Thanks for the warm compliments everyone 
It's been a very frustrating year w/o being able to take it anywhere since it was in pieces for almost 12 months But the outcome has been definitely exciting. I'm still working out the little details on the entire truck but will attempt to answer all of the q's.
You will all be surprised but the 4runner was built for both slow speed and fast speed. With the new front diff and larger diameter axle, it's much stronger than the previous generation 4runner. Prior to installing the LT kit, my 4runner has seen the beauty of Moab, Big Bear and various places of San Diego. Therefore I'm no stranger to the rocks The 4runner was able to handle some of the more difficult trails that I felt that adding a LT kit would not make me any more less challenged. The true test will come out as I'm heading up to Big Bear on Dec 10. Planned route will be Gold Mountain -> John Bull -> Holcomb Creek. All of you are welcomed so feel free to let me know.
Just to recap on the 4runner:
1.5" Roger Brown Body Lift
Front: Total Chaos Long Travel Kit (Fox Coilovers)
Rear: OME HD coil, Bilstein 7100 14" Shock
The LT kit is 3.5" wider than stock so the front definitely sits out a bit. Not a big deal as it definitely gives the 4runner a more unique look Doing some basic testing in Pismo, the front definitely handled well.
The rear has been a challenge as I wanted to make sure the rear complimented the front. The limited real estate in the rear proved to be a difficult challenge as the stock rear shock essentially is an 8" shock. Attempting to throw in a larger shock required custom and permanent modification. With the 1.5" body lift installed, I was able to custom build a new shock mounting tab higher than the stock location and then relocate the bottom shock mount lower. This effectively gave me 4.5" more thus giving me the ability to go with a longer shock.
With the longer shock installed, I had to look into a better rear coil. The OME's are a temporary solution as I needed something to handle the additional weight of the custom bumper that took way too long to make (Not fun!). Since the shock can extend so much, developing a longer coil of some kind is in research. I can't really go with a longer coil as it'll experience coil bind when compressed but a short coil will mean it'll fall out. Limit straps can be used but I really don't want to limit it to my coil length. I hope to have this solution resolved by next summer.
Panhard is not an issue with the new 4th gen 4runners as even with 3" of lift, the panhard is pretty level. Apparently Toyota looked into the rear and built it so it could be lifted. Too bad it came "prelowered" from the factory I'm not too concerned with the panhard as I'm also developing a 4 link system so I can remove the panhard bar completely. This will tie into the rear coil I'm working on so it'll be fun cutting more stuff up!
ARB does not have a front locker at the time but it is in the works. I hope to have one along with a set of gears to go with it so I can actually drive on the freeway Darn 35's just hurts on the freeway.
The front bumper was developed by Demello Offroad. I left the front bumper up to the staff at Demello to build something that would compliment the Long Travel kit thus the tube design. It's definitely different but gives me excellent approach angle that it actually works well. Like I said, the true test will be Big Bear and then back to the drawing boards on changes and modifications that will be necessary.
No problem w/ the rear driveshaft at the moment. It's been replaced completely once from a snafu in one of my SD trips. I expect problems once the 4link kit is built though so that is a concern that I am looking into.
Thanks!
It's been a very frustrating year w/o being able to take it anywhere since it was in pieces for almost 12 months But the outcome has been definitely exciting. I'm still working out the little details on the entire truck but will attempt to answer all of the q's.You will all be surprised but the 4runner was built for both slow speed and fast speed. With the new front diff and larger diameter axle, it's much stronger than the previous generation 4runner. Prior to installing the LT kit, my 4runner has seen the beauty of Moab, Big Bear and various places of San Diego. Therefore I'm no stranger to the rocks
The 4runner was able to handle some of the more difficult trails that I felt that adding a LT kit would not make me any more less challenged. The true test will come out as I'm heading up to Big Bear on Dec 10. Planned route will be Gold Mountain -> John Bull -> Holcomb Creek. All of you are welcomed so feel free to let me know.Just to recap on the 4runner:
1.5" Roger Brown Body Lift
Front: Total Chaos Long Travel Kit (Fox Coilovers)
Rear: OME HD coil, Bilstein 7100 14" Shock
The LT kit is 3.5" wider than stock so the front definitely sits out a bit. Not a big deal as it definitely gives the 4runner a more unique look
Doing some basic testing in Pismo, the front definitely handled well.The rear has been a challenge as I wanted to make sure the rear complimented the front. The limited real estate in the rear proved to be a difficult challenge as the stock rear shock essentially is an 8" shock. Attempting to throw in a larger shock required custom and permanent modification. With the 1.5" body lift installed, I was able to custom build a new shock mounting tab higher than the stock location and then relocate the bottom shock mount lower. This effectively gave me 4.5" more thus giving me the ability to go with a longer shock.
With the longer shock installed, I had to look into a better rear coil. The OME's are a temporary solution as I needed something to handle the additional weight of the custom bumper that took way too long to make (Not fun!). Since the shock can extend so much, developing a longer coil of some kind is in research. I can't really go with a longer coil as it'll experience coil bind when compressed but a short coil will mean it'll fall out. Limit straps can be used but I really don't want to limit it to my coil length. I hope to have this solution resolved by next summer.
Panhard is not an issue with the new 4th gen 4runners as even with 3" of lift, the panhard is pretty level. Apparently Toyota looked into the rear and built it so it could be lifted. Too bad it came "prelowered" from the factory
I'm not too concerned with the panhard as I'm also developing a 4 link system so I can remove the panhard bar completely. This will tie into the rear coil I'm working on so it'll be fun cutting more stuff up!ARB does not have a front locker at the time but it is in the works. I hope to have one along with a set of gears to go with it so I can actually drive on the freeway
Darn 35's just hurts on the freeway.The front bumper was developed by Demello Offroad. I left the front bumper up to the staff at Demello to build something that would compliment the Long Travel kit thus the tube design. It's definitely different but gives me excellent approach angle that it actually works well. Like I said, the true test will be Big Bear and then back to the drawing boards on changes and modifications that will be necessary.
No problem w/ the rear driveshaft at the moment. It's been replaced completely once from a snafu in one of my SD trips. I expect problems once the 4link kit is built though so that is a concern that I am looking into.
Thanks!
