I may be picking up a 96 4Runner SR5 for free of close to it due to my very cool father. It's suppose to be pretty clean, the only down side is it's a 2WD. That being said, what are my best options? I don't want to spend alot of money on this conversion, the wife is already adding the monthly insurance in her head.
Will the factory junk fit under the front? Are the control arms the same? If I go stock, will I just need the diff, axles, hubs, DS, Xfer case, and shifter?

I guess my other option would be to SAS it. This may be cheaper depending on the price of stock parts at my local yards. What axle are guys using, isn't the Xfer on the drivers side? Anyway I think you know where I'm going with this. Thanks for your help.

 

I wouldn't put 4wd under a 2wd. Keep it as a town driver and then get yourself a 4wd toy to play with. If you do want to mod it, slap in an Aussie locker, some OME lift springs, bigger tires and it'll do most dirt roads & trails.

I used to run a 2wd Toy pickup with open diffs, doing a lot of what I do in my 4Runners today. But there are gonna be some times that you're going to have to turn around and go out the way you came.

 

Nitro Hotpants did it (well Schaefer really did it but it was Casey's truck) on a 3rd gen. Here's the link: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f88/how-convert-3rd-gen-4runner-2wd-4wd-29411/

 

sell it and get a 4wd, if you get it for cheap or even free, why not?

 

The Runner is in FL. and I'm in WV. There's not a real high demand for 2WD SUVs around here. I wouldn't feel right selling a gift either.

 

Make it a SAS conversion and add the cases and trans. Not sure if you would have to swap trans but I would think so.

Take your time, build it piece by piece, take plenty of pics and do a build up thread. That would be the most economical way to go IMO.

Good luck,

 

swap in a solid axle... transfer case and call it good!

 

Yeah, one more vote for SAS, no point in putting IFS parts in. Although, you can probably find all the IFS parts dirt cheap on this board.