Michigan Tacomas

Thanks for that I needed a laugh. Chrysler = electrical gremlins. My 04 Grand will just turn of sometimes if you are sitting to long, the speedo stopped working also. Must be a good idea to integrate crap from a Daimler.

 

I would have gone Tundra if it weren't for the fact I got this Ram for like 8k less than a similarly equipped Tundra. Overall I'm happy with it, just bummed there is electrical gremlins already.

 

A buddy of mine traded in his '12 Doge on a new Colorado. Not sure if is a step up or down the ladder. Possibly a step sideways and falling off the ladder.

 

Yeah I'd be willing to bet a leg broke out on that ladder. Can't believe how large the colorados got with this update. True midsize trucks are a thing of the past I suppose.

 

I would rather my Tacoma was more along the size/dimensions of my '89 Toyota.

 

Why is it that mini trucks arent so mini anymore? I guess bigger is always better or something.

 

Anyone going to this? I'm going to be in the Grayling area anyway and my girlfriend and I were thinking of making the drive over to go watch people get crazy. My truck is mostly stock and quite frankly would have a tough time getting around the dunes but my rock crawler isn't currently running. It will be a very tame day for me.

 

If you stop out track me down and I will give you a ride. I dont know what trucks you have but generally a stock truck will do better than a crawler at the dunes. Its all about the driver and tire pressure. If you have aggressive tires you need lots of motor to go with them. Ive seen a ford escape show up many vehicles much more "capable". My favorite will always be the pretty lifted ranger that couldn't make test hill that had two huge chicks in a Geo tracker doing circles around it then going to the top when it got stuck. The tracker didn't have two matching panels or tires and about 500 lbs of woman hanging out of it.

Anyhow give me 10 minutes and we can get you where you can make everything.

 

lol thanks, I've actually spent a lot of time up there, I'm just not too keen on doing it on these rugged fails. I actually made test hill in this blazer with Bridgestone Dueler APT-IIIs in 2WD (once)



Speed definitely helped the blazer. I've had my crawler up there before and it definitely feels a little gimped. Too slow to get up a ton of speed on the hill but the tires at low pressure and lockers are awesome. It looks pretty, but it's a slow dog with 5.13 gears and a stock 4.0L, auto and NP231 transfer case.



This is the current truck's setup. I'm skeptical about those rugged fails (w/ 20k miles on them)

 

They will be just fine. Half worn tires do the best, enough tread to move you forward but not enough to dig a hole. I still haven't gotten everything to put my front driveline back together so I will be 2wd and still get everywhere.

Brought my buddies crawler to the dunes with us once 5.29's and dual cases. He parked it and had a great time the rest of the weekend in his Silverado tow rig.



I used to have a blazer. One of the trucks I wish I would have kept. At the time just wasnt practical driving back and forth to New York on a regular basis. We were going to SAS it and I decided to move on. Didn't want to just scrap everything that had already been done to it



Where do you usually wheel? We have a decent sizes group that tries to wheel as much as possible. Try to post trip pics here:

 

BTW man nice rigs.

I hope I don't seem overly opinionated or pushy. I have been wheeling around 20 years and just feel like 90% of wheeling is driver and knowing there vehicle. Ive seen many things work that according to most shouldn't but the driver knew the rig and drove accordingly.

Probably all that really doesnt matter In the end because it is about having a good time anyhow.
just my 2 cents

 

We've been all over Michigan for the most part (except the Mounds, I have no interest in running only mud). I live in Jackson so we go down to Bundy hill a couple times a summer. It's not really a great place, but it passes the time. Rocks and Valleys always has some fun competitions in the middle of the summer and some decent hill and rock courses. If we can help it we go once a year to Canada for the Loonie Run at Morning Wood Offroad Park... it's nuts, absolutely insane. It puts the southern rock bouncers down in Tennessee and Kentucky to shame. A lot more rocks, with just as big of hills and locals who are doing it in beat up S-10s turned mud-truck. We used to spend a lot of time in the areas around Grayling too, just exploring the woods, but with my buggy that hasn't been an option...

I made the very foolish mistake of buying that green buggy and since then I've actually started to like wheeling less.

I think it's 2-fold. I don't actually enjoy it because everything is so damn easy with it. That and there's no thrill at all when you're not worried about body panels. I Just put it up next to a tree and pivot around it instead of making a 2 or 3-point turn on trails. The other big factor is that it isn't street legal and it makes it a real bitch to get anywhere. We trailer up with a gooseneck @ 36' loaded with my dad's rig (that black buggy with the CJ hood and grill in my pic) and mine. It makes the little trips where I just pack up some recovery straps and drive up north impossible. I really miss the mobility of a street legal rig.

For a while I was wheeling with a 2005 TJ that I honestly loved and probably shouldn't have gotten rid of. It was the right mix of street capable and was a beast offroad. I was just too worried about body damage. We had the suspension tuned in to be about perfect. Tons of flex, no rubbing other than on front arm under full lock. I was too worried about taking something nice and ruining it so I sold it while it had some value.










At this point I have 3 vehicles, the Taco, a 2004 WRX STI and the green tube buggy. I need to get rid of something and as much as I don't want to I think I'm going to downsize and ditch the STI and the buggy, and do a JK unlimited build with a similar posture of my older TJ. 4" of lift, and lots of cutting this time around to keep the CoG low to fit bigger tires (35"s on the TJ with no trimming last time)... That leaves the Taco in a weird and awkward place of being another 4wd vehicle that's not being modded and being used only as a DD.... I just don't think I'm ready to take a 2013 and start thrashing it offroad. The dunes have me nervous enough lol.

 

We usually hit Bundy Hill once a year. We tend to go to Badlands and Silver Lake most of the time. They are all pretty much the same distance for us. We have a couple local places we like to wheel also but try to hit other places also.

I have a buddy that wheels a rubi like your old one. Its a good package I am not a big fan of the short wheelbase anymore. One of my early rigs was a wrangler but that was when 33's were big tires, 35's were huge and they had leafsprings.

I have a Grand Cherokee that I have been having alot of fun with lately. Its really a pretty janky rig I somehow ended up with. So far I have just done enough to it to make it usable as a trail beater. To bad the body was in great shape when I got it but it has helped keep the Taco away from anymore body damage. This summer I plan to turn into a legit build.



Anyhow we will have to catch up and wheel together sometime. Always like to meet more wheelers. I really don't like mud either but unfortunately in Michigan its unavoidable.

 

Yeah I'd love to find some time to meet some other people with Tacos that see the dirt. I'm kind of at a weird point where I'm not sure if I want to build my truck at all or leave it as a DD.

I completely agree with the wheelbase on the rubicon. I loved it for tight woods but it sucked on hills because it was so short. I really think if I build a jeep again it'll be an LJ or a JK Unlimited because of the wheelbase.

I usually go on trips with a group called Michigan Wheelers. Usually Drummond Island, Rocks and Valleys, Badlands (once) are where they tend to go to. http://www.michiganwheelers.com/forums/cmps_index.php

 

From a quick look it looks like michiganwheelers is mostly guys off of greatlakes4x4. Saw Kennyoffroad on there. I wheel with him a bit. Pics above of my grand were at his house at a ridgerunners trail run.

You have a nice truck. I would turn it into a DD / mild trail rig. Then have something else for crawling/ difficult stuff. Then when you want to drive to a trail ride, silver lake, or other mild stuff you can take the taco with minimal chance of damage. Its nice to have a comfy rig sometimes. I have another Grand Cherokee identical to the one above, its just a 3" lift and 31's. Its suppose to be my wife's but she only really goes to Silver Lake anymore and would rather drive the big Jeep. But for long trail rides its nice to have something that drives and rides like stock with all the stock creature comforts. My tacoma still drives nice but its pretty stripped down these days and my butt falls asleep on long rides in the suspension seats.

 

lol my biggest problem is the lack of a cab on my buggy. We went on a trip this winter and just about froze to death running around the Grayling trails near the guard camp without a cab. I had the heat up all the way, bundled up like we were going snowmobiling and it was just miserably cold. I won't ever be doing that again until I get at least a soft-top over me with plastic windows.

 

Chiming in from Traverse City. Loving my taco.

 

Nice taco man. I love those rims.

 

Thanks! I was able to work the rims into the purchase. They really transformed the look from the stock off road rims. Sliders are on order with SOS Concepts. Have 8-9 loooong weeks to wait.

 

I really love the look of those too. If I didn't buy the Tx Pro package with the fakelocks I would have went with those FJ rims that you have in anthracite.