Anyone miss their stock 200? (2 Viewers)

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I wouldnt take my rig back to stock, im happy where I am with the OME lift, rims and tires, BB skids and all. I'm certainly glad I didn't go wild right out of the gate, just modding and adding things based on pictures and what I thought I'd be doing. I like to consider it done now, though the future is really the determining factor. If and when I do break, that's when something ends up different.
 
The type of wheeling I enjoy really does require larger tires and at least one diff locker to get through. I chose to run F/R lockers to reduce drama and potential for damage. Larger tires are important to me on the 200 due to it's portly dimensions and general lack of ground clearance. In my 80 or hilux, I could easily clear obstacles on 31-32" tires that the 200 gets a little "tricky" with on 35's.

But I have managed to keep the weight in check in all of my rigs to date. I always go light on the armor. Usually just sliders. I've frankly never needed skidplates until I started wheeling the minivan, which has much less ground clearance than the older rigs I'm used to. I don't run a winch, but always wheel with a buddy. I've run stock bumpers on most of my rigs. They get scraped, dented and ugly, but I consider it a sacrificial part and easy enough to replace if resale is a concern. What makes a rig heavy is FR bumpers, winch, dual batteries, tire carrier, and frankly, all the "overlanding" crap that people cram their trucks full of. I've considered purchasing a lot of pre-built rigs and usually find myself thinking I'd end up selling or scrapping most of the mods the PO did. Having rolled a truck before, I cringe at all the heavy stuff people put on their roofs.

It would be nice to have 2 rigs, one for wheeling and one for general light duty "truck stuff" if I had the room. For me, I think that would be a 'cruiser for wheeling and a stock 1st gen Tacoma for "truck stuff." We've also got a Tesla and my wife's RX350, so there are other options for DD and highway trips.
 
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This is a great thread and I appreciate the lack of intensity with defending personal choices on builds. My reality is I bought another LC because I wanted to get back to my pinnacle of comfort and reliability after spending the last 10 years with German sports cars...I will not use it to anywhere close to its full capability. Light exploration through southern Appalachia and western NC is more than fine with a highway tire...the vanity in me wants a meatier setup just for looks, like my 100 had. But, I am admittedly thinking about ride comfort more than I ever have. I'm heeding a lot of the feedback on E/LT ratings. I'm on a Michelin defender at the moment that I love and could always go back to.

If I had to guess if I jumped to a non K02 A/T...I do think I'd have no qualms about the decision and the differences would be negligible, but after being in a 911 2 inches off the ground the last couple years...I don't really want to go out of my way to intentionally degrade ride quality too much. I love the zero frills nature of the current setup.
 
Likewise, and that was WITHOUT anything loaded up there.
Same. And in my case the lockers really helped get me in over my head.

Ultimately the problem was lack of skill on my part, but the experience definitely shaped my appetite for certain mods and the thoughts of “realistically, what will I actually do with this?” that led me to the really mild setup I have now.
 
This is a great thread and I appreciate the lack of intensity with defending personal choices on builds. My reality is I bought another LC because I wanted to get back to my pinnacle of comfort and reliability after spending the last 10 years with German sports cars...I will not use it to anywhere close to its full capability. Light exploration through southern Appalachia and western NC is more than fine with a highway tire...the vanity in me wants a meatier setup just for looks, like my 100 had. But, I am admittedly thinking about ride comfort more than I ever have. I'm heeding a lot of the feedback on E/LT ratings. I'm on a Michelin defender at the moment that I love and could always go back to.

If I had to guess if I jumped to a non K02 A/T...I do think I'd have no qualms about the decision and the differences would be negligible, but after being in a 911 2 inches off the ground the last couple years...I don't really want to go out of my way to intentionally degrade ride quality too much. I love the zero frills nature of the current setup.
I had KO2s on my 200. I took them off and put on Defenders.
 
yeah that's why I specified non k02 AT. I don't think I would like that and you guys have done good job here confirming that's the harshest of the AT variant...considering SL 285/65 options and a Cooper at3 275/70...I have a friend who does a lot of g500/cayenne outfitting and selling, he switched from K02's to the coopers recently on his builds and he said they're a way more enjoyable tire on road...I'm also not terribly scared if I hate them and don't mind tinkering, there's a market for good condition AT's in this size and I can put my defenders back on for not much more then my mounting and balancing costs. Thanks for input all.
 
I think it looks better with the mods.

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I just wanna point out that skid plates are heavy but they are also at the lowest point on the truck and probably reduce COG. So yes your absolute weight does increase some but I bet it’s not as bad as most think.
 
I just wanna point out that skid plates are heavy but they are also at the lowest point on the truck and probably reduce COG. So yes your absolute weight does increase some but I bet it’s not as bad as most think.
Yup
 
I just wanna point out that skid plates are heavy but they are also at the lowest point on the truck and probably reduce COG. So yes your absolute weight does increase some but I bet it’s not as bad as most think.
Stock skids on LC200 are plenty good for 90+% of owners. Adding heavy aftermarket plates is not gonna help anything…..even if they are low.

Lower COG makes no difference in a big whale like LC/LX. LC/LX still handle like crap on-road where COG won’t matter. And off-road, the heavier aftermarket plates will just make our whale sink faster in sand/mud and further impede upward momentum up a rock ledge in our 6000+ lbs whale.
 
Stock skids on LC200 are plenty good for 90+% of owners. Adding heavy aftermarket plates is not gonna help anything…..even if they are low.

Lower COG makes no difference in a big whale like LC/LX. LC/LX still handle like crap on-road where COG won’t matter. And off-road, the heavier aftermarket plates will just make our whale sink faster in sand/mud and further impede upward momentum up a rock ledge in our 6000+ lbs whale.
Looking at mine, I know they've paid for themselves. And they give me a place to put more stickers.
 
Stock skids on LC200 are plenty good for 90+% of owners. Adding heavy aftermarket plates is not gonna help anything…..even if they are low.

Lower COG makes no difference in a big whale like LC/LX. LC/LX still handle like crap on-road where COG won’t matter. And off-road, the heavier aftermarket plates will just make our whale sink faster in sand/mud and further impede upward momentum up a rock ledge in our 6000+ lbs whale.

I didn’t say they would “help” but if I’m adding weight anywhere, that’s where I would want it.

You act like the 75 lbs of added weight in 6200 lb truck matters. Also, there’s ways to cut weight. I’ve pulled 110 lbs between the 3rd row seats and TV’s and then lost another 30 lbs over my stock tire and wheel setup going to 35’s. My truck is lighter with skids and 35’s than when I bought it stock
 
Yeah, you can clear them with a scanner. It’s easy and quick. But mine would come back within a few hours and it gets annoying to my OCD clearing them repeatedly.
So I end up ignoring them (which also bothers my OCD), but then it won’t let you turn on cruise control. I’m told that it also won’t let you put it into 4low but I am yet to try this with the warning on.

If replacing the charcoal canister is a fix, I may end up looking at the canister as a maintenance item. Just buy one if I see it on sale and keep it handy for next time the one installed on the rig fails.
But at $450 for the canister and $380 for the install….its not a cheap maintenance item.
If you DIY, then you could buy four of these for that price. (Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J9A5IA)
I've been running cheapo but fully compatible CC for more than a year, and it works just fine.
 

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