4Runner Evolution 4Family

Isold my rock buggy nearly four years ago and as soon as I saw the new owner drive away with her, I knew I had to start something else. Off-roading and rock crawling has been my passion since about 2000 and maybe even further back to when I used to drive the Suzuki SJ410 at our cabin when I was 10 years old. The same day “The Green Machine” left for Alberta, I was on Kijiji and similar web sites looking for the next project.

The idea behind the build was that it would be family based. I wanted something with four seats, which at that time needed the ability to handle two car seats for the one-year-old twins. The reason I sold the rock buggy was so I could get my kids into off-road adventures as soon as possible. I decided on a Toyota 4Runner, hoping to find an older model that needed some work. I found a 1998 for sale right in Kamloops (by the original owner to boot!) with a blown rear diff - for

a very good price. Knowing what I wanted to do with the truck, it was perfect.

I got the 4Runner in September and we booked a Moab trip for the following May. The perfect motivation to get this thing built and ready to go. I enlisted the help of my good friends, Daryl Goldsby, Matt Nieman and Darrel Lawrenson. The truck made its way down to Matt’s shop where over the next several months we would tear it apart and re-build it. The plan was simple - a small lift to clear 33’s, fix the rear diff and the cable locker, add custom bumpers front and rear with a winch, rocker protection, and some interior roll cage work to protect the family and tie into the kid’s car seat mounts. Everything went perfectly and the truck was completed in time for our first trip to Moab to take the kids wheelin. It was an absolutely amazing trip and I was so happy to see how much my two-year-old twin girls loved “going in the mountains in Daddy’s 4Runner” as they put it. I want to give a huge thank-you to Daryl, Matt, Darrel, Rob at North Shore Off-road and everyone else who helped get it done. You guys are all awesome.

We will call that Build Number 1 for the truck.

Fast-forward a year. After numerous local trips, including trips to the Whipsaw and other random wheelin’ trips around BC, I had the itch to change things up a bit. I had the same goals but with some better suspension and comfort. Comfort was easy. A quick call to Eric at Brink Fab and I had a set of PRP Daily Driver suspension seats. Thanks brother! Then the truck was off to Baja North here in Kamloops for some SPC upper control arms, factory lowers, and some Icon 2.5” remote reservoir shocks front and rear. The kicker was we had to have it done fairly quickly for a trip to Colorado for the Silver Summit Tour with the

Lost River Expedition (LRE) crew. As always, Craig and the crew at Baja North knocked it out of the park. Daryl and I were off to Colorado with a fresh truck (the alignment was done the same afternoon we loaded up to leave!). It was another great trip with my best buddy in the books. We made a ton of great new friends, came home with lots of stories to tell and tons of amazing pictures. Let’s call that Build Number 2. Present Day - I absolutely loved the way the truck handled the trip to Colorado and Moab (again), but I still wanted more out of the suspension. When the opportunity came to sell the current set-up, I jumped at the chance. It was time for another call to Craig at Baja North to order the Camburg long travel kit, Method wheels (to use the General tires I recently acquired), and some fibreglass front fenders.

This time we didn’t have a trip booked anywhere for any certain date so the boys down at Baja North took their time getting her all dialed in for me. I decided to add the bump stops and limit straps to the front as well so the front would end up being 100% brand new. For the rear we just changed out the coil springs and kept the Icon 2.5” shocks. It took them a couple of weeks to get everything installed and set up perfectly. When they were done, it was more than I expected. The Method wheels that Craig picked out for me finished the truck off better than I could have hoped for.

I also added some much-needed lighting upgrades. I had already added HID’s to the stock headlights and had the smaller Baja Designs on the bumper. They moved the smaller Baja Designs to the holes in the bumper, and I added brand new Baja Designs LP6’s to where the smaller ones originally were (these lights aren’t in the pictures as they were added after the photo shoot).

All in all, this truck is exactly what I want, and then some! Again, I want to thank everyone who helped with this project. It means the world to me to now be able to take my entire family out on these adventures with me. After all, family time is what it’s all about.