Perspective of watching people here descend into madness...

[Midwest Duo]

I just want some @@$#ing towing mirrors!!!

 

[RUN-8]

Funny, I share this same exact position on firearms.

Yep.

Unless it’s particularly deficient in the area of sights or trigger…. Shoot the damn thing and leave it stock. Most quality pistols for example are fine out of the box for their intended purpose. Beyond that buy a quality holster or two and a belt that doesn’t suck, spend the remainder on ammo and training.

Rifles on the other hand almost always need an optic, and an optic mount. Don’t cheap out. You also will need a sling that doesn’t suck monkey nuts. If it’s a fighting gun for a civilian you probably need a scout light. Save the rest for ammo and training.

 

[Doggman1525]

and they hydrated on beer and wine, while eating bread going up alpe d’huez

Don't forget the smokes -

 

[surf fishing offroader]

I understand where your coming from, but I don't think people on here really think they need all that to offroad.

It's fun to buy shit and upgrade cars, I feel like your totally missing the point. Why live a boring life on stock wheels? Might as well just eat bland veggies for life, skip all salt bc it's bad for you and not required, etc...

I'd rather be like this old fart on this video - true life goals right here!!

 

[Ross LC250]

Insane amount of money this guy put in to that GX, very cool but he probably gets 175 mile range

 

[GrayBeard]

Yep.

Unless it’s particularly deficient in the area of sights or trigger…. Shoot the damn thing and leave it stock. Most quality pistols for example are fine out of the box for their intended purpose. Beyond that buy a quality holster or two and a belt that doesn’t suck, spend the remainder on ammo and training.

Rifles on the other hand almost always need an optic, and an optic mount. Don’t cheap out. You also will need a sling that doesn’t suck monkey nuts. If it’s a fighting gun for a civilian you probably need a scout light. Save the rest for ammo and training.

But muh splits are so much better and I can get sub microsecond reloads with my (fill in the blank trigger job / $2K+ race gun / magwell flare / etc.)

If your splits and reload times are why you lose a gunfight, 99% of the time it's because your tactics suck.

My limited offroading experience comes from the military and I am looking to get back into it (lightly), but I have to imagine it's the same: if I get stuck in my stock LC (even though it's "just" a Prado ) it's probably my driving or choosing a location well above my capability.

 

[ct1958]

Damn, well put and love the Merckx quote. I've been a cyclist/mountain biker since I was 18. Weight certainly matters.

 

[Midwest Duo]

I understand where your coming from, but I don't think people on here really think they need all that to offroad.

It's fun to buy shit and upgrade cars, I feel like your totally missing the point. Why live a boring life on stock wheels? Might as well just eat bland veggies for life, skip all salt bc it's bad for you and not required, etc...

I'd rather be like this old fart on this video - true life goals right here!!

Somewhere there’s a millennial crying about a boomer pissing away their inheritance…

 

[bluebullet]

Couldn’t agree more, especially on point #7. I’ll take Evan Willams Bottled in Bond though!

I am stuck on Ester Williams Black Label these days...

 

[Jack_]

I put spacers, 33s and a lift on my 3rd gen 4R and took it all off after a short while. It's still in the garage today looking and running great.
Anything I add to the LC that puts on weight I have an inexpensive solution for. You can find both of these on the 'bullshit isle' at Auto Zone. Plus, it just looks classy. Especially that chrome V8 emblem.

Wild Turkey neat anyday.

 

[TrailWhale]

non-aerodynamic roam case or pelican box to mount to my roof rack

Out of curiosity, what do people put in these boxes? I admit, they do look cool, but when I look them up they've got less than a quarter of the volume of my medium sized Thule box... which itself often feels too small!

 

[RUN-8]

But muh splits are so much better and I can get sub microsecond reloads with my (fill in the blank trigger job / $2K+ race gun / magwell flare / etc.)

If your splits and reload times are why you lose a gunfight, 99% of the time it's because your tactics suck.

My limited offroading experience comes from the military and I am looking to get back into it (lightly), but I have to imagine it's the same: if I get stuck in my stock LC (even though it's "just" a Prado ) it's probably my driving or choosing a location well above my capability.

I mean race guns are cool. If you’re playing gun games by all means buy equipment made for playing gun games.

Leave the duty and carry stuff closer to stock. Life is just better this way.

I will occasionally replace a trigger in a striker fired pistol because a lot of them are straight up ass, but beyond that I tend to leave stuff alone. If I weren’t capable of a solidly above average level of pistol marksmanship I would leave even striker fired triggers alone. Alas, in addition to USMC infantry service I also shot various competitive pistol disciplines including bullseye. Made collegiate nationals in 2003. So I am a pretty bad trigger snob. Glock triggers simply have to be changed out for me to enjoy them, HK striker fired triggers are fine out of the box, Walthers are great, SIG triggers are untrustworthy (LOL).

We need a firearms thread on this site…..


…….and done:

Firearms, Hunting, Shooting Sports

This site needs a discussion area for firearms, hunting, and shooting sports. So here it is.

www.landcruiserforum.com

 

[RUN-8]

Out of curiosity, what do people put in these boxes? I admit, they do look cool, but when I look them up they've got less than a quarter of the volume of my medium sized Thule box... which itself often feels too small!

They put their makeup in them for all their Instagram photo shoots. Influencer life!

 

[bigthom]

They put their makeup in them for all their Instagram photo shoots. Influencer life!

They keep about -2mpg.

 

[BlueCruiser]

Agreed. The best accessory is experience which enables good path line selection. Remember, an obstacle avoided is an obstacle overcome!

 

[BlueCruiser]

Funny, I share this same exact position on firearms.

and golf, and airplanes, and fishing, and pretty much anything that requires skill. As Ben Franklin once said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

 

[Jack_]

and golf, and airplanes, and fishing, and pretty much anything that requires skill. As Ben Franklin once said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

And sport bikes. "The right line".
Better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow.

 

[geomars]

Loving the vibe here as compared to other cesspools of the internet. I am a going to offer a perspective to many of you that you need to hear....buckle up.

Me? I am an experienced off-road driving instructor with a few decades of experience in everything from type III fire rigs to open wheel buggies and endless "overland" driving before that was a word that we used.

Here is a short list of things for you to consider:

1. You can ruin a 4wd faster by bolting things to it than taking things away. HP per ton is important. A 4cy 4wd is great, until you make it live its life as a V8 4wd. Repeat after me; mechanical sympathy.

2. Here is a tale as old as time: I need more storage. I need a roof rack for storage. I buy a roof rack for more storage. I need a secure way to store things on this roof rack. I need a non-aerodynamic roam case or pelican box to mount to my roof rack. Spend, Spend, Spend. Goals accomplished...ish.

Alternative history; I need more storage. Get crossbars and a very aero Yakima box. Done.

The second option is cheaper, easier, less annoying and weighs less. If you want a roof rack for the looks? Go nuts. But, there is a better way, young padiwan.

I am not just talking about roof racks here. I have had the same 12v air compressor for 3 decades. It is fantastic. I have moved it around and lent it out. You can't do that if you are gonna hide it under the hood. If hiding air compressors in your truck blows wind up your skirt, fine. Go nuts. But, it is not better in any way. It's just more money.

3. EVERY OUNCE MATTERS. Every skid plate, light bar, seat cover and tool you carry matters. Weight matters. It adds up...fast.

4. I had a 1988 FJ62 for years. It was fantastic off-road...and terrifying everywhere else. The 250 is great on road. The road is how you get to where you are off-road. Its performance there is important, like really important. Statistically more important than the off-road performance. You are not Indiana Jones...I dig your spirit though...and hat. Is that an Akubra?

5. I have had stock 4wds clear obstacles with 3 min of rock stacking and a good spotter. It's your money, but, will you really be off-road enough to offset the loss of MPG, cost of suspension upgrades, tires and the like? Also, if you lift, swap tires, bolt things to...the LC 250 is gonna really lose some tow capacity and payload. How much? Well, we don't know...nor do you.

6. The cyclist Eddy Merckx used to say, "Don't upgrade rides, ride up grades." It applies here too. Get some training, get some practice and learn. Quiet confidence is better than a SEMA rig any day.

7. Good scotch is expensive. Good Bourbon is not. It isn't really important to this discussion, but true as hell. Johnny Drum is my go to.

Thanks for this post. This month I gave my 2014 lifted 4runner (no added weight other than DIY rope winch, drawers, tools such as loose 12v Vair compressor, water jug, and 2-3" Bilstein lift, and under-the-hood flasher and chirper to reduce rodent damage). I use removable roof bars when necessary (don't like noise).

My predicament is what to do regarding lower clearance of my 2025 LCLC. I live part-time outside Escalante, Utah. Yesterday I drove down Hole-in-the-Rock Road and then on a side road/track to a hiking location, on 5-10 miles of high-center sand, with sagebrush on the sides. No problem getting to the trailhead, but I suspect the undercarriage was scraping the sand at many locations, and I was definitely wishing for another 1-2 inches of clearance. I tried driving with a pair of wheels on the high-center sand, but really didn't want to plow through the adjacent sagebrush in my new vehicle.

I'm a retired geologist who has gotten temporarily stuck to various degrees in the snow in 1969 in upstate NY (jacked and levered our way out), in sand in northern Arizona (used the carpeted floor mats from my rental car for traction mats), in a rented LC in muck in the Simpson Desert, Australia, 1984 (rocked back and forth looking for a way out), and in crusted salt-crystal mush in a Chinese jeep-like vehicle in the Qaidam Basin on the Tibet Plateau in China in 1988 (see photo). (Fortunately, for my work, I never got Mars rover, Curiosity stuck.)

All of this brings me to the question on my mind: what's the best way to reduce likelihood of damage under my new LC--or getting stuck somewhere new--without degrading its performance? If a lift, I'm concerned about losing the good ride it has now. Larger tires might be a good way to gain 1/2" without too much loss in mpg/performance. Skid plates? Just try to do what I did yesterday and try to ride on the center-high sand, and only occasionally wish I had my old 4Runner and try to avoid damage?

 

[JaredM]

I’ve almost walked away from this forum a time or two over people talking about the craziest petty “mod” they’re gonna do/want. From ceramic coated paint to amber grill lights and “should I get red or blue tow hooks” to what protective thingy they’re gonna do to the inside B pillar so seatbelt don’t scratch it. I’m sorry but maybe I’m the odd man out. Grew up in south Texas ranch country hunting deer/dove, and working cattle on horseback. A “man’s” truck always had about a half inch of dust on the dash and mud on the cloth floor mats . Most of the people here, bless their hearts, came from the BMW luxury world it seems. The car is a tool to be used. Not polished and obsessed over like it’s a work of fine art. Very few people actually plan to use the LC for what’s its intended use is. And that is to be used! Again, maybe it’s just me.

 

[Masbirdies]

Loving the vibe here as compared to other cesspools of the internet. I am a going to offer a perspective to many of you that you need to hear....buckle up.

Me? I am an experienced off-road driving instructor with a few decades of experience in everything from type III fire rigs to open wheel buggies and endless "overland" driving before that was a word that we used.

Here is a short list of things for you to consider:

1. You can ruin a 4wd faster by bolting things to it than taking things away. HP per ton is important. A 4cy 4wd is great, until you make it live its life as a V8 4wd. Repeat after me; mechanical sympathy.

2. Here is a tale as old as time: I need more storage. I need a roof rack for storage. I buy a roof rack for more storage. I need a secure way to store things on this roof rack. I need a non-aerodynamic roam case or pelican box to mount to my roof rack. Spend, Spend, Spend. Goals accomplished...ish.

Alternative history; I need more storage. Get crossbars and a very aero Yakima box. Done.

The second option is cheaper, easier, less annoying and weighs less. If you want a roof rack for the looks? Go nuts. But, there is a better way, young padiwan.

I am not just talking about roof racks here. I have had the same 12v air compressor for 3 decades. It is fantastic. I have moved it around and lent it out. You can't do that if you are gonna hide it under the hood. If hiding air compressors in your truck blows wind up your skirt, fine. Go nuts. But, it is not better in any way. It's just more money.

3. EVERY OUNCE MATTERS. Every skid plate, light bar, seat cover and tool you carry matters. Weight matters. It adds up...fast.

4. I had a 1988 FJ62 for years. It was fantastic off-road...and terrifying everywhere else. The 250 is great on road. The road is how you get to where you are off-road. Its performance there is important, like really important. Statistically more important than the off-road performance. You are not Indiana Jones...I dig your spirit though...and hat. Is that an Akubra?

5. I have had stock 4wds clear obstacles with 3 min of rock stacking and a good spotter. It's your money, but, will you really be off-road enough to offset the loss of MPG, cost of suspension upgrades, tires and the like? Also, if you lift, swap tires, bolt things to...the LC 250 is gonna really lose some tow capacity and payload. How much? Well, we don't know...nor do you.

6. The cyclist Eddy Merckx used to say, "Don't upgrade rides, ride up grades." It applies here too. Get some training, get some practice and learn. Quiet confidence is better than a SEMA rig any day.

7. Good scotch is expensive. Good Bourbon is not. It isn't really important to this discussion, but true as hell. Johnny Drum is my go to.

Interesting thoughts....EGG ZACT LY the way I think about things. Decided to forego the roof rack and put 3 Victory X-Bars on my current roof rails. Looks good and problem solved!

It's easy to get sucked into the mod mindset. But, everything I got interested in, I started thinking "do I want all that extra weight"? and ended up going cold on the idea. Or, do I really want to spend x thousands on this or that. Mine came with OK offroad tires (Nitto Ridge Grapplers) and with the X bars, there isn't really much I want to do with mine (LC Premo). But, to each their own....burn your $ how ever you see fit.