jmferg
New member
To begin, yes, I know this has been covered a million times since these have been around for more than 20 years.
To begin with, I have an 01 with open diffs, Bilstein 6112s up front and OME 890/nitrochargers in the rear. 265/70/17 Cooper ST/Maxx.
I haven't taken it legitimately off-road since I bought it.
This Saturday I went to a sponsored off-road event at a ski lodge in the Catskills mountains. There was about 40 participants. Over 30 we're JKs with some Mitsubishi Delicas, a Tacoma, FJ cruiser, defender 90 and myself.
The majority of the trail ride was a zig zagging trail ride to the summit that followed the maintenance rock road and cut trails that wove tightly through the woods. Overall the 4Runner did great. I drug the back receiver hitch on several creek departures. There was one rock section where I asked for a spotter because I was afraid of dropping off a rock and hitting the radiator due to my lack of a skid plate. I positioned my drivers tire over the largest rock and let my newly installed shrockworks sliders do the rest. I was incredibly impressed with the vehicles center and balance and ability to maintain traction. In 4 low, I was able to crawl over everything with no tire spin whatsoever. I was one of the few people there with open diffs and others comments on how well I did.
I did notice a few thing I need to address.
1. The cv axles definitely voiced their complaints on this outing. There was lots of clicks on popping when I could feel I was stressing them. Ill replace these soon enough.
2. I need a real rear suspension setup. I could feel the limitations. The nitrochargers are shot and need replaced. I need about 1-1.5" more lift in the rear with and adjustable panhead bar, extended brake lines, and bump stop extensions.
To begin with, I have an 01 with open diffs, Bilstein 6112s up front and OME 890/nitrochargers in the rear. 265/70/17 Cooper ST/Maxx.
I haven't taken it legitimately off-road since I bought it.
This Saturday I went to a sponsored off-road event at a ski lodge in the Catskills mountains. There was about 40 participants. Over 30 we're JKs with some Mitsubishi Delicas, a Tacoma, FJ cruiser, defender 90 and myself.
The majority of the trail ride was a zig zagging trail ride to the summit that followed the maintenance rock road and cut trails that wove tightly through the woods. Overall the 4Runner did great. I drug the back receiver hitch on several creek departures. There was one rock section where I asked for a spotter because I was afraid of dropping off a rock and hitting the radiator due to my lack of a skid plate. I positioned my drivers tire over the largest rock and let my newly installed shrockworks sliders do the rest. I was incredibly impressed with the vehicles center and balance and ability to maintain traction. In 4 low, I was able to crawl over everything with no tire spin whatsoever. I was one of the few people there with open diffs and others comments on how well I did.
I did notice a few thing I need to address.
1. The cv axles definitely voiced their complaints on this outing. There was lots of clicks on popping when I could feel I was stressing them. Ill replace these soon enough.
2. I need a real rear suspension setup. I could feel the limitations. The nitrochargers are shot and need replaced. I need about 1-1.5" more lift in the rear with and adjustable panhead bar, extended brake lines, and bump stop extensions.
