4Runner SR5 - Can it be upgraded

[KTempleton]

Okay, I've been playing around as advised. Its a very capable vehicle. Seems like there isn't much excitement where I have taken it, it just goes through or over whatever I send it through. However, I am usually alone and in very weird places, so we added a winch. Watched a lot of videos on doing it and so did it myself. Funny how those "Sponsored videos" never really tell the whole story... So I made my own !!! https://youtu.be/nPkNm7oXlPM

Now I need to decide on those tires, but I'm told if I get a lift I will need different wheels or they will rub. Any truth to that?!

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Don't necessarily need different wheels. There are plenty of guys running fancy suspensions with stock wheels. Where I feel you need to look into wheels or wheel spacers is when you get into aftermarket upper control arms. If you stay around 2'' of lift you don't necessarily need the UCA's. Look at the Mountain State Overland builds on YouTube. They keep the suspension pretty basic, just enough to handle all the weight they run. Their 4runner is on OME BP-51's with stock uppers and they do more "wheeling" than most of the groups out there. It's easy to fall in to the suspension rabbit hole though and end up with racing suspensions like me. HAHA. They are nice but require more maintenance and rebuilds. But on my 4Runner I'm keeping it simple. I have some 6112's and 5160's i need to put on. I want to keep the MPG's down since it's our road trip and around town daily. But will prob go with a good AT slightly bigger than stock with 1.5-2'' of lift. But we don't find ourselves on a bunch of technical trails right now. Mainly beaches, forest or gravel roads, etc. I just need something to handle the extra weight of the roof top tent, bike rack with bikes, and our gear.

 

[Tex68w]

I run a 1.5" two-piece spacer up front and a 1" out back in conjunction with the factory TRD Pro Bilsteins along with a 275 KO2's on the stock Pro wheels. I have recently added Spidertrax 1.25" wheel spacers to help not only with the look/stance, but also to help increase the stability of the vehicle, it always felt a bit top heavy and tippy without them both on road at speed and off-road in off-camber situations. I haven't yet committed to keeping it and spending more money to move to larger tires and aftermarket wheels so this has been a good concession for the time being.

I have been running the spacers with the 275's since it was two weeks old, so almost a year now. It has done quite well in this configuration but other than Oso Loop in Big Bend and Hidden Falls, it has mostly stuck to forest roads and beach runs, it hasn't really been pushed to the max of it's capabilities very often. I have always been told that if you go above 2" of lift on these 4Runner's and Tacoma's that you should do UCA's, two inches and below you can hack it without issue on the stockers and I believe that to be true in my experience. If we should decide to keep it for a few more years then I will likely upgrade the suspension along with UCA's. I will more than likely move to a larger tire and aftermarket wheel as well. All of that said, my current setup can take me nearly everywhere I would likely go so it is possible to invest very little into these 5th Gens and still explore 98% of all trails you would encounter. A good set of AT tires, a few skid plates and sliders and these vehicles will amaze you off-road and still pull 17-20mpg's as a daily driver.

 

[PSea]

Make sure you do the rear differential breather mod. Super cheap & easy to do. Run it up to the gas tank. Will save you A LOT of time and money with leaking rear axle seals.

Others:
K&M air filter
Rugged floor mats (for cargo space too)
Did 1" body lift for little more room for 265/75r16 tires. No change in mpg!
kickass stereo

I try to keep as close to stock as possible really.

'98 4run, manual, SR5

 

[teotwaki]

You don't have to go bigger than a stock size to have a good offroad tire. These are the Falken WildPeak AT3W replacing the stock Dunlop street tries. They are 265/70R17 and weigh only 7.5 pounds more per tire. I have a lot of miles on mine without issues.

Side by side with the OEM street tire