How much should I expect to pay for my first mods? First vehicle

Sliders and all terrain tires, combined with an SR5's ATRAC and 4 wheel drive, will get you down more trails than the normal 4Runner will ever see.

 

That's an SR5 in the avatar.

 

I think this is the wisest approach for just about any 4runner. Maybe adding a small 2in lift using quality shocks/coils.

I’ve never really cared about status, at least consciously, but I find myself just liking how a kitted out 4runner looks. It just brings out the 10year old in me every time I see big gnarly poochy tires, KC spot lights, bumpers, etc. They’re technically not even retro, because they haven’t even changed that much from what an old-school 4x4 was.

I have my lift, 285/70-17 AT tires, home-made functional roof rack, I got cheap autozone KC spots on the front bumper, and my “nerf bars” (sorry, sliders, forgot it’s not the 80s). I think that’s good enough for me.

I’ll admit, I still struggle with wanting to throw on some six shooter wheels and a rear bumper with a spare swing out. But then it might actually look really cool. I think I would feel weird pulling into work, most people would probably laugh once they see it’s me getting out lol

 

Two things with moding cars. It's always much more expensive than you think it should be. Second is that a car is a system. Upgrade only one element of the system then you put it out of balance. For example, get yourself big aggressive offroad tires but don't buy yourself recovery tools or a tire inflator THEN you can't really use the offroad tires without getting stranded. You buy cool rock sliders but you don't get a good bash plate then you take it off road and mash your front diff. So you end up buying 2-3-4 things than each are like 2 or 3x as much as you think it might really be worth. In short, plan to spend thousands

 

Me too, wide wheels with stretched tires, cali lean/squat, tons of stickers, those are not my jam. I like clean and simple, nice and tasteful, honestly close to stock but tastefully modded.