Michigan Tacomas

What bumper did you get. I have a mobtown bumper ordered

 

Might want to take a peak at ADS as well; they come ceramic coated to help prevent pitting and corrosion. That's what I'm running, but can't fully attest yet as they haven't been through a winter. Fox also will typically hold up pretty well to salt; they won't look pretty (aluminum will still pit), but the seals and everything will hold up to the abuse; that's what I always ran on my jeeps prior to getting the Taco.

I still haven't been able to decide on a bumper yet - part of me wants to go slim/hybrid to save weight, and I like to sort of OEM look... the other part knows I'd be better off going all in with a full bumper. I tend to (unintentionally) make use of my armor, lol.

 

SDHQ hidden winch mount. Far less cutting involved.

 

Exact same dilemma I had on bumper. Chose to save the weight and went with hidden mount. Would have gone Victory 4x4 if I did a full bumper though.

 

I did talk to Marie at headstrong about the ads setup when I was thinking about doing it myself.

 

I am on year 2 of Fox 2.5 coilovers and rear 2.0 shocks. They do not look too pretty anymore but they are holding up fine. I have north of 20k miles on them, and by the time they need a rebuild they will get cleaned up some. And I do about zero maintanence to keep them up, I bought them to do a job and not for how they look.

On a side note, I have the black chin bumper cover deal from the front bumper of my truck available if anyone on the west side wants it. Change your painted sport to the black offroad spec front bumper look.

 

I have had my share of shocks. Unfortunately any shocks you run in the winter are going to oxidize from the salt. The ADS on my Tundra look a little ruff after 1 winter. On my Tacoma the Fox's that were swapped out for ADS's were in about the same shape. The pic below is of the Fox's after wheeling for many years no winter driving. My current ADS look pretty much new still after about the same amount of wheeling seasons no winter driving.

All the high end shocks are pretty much the same as far as performance for most of us. Its more about who specs them out for you or rebuilds them to your specs.

 

Just a heads up for those of you, thinking about going to the off road expo in ionia. Dont bother it was lame as shit. There was maybe 10 vendors with worthless shit. There was a pretty nice technical course.

 

I’ve had these in my garage collecting dust for the last year. I’m hoping to trade them for a 12 pack of bells two hearted instead of throwing them away. Installed for 6 months, then went with Icon AAL. Can anyone put them to use? Just north of Ann Arbor.

 

Does anybody recommend a dealership department that they have had good experience with in the metro Detroit area?

 

Suburban Toyota in Troy has been pretty good. Matt Marziali is the service manager and a helpful guy. Alex is their top technician for tricky things. They’re good there - not amazing. Just want that to be clear.

If you meant sales - they were really good to work with.

 

I was referring to service. Ive been going there. No issues but not really impressed. I guess dealerships in general are just okay.

 

Yeah I’ve never had one that I was amazed with. Suburban helped me out with some issues I had with a lift they installed that went bad (blown shocks). They’ve also been willing to engage with me on troubleshooting some tire rub/alignment challenges cause from my own mods, so I give them good marks for that. I have found that I have to talk directly to Matt or Alex for what I want done though. That might be helpful for you.

 

That's actually pretty good to hear. Thanks

 

Caution should be used in the restroom at suburban. My dad walked in on an Indian guy washing his feet in the sink.

 

Hello everyone,
I bought a Tacoma almost two months ago and have been looking for a place to get ahold of others in the area for information on trails, parts, etc. I don’t see too many Tacomas in the Lansing area and it’s good to see that there are some out there.

I’m always seeing good fabricators and vendors from the extreme east and west coasts and I have not found anything on here from our region. Hard to buy these large, heavy and expensive items to begin with and then have to pay $200 shipping to boot. Anyone know of any local places that make/sell roof racks/baskets, sliders, etc.? Maybe even members in the area that have the equipment and knowledge to help build a bed cap roof rack out of aluminum like this?https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-prinsu-style-shell-rack.521186/

 

Victory 4x4 isn't too far away. They have bumpers, skids, sliders, and bed racks. They're a sister company to JCR (Jeep parts) and make great products. Also check out Kens Kar Kare just northwest of Lansing. Ken Farley Jr. there is a big Jeep builder, but has done some work on my truck and is good friends with Daryl and the guys at Victory as well. Good group to get connected with. Ken know a LOT about the trails on that side of the state.

 

Awesome, I will check them out. Thank you for the information.

 

Pete beat me to it! lol - Victory 4x4 makes some good looking stuff; and I've ran a lot of JCR parts on my jeeps in the past.

Also, there should be some black friday deals popping up soon; some vendors might be offering free shipping, or at least discounts that will offset the shipping costs.

I'm sure before long we might try to organize another Taco trip somewhere; in the meantime, we can help point you in the directions of trails and good spots to visit.

 

Good point on black Friday deals.

It’s going to take me some time to get this thing set up, so I’m not going to get in to any crazy trails that stock suspension and tires aren’t able to handle at this point. I am definitely down for long moderate trail trips and camping though.

I have friends/family in the Clarkston area and up north in the Gladwin and Gaylord areas as well, so any tips are appreciated.