Honest advice to new 4Runner buyers who go offroad

I don’t care about the hood scoop or badging. Or the crawl control stuff. I upgraded to the ORP simply for the manual transfer case. I gladly paid the extra for that feature alone.

 

My JK when I lived in Cali.

 

I suggest cutting it off just after the last hanger. Just be aware that you could potentially get exhaust coming in the vehicle if you sit and idle for extended periods of time.

I had a situation where mine got bent and plugged with mud, and it could have been a big problem if I hadn't been with a group of very helpful people! I wish I had cut it sooner.

We're in a similar place. I'm trying to keep the balance of being set up for moderate off-roading while still being comfortable to drive cross country. I've considered getting a second vehicle for traveling. But, even in Florida, there's a place I launch the kayak that I wouldn't try getting to in a sedan, so I really prefer traveling in the 4Runner.

Maybe the solution is having two 4Runners. Keep one stock, for traveling and camping. And, the other would be triple locked, regeared, with full armor and 35's.

Hmmm... I was joking when I started typing this, but it's starting to make sense to me.

 

I actually dislike the fake scoop. I've often considered trading for a regular hood.

I prefer the manual T-case lever, also. But, the locker is really the biggest upgrade over the SR5 IMO.

 

I think A-trac is very good for several different reasons, but I don’t think this video is the one to convince anybody that a-trac is better than a locker. The length wasn’t the problem or his exitement level. In fact, I didn’t mind the jazzy “finger-on-chin” contemplation music

The problem was that for half an hour he made all sorts of almost correct, or almost understandable points about things that didn’t really matter. And the points that mattered just seemed incorrect. And by the end, it was feeling more like the cultish appeal to reason like you might get at a flat-earth society meeting as they are trying to close the sale with new recruits. It was just weird lol.

He spent much of the video asserting that a-trac is just another mechanism to lock a differential. However, he is incorrect…
A-track does not lock the differential in any way.

Sure, A-trac has the end effect of getting you unstuck, just like a locker. But it is not a locker. He seems to think it’s a locker because it often times results in getting yourself unstuck, just like a locker.

The difference is that a locker physically connects both axles so that they mechanically turn at the same speed, no matter what. That is what makes a locker a different “tool” than a-trac. Mechanical locking can prevent you from losing traction to begin with, while a-trac restores traction after it loses it. This matters the most in some sketchy situations where smooth continuous traction is necessary.

The guy in the video could have made one particular point where A-trac is “better” than a locker, but he didn’t. And that’s that a-trac is better in the sense that it cannot break your axles shafts/cv axles like lockers could.

 

Deliberately relied on A-Trac only because I wanted to prove a point to my Jeep friend that A-Trac is superior to BLD. Made it in and out with least amount of wheelspin. And you got to love the Viper cut, cheapest mod and super helpful(You don't need steel bumper for Viper cut, just do it.)

 

@Ohnoredpaz
See the real life benefits of the Viper cut, it helps you put a foot on a rock

 

Did you just go around a locked trailhead and then turn around to prove a point to the Jeep clan?

Nice..

 

Lol, it is not closed. That is the gatekeeper

 

Effing epic legend. Love it.

 

The gatekeeper is there to keep the Subarus away.

 

Big money maker for the body shops, has claimed a lot of lives

 

to say an sr5 will hang offroad with an OR or a pro is just ignorant. this is just an argument that a person who wishes they hadn't bought an sr5 uses. yes they are similar but they have major differences. but some people will argue just for arguments sake.

 

I assume you are stock. Can you go as far as that SR5? Don't underestimate A-Trac in a steel 4Runner. That 4Runner can beat your locker, your locker can't beat its clearance.

 

ignorance. can your stock offroad (which im not) hang with an sr5 with well over 10k invested, bravo . smittybuilt with a steel cable, glad to see this person cheaps out in every single possible way, lol

 

No my stock offroad couldn't keep up with this SR5, absolutely not.

 

Why couldn’t it? An SR-5 is exactly the same as an OR, with the only important difference being the locker. The locker will make for smoother progress through the real gnarly stuff, but the Sr-5 will get through all the same stuff.

The MTS on the OR doesn’t really count, since that’s just sensitivty settings for a-trac. Sr-5 already has a-trac.

 

And if things get super gnarly, a heavily modified SR5 with steel will bruteforce through things, never underestimate momentum lol. A stock Pro or Offroad don't have that luxury, they will be torn to bits.

 

Of course a modified SR5 will do better than a stock OR. My point is that an unmodified SR5 has just about the same capability as Off Road trim 4runner. I think that might have been the point in your original post too.

Tearing plastic off is not as much about mechanical capability, it’s more about dimensions. You can choose to accept the dimensions and drive carefully to not hit stuff (in the same way people don’t try to fit through two trees if the vehicle is wider than the gap).

Or you dont accept the dimensions and viper cut, lift, or put high clearance steel bumpers like some do.

 

I think a seasoned offroader with SR5 will do better than the offroad with a rookie in it.

 

I'd argue that the locker gives the OR an edge.

It would be interesting to see a skilled driver thoroughly test both in the same conditions to see if A-TRAC can truly get a 4Runner everywhere that an Off-Road can, with everything else being equal.

I've gained a lot more confidence in A-TRAC over the last year. But, I still think a locker will provide a real advantage in some situations.

A seasoned off-roader in a Subaru might do better than a rookie in a Rubicon. That proves nothing. You can't bring skill level into a debate about vehicle capability.

 

Absolutely it gives it a very real and legitimate edge. But a few posts up someone claimed that it was ignorant to think an SR-5 could hang with an OR because there were major differences between the trims. But really, the locker is the only major difference.

But that difference isn’t enough to keep a stock sr-5 from hanging with an OR in off road situations. It might not get there as smoothly, as quietly, or get over a big obstacle on the first try, but a-trac seems to be enough to allow the stock sr-5 to hammer it’s way through almost anything the stock OR can do.

If I had to do it again, Would I buy an SR-5 and skip the locker? Nope, I’ll keep my locker thank you

 

Looks like it lol.

 

This thing is pretty heavy duty

 

Nice clearance. And the mudflaps and the associated plastic crap gone.
One heck of a 4Runner now!

 

What junk!

 

And blind spot sensors are working

 

If I unbolt the hitch, I get 4 more inches.
There is a cut-the-cross-member/hitch delete option that will give you a total of 8". The spare goes on the roof when I hit the trails.


Check the website. All kinds of options. Swing outs, ladders, etc. S'posed to be one of the highest clearance bumpers around.

https://nguyenworksusa.com/shop/ols/products/5th-gen-4runner-plated-low-rear-bumper

EDIT: If my front end will clear an obstacle, the rear won't touch it. Took a 'lil ingenuity to make the factory mudflaps work.

 

New to the 4x4 community but some truisms I learned from sports cars...

Never build a car you can buy. If you have a car that does everything you want then buy it - it's always cheaper and more reliable than anything you can build (save for the few true automotive engineers that were born to work on cars).

If you have a car that's one step off of what you want then buy it and do that one thing (exchange the exhaust, upgrade the aero, etc..).

If you have a car that needs to be heavily modified (new brakes, turbo, new transmission) then start with the base most cheapest model. Nothing more hurtful then taking off a feature you paid 1000s for just to make your car faster or your truck more capable.

And most importantly, if you have a wife then listen to her very very closely.

 

#BoughtNotBuilt