Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of San Bernardino, California, the Glen Helen Raceway is a twisty, sprawling course that can be treated one of two ways: the right way, and the wrong way.

The right way involves memorizing and adapting to the numerous banks, jumps, and straightaways that comprise the storied, 30-year-old track. The wrong way involves staying fixated on trying to get ahead at all costs, and forgetting what the terrain can do to a racer if he (or she) is not careful.

When Ultra4 Racing comes to town, it brings with it some of the meanest, most brutal 4×4 vehicles to compete. There’s almost a guarantee that some racers will take the “road less traveled” – and wind up getting punished for it. Luckily for the competitors, there are guys like Matt Fallis and his 1996 Toyota 4Runner to pull them out of trouble.

Matt, a heavy equipment mechanic, was serving as a volunteer at the race we attended on July 11 for the 5th Annual 4 Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix. “Texas Jesus”, as he was known to his friends, was tasked with watching a section of the course that had a couple of 90-degree turns in quick succession, where spills could (and did) take place. With the help of his noble SUV, Matt came to the rescue on more than one occasion that day.

Texas-Tough, Japanese-Made

Matt is a Toyota guy through and through. “I worked for them for six years, and I won’t drive anything else,” he told us. His draw toward the 4Runner is that he loves the brand, loves the off-road world, and knows they’re “cheaper than Tacomas, so I’ll drive them all day long.”

At one time, Matt built and raced a first-generation 1986 4Runner. He currently owns a ’93 Toyota Pickup and is in good company with his dad and brother, both of whom own fourth-generation 4Runners. “The ones my dad and brother own aren’t like this one, though,” he commented.

As the inaugural third-generation 4Runner, the 1996 year model marked a departure from the second-generation in some significant aspects. Though it was still a sturdy body-on-frame design, it now had a 3.4-liter V6 pumping out 183 hp and 217 lb-ft of torque, putting the previous 150 hp, 180 lb-ft, 3.0-liter V6 to shame (not to mention its notorious head gasket issues).

The SUV could also be ordered from the factory with an electronic locking rear differential, which was fairly uncommon in the American 4×4 market at the time. With a 104-inch wheelbase and curb weight of 3,930 pounds, the 4Runner was a midsize that had a great deal of popularity here in the states. The fact that yours truly drives one daily may or may not have played a part in picking this SUV at Glen Helen … but we digress.

Relaying the story of how he came to own the 4Runner, Matt said, “When I worked in Texas, I heard about a guy living out here in California who owned a 4Runner that he was looking to sell. I had plans to move out here and wanted a rig I could go exploring in.”

“When I moved two years ago, I called the guy up and drove down to San Clemente to pick it up. It cost me $1,500. It was bone-stock and had very bald tires, but I wanted it anyway and took it all over Big Bear Lake. I was proud of how it could keep up with where the others were going.”

A Work In Progress

One of the first things Matt had done to the 4Runner was replace the rear axle with one from a Land Cruiser. The pinion seal on the original had gone out and left the differential exposed to the elements. “Why replace it when I could upgrade?” he reasoned. So out went the old rearend, and in went the sturdy FJ80 rearend, complete with full-floating axles and LOCK-RITE locker stock gears. It wasn’t an easy swap, requiring two full days of Matt’ time and effort to pull off, but it’s one that’s made a significant difference in how it handles off-pavement situations.

Rather than go with the typical leaf-spring route, Matt did a custom three-link setup to suspend the rearend. “I took some of the basic ideas that I had learned with fabrication and applied it to the process,” he said. “I ran with it. People told me I could just run the numbers in a computer to get the perfect geometries, but at the end of the day, I just made it fit.”

Matt celebrated this successful install with a trip to Ensenada for a fun getaway, and got right back to work once he came home. A self-made custom bumper was next, along with Bilstein coilovers on the front. This upgrade, of course, followed with a long road trip to Washington, once again just for fun.

Throughout all of Matt’ modifications to the the 4Runner, the tally of problems has been relatively small. However, just after Easter of this year, the V6 blew up. “I was getting ready to go take care of a Craigslist sale,” he recalled. “I was getting onto the freeway and heard a bad noise. The motor died instantly. I got it home and took it apart and found a connecting rod had shattered. I had the 4Runner sit around for a couple of months while I pieced together another engine I had, got it in, used some cheap knock sensors I got off of eBay, and got right back into trouble again.”

The knock sensors did nothing but read error codes. He was forced to dismantle the engine again and replace the sensors with the stock ones. The codes went away, but an intermittent misfire cropped up as a result. A compression check revealed nothing, so it must have been the spark plugs, which Matt quickly replaced. The problem was finally solved after that step.

With regard to the future, Matt is wary of his upper control arm mounts being too exposed to the elements. He plans to custom-make his own skid plates to take care of that. “I’m pretty happy with where the Toyota is now,” he admitted. “It’s just baby steps from here on out.”

Keep On Running

Matt and his 4Runner made for quite a pair at the Glen Helen races, as we mentioned before. On two separate occasions, racers had come in too hot around a corner and stopped upside down. Inverted cars pose a danger if not put upright immediately, which was what guys like Matt are needed for.

Using a trusty yellow recovery strap, Matt was able to hook up hapless vehicles and get them back on all fours in no time at all. He did what anyone should do when given an emergency: stay calm, figure out the solution, and implement it quickly.

Off Road Xtreme was happy to have met Matt and seen how he and his rig operate. Like the hidden “TXJESUS” badge underneath the spare tire, Matt was just a normal guy turned savior at Glen Helen Raceway.