Another trip up to Big Bear with Blair and our girls for a few nights.













Different scenery when offroading at night.

Some of Blair that were on my camera.

My pics are more of the same but they will have to wait because I seem to have misplaced my cord to transfer pictures to the computer

Definitely a fun trip though, we did some runs at night and after that I am pretty much positive that I will be getting a light bar sometime soon

that looks like a lot of fun, one of these days, I need to take out my 4R for its' and my first ever Off-roading experience....lol

Since you're in NorCal you could always check out Hollister Hills.

Looks like a lot of fun!!

I'd love to see how well the truck cleans up after you wash it.

awesome pics man, that looks like a great trip. Those pics just make me want to more to my rig :awais:

You guys sure take a lot of nice scenic pics!

I think that both of you need BIGGER meatier tires to fill the fenders.

Josh, is your 4runner the one with the blacked out emblems? If so, then is that the max compression in the front wheels?? It doesn't seem like your front tires compress much...i know that the stock compression ain't great, but has it changed with your lift??

Yes I believe that is about as far as they compress. I have the FJ coils so they are stiff. As for the tires, they are on the list however I haven't decided on what I want to do. I really want to stay with the Nitto's, but I don't want to go up to 285's because of tire rack options. 275's don't have any brands that appeal to me. Possibly Cooper STT's but I haven't heard enough from them as far as handling, road noise, etc. BFG's are quite annoying from what I've heard, as well as experienced on past vehicles. I just spent $1500 on the suspension, $200 on spidertrax, a few hundred on the trip, and have demello rock sliders on order which is another $525, so tires aren't of top priority right now.

As always great pics and much envy

1) Did Blair install the 3/2 yet? Edit: Blair and I were typing at the same time, I see his answer below
2) How would you characterize the ride with your suspension? Same as 2/1, stock? I am talking about rolling along at 20-30mph on a dirt road. Thanks.
3) Any rubbing with the SpiderTrax?

Totally agree Thai, they might look a little meatier if they were not so worn .

I am actually in the market for new tires (after only 13,000 miles on my NTG's ). I am throwing on some spidertrax and a 3 inch spacer in front hopefully this week or next so I am debating what to do, part of me can't resist $500 out the door for Nitto's but part of me wants to get something a little bigger and meatier.

Any recommendations/ideas?

I have not put the 3/2 on yet, I think I will put the 3 inch in the front this week or next, along with spidertrax.

I have not seen anyone else running a 3/1 but I think it should be pretty good for my needs (usually not heavily loaded and I think I am the only t4r owner without a tow hitch, so that is not a worry either)

Josh always had complaints about the back kicking worse with the 2 inch spacer in the back compared to the 1 so that also helped me make my decision to go for a 3/1, worst case I can throw a 2 incher in there in about 45 minutes.

You may be starting the next big thing, the Blair 3/1

It sounds like a great idea to me especially considering your light load situation.

There's really a 'satisfaction' cutoff. Most like the 2/1 and think the 3/2 is too stiff. Josh's observation about the back-end getting stiff and your 3/1 experiment may yield some cool results. Keep us posted.

I will also be starting the other new big thing, a 2/2 lift!!!

So if anyone wants to buy one let me know

Well, you guys seem to like off-roading over rocky terrain from the pictures. Ask yourself this question: what is one of the pain-in-the-ass thing that can happen on an off-road trip that is easily preventable??

If you guys like rockcrawling or going over rock gardens, then a bad set of tires can truly debilitate your 4runner within an instant. A strong set of tires means that you don't have to worry about tire puncture while enjoying the scene and, quite frankly, give you more "balls" to do more stuff.

If you guys like mud or dirt roads, then yeah, get any tire you want. But, over rocks, you need a strong sidewall. Sooner or later, you will get burn.

If you want to stick to all-terrains, then you only have a few true choices: BFG AT KO, Goodyear SilentArmor, and other smaller production AT tires from dedicated off-road manufacturers (like ProComp, Cooper, etc.). For me, i would stick to BIG tire companies and with tires that have 3-ply sidewall and a proven history of toughness. That leaves me with two choices: BFG and Goodyear.

(Note: i have had Nittos TG, Michelin LTX M/S, REVOs, BFG AT KO, and Firestone Destination M/Ts...so, i speak from MY experiences.)

As for BFG's "poor" on-road performance, i don't care too much because #1 i don't drive fast in my 5500 lbs SUV, #2 they have never failed me before in years that i have had them either on-road or off-road, and #3 they are one of few TRUE all-terrain tires that lives up to it's name.

Question: did you buy your 4runner to go up against a Porsche Cayenne OR to go places where Porsche Cayenne can only dream of????

Just remember, i think that BFG AT KO is also the best selling all-terrain on the market by regular folks and by off-road enthusiasts. You can look at the bias TireRack consumer ratings all day long, but you need to pay attention to what tires people are actually buying with their hard-earned money....

Now, if you want to be more capable, then get Mud-Terrains. I did that a while back but the tradeoffs (noise, rough ride, poor wear & balance) was significant enough for me to jump back to all-terrains. By all means, mud-terrains are superior to all-terrains off-road by a long shot.

It all depends on your priorities.