My opinion is to have an amazing time! Wait 'til you try at least part of Fins n Things, that's freaky to drive.... Really haven't done much wheeling around Moab- go figure. Cute little trail in the middle of Arches n.p. Long washboard to get to it and high tilt factor in the bottom part- if it's open. The other ones I've done is a narrow one that goes up to Mt. Peale in the La Sals and Twin Bridges though that one got super dumbed down more recently. There's also Baby Lion's Back for a little fun up and over (spot before you drive down the backside, but easy enough).

Other than that I like Milt's for burgers and fries (we eat it at the little park between there and Sand Flats rather than at Milt's), Moab Diner for diner style #9 breakfast and Eklectica for a better quality breakfast (me and the kid usually split one order biscuits and gravy w/egg and a cinnamon roll).

Sand Flats is where we camp (or La Sals dispersed camping if we're tired of hot)...I think it was H6.....on the Fins and Things trail, second turn in, turn left and head down the hill to the last site on the right before the drop-off. Big Rock = early shade....at least in summer. Some cool sites on the opposite side of Sand Flats road too...

I've been going near every year since '98 but more for mountain biking (like Slick Rock and Porcupine trail as a loop best so far) than driving so do not consider myself knowledgeable on the area. Still working on it. Can't wait to see what you drive- you can give me some recommendations!

There's a cool hiking trail in Arches that takes you to the Double O arch. Personally like to hike that one counter-clockwise starting on the primitive trail and deal with the sand first...somewhat strenuous.

I really liked Elephant Hill in the Needles district (Land Cruisers may not enjoy the narrowest part!)....there's excellent camping in the last spot as you're going in- you have to reserve it and it's something like 20 bucks but can be had for multiple days. From there a sweet 11 mile round trip hike can be had that includes some of the most scenic stuff in the park- including the Joint trail.

Oh, and drink LOTS but make sure to replace electrolytes so not only water. Gatorade or salty snacks or something. Dehydration sneaks up on you out there- even when cooler it's still dry out.

I'll bet the group will have a great itinerary planned....

 

Thanks for all the advice hab, I'm sure it will come in handy because a few of us are on as much a site seeing trip as a wheeling trip.

 

Awesome Exploration pics Hab!
That old rescue rig would be a cool project

 

You'll have to tell me if you find any cool stuff too, Jason. There's a few dino footprints on the Klondike trail (at least, the bike version) and some petrified dino stuff + pony express/ stage coach stop. Both of those are a bit north of town. The Moab vistor center is a useful spot for info, bathrooms and wifi. On the main drag. Heading towards White Rim in Island in the Sky- Canyonlands has a nice scenic zig zag downhill. White rim is long, but you can always turn around and head back up whenever. I believe there are some art panels down there, if that's your sort of thing check with the park. $80 will get you a national parks pass, good at all National parks, blm where applicable too. Twin Bridges can be run to get to or from Island in the Sky....

Robb....man, the things you see parked here and there, right? Good thing I'm broke or I'd have no time to tinker with or drive all the fun toys I'd be tempted to pick up!

Today I went to Strange Donuts in Maplewood, MO. The donut guy made the mistake of asking if that was my 4Runner (usually they ask the hubby, and still ask him stuff after he says it's mine, but he wasn't with us- ha!). Poor guy, he'd just bought his own so I was blah blah blah blah 4Runner blah blah blah 4Runner blah blah blah blah 4Runner I could talk about this all day blah blah blah 4Runner.
Well, if you're out there Mr. Donut guy, welcome to the madness and also I forgot to tell you about mo4wd.com. We just had a meeting last week, there'll be another coming up next month. Some great wheeling trips like Stocker, no Locker and the Hallowheeling and some small get togethers too.
(really, if you don't say the word 4Runner I don't generally talk this much...shhhh don't tell him.....)

 

Got some this and thats from Sonoran Steel on the porch today! Maintaining bits, rear shocks and panhard bushings for the 96. Also helper bits, poly rear body mounts for both trucks and air bags for the 96 to help when we're loaded to the gills.

Once again super amazing excellent customer service from Steve at Sonoran. To me the combination of the 1.2 kit and service is worth every penny. Even the ones I don't really have.

Am hoping to get it together this weekend, depending on plans. Pics if it happens.

Hope y'all are having an amazing week! We're gearing up to start school this coming Wednesday.

 

Wow, school starting this early? Kids in my neck of the woods go back around Labor Day.

I am curious to see how the airbags work out on your 96

 

We did too, many years ago. I'll have to look at the positive, at least we're out a little bit before Memorial day. Still, summer does seem to race by when the party ends so soon.

Me too! How long will the air bags last? Guess I'll air them most of the way down when wheeling? Keep 'em low when unloaded too? I've had air shocks on a car before, but never air bags. I'll update as I learn.

 

1996 4Runner 276,781 miles

Got the goodies from Sonoran Steel. Air bags for when the truck gets super heavy on trips:
modify the bump stops:


Easy to do


Plumbing the air line was easy too. I ended up doing them separate:






And I also installed Steve's rear poly body mounts. Was very surprised when all 6 bolts came out without breaking.
The husbandio did the rear poly body mounts in the 99. He did have to drill out two bolts on the right side, but it all worked out.

Replace stinky old Bilsteins with Tokiko shocks. That. Was not fun. The shafts kept spinning. I used a couple of vise grips on the first one and that worked great. The second one proved to be much more of a challenge. Got the hubby to do the vise grips as my hand strength is nothing like his on a good day. Finally got the shaft to hold well enough to get the shock off.


Hey, it worked!

Changed bushings in the panhard. Not too hard.

Both bolts broke for the rear sway bar links so I replaced them with front 3rd gen sway bar links. An inch longer than stock rear ones.



A bolt also broke for the parking brake cable bracket. I begged and pleaded and looked as cute as a middle aged lady can (that used to work a lot better!) and he got it out for me. My hero!.

And that's about it. A lot of hours work, mostly in the shocks. I had good helpers this go-round.

Gratuitus truck pic...

 

Always with the new cool stuff, I need to just drop mine off with you and let you "cool" it up.
Excited to see how the air bags work as well, and to hear what you think of the shocks, the OMEs I had in mine were to stiff the billys are really soft, I'm wanting something in the middle.
Awesome work as usual.

Got a favor to ask, when you get a chance could you snap a pic of the pedals in your runner? Mine feel really close together compared to my 86, if they are supposed to be that close I will leave them alone and just get used to it but if not I will be figuring something out. Also If you could snap a pic of your rear skid plate, I have some concerns with mine. No rush on either.
Hope all is well in Habs world :-)

 

You cool yours up just fine Jason- better even, especially the homemades!
I agree, the billies are really soft which is nice in places. I haven't had the OMEs so don't know what they're like. I see people switch from heavy to lighter OMEs fairly often. I'll let you know what I think on the Tokicos, though it may be awhile before I get to put it through any paces. Steve said the Tokicos are stiffer than the Billies and should work nicer with the bumper and junk back there, which is what I wanted. I certainly bow to his experience on this.

Pics....
edge to edge the pedals are approximately 6.5cm apart. Center of the pedal are to center of the next pedal arm just above the pedal are
Clutch to brake: 15cm
Brake to gas: 10.5cm

Here's a pic with a ruler, though it's at an angle inline with the pedals so the measures will be a little off since it's diagonal. close though,


and another pic:


Let me know if you want more/different stuff.

 

Rear skids...
96





Hmmmm, I think something....nefarious happened with my skid when I had it off last. Something to do with the hubby. Somebody must've killed a head gasket there, I see the outline....
It's a good thing he's cute....
and that's not rust, it's Moab! <3



99 Savage skids


front of rear skid


rear of rear skid

 

Thanks for the pics hab, there is a lot of difference between yours and mine, my brake and clutch pedal have an inch or less of space between pads, I have to be careful not to push the brake when operating the clutch as my foot can easily hit both. I'll look at it when I get home maybe I don't have something together right.
My old skid plate is the drop down style to clear the Tcase, the manual Tcase must be clocked different because it's now above the cross members like yours, hmmm time to build skid plates.
Thanks for the pics.

 

No problem. That would be hard to drive, especially until you get used to it. Let me know if you want any other pics or measurements.

Dunno on the skids. Mine came off a 4Runner w/auto and the Savage you don't have to specify tranny....weird....you know I don't have any experience with autos though.
Of course looking forward to what you come up with if you decide to build something.

 

Jason- finally got a chance to look at a 4Runner w/auto and like you said the trans case does hang down just below the cross member. How skids fit I don't know- at minimum the cute little trans. case skid would have to go- not that it would matter. Is that normal or because of worn mounts? Curiouser and curiouser...should've gotten a pic to compare with mine...

 

Not mine but the same as mine. It hangs 3 or 4 inches under the cross members and has a bunch of crazy bends in it.
Every one that I've seen has been that way except yours , strange

 

Mine are not available and the 99's are Savage Off-Road. Thanks for sharing...gotta love learning new stuff!

 

96 4Runner

Just a quick wash n wax



and left a little Moab and some Colorado in the driveway (can I go back now???)



Also painted the KC light covers black. I still have to get new GORC and OTA stickers for them but otherwise they look good to me 'cept now it's going to be harder to find it in the parking lot without the big yellow beacons.

 

The rig and little mods look great at always. I need to do the wash and wax treatment on mine soon. It will have to wait until the dirty air from the forest fires in OR and WA move out of our area.

 

Smoke is clearing out of our area, fires just keep getting bigger though.

 

Glad your air quality is improving! Waxing in sooty air does seem a little contraindicated. All those fires have got to be a little nerve wracking, hope all stays well for you!