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EQUIPMENT

As you can tell from the pics, I've added a few things over the last couple years to help my 4Runner perform better offroad. However, there's also a few things that you can't see. It's those things that are the most important! ARB LOCKING DIFFERENTIALS You can't tell from most of the pics, but the MOST IMPORTANT offroad equipment that I simply would not want to be without are my Air Lockers. What are Air Lockers? ARB Locking Differentials. I have a ARB RD23 in the rear diff and an ARB RD90 in the front diff. I'm using an ARB Compressor as the air source for them. It also doubles as a light-duty source for minor tire inflation as well. 4.56 GEARS In addition to the ARB Locking Differentials, I've also regeared to get a lower crawl ratio and to also regain some of the lost power from upgrading tire sizes. I'm running 4.56 ratio with Precision Gears in the front and Richmonds in the back. The reason for the mismatch in brands is that I bought Yukon Gears from Alex at Performance Offroad Center. If you know anything about Yukon Gears, then you know that it's simply a brand name that's used to distribute the overruns from various gear manufacturers. At the same time as the regear, I went with new Master Install Kits for the front an rear. Those included new bearings with races, new ring gear bolts, and new shims to make the setup as easy as possible. WARN M8000 WINCH Next on my list of essential Equipment would have to be the Warn M8000 Winch. It's wearing 100' of Amsteel Blue so that it's nice and easy to pull a line if necessary in addition to reducing some of the weight on the front end. It's tucked neatly behind the ARB Sahara Bar where it's protected from the elements and rocks. ARB SAHARA BAR I wouldn't have the winch if it weren't for a place to mount it. That job is performed flawlessly by the ARB Sahara Bar on the front of my 4Runner. It's ARB Part Number (3921010) and is airbag-compatible. It was originally designed for the Toyota Prado in Australia, but it also fits the 1996-2002 Toyota 4Runner with the wide Limited Style flares and will accommodate the Superwinch X9, Warn M8000, HS9500 and XD9000 winches. STUBBS SLIDERS What else can I say but "Richard Stubbs is AWESOME"! I have a set of his "Standard" Stubbs Sliders and they are top notch in both construction and design. They protect the rocker panels from all those nasty rocks and also help keep the trees off the body panels. An absolute must if you're going to wheel on anything serious. They work great as a jacking point for a Hi-Lift Jack equipped with a Wabfab Slider Adapter. IPF LIGHTS My 4Runner has two sets of IPF Lights. The lights that are integrated into the bumper are IPF 924 fog lights with 55W of output. The large lights under the hoop are IPF 900 MSR driving lights with 130W of output each. Needless to say, I don't have a problem seeing anything in front of me. 305/70-16 GOODYEAR MT/R TIRES Unfortunately, Goodyear decided to discontinue this size right after I got this set. They are an awesome tread design and the size fits the Lexus LX 450 alloys well. I really like the fit and the grip. I guess next time, I'll have to go up to some 315/75-16's. ELECTRIC FAN WITH VARIABLE SPEED CONTROLLER I did alot of research before swapping my engine cooling fan over to an electric one from the original mechanical fan. I knew that I didn't want to go with a Flex-A-Lite or any other "aftermarket" fan due to the horror stories that I've read about breakages and failures of the temperature contol unit. My only other option for an electrical fan was then to adapt an OEM fan from another vehicle onto my existing radiator. The two-speed taurus fan seemed to be fairly popular due to the two different speed options, but I just had to have more. I ended up going with a Variable Speed Controller from DC Current Control. I won't go into much detail on the install since there is already a very good detailed writeup on yotatech.com. OTHER STUFF I also carry the usual 20'x3" Webbed Strap with LOOPS in each end, a couple 3/4" Shackles, some spare electrical fuses, and a 48" Hi-Lift Jack with a Wabfab Slider Adapter.

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