Real Talk: What mods are needed for CO Offroading?

amen brother. We need to keep sharing that information with everyone. The wife and I recently bought an emergency satelite beacon for the small amount of times we are unable to off road with others. When you do off road alone, you need to prepare for the worst. 3 day-food water supply, recovery devices, traction boards, etc.

 

Carry tools, tire plug kit, inflator, impact, water and a water filter, food, camping items, and walking shoes, toilet paper, paper towels. I carry my old radiator hoses and serpentine belt, 4" diameter hose clamp, red loctite and zip ties. The hose clamp with work if you fill the clamp adjuster full of red loctite and let it dry.

 

It's not going to be a big rock crawler like a straight axle. It will still go places you shouldn't be. I think they do better in ice, mud, and snow. Pick your own route if you can. Following the leader can get you stuck.

 

its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I have everything you listed - couldnt agree with you more - oh and duct tape

 

I have 285/70-17s and 2.5-3.0 inches of lift, but I also have sliders and skidplates that include protection on the exhaust crossover and transfer case.

When I went last summer, the toughest section in terms of clearance, angles, and terrain was the mineral creek trail portion starting just south of ouray that meets up with engineer pass. You could probably get through that with the 3in lift and tires you mentioned without dragging anything, but it will depend on how well you can pick lines. There is definitly potential for contact though. I think I might have kissed the slider here and there.

But when you ask about a setup that is confidently capable of completing a given trail, I think it’s important to remember that it’s you that is either confident or not, not the 4runner, and not anybody else’s opinion on what they can do in their 4runner. You really need to build your confidence in your 4runner through experience, preferably in less life-threatening terrain.

If you want to be confident that you can do these trails without damage, my opinion is that you’ll need sliders, and armor that protect the the transfer case and exhaust crossover. And also a willingness to accept the real possibility of some damage. If you’re too worried about avoiding scratches, you might hesitate when you shouldn’t, or you might pick easier looking, but more dangerous lines. Nothing is guaranteed on these trails, conditions change, traffic varies, so what you do one day may not be the same the next.

Engineer, Imogene, and Cinnamon can be “easily” done with your hypothetical setup. But my favorite saying is that many trails in the San Juan mountains might be amateur level difficulty, but they all have expert level consequences.

Hesitating, sending it, or getting distracted at the wrong times on any of these trails can make things get really ugly, really quick.

Personally though, I wouldn’t do any of those trails alone…at least not the first time. It’s good to have somebody with some experience with those trails to spot you when needed, or tow you if there is a mechanical breakdown.

Also, it’s not a bad idea to go with the plan that you end up sleeping somewhere on the trail. The days can get long if you need to stop along the way for unanticipated things.

I don’t want to scare you off though…I personally think the area was heartbreakingly beautiful…probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

 

Another big variable is the weather. Up in the San Juans, monsoon season is not too far off now. During a monsoon up there, you can be, literally, right in the center of the storm, not under it. We have been over Red Mountain pass and have seen lightning below us, down some of the side canyons, 1000' down at a lower elevation.

I can not strongly enough emphasize that you get knowledgeable about high elevation summer mountain weather patterns. They are nothing like you have experienced back home and it can go from beautiful sunny and 75* to freezing with heavy rain, hail and snow, vicious lightning all around you with hurricane force winds, landslides, mudflows and rock falls in an hour that can make the trails impassable. During monsoon season, generally from early to mid-July until the end of August, you want to be off the mountain by early afternoon, even if it is sunny and warm on your way up. I lived above 7500' in Colorado for 50 years, including 20 years in Durango, and the San Juans were our playground for motorcycles and 4x4s.

In addition, you need to have a knowledge about altitude sickness. I don't care how good shape you are in, you can get deathly sick. Take a couple days in Durango (elevation 6500') to get acclimated before going up there and don't go out drinking the night before. You do not mention where you live, but the weather conditions up there are totally different than you are used to. Just having your truck setup right is meaningless without knowledge about the dangers up there that have nothing to do with trail conditions or damage to your truck. Don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time because the dangers are real and help can be expensive and a long way from where you need it. The other advice about being prepared for an emergency or breakdown or being alone are well founded.

Do you know what the right of way rules are when you are on a steep narrow rocky trail with a rock wall on one side and a cliff on the other side and someone else is coming towards you from above or below?

 

I attended last year’s Rocky Mountain Toyota Roundup in Ouray and did Imogene Pass among others. We had locals as guides as well as a whole support team behind the event. Go w/ a group that know the trails and the location is the best thing you can do. At least the first time around. Also, I can attest there were some stock 4Runners there with only AT tires as their only mod. Hell, there was a stock LC250 with street tires. Not sure how wise that was TBH. Admittedly I do like going into trails a bit overbuilt as a factor of safety but this event taught me you really don’t need much with these Toyotas. If you want to know more about the SW CO trails around Imogene talk to Eric Ross at Sierra Mechanica. He leads a lot of the recoveries out there. He’ll give you the 411 on what you need for the trails there.

 

I would like to know. I've always operated with "uphill has right of way", but that may be inapplicable here - what is the answer to this situation?

 

I was taught yes uphill has right of way BUT use common sense. If there’re 10 rigs coming down and you’re 1 going up… Work with each other. Step out your truck if needed, talk to the other group and work it out. AND most importantly be mindful of places where you can pull over to as you go up if you’re that 1 and it’s easier for you to back down. One particular skill I was introduced to when there is driving in reverse. Those shelf roads are no joke.

 

Good tires
Portable compressor
GPS (I like the Garmin InTouch)

That’s really all unless you’re really seeking out hard trails.



IF you are seeking out the hard trails…(And you better be okay with some body damage if you are)

- Winch and recovery gear (and the knowledge to use them safely)
- Low profile bumpers
- >33 AT/MT tires
- Dobinsons extended travel suspension
- Sliders and skids.

Recommended:
- Regear (for 34s or 35s)
- Rear locker
- Marlin Crawler cam tab gussets
- Spindle Gussets
- Onboard and handheld GMRS radios
- Ditch lights if you plan on wheeling at night



Just my recipe honestly. Everyone has different tastes though… pun intended.

Now… past the mods, and I can’t stress this enough. Get some practice first.

Know your limits and the vehicles limits. Bolting on a bunch of upgrades will not make you better or safer.

A stock rig with good tires, the right driver, and patience will get through A LOT. Keep in mind every off road oriented mod you do WILL compromise some aspect of driveability. So mod carefully.

Go to an off road park and hit some trails with some similar vehicles. The driver mod is the most important mod.

Good luck and have fun!

 

Yes, uphill moving traffic has the right of way because it can be dangerous reversing downhill or losing momentum so they block the trail. So, if you are going downhill, it is your responsibility to look downhill for vehicles coming uphill and find a place to pull over where they can safely pass by so they do not lose momentum.

 

Trail etiquette like this is lost on so many.
Also always signal how many rigs are in the convoy behind you.

The busier the trail, the more important etiquette becomes

 

Will be there this summer, I saw that Imogene Pass will have a portion closed this summer, I think closer to Telluride. The 4Runner is very capable. Get real rock sliders not predators that have the lower step. Get skidplates, I have both and did the Alpine loop starting at Mineral creek and many more trails around the San Juan Mountain's, I also have a rear locker & 285’s thou. Just take it slow, less chance of damage.

 

Met a guy past Engineers Pass today with a stock SR5. Came up from Silverton. Said he had a couple spots he had to try twice but never had to go to 4Lo. Just mentioning this as a benchmark.

 

Just as a follow up, didn't get as many runs as I was hoping this summer. Did do the full trip from Lake City, Cinnamon Pass, Animas Forks, Silverton, Animas, Engineers, Lake City. I dragged a bit on loose rocks rather than having issues rock crawling. I can see me needing something a bit taller than 31.6" tires and stock Limited clearance. I see damage on my muffler, exhaust pipe crossover, and a few structural member scrapes. I got a brief rub on one of my sliders at one point. I already had boogered up my fuel tank skid. I would have destroyed my stock Limited front bumper if I didn't already replace it. The back bumper never dragged which surprised me. I do have a handy hitch skid which dragged going up Engineers but not down on a previous trip.

 

A set of tires then go and see what you need by trying first. Depending on where you think you are going and where you are actually really going, you will need less than you think.

 

This. Good tires, a cell phone, drinking water. You'll generally figure the rest out.

 

As capable as 4runners are, one should not avoid using 4lo when the conditions require it. It’s purpose is not to get you unstuck. It’s a low gear, which you should use whenever necessary to keep from torturing your automatic transmission. If you had a manual transmission, you wouldn’t stay in third gear and constantly slip the clutch to climb a steep hill. That’s exactly what happens in an automatic, except instead of burning out the clutch, you overheat your transmission fluid. There are some really long uphill grades at slowish speeds on any of those mountain passes in the San Juans. Climbing that long at slow speeds in 4hi is a recipe for a cooked transmission at the worst possible place.