Izzy LC 250 Experience

[izzyandsue]

Did you consider the KO3? I got a new set on my 200 about a month ago and am really liking them so far. Granted, that's 100% street driving, some during the heavy rains, but zero offroad. The noise and ride was a HUGE improvement over my KO2's, but they were worn to the point I don't think that's nearly a fair comparison, but I believe there is an improvement over when those were new. I'm seeing growing popularity withe the Wildpeaks and would love to hear what went into your decision, as I know you have a lot more offroad exposure than me, and mine is almost exclusively on MTs

KO3s are fine and I would have gotten them. The decision for me was based on snow traction and recommendations. I reached out to the crew I will be working with in CO, NM, UT, AZ high desert and they all had the same comment, KO3s are terrible in snow. I have KO3s on my FJ43 and they are awesome all around NC, but have never driven in snow with them. The guys in CO drive in snow more than 6 months out of the year, so "abundance of caution" got me their recommendation of Falken Wildpeaks or Cooper commercial AT tires. The Falken and KO3s are pretty much the same price with discounts so that didnt make a difference.

If ice and snow driving wasn't in the cards for me, I could have easily gotten the KO3s.

 

[izzyandsue]

I re-read my post above, and thought about Roy Kent. KO3s are not fine, they are great, they are great tires, I do mean it.

 

[izzyandsue]

Moving along to roof rack…this morning at LFD Offroad, testing prototype , quiet at 80mph.

 

[izzyandsue]

And after a little tweaking, prototype under armor skid steel plates are in

 

[izzyandsue]

MPG has gone down, with the 33" Wildpeaks E, and the roof rack and the steel under belly. Running 18mpg now, used to get 21-22

 

[stevezero]

Izzy is singlehandedly supporting the economy, from small businesses to giant petro companies, and everything in between.


Man that is sweet

 

[izzyandsue]

Izzy is singlehandedly supporting the economy, from small businesses to giant petro companies, and everything in between.


Man that is sweet

We do what we can for humanity! I am lucky that the components are prototypes, so I do write ups for installation and then use testing. Not perfect fits and may require more cutting and welding so I do that then provide dimensions and info to manufacturer. Stop short of using my PE stamp n the results.

 

[izzyandsue]

Driving 1700 miles to the high NM desert, driving in the desert for a week, then returning home has not been this easy. The truck performed beautifully and the only obstacles I didnt drive where the larger rock ones. But with a future lift it will be a piece of cake.

This was drone video capture by a buddy, along a pretty simple route.

 

[izzyandsue]

Latest trip, since will be out for a couple of months before I do anything else:

Loaded truck with all my crap for a 10 day trip, drove to Jackson MS the first day, then Brownsville TX the next, finally to Tularosa NM, about a mile high elevation desert. There we had to do some recon and set up so up and driving in the BLM lands to scout routes and stuck scenario areas.

• Drove through creeks, washes, berms, arroyos. It just drove it all with no issue
• Drove into obstacle course, pin stripping but otherwise nothing stopped me
• By Friday I had so much accumulated dust it was ridiculous, but amazing fun. So rinsed it out for the return trip
• Drove to Shreveport on the way back, for one night, then to CLT on the next day
• Apple Carplay would disconnect randomly, could be after 8 hours or 8 minutes, weird. Then I realize my phone was really hot when it would drop. I solved that by turning phone off and back on again, and it was fine until it got very hot again. I think is my iphone Xr, which is pretty old.

On the highway, the truck was smooth and it just drives itself, steers, slows down, accelerates all by itself on the highway. On the the desert trails, sand and rocky areas, the stock suspension was the only thing to worry about to select a line. Other than a couple of obstacles it drove everywhere I went previous years with my 80 series. The vented seats worked great in 100 degree weather.

Today vacuumed and cleaned the interior, tomorrow the exterior.

The sky was amazing, not a cloud every day. Missile range boom booms came nightly

This was a stuck scenario created with this sweet 4 Runner

Just hanging next to grandpa

Checking out one of the overall recovery areas, a huge arroyo break out over 20 ft deep

When in Roswell.....got to hit the donut shop for breakfast

 

[weejub]

Officially unsubscribing to this, too much risk of selling the Rav4 and Reba . .

 

[Comet]

@weejub you go ahead and get that new vehicle. Reba has a home back here in Virginia. HAHA

 

[Cirbo]

Best mod/accessory so far?

 

[izzyandsue]

For me, the order would be tires, sliders, skid plate. The roof rack is nice to have. Tires because you shouldn’t wear bowling shoes when you go hiking. Sliders and skids are about the same, going to NM and that terrain demands it, running arroyos where the rocks and boulders can mover overnight.

 

[lumbee1]

Hey @izzyandsue has fuel economy remained roughly the same 18mpg after you did the mods? The reason I ask is because the 2024 Tacoma folks noticed a drop in fuel economy until the computer recalibrated. Fuel economy was bad at first but got better.

 

[izzyandsue]

Hey Jonathan! I was out for 6 weeks, so no driving at all. I will keep checking it and let you know. My mpg was not what the dashboard was showing, but miles divided my gas at the pump.

The new tires are 3% larger diameter than OEM, but 1.5 times heavier, so i expected a hit on mpg. I drove about 3000 miles on them, highway mostly, and mpg didn’t change much.

 

[izzyandsue]

Got the new front skid plate from Hendricks, it is as long as the 2 standard plates. They didn’t have the rearmost one yet so waiting for that one. It fits nice, 2.7mm thick at most places (2.5-2.8mm) and looks nice. I am leaving the stabilizer disconnect skid plate on for now until I get the rear one that covers all the way back to the transfer case.

 

[Cornhusker]

Between you and Jay, I changed my perspective on the new Land Cruiser. Our local dealer does dumb modifications to them and then just shoots up the price ridiculously though. I went to get parts for my 80 yesterday and was looking at one on the showroom floor. While talking to one of the sales guys, he seriously looks and me and tells me that these aren't for going off road. I am still laughing. Who hires these guys?

On another note, thanks for sharing your journey with it.

 

[izzyandsue]

Between you and Jay, I changed my perspective on the new Land Cruiser. Our local dealer does dumb modifications to them and then just shoots up the price ridiculously though. I went to get parts for my 80 yesterday and was looking at one on the showroom floor. While talking to one of the sales guys, he seriously looks and me and tells me that these aren't for going off road. I am still laughing. Who hires these guys?

On another note, thanks for sharing your journey with it.

I am afraid my 80 is now a lawn ornament. I love it, love the prowess of being tripled locked, the canvas seats, mud terrain tires…..Then I sit in the 250, so much more comfortable leg room…..

 

[Cirbo]

Got the new front skid plate from Hendricks, it is as long as the 2 standard plates. They didn’t have the rearmost one yet so waiting for that one. It fits nice, 2.7mm thick at most places (2.5-2.8mm) and looks nice. I am leaving the stabilizer disconnect skid plate on for now until I get the rear one that covers all the way back to the transfer case.

View attachment 3786196View attachment 3786197

What did that set you back?

 

[Cirbo]

Between you and Jay, I changed my perspective on the new Land Cruiser. Our local dealer does dumb modifications to them and then just shoots up the price ridiculously though. I went to get parts for my 80 yesterday and was looking at one on the showroom floor. While talking to one of the sales guys, he seriously looks and me and tells me that these aren't for going off road. I am still laughing. Who hires these guys?

On another note, thanks for sharing your journey with it.

Do not take a test drive. Believe me when I tell you that nothing good will come of it.