Totaled, Triage, Triumph
I (Nathan) traveled to KOH’s Desert Challenge with zero expectations, just hope. To provide some context, it took two years of hard work to get the 4runner drivable again, let alone race ready. There were three major build phases over this period of time. Even with all that work, the truck still wasn’t perfect. The 4runner’s prep was good enough to send it.
Special thanks to the following businesses and people who helped rebuild the 4Runner
People within these organizations helped get the 4runner back up and running again. We provide a warm thank you, and for those who want to be mentioned by name, please email us with permission to do so at support@goodmayhem.io.
To recap, when we brought the 4runner home from Baja, it was undrivable.
It was on 3 wheels. Here’s an inexhaustive list of the damage:
Right lower control arm mount, collapsed
Front left subframe, collapsed reward 1.5”,
Front left upper control arm mounts, bent 0.2” reward
Front left lower control arm, dented .5” upward
Front left steering knuckle (spindle), stripped holes that mount to Lower Ball Joint
Front left brake rotor gouged by rock
Left rear frame, twisted 2”
Right side of Rear Axle bent to the front .5”
Left side of rear axle bent to the rear 1”
Front Skid plate, destroyed
Both hydro rear bump stops, bent and broken
Front bump stops, broken
Blown left front CV Axle
Failed left front coilover
The Fix:
It took four months to design, weld up and replace the whole front subframe, straightening the rear axle, replacing driveline parts and fixing the broken steering knuckle. It took another two years to replace all broken parts, including the rear axle, retooling the whole reared, chassis and roll cage. Mid 2025, we gained significant momentum when we planned to race at KOH. In the last quarter of 2025, we improved the following:
relocated the coilovers outboard
added a wider axle
lengthened the rear suspension arms
rear disk break conversion
Mounts for two spare tires
new skid plates
new full rear firewall
new steering knuckles
replaced CV axles
added E-locker
regeared rear diff
added new bump stops front and back
near rear roll cage section
Rebuilt coilovers
welded a hundred dzus tabs
and so much more
