There is currently a 3rd gen thread where the driver and passenger was seriously injured in a roll over type accident. It got me thinking, a situation like this could present itself off-road when driving aggressively, especially in the sand or the dunes if I was to “catch an edge”. It got me thinking a bit more about safety because his injuries were pretty significant.

Sad ....but Thankful News

I don’t actually want to go out and spend the money on this… but at what point would you actually want to roll cage the cabin of the 4Runner? I see the KOH build, and as awesome at it is, it’s pretty aggressive, looks very inconvenient, and looks very expensive, but so does a hospital bill or a disability.

I know you can’t really put a price on safety stuff like this, and I am not really fast tracking it though the desert at 70-80 mph on a regular basis. Its not a race truck to me, but that doesn’t mean an accident can’t happen either. How durable are these things in a low speed roll over? I’ve done some slightly sketchy things off-road, it’s fun to push the truck, but the consequences seems pretty bad if you go upside down.

The 3rd Gen 4runners have really bad rollover ratings.
The 4th gen fairs much better in this aspect. The NTHSA data is on the internet if you want to look it up, but overall the 4th gen is a very safe truck.

I just read that topic....WOW both of them are very lucky to be alive.

I'm not so sure a roll bar would of help them much in that roll over at speed, sure it would have kept the front of the roof at the windshield from be smashed in as badly as it was, but the rest of the roof seems to have held up rather well, IMHO, the fact he had a sunroof may have made the damage worst..but if he didn't have that sunroof both could have been hurt worst or even killed after reading how they both ended up in the aftermath.

Only you can decide if you think a roll bar is a good thing for you to do since you know where, how and the conditions you drive your T4R, if you think you will get as much damage as he did in a roll over it maybe a good idea.

Since you are thinking of going into the dedicated desert rig route, I agree, safety should be the first concern and expense.

A lot of the rock-crawling cage protection is for, well, crawling speed events where the only bigger issue would be driving on the edge while negotiating a big obstacle, like Moab rim.

But, yeah, at speed...it can happen anytime. You can always lose a tire for example. After all, you will probably be running an aired down LT tire at good speeds. Constantly overheating the sidewalls will eventually cause a catastrophic failure unless you are really into all aspects of it and/or replacing tires regularly like a team would.

So, I guess it is a question of just how far into that sport you want to get.

To me, the commitment and financial threshold between family recreation and sport is like stepping into a different dimension in a sci fi movie. Do it wrong/cheap and you may never come back....

I'm wanting a basic cage in mine. The KOH 4runner's cage, while perfect for racing, is super inconvenient for street driving like you said.

I would like mine built so it has minimal visibility and access impairment for the front row and back row seating. A rear shock hoop can be tied into it as well along with a relocated fuel tank system after potentially chopping and raising the cargo floor for more capacity. All of this should stiffen the frame quite a bit too. I bet racing seats would be stronger and support you better than stock seats, that might be a place to start safety-wise before welding the cage. Could do a safety harness too.

That would give me a lot of piece of mind when moving to 37's or 40's. And if I do roll it I can just chop the roof off and go full-on jeep mode. Only sort of kidding with that one.
@MAST4R funny you should mention Moab Rim. The off-camber sections we negotiated have certainly kept me up at night. The stuff nightmares are made of haha. The only way I would do that trail again is with 37's, lockers, and some sort of long travel front/rear. It wouldn't be fun otherwise.

It’s been my dedicated off-road toy for the past few years actually… and I’ve been pretty good with it so far in terms of making it work for me. I just haven’t gone nuts at throwing big cash at it, yet. If I take suspension to that long travel level, it’s only going to allow me to go faster and get more adventurous, and with that comes more opportunity for accidents.

I’ve been in the sport but tried to settle down a bit… but all my desert stuff started with ATVs, rode those things for many years… but I got older and I don’t bend a well as I used to. I eventually sold it because I had a good run with it without killing myself even though I did get into a couple accidents which was more my fault as a novice rider.

4Runner compared to an ATV for cruising around is actually a very luxurious thing to have considering we stay clean, have air conditioning, and it actually takes us places we like and drives well.

I agree with you… the problem is the cost to do things right if I take it to that next level… it’s also getting to the dollar cost where I can start looking at a side-by-side like the Yamaha YXZ or Maverick X3 XRS which was design to do those things. I really can’t have both from a storage standpoint, and I would really miss the ability to drive the thing on road, and I hate towing a trailer.

Even when I had an ATV, I just drive it into the truck and took it there. Wife drove the 4Runner. Old photo... Look how low the 4Runner is haha.

I guess if I want to do it right, I have to address the saftey side before I can really play.

@Inv4drZm

Seats and harness isn't a bad idea... I like you cage ideas but I still want enough bar to provide a proper structural integrity vs a roll bar.

I should just call this project "Sandbird" and move forward.

Really becomes a commitment at this stage for me... can't really half bake this thing.

Downside of even a simple 4 point is that, being a 4 door, you're going to have to have down bars obscuring rear seat entry - even if you go swing outs for the front seats.

A cage in a street vehicle,not a good idea. Unless you plan on wearing a helmet and maybe even a HANS device.

Seats and harnesses without a roll cage and hans device is a bad idea. The three point factory belt is designed to allow your body to move inwards and down in the event of a roll over, preventing the collapsed roof from crushing your head and neck. And similarly, without a hans device/helmet strap while wearing a harness, you can subject your body to serious whiplash. Here's a thread that goes over some of the problems with running harnesses:
Are 4 Point harnesses safer for normal driving - NASIOC

In short, you should either fully commit to high speed safety in the event of a roll over and get a cage, seats, harness and hans device, or just don't push it so hard you think you need it.

I’ve never owned a vehicle with a cage, I am still learning about all the finer points.

While I don’t daily drive the thing, I still drive it on road to my destinations so I guess your concerns are still no different because it has to be used on the road. I can understand not wanting to hit your head on the bars, but is that still a concern when strapped in with a 4 or 5 point harness?

Wearing a helmet and HANS device isn’t the most practical thing for how I want to use the truck… certainly looks safe and I understand why we use them, but it’s taking this thing into a direction where it’s even more extreme that my original plans.

I’m not necessarily objecting to it, but it would look funny driving down the highway with a helmet in a 4Runner.

Thanks for that... there really is no middle ground for doing this right. Good information.

edit:

Your comments also got me thinking about how my friend operates this side x side... Its got a 5 point, we wear helmets, but no HANS device... I guess even then we are still leaving ourselves open to injury if the accident or roll was bad enough.

Happy to help. I was ready to pull the trigger on new seats and 4 point harnesses before reading that. Decided to get new seats, but keep the stock belts.
As for side by sides, I think there is some difference. For one, you have a full cage, preventing the roof from collapsing. But also, they do not have airbags or much crumple zone, which work hand in hand with stock seatbelts in a car/truck. In a UTV, containment and keeping your body in the vehicle is most likely a higher priority, thus 5 points are not a bad idea. Probably would be a good idea to wear a neck protector like for a dirt bike, or get a helmet strap to prevent your head from whipping to far forward for even more safety.

Almost went for a cage, kinda glad i didnt

Here's my recommendation - speak to people who build and use roll cages and get their opinions. While not discounting the views of forum members who may or may not have worthy advice, see what people in the business say about your considerations. You mention the KOH build. Reach out to them, or their builder of the cage (Otwell) - they are all great people and have solid knowledge of what may or may not work for YOU. Then post back their thoughts.