Hi guys, I've browsed for a while, and this site is a great forum. There is so much information on here. I am a complete newbie to 4wd, and I would love to learn a thing or two. Just in case you guys are wondering, my rig is a 2000 Toyota 4runner 4WD Desert Dune Metallic Silver. To my knowledge, its all stock. And I would love to get the rig into some dirt. The most its done is when i got it, 2 weeks after I went up to Lake Tahoe, and played in the snow. Too bad most of the time I was behind the snow plow, so I never needed to activate the 4WD. Well, all in all, I'm new, and would love to learn more about 4WD and Toyota, as well as make some friends on here, and maybe even meet up sometime to learn how to tackle a trail. So, I was wondering, what are the best mods to do both interior and extieror to the 3rd gen 4runner? And does anyone know of any newbie trails close to so cal?

welcome aboard. I dont have much to offer since my rig is a 2X4. Man i wish i had 4X4 instead though at times. last year they closed one of the ski areas close to me and would only allow vehicles with 4WD and chains. I was sad. haha

I've got a 98 desert dune, check out my sig for my mods.

The term "Best mods" is really subjective. It depends on what your goals are.

But the basic mods that people do are:

1) Deckplate mod. I personally don't care about increasing the performance by a few horses, but some like it and also like the louder sound.

2) Larger tires. 265/75/16's will give you maybe about an inch of lift.

Lastly, just go out and play around a bit, and you'll soon figure out what you need to do

wow, well my goal i guess is to add some height to my rig, and i do want to go hit up some trails, but nothing too serious. just enough to get my rig covered with mud! i doubt i will ford water, or climb boulders. like i said, i want some height, so maybe a lift. i really like the 3rd gen as is, im not a fan of it five feet off the ground. i was thinking about a 3 inch lift. what do you think?

arizcats9987, I'm sorry that you couldnt hit up the snow. when i did go, the highway patrol men were telling that i needed chains. but i was confused as to why, i thought if you had 4x4 then you didnt need the chains. so he made me turn around and head to the shop to get chains. when i got to the shop, i was told that i didnt need the chains, and that i should just tell the highway patrol men that i did have chains and that i will put them on later. anywho, it didnt make any sense to me.

to sum this up, thanks for the warm welcome, and i hope that this forum becomes a great resource to 3rd gen owners.