNATURE....

 

If you come up and over a rock and drop down, there is NOTHING to prevent the diff from being impaled by said rock.

BudBuilt + Sonoran Steel FTW

If you saw how thrashed mine is, you would understand!

 

I'm no longer concerned. I have a skid.

However, I was concerned about the entire bottom of the diff which is completely exposed in the stock set up. As soon as you push over a rock, the rock slides past the front cross member, and you put the weight of the front of the truck on the diff. It'll take a few hits, but will crack like anything else with enough abuse.

The front crossmember is fine, a rear provides a great mounting point for a skid.

A shot of mine. It bolts to the front crossmember, and the rear sonoran steel crossmember. Also to the front of the frame.



As you can see, it is very effective. I can now push the skid into the rock, it lifts the truck up, slides past the diff, and I'm over it.

 

Well I agree that yours is nice. Budbuilt has them for $249 plus ship. I think its overkill, but I don't wheel in the same part of the country as you. I'd put my money in gears, crawl box, and traction devices so wheeling by throttle to get over rocks isn't a concern either.

 

I would just stick with the bumpers, sliders, and a locker in the rear. I would recommend you learn how to wheel first before you consider any other up grades. Once you learn how to wheel you can better assess what further upgrades you need. Extra sets of idler arm bushings and and idler brace is suficient. Everything else is just overkill. The key is to just keep the height low for a low center of gravity and keep it light so u can get up steep climbs. With all that money going into the ifs upgrades you are truely better off with an SAS. Then the SAS will allow you to run 35s which will greatly improve your clearance on the trail. Oh and why an m12000. An m8000 is more than enough for you truck. Not going to be any difference with the 12000

 

Exactly. I'm somewhat new to wheeling. I went a few times with family when I was like 5 or 6 but they had stock Toyota's and I don't remember much about it. I plan on just getting the 4.88 gears, lock the rear, 33" tires, rock sliders, and underbody armor. Then I'll take it out and see how it does and where I need to improve.

Like I said, it could be 5 years or more before I do the SAS. I don't feel like sitting on the sidelines and just driving through dirt roads in the rockies so I would like to keep my truck mostly intact for at least the next 5 years. I think lockers, tires, and a little bit of armor will do me fine for a beginner.

If I keep breaking steering parts out the wazoo then I'll upgrade them. It would be cheaper for me to upgrade them after breaking 5 parts than 50. Yeah they may be cheap $5 parts, but by the time I'm able to do the SAS I will probably have spent the same amount just fixing my truck. So why not spend the money now and not have to worry about it? "Quality over quantity" right?

And besides, I've been thinking of just building this truck to be a desert truck, then buying another 4Runner that already has the front and rear messed up (or gone), and doing the SAS on that one instead.

I'm not looking for anything hardcore yet. I just wanna have fun and get some experience and not have to worry about my truck too much

 

I agree with that, and, in fact, that's exactly what I did.

Problem is, after you put all that stuff in, you find that you are afraid to try stuff that the truck is now capable of, because you have exposed stuff.

IMO, armor should be the first thing you put on the truck.

I agree with BAMF as well, that learning to drive is the most important part of wheeling. However, armor gives you peace of mind when you make mistakes. You can focus on learning rather than worrying about damage.

Anyway, great discussion. Lots of good points.