When I read the title of this post I figured you were either talking about the Maverick or the Ranger. The majority of people driving 1/2 ton pickups, and more than you’d think driving 3/4 ton pickups, could easily get by with a Ranger for what they actually use a pickup to do on a regular basis. The Maverick even ticks a lot of those boxes for people that think they need a Ranger, apart from those who know how much fun the Ranger Raptor is for the price tag. I miss having “a big dumb truck” every now and then, but only when I’m missing the wide open expanses of the West. Now living in the mid-south, I’m likely to get a Ranger Raptor in the near future, give it the Euro-spec treatment and treat it like the tall rally car with a small bed that it is.
If that kit doesn’t have JIS drivers in it might want to pick some up- I couldn’t get my Toyota’s MAF sensor screw out for anything and nearly stripped it until I used a JIS set and it came out with near-zero effort.
My experience with the 1UR V8 in my GX has included much more maintenance than my 3UZ V8 in my LS. Have you had the valley pan coolant leak on your LC200? I had to fix that on my GX and overhaul the coolant system last year. It was a total pain and super expensive. Meanwhile, my LS430 is 10+ years older and has never had a similar issue or any symptoms of an issue.
I still think the last Toyota V8s are better than most options on the market but I don't think they're as good as the UZ engines. Feel free to disagree.
Yeah, my experience with the 5.7 has been a bit of a love/hate.
- I love the power.
- They have potential to go mega miles (with examples out there of over 1 million on the clock)
..but there are a couple big jobs for them, like you mentioned. My LC200 doesn't have the coolant issue, but it does have the timing chain tensioner issue, known as the "Tundra Tick." I think this job is around $5k, and I've heard of people getting it done and still having the noise.
I actually think a TON of Tundras and LCs have this without knowing, as it only happens in very cold temps, noise starts up 1-2 minutes after start up, and can't be heard inside the truck. The only reason I found this out is because I park outside and do keyless start to heat up my truck before I hop in.
It seems if you keep up on these motors, they are beasts, but parts for these can get pricey and the big jobs are eye-wateringly expensive.
That said... I'm still planning on my next car to be just a newer LC200 haha
Oh yeah, the timing chain tensioner is not cheap. I did that on my GX460 and it was about $3k a few years back. I've spent more on maintaining the engine of my GX than what I paid for my one-owner LS430.
I do love the LC200, Tundra and GX but part of me feels like there's a lot of hype inflating the prices on the used market. Plus you're paying the 4x4 truck tax that comes with the territory, which I understand.
But going back to an earlier article you wrote about the LS430, I think that car is the high watermark of Toyota. Despite the known issues with the UR V8s, I'll take them over the new hybrid and turbo engines.
I really love my Rogue e-coated bells, but I’ve always preferred e-coat (I think the smoother grip works better for snatches and other ballistic movements, and I also just prefer the feel). There’s not too many e-coated bells out there (even though they were I believe the first kind to come to the US market back in the late 90s, via Dragon Door which was started by Pavel), and I think I’ve used everything on the market except Metrixx, but the Rogue e-coats are by far the best I’ve tried.
During the pandemic (which is when I bought most of mine), Rogue switched their kettlebell manufacturing to the US and contracted a hundred year old iron foundry in Cadillac, Michigan to retool for the manufacture of their e-coated bells (which created a lot of jobs when people really needed them, which is also cool). I especially like that they’re machined from a single piece of ductile iron rather than grey iron, but realistically that’s something that’s really only going to affect your grandchildren. The end result is absolutely beautiful though; it’s definitely the nicest piece of fitness equipment I own. Probably some of my favorite possessions period, lol. The handle is extremely clean, with no excess material or seam on the bottom, and for me the feel is just unmatched.
However, if you’re used to powder coated bells, you’ll probably find e-coat (which as I’m sure you know, comes from the auto industry) unbearably slick and slippery at first. It really comes down to a combination of personal preference and what you’ve spent the most time training with; the gym where I first seriously trained with kettlebells had a full set of old and extremely well-loved Dragon Door e-coated bells, and the “patina” and feel you get on those when they’ve been broken in is like nothing else IMO. But as much as I loved those things, I really do think Rogue’s take on the e-coated bell is an improvement across the board.
I’m not sure when you bought your Rogue bells, but It’s worth noting that Rogue also switched the production of their powder coated kettlebells to the US during the pandemic, so any product bought after mid-2020 or so will have been cast at OSCO in Portsmouth, Ohio and will be a somewhat different (and likely much improved) product compared to the old Chinese-made bells. That’s for 24kg and under; anything heavier than that will be manufactured at Cadillac Casting (kind of funny actually considering your headline) alongside the e-coated bells, out of the same ductile iron. As I don’t use powder coats, I can’t really speak to the quality of any of these directly, but I just thought it was worth mentioning.
Regardless, I’m glad you found a brand you favor—most people will never understand how important it is that all your kettlebells be Goldilocks OCD level “just right.”
This is awesome info. I've actually never tried the e-coat as, like you mentioned, I worried they've be too slippery and I'd send one through my window. Do they take chalk well?
I definitely don’t think you’ll send one through the window, but the struggle not to will give you an absolutely insane grip lol (I swear to god, the old RKC materials even advocated doing swings with a fucking oven mitt to build your grip, I shit you not). But I don’t think you’d actually lose your grip on them or anything, theyre not *that* slippery; more so, the real risk is honestly that you spend a lot on shipping and just don’t like how it feels; Rogue has a decent return policy but you won’t get your shipping cost back.
They definitely take chalk pretty well from what I remember, but differently than a powder coated bell does. The chalk doesn’t stay inside the small indentations in the coating like with a powder coat, and will wipe off smoothly afterwards. There’s still some texture to hold chalk; the difference is that the e-coat goes on so thin and evenly that the texture comes from the underlying casting itself rather than the coating, so it’s a more subtle knurl, and less likely to tear callouses too. This doesn’t make the chalk any less effective though, and using chalk should probably eliminate any grip issues you’re worried about and keep your home from growing any new entrances. But I don’t use chalk at home and the pandemic shut down my old gym, so it’s been forever since I used chalk with an e-coated bell and I’m actually struggling to remember the details a little bit. I just asked my old coach, who’s been training with bells longer than anyone I know, to be sure.
He says: “e-coats are amazing for chalk. They hold chalk way better than powder coat. I find that chalk gets slick on the powder coats when it gets really wet. l use a ton of chalk, especially now in Florida.” He has a lot of both kinds so he can definitely give a better comparison than me, and he did complete the Beast Tamer challenge back in the day (pull-up, getup, and press with the 48kg), so dude definitely knows his way around a girya. I’m still putting a *disclaimer* here that this was not my advice in case you end up with a bell you don’t like lol.
It definitely might be worth it to try them out at some point though, just to see if you like them. People who love their e-coats REALLY love them. I know I do. I feel like they’re kind of an acquired taste, like trying really lightly roasted, Nordic style coffee after drinking American roasts (perhaps the most pretentious sentence even uttered about fitness equipment?). But there’s definitely a lot of people who just dislike them too. I do think the idea that they don’t hold chalk well is kind of a myth, but they may not hold chalk in a way you like. It really does come down to preference at the end of the day. Hell, some people even prefer steel competition bells (but I think that’s mostly people who compete in kettlebell sport).
I’m curious; do you remember when you got your Rogue bells? Was it before or after the pandemic?
I live in a country where mid-size pickups are the highest selling vehicles. The best is the Toyota Hilux but it's been left behind by other vehicles as Toyota has failed to update it's pickup. The Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado have become the best in my opinion, especially the Ranger Raptor you mention and also the Colorado ZR2.
In the full size pickup segment, I do like the Toyota Tundra. Seems the market is big on the Ford F150 though. My personal favorites are the Ram 1500 or Chevy Silverado.
I like Kettlebell Kings (I have a bunch) but I've also ordered Rogue and they're pretty good, too. Unfortunately, I have a mix just as you do... Shipping on these sucks, regardless. Hah.
Most of mine are Rogue - I've got Onnit too. I've been mostly happy with both, but the handles have been hit or miss for me. One seemingly has a glob of extra steel on the handle that should have been knocked off in the finishing process.
Once I felt a smoothed out handle, it's hard to not always want that.
Do all your Kettlebell Kings have smooth handles, or do I have a freak example?
When I read the title of this post I figured you were either talking about the Maverick or the Ranger. The majority of people driving 1/2 ton pickups, and more than you’d think driving 3/4 ton pickups, could easily get by with a Ranger for what they actually use a pickup to do on a regular basis. The Maverick even ticks a lot of those boxes for people that think they need a Ranger, apart from those who know how much fun the Ranger Raptor is for the price tag. I miss having “a big dumb truck” every now and then, but only when I’m missing the wide open expanses of the West. Now living in the mid-south, I’m likely to get a Ranger Raptor in the near future, give it the Euro-spec treatment and treat it like the tall rally car with a small bed that it is.
That is one of the cooler stories about staying at your grandma’s. Love it. 🫡
If that kit doesn’t have JIS drivers in it might want to pick some up- I couldn’t get my Toyota’s MAF sensor screw out for anything and nearly stripped it until I used a JIS set and it came out with near-zero effort.
I wanted a 5.7 Tundra until I saw The Car Care Nuts' latest video on Toyota issues: https://youtu.be/EDU5CNpCXUE?si=pe1nhAxiBPAs2SSt
My experience with the 1UR V8 in my GX has included much more maintenance than my 3UZ V8 in my LS. Have you had the valley pan coolant leak on your LC200? I had to fix that on my GX and overhaul the coolant system last year. It was a total pain and super expensive. Meanwhile, my LS430 is 10+ years older and has never had a similar issue or any symptoms of an issue.
I still think the last Toyota V8s are better than most options on the market but I don't think they're as good as the UZ engines. Feel free to disagree.
Yeah, my experience with the 5.7 has been a bit of a love/hate.
- I love the power.
- They have potential to go mega miles (with examples out there of over 1 million on the clock)
..but there are a couple big jobs for them, like you mentioned. My LC200 doesn't have the coolant issue, but it does have the timing chain tensioner issue, known as the "Tundra Tick." I think this job is around $5k, and I've heard of people getting it done and still having the noise.
I actually think a TON of Tundras and LCs have this without knowing, as it only happens in very cold temps, noise starts up 1-2 minutes after start up, and can't be heard inside the truck. The only reason I found this out is because I park outside and do keyless start to heat up my truck before I hop in.
It seems if you keep up on these motors, they are beasts, but parts for these can get pricey and the big jobs are eye-wateringly expensive.
That said... I'm still planning on my next car to be just a newer LC200 haha
Oh yeah, the timing chain tensioner is not cheap. I did that on my GX460 and it was about $3k a few years back. I've spent more on maintaining the engine of my GX than what I paid for my one-owner LS430.
I do love the LC200, Tundra and GX but part of me feels like there's a lot of hype inflating the prices on the used market. Plus you're paying the 4x4 truck tax that comes with the territory, which I understand.
But going back to an earlier article you wrote about the LS430, I think that car is the high watermark of Toyota. Despite the known issues with the UR V8s, I'll take them over the new hybrid and turbo engines.
I really love my Rogue e-coated bells, but I’ve always preferred e-coat (I think the smoother grip works better for snatches and other ballistic movements, and I also just prefer the feel). There’s not too many e-coated bells out there (even though they were I believe the first kind to come to the US market back in the late 90s, via Dragon Door which was started by Pavel), and I think I’ve used everything on the market except Metrixx, but the Rogue e-coats are by far the best I’ve tried.
During the pandemic (which is when I bought most of mine), Rogue switched their kettlebell manufacturing to the US and contracted a hundred year old iron foundry in Cadillac, Michigan to retool for the manufacture of their e-coated bells (which created a lot of jobs when people really needed them, which is also cool). I especially like that they’re machined from a single piece of ductile iron rather than grey iron, but realistically that’s something that’s really only going to affect your grandchildren. The end result is absolutely beautiful though; it’s definitely the nicest piece of fitness equipment I own. Probably some of my favorite possessions period, lol. The handle is extremely clean, with no excess material or seam on the bottom, and for me the feel is just unmatched.
However, if you’re used to powder coated bells, you’ll probably find e-coat (which as I’m sure you know, comes from the auto industry) unbearably slick and slippery at first. It really comes down to a combination of personal preference and what you’ve spent the most time training with; the gym where I first seriously trained with kettlebells had a full set of old and extremely well-loved Dragon Door e-coated bells, and the “patina” and feel you get on those when they’ve been broken in is like nothing else IMO. But as much as I loved those things, I really do think Rogue’s take on the e-coated bell is an improvement across the board.
I’m not sure when you bought your Rogue bells, but It’s worth noting that Rogue also switched the production of their powder coated kettlebells to the US during the pandemic, so any product bought after mid-2020 or so will have been cast at OSCO in Portsmouth, Ohio and will be a somewhat different (and likely much improved) product compared to the old Chinese-made bells. That’s for 24kg and under; anything heavier than that will be manufactured at Cadillac Casting (kind of funny actually considering your headline) alongside the e-coated bells, out of the same ductile iron. As I don’t use powder coats, I can’t really speak to the quality of any of these directly, but I just thought it was worth mentioning.
Regardless, I’m glad you found a brand you favor—most people will never understand how important it is that all your kettlebells be Goldilocks OCD level “just right.”
This is awesome info. I've actually never tried the e-coat as, like you mentioned, I worried they've be too slippery and I'd send one through my window. Do they take chalk well?
I definitely don’t think you’ll send one through the window, but the struggle not to will give you an absolutely insane grip lol (I swear to god, the old RKC materials even advocated doing swings with a fucking oven mitt to build your grip, I shit you not). But I don’t think you’d actually lose your grip on them or anything, theyre not *that* slippery; more so, the real risk is honestly that you spend a lot on shipping and just don’t like how it feels; Rogue has a decent return policy but you won’t get your shipping cost back.
They definitely take chalk pretty well from what I remember, but differently than a powder coated bell does. The chalk doesn’t stay inside the small indentations in the coating like with a powder coat, and will wipe off smoothly afterwards. There’s still some texture to hold chalk; the difference is that the e-coat goes on so thin and evenly that the texture comes from the underlying casting itself rather than the coating, so it’s a more subtle knurl, and less likely to tear callouses too. This doesn’t make the chalk any less effective though, and using chalk should probably eliminate any grip issues you’re worried about and keep your home from growing any new entrances. But I don’t use chalk at home and the pandemic shut down my old gym, so it’s been forever since I used chalk with an e-coated bell and I’m actually struggling to remember the details a little bit. I just asked my old coach, who’s been training with bells longer than anyone I know, to be sure.
He says: “e-coats are amazing for chalk. They hold chalk way better than powder coat. I find that chalk gets slick on the powder coats when it gets really wet. l use a ton of chalk, especially now in Florida.” He has a lot of both kinds so he can definitely give a better comparison than me, and he did complete the Beast Tamer challenge back in the day (pull-up, getup, and press with the 48kg), so dude definitely knows his way around a girya. I’m still putting a *disclaimer* here that this was not my advice in case you end up with a bell you don’t like lol.
It definitely might be worth it to try them out at some point though, just to see if you like them. People who love their e-coats REALLY love them. I know I do. I feel like they’re kind of an acquired taste, like trying really lightly roasted, Nordic style coffee after drinking American roasts (perhaps the most pretentious sentence even uttered about fitness equipment?). But there’s definitely a lot of people who just dislike them too. I do think the idea that they don’t hold chalk well is kind of a myth, but they may not hold chalk in a way you like. It really does come down to preference at the end of the day. Hell, some people even prefer steel competition bells (but I think that’s mostly people who compete in kettlebell sport).
I’m curious; do you remember when you got your Rogue bells? Was it before or after the pandemic?
Gonna add the tools to my own LC200! Thanks
I live in a country where mid-size pickups are the highest selling vehicles. The best is the Toyota Hilux but it's been left behind by other vehicles as Toyota has failed to update it's pickup. The Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado have become the best in my opinion, especially the Ranger Raptor you mention and also the Colorado ZR2.
In the full size pickup segment, I do like the Toyota Tundra. Seems the market is big on the Ford F150 though. My personal favorites are the Ram 1500 or Chevy Silverado.
I like Kettlebell Kings (I have a bunch) but I've also ordered Rogue and they're pretty good, too. Unfortunately, I have a mix just as you do... Shipping on these sucks, regardless. Hah.
Most of mine are Rogue - I've got Onnit too. I've been mostly happy with both, but the handles have been hit or miss for me. One seemingly has a glob of extra steel on the handle that should have been knocked off in the finishing process.
Once I felt a smoothed out handle, it's hard to not always want that.
Do all your Kettlebell Kings have smooth handles, or do I have a freak example?
All of mine feel smooth! Or at least none have bothered me in working out with them (and I use them every other day on the mark).