Mrs Cooker is getting pretty good behind the camera and has made some good videos for me to share with you all.

First video was last weekend out on AZ FS 361. Second video was earlier today, out on AZ FS 9549 and 9513. I hope you all enjoy!

Nice truck, color too.

My back hurts, just watching that truck bounce around.

Thanks guys!

V-Tail, it’s not as bad as you think. I air down to 20 psi and it makes the ride pretty soft and the bouncing minimal. Since the last video I posted where I bent the skid plate, I bought a Viair compressor. It makes all the difference in the world.

I'm thinking if you ran this at about 80 you wouldn't notice most of it. just a thought.

Looks like a blast. I can’t wait to get this Tundra off-road!
Fella is supposed to buy my old Foxes tomorrow already sold the UCAs. So when I get the cash from the Foxes I’ll order my skid plates.
Sold a rifle on consignment the fella put on layaway. Hopefully he pays in full sooner rather than later as that will fund the suspension. Still trying to figure out what to go with.
Then will likely be going with Slee sliders.
Tires are already on and bed gets sprayed Tuesday.
Then save up for the 46 gallon fuel tank.

nice vids! my truck is itching to go along. maybe when it gets a little older and gains some skills.

Very nice, I subscribed to your channel.

I'm hoping it won't be long before I can get out there with our 4runner Off Road. I've been reading a lot and leaning from experienced overlanders who have recommended that BEFORE upgrading tires, lift, and lights, I should concentrate on limiting trail damage and vehicle recovery. Therefore, I have bought the following:

• RSG Offroad flat rock sliders with top plate
  
• Southern Style Offroad slimline hybrid front bumper with 30″ LED cutout for a Baja Designs S8, 30" Driving/Combo, LED Light Bar
  
• WARN ZEON 10-S Platinum 12V Electric Winch with Spydura Synthetic Cable Rope: 3/8" Diameter x 100' Length, 5 Ton (10,000 lb) Capacity

I already have an ARB Differential Breather Kit and an ARB 12V On-Board Twin High Performance Air Compressor to install as well. I'm still waiting on the bumper and light to be shipped, but with the COVID situation they're a bit behind. I wanted to upgrade the suspension with a 2 or 3 inch lift so I could then upgrade the tires to some Nitto Ridge Grappler 265/70R17, but the wife won't let me buy new tires until the stock ones need replacing. It'd be a shame if those tires were punctured by some super sharp rocks or whatnot.

We hope to get out West sometime within the next couple of years, we should link up and do some trails.

Nice videos, always fun to get off road. I was out with my Rubicon earlier in the week.

quote:

Originally posted by parallel:
Very nice, I subscribed to your channel.

I'm hoping it won't be long before I can get out there with our 4runner Off Road. I've been reading a lot and leaning from experienced overlanders who have recommended that BEFORE upgrading tires, lift, and lights, I should concentrate on limiting trail damage and vehicle recovery. Therefore, I have bought the following:

• RSG Offroad flat rock sliders with top plate
  
• Southern Style Offroad slimline hybrid front bumper with 30″ LED cutout for a Baja Designs S8, 30" Driving/Combo, LED Light Bar
  
• WARN ZEON 10-S Platinum 12V Electric Winch with Spydura Synthetic Cable Rope: 3/8" Diameter x 100' Length, 5 Ton (10,000 lb) Capacity

I already have an ARB Differential Breather Kit and an ARB 12V On-Board Twin High Performance Air Compressor to install as well. I'm still waiting on the bumper and light to be shipped, but with the COVID situation they're a bit behind. I wanted to upgrade the suspension with a 2 or 3 inch lift so I could then upgrade the tires to some Nitto Ridge Grappler 265/70R17, but the wife won't let me buy new tires until the stock ones need replacing. It'd be a shame if those tires were punctured by some super sharp rocks or whatnot.

We hope to get out West sometime within the next couple of years, we should link up and do some trails.

Parallel, a couple of things... You’re doing it right by mitigating possible damage before suspension. A 2” lift makes a pretty big difference in clearance. Combine that with some tires and it’s an even bigger difference. I’m not as concerned about recovery straps as I don’t off road in mud. Now the time will come that I get stuck or high centered. I’ll probably be wishing for a winch, and instead be using a shovel, stacking rocks, and using a Maasdam power puller.

The biggest and most effective upgrade that I have done, was tires. I went from some 245/70/16 Firestone (street tires) to 265/75/16 BFG K02’s. Aside of the increase in diameter of the tires adding lift, I went with a 10 ply E Rated tire. The sidewalks don’t sag, and it added a substantial amount of lift. I can air down to 20 psi and I still have almost the same ground clearance.
That said, the tires make all the difference in off road trails. I would have destroyed the street tires long ago, and many of the places we have gone, just couldn’t have been done with street tires. They just don’t have the grip.
I swapped tires at 900 miles on the odometer. I sold the stock tires for $400, which wasn’t bad.

Between the 2” lift and the tires, my truck sits over 4” higher than stock. More than 2” of added differential clearance was gained just by the tires.

If you make it out here, we will definitely hit up some trails. I have hundreds of spots mapped and have been on most. Now the wife is having fun filming us out on these trails.

Beancooker is spot on. Unless you are doing some wicked bouldering a gigantic lift is unnecessary.
Some of these folks putting on these obnoxious 6”—12” lifts on Tundras is baffling. But hey it is their truck.

Tires are where it is at to get started for sure. I may end up with buyers remorse on the tires I chose for the Tundra.
I had 33” Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws on the Expedition and they were excellent off-road. For what they were pretty good on the road but they were heavy and knew you were driving an aggressive tire.
For the Tundra I opted to scale it back a bit with 33” Michelin LTX A/T2s. Just looking at them they really don’t look aggressive at all.
Their road behavior is everything you would expect from Michelin. I watched a number of videos on them and folks were handling the terrain I do with ease. Did not see a lot of mud videos and at times we get some serious mud around here.
Found this video and they faired pretty well in the mud.



Link to original video: https://youtu.be/jaaycMzpHqo

I did not realize the TRDPro came with the Michelin’s from the factory though I think they may be 32” tires.

As for my lift I am only going up 2” in the front and nothing in the rear.
With the 33” tires, full skid plates, and sliders I am not worried about not having enough height.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Tires are where it is at to get started for sure.

I'm with you 100% there. I'm not really an off-roader, but I've been driving on dirt roads on central, south, and east Texas hunting leases since I was a little kid.

The very fine limestone/caliche dirt of the drier, hillier parts of central Texas and the clay-heavy dirt of east Texas both turn slick as snot and really cake onto tires after a good rain.

I drive a 2018 Navigator. It has the stock Hankook Dynapro HT tires. They seem like pretty good tires, but they're definitely a road tire.

I was in central Texas not long ago after a big rain and on the more-graveled roads it was fine, but on the less-graveled and ungraveled roads, traction and steering control were a real problem.

There were some completely flat spots with a couple of inches of mud where I was in 4LO and pretty much flooring it and sliding all over the place to keep moving at all. If I'd let it stop, I don't think I'd have been able to get it moving again.

That's a situation where ground clearance and suspension travel are meaningless and the vehicle is 4WD with plenty of power. All that's really left is the tires.

If you're doing it all the time, a full set of locking diffs is a good idea. My Navigator has a locking rear diff but even without that, my experience has been that for occasional use, the traction control version that uses the brakes to distribute AWD torque works really well at the cost of some extra brake wear. If it's infrequent, that isn't really a big deal.

Jeremy, that guy in the video is a jackwagon. I had to skip through it, eh? I get why you posted it, but damn those maples.

Maladat, there was a review of the Tacoma TRD Off Road. It had street tires, the videographer said straight off, if this thing didn’t have street tires, we would be better off, or something to that effect.



Link to video mentioned about tires: https://youtu.be/59vJAtGMSuM

quote:

If you're doing it all the time, a full set of locking diffs is a good idea. My Navigator has a locking rear diff but even without that, my experience has been that for occasional use, the traction control version that uses the brakes to distribute AWD torque works really well at the cost of some extra brake wear. If it's infrequent, that isn't really a big deal.

Our 4Runner is the "Off Road" (formerly "Trail") trim. As such it comes with many of the nice to have off road driver assist features such as multi-terrain select, active traction control, crawl control, and rear locking differential. One day I might spring for a front air locker seeing as how I'll already have the ARB dual on board air compressor to run it.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
Jeremy, that guy in the video is a jackwagon. I had to skip through it, eh? I get why you posted it, but damn those maples.

Maladat, there was a review of the Tacoma TRD Off Road. It had street tires, the videographer said straight off, if this thing didn’t have street tires, we would be better off, or something to that effect.

***snip***

Whoever that videographer is was dead on. I couldn't believe that a vehicle billed as TRD "Off Road" would come standard with inept Dunlop AT20 Grandtrek P265/70R17 tires. Note that it says "AT" as in all terrain; that is pure crap as there's no doubt these things are just slightly larger highway tires. This is why I bought some tire chains and that winch (I'll have some traction boards soon as well). There's no doubt that here in bayou country I'll find myself in some pretty nasty mud. There are folks here who seek out the deepest, nastiest mud they can find and I will never be that guy; but living where I do I certainly won't have to be looking for it to find it.

Yeah, the Canadian dude is rough. But it showed the tires pretty well in the mud.
I fast forwarded through all the Ram stuff.
There is a ton of solid info on YouTube I am likely missing because I can’t deal with the YouTuber themself.

'77 FJ40 Land Cruiser here but your truck is sweet. Your wife is an excellent photographer!

quote:

Originally posted by bushpilot:
'77 FJ40 Land Cruiser here but your truck is sweet. Your wife is an excellent photographer!

Thank you! I really appreciate you noticing my wife’s hard work. I will be sure to pass that along, as those compliments totally make her day!!!

quote:

Thank you! I really appreciate you noticing my wife’s hard work. I will be sure to pass that along, as those compliments totally make her day!!!

Hard work is right! I've tried a few times to get decent footage of me on my motorcycle and THAT was hard work even on paved roads. I imagine that doing so on rough terrain is even more so. I wish i had someone willing to put in that kind of work who also has the talent to make it look good. I've only shot a few that were even remotely worth showing and I was dragging ass afterward.

I envy you guys out there in Arizona, Utah, etc...4 wheeling bliss.

Here is PA its becoming almost extinct...neighboring states as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
...
Then save up for the 46 gallon fuel tank.

Wish I could find a decent option for a larger tank on a Taco.