One bit of advice: Be sure to measure the dimensions of all of your necessary gear before building your sleeping platform, so you can keep it as low as possible. The more headroom you can squeeze out above your platform the better! We eventually got tired of our sleeping platform and changed it up a bit...now all of our storage runs along the wheel wells (about 7" wide on each side and 15" tall) which made it possible to ditch the flimsy plastic rear cargo panels and stuff even more gear in the walls. Our bed is only 37" wide, but it's perfect for my wife and I...after 14 months of living in our 4Runner, we still prefer sleeping in the rig over a hotel!
I'm torn on whether or not I want to modify the suspension. I'm happy with the current ride height, but I'd like to improve the ride quality and articulation. New shocks would help a bit with ride quality, and I might leave it at that for the time being. My ultimate plan would be a combination of junk-yard parts and custom fabrication. I'd like to replicate the Total Chaos Kit up front with extended A-arms and use 63” Chevy springs in the back, but that's a ways down the road.
Thanks for the heads up! It should be working now, nothing special. You can see that my shocks are definitely worn out!
I went with the Geo-Trac Patagonia and the size is 31x10.50R15. So far they've been good; decent wet and snow traction, quiet ride, and good gas mileage. They don't clean mud very well, but that's not a big issue for me. The used tire market and size selection was very limited for the 15” wheels I had. When these tires start to wear out I'm going to look for a larger diameter set of wheels. There are a lot of new truck “take-off” tires in my area selling for really cheap, but they're all in 16” or 17”s
That's a pretty good idea! I may have to do something similar on mine…..
Not yet, but it's on my to-do list. I've been researching different options for relocating further back and lower.
Damn, that would have been awesome! When I was trying to decide whether or not I should buy the 4runner and start this project I did quite a bit of internet research to see what was possible. Your adventures and Homeonthehighway/defrag's adventures were my final deciding factors. My wife and I would love to do something similar in the future.
If your current leaf springs are shot, a great temporary fix for a smooth ride (while loaded down with gear) is the Zuk mod. Look it up on Yotatech...there are a few different versions, but the simplest form is taking front coil springs from junkyard '97-01 Jeep TJ and wedging it between the rear bump stops. It will level out the rear and give your bump stops a little breathing room, and it's a quick mod to try while waiting to do the 63" Chevy springs.
