I think I didn't pick a good one to start with and I just got tired of it pretty quick. Sometimes I think about getting another one, my favorite would be an 86 with a 6 cylinder and a 5 speed(swapped in)
mods you wouldnt do again ...
- Thread starter jeffryscott
- Start date
I think I didn't pick a good one to start with and I just got tired of it pretty quick. Sometimes I think about getting another one, my favorite would be an 86 with a 6 cylinder and a 5 speed(swapped in)
east_tn_81
Adventurer
that would make a great bronco.
Reviving this post
I don't do mods anymore. I did that in my 20's and learned that 99% of them are garbage. Only non stock item on mine is taller/skinner tires, 245/70/17. No complaints on that choice. Otherwise there is nothing I need to do to make it a better truck. I am not into wasting money anymore. I tend to only trust the R&D that went into the vehicle by competent engineers. I am sure there are a few good mods out there but for the most part they add hassle, weight and repair problems as well as withdrawing funds from your bank account. Then there is questioning from your wife (or husband, or partner or whomever shares account with you). Where are you going to get said mod in the middle of Mexico? You're not!
I also keep close to stock to run under the radar.
Only mod I may do in the future when my shocks go bad, if they ever go bad is Bilstien. Otherwise I will put new OEM's back on.
K&N or any oil impregnated filter is junk. Foam or paper. Stick with OEM or even OEM HD filters that have thin foam pre-filter on bottom. Best for dust. I think most mods are like K&N, all hype and yes they produce a higher CFM rate but for a reason, they have huge holes in them after the oil fills with dirt, then drops into airbox or sucks into intake. There was a study done by the desert research institute on air filters. K&N was one of the worst for filtering while OEM was slightly worse for airflow, but OEM filter was 99% efficiency!
I don't do mods anymore. I did that in my 20's and learned that 99% of them are garbage. Only non stock item on mine is taller/skinner tires, 245/70/17. No complaints on that choice. Otherwise there is nothing I need to do to make it a better truck. I am not into wasting money anymore. I tend to only trust the R&D that went into the vehicle by competent engineers. I am sure there are a few good mods out there but for the most part they add hassle, weight and repair problems as well as withdrawing funds from your bank account. Then there is questioning from your wife (or husband, or partner or whomever shares account with you). Where are you going to get said mod in the middle of Mexico? You're not!
I also keep close to stock to run under the radar.
Only mod I may do in the future when my shocks go bad, if they ever go bad is Bilstien. Otherwise I will put new OEM's back on.
K&N or any oil impregnated filter is junk. Foam or paper. Stick with OEM or even OEM HD filters that have thin foam pre-filter on bottom. Best for dust. I think most mods are like K&N, all hype and yes they produce a higher CFM rate but for a reason, they have huge holes in them after the oil fills with dirt, then drops into airbox or sucks into intake. There was a study done by the desert research institute on air filters. K&N was one of the worst for filtering while OEM was slightly worse for airflow, but OEM filter was 99% efficiency!
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BritKLR
Kapitis Indagatoris
Learned my lessons in the 90's to not add 6 KC daylighters and light bar on my truck and subsequently Jeeps. They hit everything. Noisey as you go down the road. Always out of alignment. Rusted and killed my alternator and battery.....with age comes knowledge! (My wife may have a differing opinion....)
Attachments
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
I enjoyed doing the dual battery install on my Suburban but I doubt I’d do it again. The GMT800 platform had an option for a second battery which makes the most difficult part of a dual battery install (figuring out where to physically place the 2nd battery) easier and I doubt I’ll get that lucky on my next truck. Also many modern trucks have sophisticated battery monitoring systems that make adding a battery problematic. Finally, my cost ended up being well over $500 and that DOESN’T include my time.
When all is said and done, a $400 Ark Pak gets me virtually the same capability which is likely the way I’ll go next time.
Lesson learned!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When all is said and done, a $400 Ark Pak gets me virtually the same capability which is likely the way I’ll go next time.
Lesson learned!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Chorky
Observer
Classic thread!!! And actually super helpful for a lot of people out there.
What I regret:
Not taking time to truly think through what it is I want out of a vehicle, and being hasty to get it 'off road ready' instead of slowing down, stepping back, and thinking. I put on and bought quite a few things for my TJ that I have either never installed, or since removed. It is now in a state of an unfinished build - although it does work just fine, but not where I would like. But its a learning process, right?
Things I don't regret:
Spending hours, days, months...heck YEARS 'thinking', studying, researching, inspecting...etc. to truly figure out what my end goal and desire is and combine that with what the reality is likely to be. Then being willing to drop serious $$$$$$$ to overbuild, over-prepare, and do it the RIGHT way the FIRST time - ie. my truck build.
What I regret:
Not taking time to truly think through what it is I want out of a vehicle, and being hasty to get it 'off road ready' instead of slowing down, stepping back, and thinking. I put on and bought quite a few things for my TJ that I have either never installed, or since removed. It is now in a state of an unfinished build - although it does work just fine, but not where I would like. But its a learning process, right?
Things I don't regret:
Spending hours, days, months...heck YEARS 'thinking', studying, researching, inspecting...etc. to truly figure out what my end goal and desire is and combine that with what the reality is likely to be. Then being willing to drop serious $$$$$$$ to overbuild, over-prepare, and do it the RIGHT way the FIRST time - ie. my truck build.
Happy Joe
Apprentice Geezer
...Good thread resurrection; thanx!...
Stuff that I would not do again (life is a learning curve);
Tires bigger than 33" in diameter (legs are too short).
Any non selectable locker in the rear axle (... makes driving on snow and curvy gravel roads 'way too interesting; ...only tried to kill me a couple of times, though).
4:1, low range, transfer cases with automatic transmissions (too low).
Automatic transmissions without a heavy duty transmission cooler.
4 speed manual transmissions (no over drive)... Especially granny low transmissions without a synchromesh first gear...
Five speed manual transmissions with a first gear substantially different than 4:1 in a small Jeep (lower is not optimum on road higher is not great off road).
Axle gearing higher than 4:11's with tires bigger than 31-32"
Tire bigger than 28/29"" on vehicles with 3.73 gears and/or higher (street performance suffers too much, IMO).
Putting a carburetor on any off road vehicle.
Trying to use any axle with a ring gear smaller than 8.5" (Dana 44s are my minimum axle choice, in light vehicles... the old ones seem to be stronger than the small lug bolt pattern (TJ/XJ) ones).
Paying anyone to install gears in axles (I end up having to take them out and properly re-install them).
14" wide or bigger Boggers with a pre 1995 Dana 30 (small U-joints - break relatively easily).
All terrain tires off road on significant trails (apparently my definition of "moderate" wheeling/trails is substantially different than most folk's...)
Vehicle lifts greater than 2.5" (legs are, still, too short).
Increased rate lift springs (ride suffers).
Manual transmissions with more than 5 forward gears in passenger vehicles smaller than a large truck/tractor (they are not a substitute for an engine with adequate torque and horsepower, IMO).
Removing any anti sway bars (instead I, now, put on bigger ones with disconnects).
install "Off Road/Heavy Duty" shock absorbers ('way too harsh a ride).
Install higher than load range C tires on a dual purpose passenger vehicle (tire to off road obstacle conformance seems to be adversely affected... as well as adversely affecting the vehicle ride).
Enjoy!
Stuff that I would not do again (life is a learning curve);
Tires bigger than 33" in diameter (legs are too short).
Any non selectable locker in the rear axle (... makes driving on snow and curvy gravel roads 'way too interesting; ...only tried to kill me a couple of times, though).
4:1, low range, transfer cases with automatic transmissions (too low).
Automatic transmissions without a heavy duty transmission cooler.
4 speed manual transmissions (no over drive)... Especially granny low transmissions without a synchromesh first gear...
Five speed manual transmissions with a first gear substantially different than 4:1 in a small Jeep (lower is not optimum on road higher is not great off road).
Axle gearing higher than 4:11's with tires bigger than 31-32"
Tire bigger than 28/29"" on vehicles with 3.73 gears and/or higher (street performance suffers too much, IMO).
Putting a carburetor on any off road vehicle.
Trying to use any axle with a ring gear smaller than 8.5" (Dana 44s are my minimum axle choice, in light vehicles... the old ones seem to be stronger than the small lug bolt pattern (TJ/XJ) ones).
Paying anyone to install gears in axles (I end up having to take them out and properly re-install them).
14" wide or bigger Boggers with a pre 1995 Dana 30 (small U-joints - break relatively easily).
All terrain tires off road on significant trails (apparently my definition of "moderate" wheeling/trails is substantially different than most folk's...)
Vehicle lifts greater than 2.5" (legs are, still, too short).
Increased rate lift springs (ride suffers).
Manual transmissions with more than 5 forward gears in passenger vehicles smaller than a large truck/tractor (they are not a substitute for an engine with adequate torque and horsepower, IMO).
Removing any anti sway bars (instead I, now, put on bigger ones with disconnects).
install "Off Road/Heavy Duty" shock absorbers ('way too harsh a ride).
Install higher than load range C tires on a dual purpose passenger vehicle (tire to off road obstacle conformance seems to be adversely affected... as well as adversely affecting the vehicle ride).
Enjoy!
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Buddha.
Finally in expo white.
This is surprising. I was thinking of adding a second battery on my truck. I thought it would be as easy as adding the battery and two cables, maybe a solenoid.
One mod i wouldn't do again is the Hella 4000's they're just too dam big, roughly 6" deep. Too much hassle to make them fit.
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
.
Depends on the truck and what you want to do with it but even on mine it was a bit of a PITA. Hardest part was figuring out how to get power from the spare battery into the cabin and to a suitable location for the fridge.
.
And the $500 price tag was not an exaggeration although I should probaby point out that $300 of that was the battery itself (which I will likely be keeping.) 1AWG welding cable was something like $2/foot and I needed about 20' total (since my batteries are located in opposite quadrants of the engine compartment.) Connectors with heavy (200a) fuses are not cheap either and I needed 2 of them. Wire loom, heavy duty lugs, a couple of different fuse blocks I had to experiment with (and wasn't able to return when they turned out to be not the right ones) - yeah, $500 is probably a LOW estimate.
.
And all that assumes my TIME has no value, which I assure you it does. :sombrero:
Colonal Angus
Adventurer
Great thread! I don't know how I've never come across it.
I did a few mods to my first 5th gen 4Runner. Swore by them at the time but gotta admit, I'm really enjoying the stockness of my second unadulterated 5th gen. Something to be said for simplicity. He'll, I've not only not put a big, heavy, noisy after market roof rack on my runner but actually took the factory rails off and went the delete route. Looks clean, easy to clean and quiet. Also, stock suspension is a treat to drive. I'll likely replace the stock tires with BFGs but they won't be bigger than stock.
Some mods definitely have their place but I found myself using the roof rack less and less. It got to be such a pain in the *** to put stuff on it and strap it down properly that I resorted to strategically storing items in the cargo area. Plus, I've adopted a less is more approach to camping and exploring that now I realize...I didn't need 75% of the crap I was dragging along. Buy backpacking/motorcycle gear...you be amazed at how little room you need.
I did a few mods to my first 5th gen 4Runner. Swore by them at the time but gotta admit, I'm really enjoying the stockness of my second unadulterated 5th gen. Something to be said for simplicity. He'll, I've not only not put a big, heavy, noisy after market roof rack on my runner but actually took the factory rails off and went the delete route. Looks clean, easy to clean and quiet. Also, stock suspension is a treat to drive. I'll likely replace the stock tires with BFGs but they won't be bigger than stock.
Some mods definitely have their place but I found myself using the roof rack less and less. It got to be such a pain in the *** to put stuff on it and strap it down properly that I resorted to strategically storing items in the cargo area. Plus, I've adopted a less is more approach to camping and exploring that now I realize...I didn't need 75% of the crap I was dragging along. Buy backpacking/motorcycle gear...you be amazed at how little room you need.
technoweenie
New member
Not a specific mod per se, but...
Continuously finding a use for something I had, instead of buying/building what I actually needed.
Lots of 'what can I use this for?' instead of 'what do I need?'....
Ie, using an old round 5 gallon water jug, instead of the 2- 5 gallon square water jugs, that fit into that space, because you wanted to use what you had.....
Continuously finding a use for something I had, instead of buying/building what I actually needed.
Lots of 'what can I use this for?' instead of 'what do I need?'....
Ie, using an old round 5 gallon water jug, instead of the 2- 5 gallon square water jugs, that fit into that space, because you wanted to use what you had.....
Less is more, especially with the smaller SUV's and trucks (jeeps, tacoma's, 4runners). You're almost required to fiddle with the gearing once you start adding significant weight to those vehicles, and even then the ride is sluggish and daily efficiency is compromised. I see all types of offroad and overland prepped vehicles cruising in my area with oversized tires, bumpers, lifts, and empty roof racks...and I know for a fact that most of those rigs aren't really seeing dirt trails with any regularity because I visit those nearby areas quite frequently and I rarely see anyone else out there.
But the biggest 'crime' I see is an overland pickup (Tacoma owners seem to be the main culprits) with an empty bed and a heavy rear bumper with tires and fuel cantilevering off of it. Why? Just put that stuff in the bed; that's what its there for.
I know that some people have a legitimate need for the rear bumper storage setup, but a lot of people I think just have it for the looks.
But the biggest 'crime' I see is an overland pickup (Tacoma owners seem to be the main culprits) with an empty bed and a heavy rear bumper with tires and fuel cantilevering off of it. Why? Just put that stuff in the bed; that's what its there for.
I know that some people have a legitimate need for the rear bumper storage setup, but a lot of people I think just have it for the looks.
Maybe because they need the bed for camping stuff when they actually go on trips? I run around with an empty Leer topper 95% of the time but that doesn't mean it isn't stuffed full on a trip.
xlcaferacer
Adventurer
Cutting the rear fenders and installing Bushwacker fender flares on my '77 FJ40 to fit "big 32's" back in 1990 when I was in high school. Truck has been in my family all these years and now rolls on "little 31's" and has a perfect patina. Ohhh, to have an "uncut" original Landcruiser..........