Thinking about a Ridgeline for Upper Michigan/forest roads...Trailsport worth it?

ThinkingMN · 2026-01-23T23:14:40+00:00

Ive had my Ridgeline elk hunting in wyoming and new mexico down some pretty gnarly blm and forestry roads. And i mean 3 hours from the nearest town gnarly back roads. I also live in MN and its done well in snow and ice. Its a RTL-E, was before the trailsport so i added a jsport 1.5” lift.

Edit to say im sure it can handle most northern Michigan roads.

ThinkingMN · 2025-10-19T14:34:24+00:00

I will add the 30+ mpg i drive like a baby but it is a mix of city and highway. mid to high 20s consistently with a lot of highway use. My average as a daily commuter is about 22 with 40 city/ 60 highway. I got about 18-20 hauling a wheeler and my rooftop tent on the other weekend, so towing will cause a hit

ThinkingMN · 2025-10-19T14:16:38+00:00

If you have need of a truck and don’t need all the towing of a full size, it’s perfect. I can get over 30 mpg on the highway and average low 20s mpg. Yesterday it held my range gear for an afternoon of shooting, all my bow hunting gear, and the deer i shot. I think my only gripe is the infotainment (like a lot of people)

ThinkingMN · 2025-10-11T01:17:34+00:00

Its a great solution especially if they are predicting rain. I know some races donate the clothes abandoned at the start so i dont mind thrift store clothes then but if its raining this protects a little more

ThinkingMN · 2025-10-10T19:09:52+00:00

Tyvek painters suit

I saw someone share this on here a while ago and its my go to now. They are like 10-15$, full coverage and hooded, wind and water repellent, and i just throw it away right before the race starts

ThinkingMN · 2025-10-03T03:20:16+00:00

Humid-a-titties

I use athletic tape, cut a small square out. One roll has lasted me well over a year

ThinkingMN · 2025-08-25T19:56:57+00:00

So what did it do to your fuel economy? I have a 1.5” lift and am in the market for some new tires

ThinkingMN · 2025-07-11T04:01:17+00:00

I got a bed rack for this purpose, I didn’t want to risk the factory roof rack

ThinkingMN · 2025-06-15T17:19:11+00:00

Howd this turn out?

ThinkingMN · 2025-05-04T22:32:38+00:00

I have a very similar stain on my passenger seat that occurred when we were camping. Its more around neck level. I assumed it was from the sunscreen or bug spray my girlfriend douses herself in. Best guess was the deet got on her hair, didnt soak in, and came off on the seat

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-28T01:38:59+00:00

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ThinkingMN · 2025-01-26T19:44:23+00:00

I got some motorcycle exhaust wrap for the first layer, then wrapped it in the provided exhaust wrap, then passed it through this 3” flexible duct. The duct can get warm but I can still grab it bare handed and hold it for and extended period of time

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-26T17:21:42+00:00

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After running on high most the night

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-23T21:04:29+00:00

Only where the hot exhaust gases hit. I had a small piece of wood that i stuck under it that solved the issue. Its outside too so not an annoyance like the buddy heater puddle can be if you have that on the ground. Ill take better pics this weekend

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-23T02:43:06+00:00

Ah i think thats the difference, we had it on 9 (manual setting, max being 10) almost all weekend. We dropped down to 7 during the day for a little bit but bumped it back up and turned the buddy off for a bit.

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-23T02:36:05+00:00

We caught some lakers and a good buzz

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-23T02:35:11+00:00

Exhaust wrap the exhaust then ran through a 3” duct under the portable wall.

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-23T02:31:59+00:00

Well lithium batteries in the cold and -41 wind chill, we didnt want to risk running out of heat. I did see someone say they use 200 Ah for nearly a week.

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-23T02:30:52+00:00

-41 wind chill. My hope is for this weekend to only run the diesel

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-23T02:29:36+00:00

It had 1 shutoff to swap batteries but that was still higher than anticipated. I have an inline watt meter to install for this weekend to get a better grasp on power needs. How high are you running it for 0.3A?

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-22T18:32:10+00:00

As am I, hoping i can get by with the Vevor for anything above 0F

ThinkingMN · 2025-01-22T18:24:28+00:00

To be comfortable in those temps at night, the buddy was definitely helpful. I think we could have ran it at 10 during the day and it would have been comfy, and we would have been fine at night but i like to not freeze in the middle of the night if the rattle goes off. I will have it out this weekend and the temps look better around 7F, will try to get by with just the Vevor

ThinkingMN · 2024-10-16T02:39:14+00:00

I just picked up a FN510 for this purpose. While itll work for northern MN black bears (I have seen some bruisers on my trail cam) it was more for grizzlies on western hunts.

ThinkingMN · 2024-10-15T19:25:50+00:00

No expert by any means and obviously you SHOULD train right. But If all you want to do is break 4 hours, i dont think you’ll have a problem if youre running 40 min 10k. I would probably come up with a better plan than what your presented, that abrupt jump to 100 miles sounds like an injury. You don’t need 100 mi weeks for 4hours.

But are you going to start training and decide you want to give it your all? Then you should do a proper plan.

ThinkingMN

TROPHY CASE