New 4Runner owner looking for advice.

[pancake_butt]

My half-serious advice is don't modify anything. There is no end to the modifications you can do. Each one will give you a temporary dopamine rush, but you will never be satisfied. I often think back fondly of my bone-stock, zero-options SR5

For some reason I can't edit my post, but I wanted to add that if you plan to wheel, I suppose it depends on what type of wheeling. Most overland stuff I think you could get away with a more appropriate tire and maybe sliders for good insurance (if there will be a lot of unavoidable boulders). I recall my stock SR5 being quite capable. If you want to crawl, you'll have to think pretty big.

 

[Corbet]

My son does not need a crawler, just a solid overlander and daily driver. That said we always say it’s easy wheeling until it’s not. We’ve pretty much decided on shoving some 285s under it and adjust accordingly. The BMC seems inevitable so we’ll just do it. Big tire, no or low lift is desirable for our use.

 

[Corbet]

This is an example of the desired wheeling use. Some might call it crawling but for the normal souther Utah stuff we do its just common occurrence. The line is well established. It may or may not need spotting. You just have to move through it carefully especially if you don't have armor. Larger tires help climb the ledges. Give you more sidewall for deflation. And overall a better ride quality on the trail.

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/atta...-advice-screenshot-2026-08-02-10-04-41-am-jpg

 

[Toffees]

I recently picked up a 2014 Trail Edition for my teenage son. I’m not new to Toyotas but all my experience is with LandCruisers.

We definitely plan to put some sliders on it and upgrade the lighting. Already started that with some HIR high beams and will add LED lows along with probably a set of Diode Dynamics fogs. And a dash cam.

Tires/suspension is where I’m showing pause. It’s definitely not my goal to build another trail truck. We have an 80-Series on 37’s in the driveway. I just want him to have admittedly a “cool truck” that he can take on medium level trails. He has endured his first year driving in a Subaru and has heard all the typical jokes.

Silverton and the San Juan Mountains are our back yard. All that stuff is pretty easy with only a couple exceptions. Moab is 3 hours away.

My current plan is to source a set of 17” TRD Pro wheels with the +4mm offset and mount up 275’s then level it with some Bilstien 5100’s. I was originally planning 285s but that seems to potentially open a can of worms I’m not interested in at this point. I have all the tools needed to do a BMC I just don’t know if that what I want to do out of the gate.

Looking for any advice based on others experience. Budget is low as possible but not at the cost of poor value. For example in not a fan of spacers up front. The truck has KDSS by the way.

Your son has a trail with KDSS--in addition to looking great, it's far more capable than he is. I wouldn't change anything. Add sliders if he'll be driving over rocks, but good tires stock size will do plenty. Go have fun and teach him basic skills and that's all he needs. it's not worth the time and effort competing with pavement princesses.

 

[Toffees]

Your son has a trail with KDSS--in addition to looking great, it's far more capable than he is. I wouldn't change anything. Add sliders if he'll be driving over rocks, but good tires stock size will do plenty. Go have fun and teach him basic skills and that's all he needs. it's not worth the time and effort competing with pavement princesses.

*having trouble editing so instead I'll reply to myself.

Based on what you've suggested: I would stick with trial wheels, they'll perform as well or better than TRD pros. I would not bounce bigger tires, you may regret the decrease in DD pleasure. If you want to swap suspension I'd buy something bigger than the 5100s--a lot of people love these, and they're probably fine, but suspension impacts everything you do. You can buy a solid mid-level suspension with new control arms and you'll get gains without going full King rebuildable. If you spend any money, I'd spend it there (and if you want to compete with the princesses, buy some colorful shocks).