Bought mine 10/09/2016. Was going to do full-on long travel etc out of the box till I test drove someones with mud tires and have to say - for primarily a pavement princess don't really see why I should be sacrificing the very light steering effort required etc. So maybe I'll just follow your build for now. Maybe just do the Bilsteins or just stay stock n enjoy the truck - it is very capable fully stock
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The bilsteins are okay definitely an upgrade over stock.... but I can already see their limits offroad, street ride was a improvement got ride of the dive under braking and the boat feeling, only reason I bought them is to get me by to fit 285's for the time being until my truck sells.
The upper control and coilover is nowhere close to long travel, full long travel would be camburgs race kit custom shock towers, but we have zero fiberglass options so we can't even put that travel to use unless you have a mile high ride height. If you don't like the heavy feel of tires be glad you turned away from long travel. You would hate life with a real long travel setup street ride is harsh, squeaks and rattles are the norm, the extended width you lose your turning radius. In the dirt its amazing the faster you push the smoother it is. The upper arm and coilover are a good compromise for a daily type vehicle offroad performance but good street manners. It makes sense to me, I'm in the desert and hills almost every weekend whether its in the truck or on my dualsport and living about a mile away from hundreds of miles of trails also.
As for capable we will see I really hope so it has some shoes to fill.
I came from wheeling a heep jk with a custom teraflex kit, 2"custom dual rate deaver coils, fox shocks, 35's, 5:13 gears etc.
and a mid travel 2wd dodge with a mildly built motor trans upgrades custom tune 4:88's and a detroit locker.
Once I get tires I'll run back to last chance because the heep made it thru stock on 33's and I did everything but the notch. I took the 4runner about a mile and turned back I wasn't comfortable with how sharp the rocks are being on the stock dunflops and being a solo trip.
The heep was a pile between 2 sets of manifolds, water pump failure 3 months into owning it, top leaking, wind noise, sheering the rear track bar axle mount off due to horrid factory welds. My once a month 60 mile commute to work was enough to make me think about stuffing it into the center divider on multiple occasions. The dodge is okay does what I expect its comfortable just has 10 year old car issues, 2wd, size issues, resale value that seriously made me want to cry.
The 4runner seems to fit the void between the two and has none of the downfalls the others have had. I'm only planning RTT, kings all around and uca's, 285's on walker evans, and recovery gear. The rock sliders and skid plates I can fab myself maybe rci skids to save time but rock sliders I refuse to pay $700 and wait 8-10 weeks when for $150 in steel, a case of beer, and a weekend I can make them.