When is a vehicle too big for off-roading?

One of the guys at an off-road shop I have worked with runs Dana 60's on his Bronco, IIRC. He showed me a ring gear out of the 60 next to the ring gear out of a 30, and the difference was huge!

 

Is it the steer axle that is more prone to failure? Just guessing due to more potential points of failure.

 

Had an 8 3/4 In it and was doing pretty good and went to my local drag strip in North Carolina after a Mississippi trip and on second pass, broke an axle and tagged the wall.
Figured that shouldn't ever happen again and took the time an effort to swap up to a Dana due to being a Plymouth guy. Looking back could have probably picked up more with a Ford 9", but as they say, Hindsight is 20-20.

 

I really couldn’t tell you with regard to the newer Wranglers, as I haven’t paid much attention. On the YJs and TJs, it was the D35 in the rear that was the real piece of shit.

 

Keep forgetting on a 4runner forum and not a bracket racing forum.

My mistake, carry on.

 

I know a couple of Mopar guys. My mom's BF has a helluva collection. He's currently looking at selling a '67 GTX hemi convertible. Super rare configuration, and a frame-off, certified numbers matching restoration.

I got a ride in it this summer, and it was really an experience. Leaving the Concours 'd' Elegance in Elkhart Lake, you would have thought we were celebrities. Definitely a moment I'll never forget!

 

Love how these masses of metal can generate such feelings by what we interact with.
Seems like we don't have enough time to see "all" that is out there from all of the other manufactures.

 

Agreed! That whole day was really cool. There were beautiful cars everywhere, live music, outdoor bars set up, and just a great atmosphere altogether. On the way back to the 4Runner, I was taking a picture of some cars in front of a bar as the owners were walking out. One of them let me sit in the car and took a picture for me. Just really nice people!

 

It basically is. If you want an off-road vehicle that can do a bit of everything well, there really isn’t anything else left on the market.

 

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I think our 4Runner can do more off-roading than just a bit. It is only second to a Wrangler, that's all.
I haven't even used my locker yet, A-Trac is phenomenal

 

Raptors are primarily used for tailgating, weaving in traffic, and passing on the right.

At least around here.

 

Haha! I don't think I've ever seen one dirty.

 

Might depend on the strength of the front axle.

 

I just had to laugh at the first gen owners who discovered that driving like they were in the Baja resulted in bent frames.

 

I'm not sure about the JLs but with the JKs you can do a mild like 1.5inch lift and a fender trim and fit 35s with enormous amounts of room for flexing. I do believe that has changed with the JLs though. I'm not sure you can even trim those fenders due to the stupid location of the turn signals now.

 

I don't have a lot of experience with this truck, but I really think that if you are lifted, got good tires, a set of steel skid plates, and steel bumpers, and if you don't chicken out, you can do whatever the Jeep can. If you lift a tire, so what, what are the lockers for? Investing in an ARB front air locker is also a good idea. Get that locker and forget about Jeeps and Broncos. Kick ass on the trail and drive home in absolute comfort and with the assurance that your truck is not going to leave you standed.

 

I haven't used A-Trav yet, but I did use the locker one time when I purposely got myself stuck in sand.

 

Really, the only things I think one needs are:

1) rock sliders

Beyond that, fixing the departure angle at the wheels gets second pick and approach angles at the wheels rounds out the top three.

Will a lift do that? Yes. But fixing those with a rear bumper and front bumper/viper cut makes it even better.

 

Yep. Something like this is in my list of future mods. This guy also has ARB locker in the front

 

It is impossible to beat those angles. Now imagine that funny lil thing on 37s
All we can do is get steel bumpers, receive hits all over and not chicken out. That's how you will keep up with this thing.
Man TJ is beautiful, I miss mine real bad.

 

Back in the day, I knew someone who had one with a Rubicon Express lift and all the toys.

Guy flew combat missions in a helicopter and used all his hazard pay to fund his Jeep.

 

Skids. You forgot skids.

Unless you guys are actually talking about matching the Wrangler's capability, in which case you're just being silly.

In regards to approach and departure angles, steel bumpers can help in two ways. Obviously, most are designed to improve clearance. But, I have also found that, if a rock is a little too steep, I can just nose the bumper into it and let it slide up until the tires can reach.

 

They don't need 37's to school a 4Runner.

 

Back to the original topic - there's always this:

 

The 4Runner has skids, but certainly more is potentially better.

 

The stock skids are sufficient for a one time accidental use. If you're going to mess around in the rocks, you're going to want real skids.

 

Protect your nut

 

Yes, because of the axle u-joints and steering knuckles. Breaking a u-joint isn't that big of a deal, but if it fails in spectacular fashion and takes out the knuckle it is.

The older D35 rear axles were pretty weak though, and being a C-Clip design, if you break a shaft and the wheel falls off. During those years the D30 front was arguably stronger.

 

Solid axle can offer a lot of down travel. To rock crawlers, down travel is king, up travel is often limited by bump stops for tire fitment reasons.

Now this is a high dollar build, but that's a 40" tire dropped below the rocker. That's Litebrite, they have a entertaining YT channel and do some amazing stuff with that Jeep.

 

In the SW they are dirty, not all, but many are. They are actually a really good truck for the money when it comes to open desert. I know some people throw more money at them and then daily them and take them all over the desert and Baja. Considering how expensive legit pre-runners are, they are worth the money if you use them in the dirt, they have limitations, sure, but A/C and a truck bed and the ability to get ANYWHERE in Baja is unique and expensive( and tow!).

As a mall crawler and what most 4Runners owners do as well, no way.

I have a friend who has a Gen 1 and has kept it long enough, he has replaced the motor twice and the trans once. I think it's been down to La Paz and back 8 times now.