Hello from 'da UP, eh?

Guess I better throw a post in here...even though I started posting elsewhere.

Born and raised in the frozen north of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan....fortunate enough to still live here.

Just purchased a 2019 TRD Off-Road Premium in magnetic grey that came straight from Arizona via a dealer in St. Louis. With only 47K miles on it...it's barely broken in.

It's the cleanest, rust free 5 year old vehicle in the whole UP!

I parked in the garage until I could get the underside taken care of...."Rust Check". Hope it holds the rust at bay!

I hate the term "overlanding"....my goal is to build a dependable, daily driven "trail rig".

I have a set of 275/70-R17 Falken Wildpeaks AT3's on order, along with a Dobinsons 2.5 inch suspension lift. Front end will include a Warn semi-hidden winch mount with a Badlands 12K winch.

Currently leaning very heavily towards the Victory 4x4 full skid plate setup in aluminum. Anyone running these? Opinions?

I will also be adding a set of rock sliders in the near future (haven't done any looking at those yet....my credit card is on the verge of a meltdown already!).

This setup will be more than capable enough for me to hit the trails!

 

welcome

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome from Maryland!

 

Welcome

 

Welcome from your southernly neighbors...

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome to the forum from Wisconsin!

I've been meaning to explore the UP sometime. Keep an eye on the Wisconsin events thread in case you'd like to come down and join the crew on a trip sometime.

Personally, I wouldn't buy aluminum skids, unless you don't plan on really needing them. I've heard it doesn't slide over rocks as nicely as steel. Most of the folks I run trails with have steel, and just touch them up periodically.

 

Welcome from Northern LP Michigan (Lewiston)!

I was JUST telling the Southern folk here about how we drool over southern vehicles that havent seen salt, lol. You scored a good one!!!

As for me, I just picked up my '23 TRD ORP about a month and half ago. I plan on having it Fluid Filmed underneath for 2-3 years, and then switching over to Woolwax. You know how it goes.....

 

I debated a lot about steel vs aluminum. In the end, aluminum won. Lighter, no rust, and more expensive....wait!.... scratch that third one.

I don't foresee doing a bunch of hardcore rock crawling. For a daily driver and moderate use trail rig, I think aluminum will be the best choice.

When I hear too much scraping coming from underneath, it's time to consider turning around.

 

I need to track down the WI thread mentioned....we go to the Eagle River area for a week long adventure motorcycle rally (next year will be the 17th year we've gone).

 

Here's the event page. I've been slacking a bit, but I'll make sure to get the events transferred over from Tacomaworld in the future.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/midwest-area-events-outings-and-bs.12714/

 

I had just found it.

Thanks!

 

For just in case, aluminum will be fine. Even the stock skids can take a little abuse. I still have the stock gas tank skid (although it looks pretty rough).

 

Welcome! Your MGM is in good company lol. I was just in da UP for the first time this summer…just an overnight trip. Checked out some of forest trails near Bond falls, Burned dam falls (camped 20’ feet away from the falls!) and Yondota falls near Goegebic lake. Actually drove all the way up to the lake and porcupine state park. Wanted to go in but I couldnt figure out how many and which passes I needed to get in because I didnt do any research lol. I’m planning on exploring the area a bit more next year. Beautiful area. Oh and I had a real honest to goodness pasty that was epic!

Have fun with the 4runner!

edit: there’s a place for aluminum skids. If you end up having more fun than you planned, they might need replacing after a while if you need to bang them back into shape more than a few times (aluminum will fracture more easily after reshaping).

I went the exact opposite way and got a massive skidset from 4x innovations that would be good for the typical landmine. Great protection, buy at the cost of weight, and considerable extra work for some maintanance jobs, since they need to come off. I also had to readjust my suspension for the extra weight. So yeah..aluminum has its place lol

 

Another welcome from Wisconsin! Central part of the state, Clark Co. We sure like the part of Michigan your from, traveled there/worked there a bunch in the past, around Ishpeming to be exact.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

Welcome

 

Welcome from San Diego!

 

Welcome from the center of the bourbon universe.

 

Got new rubber today...Falken Wildpeak's 275/70R18.

Dobinsons lift kit and Victory 4x4 aluminum skid plates are on order.

 

Welcome from Cheboygan! Used to live in Newberry but my adult kids still live in the U.P. I also have a MGM and some of what you plan I've done. I have the Falken Wildpeeaks in the 285 size and have Dobinsons UCA's to compliment an Eibach Pro-Truck series 2R suspension. I also have a Victory part but it's my aluminum front bumper. Mine also got the supercharger but that's unrelated. Enjoy your 4R!

 

Welcome, great looking Runner!

 

I'm jealous of the supercharger!

 

Welcome from West Michigan!