Recipe for the best all-around 4runner that wheels hard and road trips.

[bigdaddy2021]

Compromises have to be made in any project, but what sayeth you? What's your opinion on the ultimate 4runner setup, balancing the following:

1. Roadworthiness
2. Off-highway control and stability (fire roads, access roads, sandy soil)
3. Off-road ability (heavy rock-crawling, mud and water crossing or extreme go-fast)
4. Parts durability (shortened life-cycle of wear items, maybe, but no catastrophic breakage)
5. Passenger comfort and multi-purpose suitability (daily grocery getting one day, running the Rubicon trail the next and a month later crossing into the backcountry and doing some "outback" exploration)

(Your list could represent your current list/loadout or your future plans.)

Here's the categories i'm thinking of:

Tires (size/style):
Lift (size/brand):
Gearing change (Y/N, type):
Front locker(Y/N):
Rear locker (Y/N):
Swingaway(for which gear):
Roof rack (y/n, for which gear):
Rear loadout (setup/overall gear):
Spares(what parts):
Camp setup(RTT, Hammock, Ground tent):
Armor(type):
On-board air(y/n, type):
Winch(y/n, type):



I'll go first:

Tires (size/style): 33in, All-terrain

Lift (size/brand): 2.5-3" - Dobinson's w/UCA's

Gearing change (Y/N, type): Nitro 4.56's

Front locker(Y/N): Y, Eaton or ARB

Rear locker (Y/N): Y, OEM E-locker

Swingaway(for which gear): Nope, not sure we'll end up needing our Victory swingaway, unless we moved to 35's.

Roof rack (for which gear): light camping gear, spare fuel, Maxtrax, awning, hi-lift

Rear loadout (setup/overall gear): food, kitchen, camp furniture, recovery gear, spare parts, tools.

Spares: nuts/bolts, need to add major components

Camp setup(RTT, Hammock, Ground tent): Ground tent for us. We RTT'd for a while for a few trips - not our jam.

Armor(type): All the armor. All of it.

On-board air(y/n, type): Y, compact compressor

winch: Y, Warn



EDIT: BTW, The mall-crawler crowd responses are cracking me up...lol. Keep'em coming.

 

[Matt831]

Good tires, aired down.

 

[FoxtrotRomeo]

4wd? And decent tires. This will cover most folks.

 

[5thToy]

I don't think there is going to be any balance catering to daily driving if you want a 4Runner that will run the Rubicon without tearing itself apart. It will be a compromised daily driver.

 

[mrblah]

best all around 4runner is a stock 4runner.

 

[blackened_offroad]

the ultimate setup is to have multiple vehicles. a 4runner setup for real offroading is going to suck balls at grocery getting and daily driving. also, I found out the hard way that driving your 4runner to the desert and sending it on the trails is a good way to get stranded and eff your daily driver up. got lucky a lot of times until I didn't.

 

[mrblah]

the ultimate setup is to have multiple vehicles. a 4runner setup for real offroading is going to suck balls at grocery getting and daily driving. also, I found out the hard way that driving your 4runner to the desert and sending it on the trails is a good way to get stranded and eff your daily driver up. got lucky a lot of times until I didn't.

yup, its called expectations vs. reality.

Thats why i laugh at people who spent a billion dollars on expensive lights on a stock vehicle then they say they need em to go offroading..yeaaah OOOOKAY

but built 4runners do look good at the gas station... my neck always seem to hurt when i see them.

 

[bigdaddy2021]

Good tires, aired down.

LOL...ok.

 

[dubveeT4R]

best all around 4runner is a stock 4runner.

Agreed. There will always be unintended consequences if you change a system that has been engineered to be as capable, reliable and durable as possible.


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[bigdaddy2021]

the ultimate setup is to have multiple vehicles. a 4runner setup for real offroading is going to suck balls at grocery getting and daily driving. also, I found out the hard way that driving your 4runner to the desert and sending it on the trails is a good way to get stranded and eff your daily driver up. got lucky a lot of times until I didn't.

Hmmm...

Have to respectfully disagree on this- there's some very capable 4runners on this site that are wheeled pretty hard and then used to grab groceries or taken on a Disneyland/world road trip (or similar).

And just for the record, I didn't say daily driver. I said: "...multi-purpose suitability (daily grocery getting one day, running the Rubicon trail the next and a month later crossing into the backcountry and doing some "outback" exploration)"

I daily drive a Honda Civic or an F150. We ABSOLUTELY use the 4runner most days/weeks for grocery runs, road trips and off-highway fun (Ventura and pismo most recently) and took the same truck on some not-insignificant trails/obstacles in Moab.

I have several more mods to complete before attempting the Rubicon, but I don't think it's far off and wouldn't change much as far as street-ability.

 

[bigdaddy2021]

I don't think there is going to be any balance catering to daily driving if you want a 4Runner that will run the Rubicon without tearing itself apart. It will be a compromised daily driver.

I didn't say daily driving. I daily drive a Honda or an F150.

 

[bigdaddy2021]

Edited the title for clarity...lol.

 

[honda250xtitan]

Tires (size/style): 285/70-17. more clearance, better load rating, small 33 so stock gears work fine
Lift (size/brand): what color do you prefer? lol. our kings have been great, kings ride soft out of the box (too soft) so theyre great for a daily driver/road trip
Gearing change (Y/N, type): N/A
Front locker(Y/N): would've needed it once so far, if you have friends, you prolly dont need a locker.
Rear locker (Y/N): Stock e locker
Swingaway(for which gear): eventually i'll do Nguyen bumper with swing out to get the spare up higher, and the fuel off the roof rack
Roof rack (y/n, for which gear): yes- hold a case for spare parts and recovery boards, lighting. remove when not going on any trips (summer)
Rear loadout (setup/overall gear): DIY storage
Spares(what parts): one cv axle, inner/outer tie rod, spare shock, spare 6112 coilover
Camp setup(RTT, Hammock, Ground tent): sleep in the back, self inflating mattress
Armor(type): front skid, sliders in the future
On-board air(y/n, type): 12 v summit compressor
Winch(y/n, type): naw, make friends

Oh: radio- this is great for the obvious reasons. But its also great for just BS'ing while youre spread out on the trail. Calling out hazards and complaining about the nannies overriding your sick driftsssss.

our setup has done road trips to colorado, california and all over arizona. we've done baja and camped out of the back the whole week. sure it doesnt have a ton of power, but it's been solid, keeps up with moderate raptor drivers, and functions as the wife's daily driver.

we've been "building" this thing since 2017 so as we've done trips and progressed in our off roading, it's changed. i think the best thing to do is use it, then take note of what you want it to do better. we prefer higher speed stuff. so winch, front locker, sliders, etc hasnt been on the radar. sliders would be great though, they also look killer. (thats really what this is all about right)

 

[mrblah]

Agreed. There will always be unintended consequences if you change a system that has been engineered to be as capable, reliable and durable as possible.


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yup, modifying any vehicle is in essence building it to meet a very specific spec/standard.

 

[mrblah]

Edited the title for clarity...lol.

great save...lol.

 

[bigdaddy2021]

great save...lol.

LOL.
:cheers:

 

[honda250xtitan]

the ultimate setup is to have multiple vehicles. a 4runner setup for real offroading is going to suck balls at grocery getting and daily driving. also, I found out the hard way that driving your 4runner to the desert and sending it on the trails is a good way to get stranded and eff your daily driver up. got lucky a lot of times until I didn't.

gotta know the limits. its a risk lol. that thought crosses my mind MANY times whenever i'm getting a little too silly. It helps knowing that it's paid off thougharty:

 

[bigdaddy2021]

gotta know the limits. its a risk lol. that thought crosses my mind MANY times whenever i'm getting a little too silly. It helps knowing that it's paid off thougharty:

Truth bomb.

 

[bigdaddy2021]

Tires (size/style): 285/70-17. more clearance, better load rating, small 33 so stock gears work fine
Lift (size/brand): what color do you prefer? lol. our kings have been great, kings ride soft out of the box (too soft) so theyre great for a daily driver/road trip
Gearing change (Y/N, type): N/A
Front locker(Y/N): would've needed it once so far, if you have friends, you prolly dont need a locker.
Rear locker (Y/N): Stock e locker
Swingaway(for which gear): eventually i'll do Nguyen bumper with swing out to get the spare up higher, and the fuel off the roof rack
Roof rack (y/n, for which gear): yes- hold a case for spare parts and recovery boards, lighting. remove when not going on any trips (summer)
Rear loadout (setup/overall gear): DIY storage
Spares(what parts): one cv axle, inner/outer tie rod, spare shock, spare 6112 coilover
Camp setup(RTT, Hammock, Ground tent): sleep in the back, self inflating mattress
Armor(type): front skid, sliders in the future
On-board air(y/n, type): 12 v summit compressor
Winch(y/n, type): naw, make friends


our setup has done road trips to colorado, california and all over arizona. we've done baja and camped out of the back the whole week. sure it doesnt have a ton of power, but it's been solid, keeps up with moderate raptor drivers, and functions as the wife's daily driver.

we've been "building" this thing since 2017 so as we've done trips and progressed in our off roading, it's changed. i think the best thing to do is use it, then take note of what you want it to do better. we prefer higher speed stuff. so winch, front locker, sliders, etc hasnt been on the radar. sliders would be great though, they also look killer. (thats really what this is all about right)

Thanks! great post and agreed with the bolded statement. I knew which basics i wanted when we started (lift/tires/armor/etc - emulated Jetboy's build, actually) but for example, right now I'm shopping dash electronics mounts because our magnetic mount sucked big time in Anza. Definitely need a hard mount for a small iphone and an ipad mini for calls, tunes and our onXoffroad mapping software. Wouldn't have known it until we spent 3 days in the desert.

 

[mrblah]

oh i guess ill play.

It's built for increase reliability, capability, and protection, but its all a compromise of sorts. It is built to handle most off-road conditions and weather conditions, but it doesn't do anything "great". It's like a "jack of all trades" sorta build.



Tires (size/style): 34 inch Geolander MTs
Lift (size/brand): all the suspension but built around 2.5F/2R kings
Gearing change (Y/N, type): 4.88
Front locker(Y/N): ARB
Rear locker (Y/N):stock E locker
Swingaway(for which gear): Shrockworks dual jerry and spare tire
Roof rack (y/n, for which gear): Prinsu, for awnings
Rear loadout (setup/overall gear): dobinsons drawers, Rago Molle panels
Spares(what parts): None..i carry a glock,
Camp setup(RTT, Hammock, Ground tent): old gazelle t3, because it fits in rear passenger footwell or on the roof.
Armor(type): All the armor, but aluminum in the front of the vehicle and steel towards the rear.
On-board air(y/n, type):ARB single
Winch(y/n, type): shittybilt x20 w/ yankum rope fairlead.