Vehicle: Year, Make & Model
2006 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4WD
Tell us about your upgrades and describe the parts installed.
For suspension i’ve got Bilstein 5100 shocks, Old Man Emu 885 coils, and Light Racing upper control arms up front. In the rear I’ve got Bilstein 5160s with remote reservoirs and Toytec Superflex coils.
I’m running BF Goodrich KM1 Mud terrains off of a jeep rubicon and stock SR5 wheels rattle canned black. I took the cheap way out but it works for me!
For armor i have a Demello Offroad winch bumper (missing a winch…) which has an awesome approach angle, letting me climb up steep stuff. I’m running Rigid Industries duallys on my Yakima roof rack, the guys at the Houston 4wheelparts installed them and configured the flood/spot ratio to get the maximum amount of light out of these little lights. I’ve also got 2 KC HiLites sitting on the demello bumper.
A flowmaster 40 series muffler helps beef up my 4.0 v6 without sounding too ricey.
I’ve got tons of recovery gear including a HiLift Jack and D-rings/tow straps. Most of which was bought at the Houston 4WP store.
What were some challenges and successes?
First success of this was taking this offroad for the first time. I was with my friend who had a 2 Door JK on 33″ mud terrains, and then theres me with a stock height soccer mom 4runner with street tires. Putting this thing into 4Low and engaging the lockers made it unstoppable! well up until the low hanging bumper caught on a rock…
Numerous amounts of challenges include breaking parts. I’ve gone through a broken rear diff, and an engine. The diff was from playing in the mud (mud sucks) and the engine was from getting water into the intake (once again, mud sucks) For the price of a nice Long Travel kit i had to replace an engine. But thats a part of offroading I guess.
I’ve taken this thing to the top of Mount Capitan in New Mexico at an elevation of 12,000 feet. Not exactly the rubicon but it was a pretty cool trail.
The biggest success is making the soccer mom mobile into a trail worthy rig.
A cool story behind it is that It was my Uncles vehicle. He was a deputy in the Chambers County Sheriffs Department. He was shot and killed in the line of duty. I always wanted him to mod it out and now I’m doing exactly that. I got it as my first car when I turned 16 and have been dumping every paycheck into it since.
What can your ride do now that it couldn’t do before?
Turn heads.
Crawl rocks.
Blast down dirt roads at 70 MPH.
Get 14 MPG.