I can be a bit obsessive when it comes to something that I'm interested in and my engineering background often comes in handy when researching a project. Needless to say I spent a lot of time on enthusiast and vendor websites. By far, Ih8mud is absolutely the best source of information that I have found.
Last summer (August 2007 to be precise) was my first opportunity to work on the 4Runner. I had it sent to a friend's shop near my mother's house. He runs a repair business in a small town and has a very large 4 bay shop. He was kind enough to let me have everything delivered to him and then he spent the better part of a week or so either working on the 4Runner or helping me work on it. The
was kind enough to allow me a few days to work on it before we headed to the beach. We have a condo on the beach at Gulf Shores Alabama (affectionately known as the Red Neck Riviera) and normally spend a few weeks there during the summer.
I decided the first year to try to do the following modifications:
DOA Racing, 150 HP 22RE long block
OME suspension, heavy front, medium rear with springs, shocks, shackles, etc.
ARB front bumper
Warn M8000
Kennesaw Mountain rear bumper
LC Engineering ceramic coated stainless header and stainless, CAT back exhaust
LC Engineering poly bushings (complete set: body, torque rod, etc.)
SR5 Instrument cluster swap
Bushwacker extend a flares
Marlin heavy duty tie-rod with FJ80 tie-rod ends
My engine probably only needed a timing chain but it had 150k on it and was getting pretty weak. I thought about just rebuilding it but after much consideration I decided to go with a new engine. It came down to LC Engineering or DOA and in the end I went with DOA. The engine has ran very well but I only have about 2500 miles on it so far.
At some point during this work, we decided to throw on some BFG 10.50x31-15 Mud Terrain KM's. I thought about going with 33's but in the end decided that that the 31's were the way to go (for me). I could easily fit 33's under it if I ever decide to go that way. I can't say enough good things about these tires. They are so much quieter than the earlier version of this tire (I've had lots of BFG's over the years).
I should also mention that at some point several years ago, I installed those NWOR nerf bars. That's more or less the only modification this 4Runner had ever had.
A few "after" photos: