So I'm quickly finding the limitations of a Limited

[Bill_B]

First let me start by saying this isn't a daily driver, just more of our vacation/adventure mobile!

So we've done 2 off road excursions at Rausch Creek Park in the last month and a half. First was the 101 class and second I was the guided turkey trot this past weekend.

Trails were mostly green and some light blue. That being said we tackled some stuff I wouldn't have even imagined attempting in a pretty much stock 4runner, let alone a limited.

My thoughts were do as much as I feel comfortable in stock form. Well I've reached that point LMAO. The rear bumper clearance is atrocious... Albeit the obstacles we got hung up we're not something I am not surprised by as both times we were teetering on 2 so it was fairly challenging imo. I have expedition one rear on order so this should give me a little more clearance. As for the front bumper I'm quite impressed on the approach clearance and I like it because it's kinda unique for now. The one ditch we crossed was pretty much a straight up and down 2'-2.5' drop and my spotter repositioned a medium sized rock to get me a little more of a run way. On approach I heard some really nasty crunching and thought for sure I'd be getting out to fog lights hanging out and damage up to my grille lol. It was basically just the little black plastic valance under the bumper... Not a single scratch on the bumper at all

Next up is suspension and sliders. It seems most sliders won't work unless I ditch the XREAS which I wasn't quite ready to do atm. So this will most likely be a combo type of modification when I am ready.

Anyways, I'm rambling... I guess I need to decide if I'm ready to go full lift and armor or back off on some of the trails... Or perhaps not all green trails are as tough as RCP?.. I'll add more pictures as they come in from the group of the Turkey trot

 

[Crusifix]

Good plan and observations. Don't let people rag on you for wanting to upgrade the "comfy" limited. They do the same thing with us TRDP folks. Everything can be made better than it was originally. It looks like you are having fun, and with what you want to do, even more fun will be had down the road.

 

[Gecko]

Just out of curiosity, since you mentioned this is NOT a DD, why didn't you get a TRD Pro or TRD Off Road instead of a Limited?

For a vehicle that strictly for adventures and off roading, Limited is the one you WOULDN'T want.

 

[mtnbiker49]

Darn I should've kept my xterra for trail rides. I highly, highly doubt you did any blue trails at rausch. Some green trails are teetering on the brink of blue and conditions are ever changing for the worse.

I think you chose a bad vehicle if you are specifically looking to do offroad park terrain.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I trimmed the front bumper on mine. All the black valance and lower trim is cut off on mine. I also trimmed off the section that hangs down on the rear bumper to make it more like an SR5 and trail. I removed the side skirts also.
Much better now.

 

[Aquabear]

Before you do anything, truly think about why you bought your Limited, off road with it like at Rausch/Overlanding/Moab etc... or was it more driving road trips with occasionally getting dirty? Not all trails are built like RCP.

Your limited is awesome all by itself. Just remember, your cushy ride goes ADIOS (wife?) when you start building and that's ok cause you'll tackle more obstacles.

I look forward to seeing if you build it. Rarely is it that someones takes a new vehicle and goes balls out on rebuilding it!

Good luck!!

 

[cutty01]

Agreed about approach angles. I use my LE as a daily driver but I haven't had any issues for the type of off roading I do (green and blue trails). I also added a fuel tank skid as the LE OEM one only covers a 1/3 of the tank.

I have a pair of OPOR sliders that work well with XREAS. [Geez, they've gone up in price. I bought two years ago and they were $200 cheaper]. Had I to do it again, I would just do the rocker panel delete/replacement which will give you 2~3" of side body clearance which will give you more slider options.

Other than what you've mentioned, my own other gripe is that the rear cargo height is less than other 4Runners. You loose about 4" of height to accommodate the 3rd row seats.

PS - I noticed you've already replace the 20" rims with the 17" TE rims. Good for a few more inches of side wall.

 

[tm965]

did you change your rear dif fluid after submerging it? if so, did any water get in to the fluid? i've been avoiding water as i dont have a rear dif breather (yet) and i'm worried about it getting in

 

[mteolus]

Putting a 3" inch lift on it will solve a lot of your problems. I had an old 1992 Toyota Pickup with stock height and torsion bars cranked all the way up and I don't remember scraping one time after many many Colorado and New Mexico 4x4 roads. 5th gen 4Runners don't have clearance like that old truck so the 3" lift will help tremendously. Only thing I did was replaced the stock tires with 31x10.50x15s. At that time there was no crawl control, lockers, or anything else. Sold it still running with 410,000 miles on it.

 

[mustangr2]

Just out of curiosity, since you mentioned this is NOT a DD, why didn't you get a TRD Pro or TRD Off Road instead of a Limited?

For a vehicle that strictly for adventures and off roading, Limited is the one you WOULDN'T want.

Was the thinking the same thing.

 

[Bumbo]

I am an avid off-road person and the Limited is my favorite trim level, I would absolutely start with that as my entry point… you are not at a disadvantage, but it will cost a little more.

You do have something the rest of the trim levels don’t, and that is a Torsen center transfer case… no different than a GX or Land Cruiser, you still get a taste of how Toyota used to do thing which IMO was the right way. In terms of an adventure vehicle, I like being able to maintain AWD and allow slip with the option to lock the center. Enjoy it.

Bumpers and cosmetic stuff isn’t a big deal, beat it up and upgrade it. Once you toss or modify the bumpers, external clearance wise you are with everyone else. Sliders are a must.

XREAS is definitely an on-road / road centric item, I love it on-road. KDSS and regular are better starting points for off-road, but it’s not like you can’t delete… Our Limited is still a DD, road trip, adventure rig, but the heavy off-road mods are for later in life… we still have a built up 4th Gen for the heavy thrashing. Once it’s time to move on, the mods and XREAS delete is planned. That said, I love XREAS on the street.

If you caught the mod bug, there is no point fighting it now. You might as well just long travel +3.5 with a secondary bypass and be cocooned in luxury… heated/cooled seats + LT, what’s not to love.

 

[MeefZah]

did you change your rear dif fluid after submerging it? if so, did any water get in to the fluid? i've been avoiding water as i dont have a rear dif breather (yet) and i'm worried about it getting in

Unreasonable concern IMO. On my prior (2014) 4R I ran through actual rivers to the tops of the tires at times, and when I changed the rear diff oil it was perfect. Could you suck in water and contaminate the diff oil? Yeah, it's possible - but not that likely, honestly. The OEM vent vents out, not in; and the pressure internally should drop as the diff gets immersed and cools, so the vent would be in the closed orientation.

 

[Toffees]

So would you have not scraped the bumper driving a Trail/TRDOR?

 

[Bill_B]

Thanks for the great feedback, and words of encouragement!

I am an avid off-road person and the Limited is my favorite trim level, I would absolutely start with that as my entry point… you are not at a disadvantage, but it will cost a little more.

You do have something the rest of the trim levels don’t, and that is a Torsen center transfer case… no different than a GX or Land Cruiser, you still get a taste of how Toyota used to do thing which IMO was the right way. In terms of an adventure vehicle, I like being able to maintain AWD and allow slip with the option to lock the center. Enjoy it.

Bumpers and cosmetic stuff isn’t a big deal, beat it up and upgrade it. Once you toss or modify the bumpers, external clearance wise you are with everyone else. Sliders are a must.

XREAS is definitely an on-road / road centric item, I love it on-road. KDSS and regular are better starting points for off-road, but it’s not like you can’t delete… Our Limited is still a DD, road trip, adventure rig, but the heavy off-road mods are for later in life… we still have a built up 4th Gen for the heavy thrashing. Once it’s time to move on, the mods and XREAS delete is planned. That said, I love XREAS on the street.

If you caught the mod bug, there is no point fighting it now. You might as well just long travel +3.5 with a secondary bypass and be cocooned in luxury… heated/cooled seats + LT, what’s not to love.

This post basically sums up everything entirely. I really liked the full time AWD system of the limited seeing as some of our trips have already consisted of snow/rain mixture driving on 300+ mile trips... But with the ability to still be able to lock in 4LO. My thinking was once I upgraded to armor and a lift they weren't going to be that far off from each other but I'd have all the goodies I wanted.

I guess in conclusion I need to upgrade sooner than I anticipated or step back slightly from the trails I'm doing to something a little less off roading... Which kinda seems boring now that I've had a taste of the trails and scenery lol. Perhaps I should be investigating different offroad parks as well, those familiar with RCP would you say it's very rocky with a lot of deep ruts compared to other parks?

 

[Bill_B]

So would you have not scraped the bumper driving a Trail/TRDOR?

This is an interesting question. During the 101 course was when I scraped the driver side of the bumper which I don't believe would have scraped on the other trim levels... However what I did on the passenger side, I don't see how that doesn't happen on even a trd pro to be honest, it's so high up. The ditch crossing that caused this had rubicons and a few lifted Jeep's struggling slightly... My nerves were pretty shot after this obstacle and I got a "look" from my wife that actually scared me LOL

 

[tm965]

Unreasonable concern IMO. On my prior (2014) 4R I ran through actual rivers to the tops of the tires at times, and when I changed the rear diff oil it was perfect. Could you suck in water and contaminate the diff oil? Yeah, it's possible - but not that likely, honestly. The OEM vent vents out, not in; and the pressure internally should drop as the diff gets immersed and cools, so the vent would be in the closed orientation.

good to know, thanks

 

[Bumbo]

Thanks for the great feedback, and words of encouragement!



This post basically sums up everything entirely. I really liked the full time AWD system of the limited seeing as some of our trips have already consisted of snow/rain mixture driving on 300+ mile trips... But with the ability to still be able to lock in 4LO. My thinking was once I upgraded to armor and a lift they weren't going to be that far off from each other but I'd have all the goodies I wanted.

I guess in conclusion I need to upgrade sooner than I anticipated or step back slightly from the trails I'm doing to something a little less off roading... Which kinda seems boring now that I've had a taste of the trails and scenery lol. Perhaps I should be investigating different offroad parks as well, those familiar with RCP would you say it's very rocky with a lot of deep ruts compared to other parks?

You can lock the center in 4 high and 4 low.

Trail damage is just part of the game when you wheel hard… it is what it is and no one is immune to it. What you experienced really isn’t that bad as it’s just cosmetic.

Keep going to different places, upgrade and get what you need naturally, and don’t force it. I would keep exploring different types of off-road before going heavy into mods.

Moving forward it helps to know what type of wheeling or off-road activity you want to participate in as it may change how you modify the truck. Things may start to get more specialized as you get deeper into it.

I’ve been doing this for years, and I know what I don’t like… heavy mud and big rocks I generally try and avoid. What I do like is desert and desert trails. I spend most of my time in BLM deserts with a fair amount of sand. I have very little armor by forum standards, but I generally don’t need it for where I go. I like to drive the dunes in a spirited manner. What I need is good suspension, even better than what I have now is warranted more so than bumpers, skids, and other protection mods. If I contrast my rig to my friends who lives on the rocks, it’s pretty significant difference. He is happy with a basic shock, lockers, and a ton of armor.

It’s different for everyone, and what you need to be doing is collecting experience, not parts.

 

[TrkyMfns]

did you change your rear dif fluid after submerging it? if so, did any water get in to the fluid? i've been avoiding water as i dont have a rear dif breather (yet) and i'm worried about it getting in

Unreasonable concern IMO. On my prior (2014) 4R I ran through actual rivers to the tops of the tires at times, and when I changed the rear diff oil it was perfect. Could you suck in water and contaminate the diff oil? Yeah, it's possible - but not that likely, honestly. The OEM vent vents out, not in; and the pressure internally should drop as the diff gets immersed and cools, so the vent would be in the closed orientation.

That is my experience as well. Though I haven't crossed rivers, I have been driven through water/mud off road that submerged the truck up to the bottom of the frame on a few occasions. Each time I drained/checked the fluid and breather after, and there was no water intrusion. For peace of mind, if you do this often, considering the cost of synthetic dif fluid, it may be worth it to you to at least extend it. I plan to do it, but given my experience thus far, it's simply for my piece of mind.

 

[srpuywa]

you guys only have off road parks to 4 wheel in?
Come out to the PNW - we have plenty of logging and mountain trails

 

[Bill_B]

You can lock the center in 4 high and 4 low.

Trail damage is just part of the game when you wheel hard… it is what it is and no one is immune to it. What you experienced really isn’t that bad as it’s just cosmetic.

Keep going to different places, upgrade and get what you need naturally, and don’t force it. I would keep exploring different types of off-road before going heavy into mods.

Moving forward it helps to know what type of wheeling or off-road activity you want to participate in as it may change how you modify the truck. Things may start to get more specialized as you get deeper into it.

I’ve been doing this for years, and I know what I don’t like… heavy mud and big rocks I generally try and avoid. What I do like is desert and desert trails. I spend most of my time in BLM deserts with a fair amount of sand. I have very little armor by forum standards, but I generally don’t need it for where I go. I like to drive the dunes in a spirited manner. What I need is good suspension, even better than what I have now is warranted more so than bumpers, skids, and other protection mods. If I contrast my rig to my friends who lives on the rocks, it’s pretty significant difference. He is happy with a basic shock, lockers, and a ton of armor.

It’s different for everyone, and what you need to be doing is collecting experience, not parts.

I think you're right, I think I need to find out more of what I want to do rather than just upgrade for what I have already experienced. The technical trails riding was fun however there were quite a few times I was riding down paths with jagged rocks and ditches that were roughly 2'-3' deep with a portion of my tire rolling in to that ditch while the other is hugging the edge of the trail trying not to hit trees lol. So while some of it was a blast and relaxing with good scenery... Some of it was absolutely stressful and I was worried about doing way more damage than a couple scuffs on the bumpers.

you guys only have off road parks to 4 wheel in?
Come out to the PNW - we have plenty of logging and mountain trails

Ugh, so jelly... This just sounds so much more my speed.