saerch and rescue trucks

[nashville67]

so after recenty buyin an 84 extend cab truck as a daily driver i have been thinking more and more about using my 4runner as a search and rescue vechical i was wondering wht u suggest besides a winch and a snorkle i kinda wanna keep it ifs with a mild lift my hope is to run 35s so i know im looking at gears as well and could stock cvs hold up to a dual cases and 35s

 

[Hyde802]

Well, If its an 84, then its not IFS, it would be a solid axle.

As a search and rescue truck you need to be able to get in and get out without any trouble and without some one having to come rescue you. To do it right wont be cheap.

I would recommend front and rear lockers, and at least 1 winch. Loads of first aide and recovery gear and plenty of experience in the drivers seat.

Now, assuming you have a 86+ truck (because you said it was IFS), the stock CVs will not hold up to repeated abuse with 35 and a locker. Can you make them work? Yes. But not reliably.

Im running 35s on the stock front end, but its still open, and I can change one on the trail in about an hour in sunny dry conditions. I can make them last if Im easy on the throttle and pick good lines. But were not always so lucky. Haha.

 

[loki the trickster]

in the sept/oct 4wd toyota onwner mag they ran an article about super touigh cv axels. 4wd TO stated " think of these as longfields for your ifs."

the company is rcv preformance www.rcvpreformance.com and they say that they will fit '86-'94 mini trucks and '86-'95 4runners.4wd toyota owner mag price as tested was $1995. it does look like in their pic of the install they did have to do some light grinding/sanding of the lower a-arm to clear the boot of the new cv axel! the axels look sweet.

so if you want to keep your runner IFS this looks like this might be a good start!

 

[ToyoTech]

i want those RCV axles but damn 2g. i rather just go LT

 

[Acidmeld]

Well, If its an 84, then its not IFS, it would be a solid axle.

As a search and rescue truck you need to be able to get in and get out without any trouble and without some one having to come rescue you. To do it right wont be cheap.

I would recommend front and rear lockers, and at least 1 winch. Loads of first aide and recovery gear and plenty of experience in the drivers seat.

Now, assuming you have a 86+ truck (because you said it was IFS), the stock CVs will not hold up to repeated abuse with 35 and a locker. Can you make them work? Yes. But not reliably.

Im running 35s on the stock front end, but its still open, and I can change one on the trail in about an hour in sunny dry conditions. I can make them last if Im easy on the throttle and pick good lines. But were not always so lucky. Haha.

OP says truck is 84 and 4runner is 88, just to clarify.

 

[loki the trickster]

:bash:i just went to rcv to look at further options and they dont have any axels in the toyots section! i dont think that they were a prototype part but it is a mag so this might have been a proto set of parts. i'd at least call or send them an e mail and get further pricing and info!

 

[nashville67]

well today offically sucks sold my trail gears to a good friend to by an engagement ring for my girlfriend of 2 years and on the way home i get a call saying that were breaking up and that she never wants to here from me again :jaw drop: wtf total outta the blue but is there any other place that i can get stronger cvs as for lockers i was thinking taco e locker in back with a limited slip up front or would i be better to just get a full selectable

 

[92-SR5]

You will have to do some modification to your diff housing to fit the taco e-locker into it, not super hard but just giving you a heads up.
If you can afford it I would do an ARB air locker. I wish I could afford them for my SAR rig.

 

[nashville67]

yes i wish i could afford arbs but 2 grand for lockers is out my price range by far

 

[the great him]

dude you have some ****ty luck...
but the sea is big, and their is plenty of fish...

but as a SAR member who owns three rigs -a 3rd gen that is my primary DD and SAR rig and a 85 xtra cab 4x4 that is my secondary (primary depending on mission type), also having a lot of experience driving in less than ideal conditions(read 4wheeling) both state side and over seas, your IFS will not hold up to a lock and 35s for very long and dont even think about it if you are going to run dual cases -even with out a locker.

as far as SAR goes, you probably wont be doing much with your truck other than going to and from searches. i have only once use my rig in a 4wd capability on a search. it is very rare that you will be "mounted" for searching. and when you are you will not need all of that(lockers, huge tires, dual cases, SAS ect) i cant think of a situation where that would be needed. there are helicopters and other resources available, and coordinators would try their best not use volunteers private vehicles for actual mission tools.

in my sig you can read how i have my 4runner set up, i have never once needed any of that for a search(other that 4wd to drive through some snow to get to a base camp).

if you have further questions as far as how to set up your rig and what gear to get, ask the guys in your team/group what they have and recommend. i see people joining all the time and going out and dropping $1-2k in a couple of weeks on gear they dont know how to use or will never use or end up not liking, either way it was/is a total waste. talk your group and find out what they like and dont like and get their recommendations on what to get ect. also feel free to contact me and ask me about gear. but i think your truck should be your last priority in this aspect. -build it to be super reliable and dependable number 1 so that it wont break down on you and leave you to become the one needing rescuing, and just use some common sense when out on the trails with it, dont over drive it or yourself.

 

[Pikeman]

as far as SAR goes, you probably wont be doing much with your truck other than going to and from searches. i have only once use my rig in a 4wd capability on a search. it is very rare that you will be "mounted" for searching. and when you are you will not need all of that(lockers, huge tires, dual cases, SAS ect) i cant think of a situation where that would be needed. there are helicopters and other resources available, and coordinators would try their best not use volunteers private vehicles for actual mission tools.

if you have further questions as far as how to set up your rig and what gear to get, ask the guys in your team/group what they have and recommend. i see people joining all the time and going out and dropping $1-2k in a couple of weeks on gear they dont know how to use or will never use or end up not liking, either way it was/is a total waste. talk your group and find out what they like and dont like and get their recommendations on what to get ect. also feel free to contact me and ask me about gear. but i think your truck should be your last priority in this aspect. -build it to be super reliable and dependable number 1 so that it wont break down on you and leave you to become the one needing rescuing, and just use some common sense when out on the trails with it, dont over drive it or yourself.

x2.

However my group they call mainly because of our knowledge of the trail system and ability to get on all the trails. We had to go through a Forest Service certification to verify we could drive on the varying levels of trails. Even then they wont send out solo vehicles and prefer to put a couple volunteers into LEO or Forest service vehicles with our gear. They also prefer to use horse patrols if possible(easier to hear a cry for help without the engine noise). As Kid said talk to the people in your group and find out the requirements for gear you will need and examine the stuff they have before dropping your hard earned money on stuff you wont like or use.


For your truck I think if you stick with 33's and rear locker you will be able to get to 99% of the places required for SAR. 35's is asking alot of an IFS truck.

 

[the great him]

and lets face it, if you need 35s+ and or dual locker and or dual cases to get to someone... your truck wont be pulling their truck back out(and their rig must be pretty well equipped as well to get there in the first place) so why would you need to drive your truck in there? just to get damaged or abused? dont bother, you can walk or they will just air drop you. i have use my runner to travel back logging roads to do "hasty searches" but that was just simply looking for the subjects vehicle, that could of been done in a honda accord. i have also tried pushing my runner into places that i eventually needed to get out and walk the rest of the way -should of never driven my runner down into. anyhow i ended up destroying the pain(scratched all to ****) and breaking off some of my wind deflectors/sunshades/vents over my windows and my bug deflector, from getting caught on over grown brush and trees. it sucked and for what, to save me 20min of walking, it wasnt worth it, that cost me over $200 to replace. -i was not asked to do that so i didnt even bother to ask the sheriffs office to reimburse me for that. dont beat on your rig unless you have to.

think about either buying or building some type of a drawer or shelf system in the back of your truck to keep your gear(both for your person and the rig, ie recovery gear -snatch block, straps, tree saver, chain, gloves ect) contained and organized in. i have not done this yet and can tell you it would be a HUGE help especially when i have to transport 3 other guys with gear, every thing gets tossed in the back and yeah its a night mare setting up and finding everything that you will need once you get to the field. if i had a drawer system it would be so much easier. the reason i have not done this is i am still trying to figure out what kind of a system i want and how/what i want to make it.

 

[92-SR5]

My SAR group works a little differently than what you guys have been describing. We actually use our own private vehicles and sometimes have to get them into places that most vehicles don't.
The main reason for it is to setup repeaters. My group is mainly focused on communications and 4x4 teams, but we are a little unique in that way.

 

[92-SR5]

Nobody Else?