I would like your collective advice on how to make my 2012 SR5 4wd overland ready. I am not interested in rock crawling, just getting to remote high mountain lakes in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. What are the necessary wheel/tire mods, suspension mods, recovery winch equipment, and protection. I am trying not to overkill the modifications, just what is necessary.
Thanks for your guidance!
As others have said, the 4Runner is already a very capable vehicle for what you are wanting to use it for. Other than decent AT tires, I think you would be better off to concentrate on what equipment you should bring with you instead of vehicle modifications.
Several inexpensive pieces of equipment are:
- tow strap
- air compressor (airing down can gain significant traction in certain conditions, but you need to be able to air back up again. There's also the rare "slow leak" that can result in a flat out in the boonies. No need to go overboard with the compressor. A relatively inexpensive one from Walmart is just fine.)
- basic tire repair kit (fix-a-flat and/or tubeless tire repair kit)
- shovel (for digging out and basic "road repairs")
- traction plates or mats (about $15 for a pair, and very effective for getting back to solid ground in slippery mud or snow. I'm surprised more people don't carry these in their vehicle.)
Next is common sense. I'm always surprised to see people trying to power through a dicey place on the trail without taking the time to get out of the vehicle, assess the trail and remove obstacles or improve the trail to make it more passable. I drove a stock '96 4Runner for many, many years (with M&S or light AT tires) on quite a few tough trails in CO. It wasn't uncommon for people to say "how did you get up there in that (stock) vehicle with those tires?" The answer was that I wasn't afraid to get out of the vehicle and move rocks/logs to make the trail more passable. Not just moving things out of the way, but also moving rocks/dirt into strategic places, such as providing a ramp up over (or down) a steep shelf. (So I would add a good pair of work gloves to the recovery equipment bag.)
Getting a winch can be a slippery slope (with respect to cost), and I suspect most people don't account for the additional cost when pricing a winch. You'll also need a way to mount the winch (new bumper or winch plate/front receiver hitch) and upgraded suspension (to carry the extra weight of the winch).
I think a comealong would be a more cost effective way to get yourself out of the rare situation where a shovel and/or traction mats won't quite get you out. (Mostly useful for those folks that don't go out of their way to TRY to get into bad situations. If you're one of the macho types that tries to get into trouble just to see if you can get back out again, then the winch will help you get out with the least amount of pain and effort.)
You might also want to consider an auxiliary battery setup or a "jumpstart battery pack." Sooner or later your battery will die while your out in the middle of nowhere, and having a backup is cheap insurance. (And usefull for running accessories in camp.)
Carry extra water. If you do something silly and puncture your radiator, the extra (distilled) water will get you back to civilization.
