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Here's a few pics from a quick trail run today. Really loving these tires!

https://www.bxbuilt.com/product-page/toyota-h4-diy-kit-4runner-tacoma-tundra-sequoia If you have questions about any of the products, the owners name is Andrew and you should be able to find him on Facebook and Instagram as BX BUILT. might as well drop a link to YouTube video too

Unfortunately, the 9004 dual filament bulb doesn’t lend itself to LEDs well. Most are blinding to oncoming drivers. For nearly 2 decades I’ve used PIAA H4/9004 Xtreme White (4150K) Headlights High/Low 60/55w. They’re their XTRA double wound high performance filaments, that’s why they say they’re equivalent to 135/125w. Since they’re Halogen they work perfectly in the OEM projectors. There are higher temp versions, 5,000K, 6,000K - I went 4,150K which is close to natural sunlight back in the day but I’d probably do 5,000K today. They are pricey but the quality is superb & mine lasted 50-75K despite the truck’s almost exclusive use on offroad trips & many of those years in ultra-harsh AZ. I tried some competitors in my sedan, including Philips & Sylvannia & they burned out in 1-2 years - the PIAA were much more cost effective in the long run.

save up, and get something that will really boost performance... In my experience, LED bulbs were only a mild boost in lighting, and weren’t great in snow or rain. these are bi - LED projectors. It’s a DIY kit sold by BX built. Obviously gonna cost 2-4 times as much as aftermarket LED bulbs, but you get what you pay for- clean cutoff and intense light throw. Even a cheaper amazon or eBay projector kit is likely a better route.

“Serious” and “hobby” are somewhat contradictory terms as far as I’m concerned. People take off-roading to be an overly serious endeavor when really we all just do it because of the enjoyment we can get out of it. Some people enjoy more intense technical challenges so they prefer to build something that will climb rock ledges all day, and others just want to be able to go down rough fire roads to get to the nice camp sites they couldn’t reach in their sedans. “Seriousness” has never come into my mind when thinking about adding something to let me have more fun on dirt. The only serious part is making sure things work as planned so you don’t get yourself stuck or hurt needlessly Have you ever been to a theme park and thought “I’m so damn serious about having fun on these roller coasters and games!” ? Kinda defeats the point Consider that there are people who lift their Subaru’s. Do I laugh a little because it looks a tad bit ridiculous? Sure, but honestly I respect them more than the dumbasses with the lifted JKs and no desire to leave the mall parking lot. I have never felt “limited” by the R50, even in its stock form. If you look through this place long enough you’ll find amazing pictures of these trucks doing things you’d never believe. Add on a few upgrades and a modest lift and they can be taken almost anywhere in the right hands. I don’t believe that anyone can call someone “less serious” about a hobby just because their idea of what constitutes fun is less extreme. A rock crawling enthusiast is no more “serious” about off roading than someone who enjoys hill climbs, playing in the mud, or running high mountain passes for the views.

I’ve wanted a Xterra since like 2010 but pathfinders are so much cheaper. What’s cool about the second gen Xterras is that yes, they have factory skid plates, body on frame design, rear locker on pro-4x, 260hp and for the real dedicated wrench turner, you can titan swap the suspension. Titan control arms, cv axles and rear axle which gives it a lift, wider stance and more suspension travel. And you can also swap in a Titan VK56 V8 with some coolant hose modifications, wire harness conversion and an ecu flash have the meanest sounding Xterra on the block.

Lol. You say think about it for a second. Sounds like you way over thought this one. Like as a serious hobby, the R50 is a poor choice to put a bunch of money into as it will always have limitations due to its unibody construction and poor aftermarket support. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure what it is like over there but locally for us in Aus it is really hard to find a good alignment shop. Between the WD21 and all of the Mopar A bodies I have had over the years, I find a lot of them do not know how to set these old girls up. 9 of 10 shops will set the toe and send it out. Last alignment I did myself on my WD I done using a stringline, some straightedges and a tape measure (after lift and front end rebuild) and it was the best the thing ever driven.

I would also recommend upgrading suspension. I run 35 mm King lift springs, standard rate, with Bilstein dampers. Very good all round package. King springs can be bought cheaply off Ebay. Bilstein shocks can be bought for a very good price off Rockauto.com I use Rockauto to source almost all of my parts.

The R51 is pretty reliable. My main recommendation would be to bypass the in radiator transmission lines. I've done this with mine. Took about ten minutes to reroute the trans fluid lines to bypass the radiator and only run through the factory external trans cooler. If yours doesn't have an external trans cooler I would also recommend fitting one at the same time. I believe both the petrol and diesel engines used have timing chains not belts so shouldn't hav any problems there. Just use high quality oil and service religiously. When purchasing any secondhand vehicle I always like to get all the fluids changed (coolant, brakes, diffs, gearbox and transfer) to ensure I know exactly what's in there. Personally I run Penrite oils in my r51. The penrite ATF covers both Nismatic D and J standards. The transfer case takes D standard ATF and the trans takes J standard. Other than requiring a couple of O2 sensors and catalytic converters, and one exhaust manifold cracking, my r51 VQ40DE has been totally reliable from brand new (my father bought it new in 2007) to its current 200,000 kms. A lot of what you hear online is disgruntled owners who've had problems. When maintained properly a Japanese vehicle should be very reliable.