I would like opinions. I am building 2 expedition trucks to rely on and our lives depend on it. We will be studying wolves in rugged Montana, Arizona, Yellowstone and then then to Mexico, Death Valley and New Mexico. 95% will be no roads and posssibly deep snow, sand, rocks, mud, steep accents and decents and water crossings. I can not afford to build 2 fully custom Land cruisers so its FJ or 4runners. I own niether now. I just ordered a Trail edition 2012 4runner to keep for my personal truck and have owned a seqouia for 7 years so I know its toyota 100%. I love the rock crawl mode for my wife on the Land cruiser and the 4runner. It might help others offroad driving with zero experience driving in rough terrain. Lift kits, tires, onboard air, winches, custom bumpers, roof racks , under carriage rock protection skid plates and rock rails and 8 extra spare tires is a ton of money so making sure it is going on the correct truck is important. Whats the opinion here? Is the suspension and trd brakes good quality? Any opinions on the best 4" lift and suspension to go with? Also I was just looking at pics of a FJ that was going over a rock with the back tire and the front tire dropped a good 3 feet to the ground. Is this somehting new? I want it! whats this called. I would love to hear all sugestions and if there are any builds here I might want to copy please send me there way. Thanks

Id say go with the fj.

Far more aftermarket stuff to choose from. You already have a personal trail edition.

The fj has the aftermarket parts you're looking. You should have no problems with finding a 3-6" lift, front and rear bumpers, skids, roof racks and most importantly a snorkel for the numerous water crossings you have planned.

The trail edition with its kdss is some what limited in the height department to 3" max. If you get a non kdss trail im sure someone could get a long travel suspension setup working for you if you have the coin.

Good luvk with your build

Welcome to the forum.
A 3/2 lift is by far the most common and arguably the best set-up on 4Runners and FJ's with it's independent front suspension set up and the inherent limits of it.

Here are some build threads to go thru on the 5th Gen sub forum......http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-ge...tml#post975089

and some common mods.......Modifications, Write-Ups, Quick Links, and FAQ's

The FJ forum is also a good place to read and learn .

If you are not full of it and you are truly building 2 trucks for what you say and your "lives depend on it", then find someone who's done this before with this exact purpose might be logical. Ya know..... So you don't die or something bad like that.

I would get an older f-350 7.3ps.

Other than the price of the vehicle, the cost to fully outfit will probably be about the same. There might be a slightly less cost for the FJ Cruiser because there are more options for pre-built / bolt on parts, which means less custom fabrication (like a rear bumper for instance). However, the FJ Cruiser is essentially a coupe. It is smaller and has less cargo room.

I would take the FJ Criuser out of the equation, personally. For the cost, I would equip two 4Runners, or one 4Runner and a Taco. One can be more of a base camp vehicle, and the other can be used for day trips for study. This will allow you to carry more equipment in a more utilitarian way. Tacomas are one of the top choices for expedition and overland travel in North America. Since there are only two of you, you wont need the extra passenger room and can make better use of the cargo space.

There are a few companies out there that fully outfit vehicles for specific purposes like yours.

Adventure Trailers offers full custom conversions in Arizona. You can see some of their videos here. The Nemo Tacoma is pretty impressive.

Overland Experts can also provide you with consultation on vehicle outfitting and mission specific modifications. Click here. Those guys consult people like The Discovery Channel to film in remote places and trained drivers for the Planet Earth series.

The DIY approach is good if you have a lot of time for trial and error and going through multiple set-ups until you find the right one. These guys are experts and can accommodate your specific needs. Their job is to come up with solutions for; storing and accessing mission critical gear, equipping a vehicle that will do you right the first time so you can spend your time studying the wildlife and not worrying about your vehicle accommodations.

Another forum to seek help in this matter would be Expedition Portal. You can go to their forums here. There is a Toyota FJ Cruiser, Taco, and 4Runner specific forum here.

In addition, no roads is one thing, but no roads + snow is another. Fresh snow even on regularly traveled roads can make them unpassable for even the most heavily equipped vehicles and experienced drivers. There are outfitters that specialize in over snow/ice expeditions, but the vehicles are so heavily modified that they might not be good once you get down into lower latitudes where those modifications end up being more of a hindrance rather than an advantage. Your best bet there will be snow machines. You will be able to travel over the snow without worrying about sinking down into unseen obstacles and hazards. You will not be able to travel over 3 feet + of fresh snow without even a base road underneath for any kind of distance. Here is a good example of two heavily outfitted vehicles with expert drivers traveling over 2+ feet of fresh snow on a dirt road: Video . Keep in mind, there is a road, and more than 4 people helping.

Also, the opportunity for you to drive off-trail (not just "off-road") in the USA is very limited. In most cases it is not just illegal, but environmentally irresponsible. Travel by foot is sometimes the only way. I do know that because of the nature and scarcity of wolves, a lot of time they are studied with the aid of helicopters for location purposes.