So here is where the story of my 4runner begins.

Being that I went from 2 cars to 1 car, the mods came in like a fish out of water.

I have seen so many 4runner setups through instagram and facebook. All the really cool looking ones have metal bumpers front and rear, roof top tents, and crazy roof racks. I really think all those things look cool, but I wanted to go with a more OEM+ look. I wanted a truck that is capable of doing all those things with out being so flashy lol.

I originally wanted a 2014+ trail edition due to the projectors and facelift, but finding one for the right price was almost impossible. I stumbled upon this 2012 trail for an awesome price which I couldn't refuse, and i'm actually glad I got a pre face lift 5th gen trail because I see them much much less compared to 2014 trails, which I like. Also, the front end on the 2010-2013 4runner actually grew on me much much more compared to the 2014.

I started off with buying tires. I actually bought tires even before purchasing the 4runner because i was so excited. I did not want to cheap out on this build so I went with the best all around tire I knew at the time and those were the BFG KO2's in 285-70-17.

I also got an amazon spacer lift as well as RRW's RR4 rims in brushed.


I did a couple of trails to test out my new goodies, so of course I had to snap some pictures lol



Shortly after that I picked up an ebay roof rack basket as well as Rocky Road Outfitter Sliders. I went with the Rocky Road Sliders because i liked how they tucked in very closely to the door line for that oem look, but it still gave it that extra protection I needed. These sliders are quality products by the way. I use it as a jack point all the time and they are solid!


I also decided I wanted to make sure my diff didn't get any water in it while crossing rivers and such, so I went with an arb rear diff breather!


I also decided to upgrade my wheel spacers. I bought ebay ones temporarily for test fitting purposes, and once I found that right sizes, I went ahead and bought some reliable spacers. I didn't want to do the body mount chop when I first got the car, (I eventually did it lol) so I went with 1in trail gear spacers in the front and 1.25 spidertrax in the rear. The 1in spacer in the front with my aftermarket wheel was just the right offset to stick out, but not rub the body mount. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the spacers.

Shortly after that, I went on a wheeling trip with some buddies up to the mountains with tons of snow. Another long story short, I got stuck in the snow and had no way getting out, because my buddies were losing traction every time they tried to pull me out. Luckily, someone with a winch drove by and pulled me out.

Well, me being myself, I decided from that moment on, I needed a winch just incase that would happen to me again lol. My dad has had a winch on his 2004 sequoia ever since he bought the car. He went with a warn xd9000 and it has never failed him through out all these years. The kind man that pulled me out of the snow also had a warn xd9000, so I put two and two together and decided I would need to get an xd9000 lol. Well I looked at warn and they recommend gvwr multiplied by 1.5 which comes out to 9450. This is more than what the xd9000 can pull so I went with a Warn zeon10. I really wanted the zeon10s but I told myself I could go synthetic rope later down the line anytime I want, which is why I didn't go with it. I decided to go with a bud built hidden winch receiver so I could keep that oem look!





I also got a cb setup so I can talk to my buddies out on the trail, I don't have any pics of it but you will see it on the truck.

I was really lucky I bought that winch, because the next time I went out on the trail, I almost flipped my truck sliding into a ravine. I decided to drive up a muddy hill and lost traction. I went into a panic and locked my brakes and slipped into it. Luckily, nothing was broken, just my ego and a well learned lesson. Walk the trail before attempting it. Here is a pic



Shortly after that, I decided my spacer lift just wasn't doing its job anymore, I felt like it went from a 3in front lift 2in rear lift to a 2in front 1in rear lol. I decided to go with some bilstein 5100's with ome medium duty 885 springs up front and medium duty 889 in the rear. I also added a half inch top spacer for the front and set the shock to .75 so I can achieve a full 3in lift up front. I love this setup and it rides great. The rear is a little bouncy, but I wasn't expecting it to ride like a cadillac.


Here is a pic after it was installed. It has definitely settled since then, but I felt like it was a 3.5 to 3.75in lift when it was first put on, and now its a perfect 3in.


I recently decided to change out my wheels. I got a really good deal on my RRW's but I always wanted a set of Stealth custom series. So last month I had just enough funds to make the swap. I went with F5's in 17x9-38. I really didn't want to do a bmc, but I also really wanted these wheels, so I decided to just do it. I think it came out really good!


[Imgur](http://i.imgur.com/RMVashn.jpg)


I also decided to get some ragofab ditch brackets and pods. I put those on shortly after as well.



I know my thread has a lot of reading lol but I really enjoy writing about my truck!

I have a lot more in the works. My GF just bought me a flat rack from Baja Rack for my birthday, which will be here this week!
I also plan on getting an arb awning in the very near future. I also want to get a set of maxtrax for my recovery gear as well as change my wire rope to synthetic and get a factor 55 hook.

Ever since I got the new wheels, I have also been wanting to go up to a 295, so that may also happen within the next couple of months so I will have lots of updates for this thread. I will also post the trails and adventures I do in the future!

Thanks for reading everyone!