After owning my 2011 LX for ~15 months I've finally accumulated enough content to make a hopefully semi-interesting start to a thread. Not calling this a "build" thread because this thing isn't going to hugely transform. Just a place to post my mods and musings and occasional adventures.
First an introduction: I come from the lowered car world originally, Mazdas in particular. Never a stance nation bro, always more of an OEM+ type of guy. What started as breaking parts/getting stuck trying to get into trailheads and having some rough times chasing storms to go ski with my lowered Mazda3 led to me getting my first 4x4. A 1991 Mitsubishi Montero that had been sitting for 12 years before I scooped it up for pennies. Fortunately I'm a somewhat handy--although occasionally lazy--guy so I was able to nurse her back to health and ended up with a pretty damn good looking and capable truck if I do say so myself. Sold that truck to step up to a more modern vehicle, a 2003 Montero for more comfort and capabilities on long road trips and adventures. Despite the Montero world having many very loyal followers, it has an overall lack of aftermarket support which led to a lot of the mods being done/fabricated by myself. And ultimately a lack of parts availability making it harder and harder to keep 20+ year old vehicles in tip top shape led me to my first Toyota, a 2011 4Runner. Loved the 4Runner and it took me to some neat places, but ultimately it felt too small for our family of 4 (2 humans and 2 GSDs) and lacked some of the charm/uniqueness I'd come to love about the Montero. This led to me picking up a side chick, another Montero. This time a 1989. It was a fun little thing while it lasted but the combo of 4Runner and Montero still wasn't doing it. I missed my 2003 Montero's size (though on paper the same as the 4Runner, internally much more room) but wanted more modern power and braking abilities. This led me to the 2011 LX I've got today. Something I feel I will be enjoying and hanging onto for many years.
The Mazdas:
The Monteros:
First an introduction: I come from the lowered car world originally, Mazdas in particular. Never a stance nation bro, always more of an OEM+ type of guy. What started as breaking parts/getting stuck trying to get into trailheads and having some rough times chasing storms to go ski with my lowered Mazda3 led to me getting my first 4x4. A 1991 Mitsubishi Montero that had been sitting for 12 years before I scooped it up for pennies. Fortunately I'm a somewhat handy--although occasionally lazy--guy so I was able to nurse her back to health and ended up with a pretty damn good looking and capable truck if I do say so myself. Sold that truck to step up to a more modern vehicle, a 2003 Montero for more comfort and capabilities on long road trips and adventures. Despite the Montero world having many very loyal followers, it has an overall lack of aftermarket support which led to a lot of the mods being done/fabricated by myself. And ultimately a lack of parts availability making it harder and harder to keep 20+ year old vehicles in tip top shape led me to my first Toyota, a 2011 4Runner. Loved the 4Runner and it took me to some neat places, but ultimately it felt too small for our family of 4 (2 humans and 2 GSDs) and lacked some of the charm/uniqueness I'd come to love about the Montero. This led to me picking up a side chick, another Montero. This time a 1989. It was a fun little thing while it lasted but the combo of 4Runner and Montero still wasn't doing it. I missed my 2003 Montero's size (though on paper the same as the 4Runner, internally much more room) but wanted more modern power and braking abilities. This led me to the 2011 LX I've got today. Something I feel I will be enjoying and hanging onto for many years.
The Mazdas:
The Monteros: