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Has anyone been on FR421 lately? It starts at SR188 by Roosevelt Lake and takes you to the Sycamore Trail #68. The Tonto Forest official map has it listed as "4WD", which by my experiences on past roads labeled as such means they're not kidding. I'm considering doing Trails 68 and 67 (?) sometime this winter, both of which are accessed by that road. my Xterra can normally handle these roads, but since I mangled my skid plate last June, I haven't had a chance to replace it yet and want to get some feedback first before I try it.

but since I mangled my skid plate last June, I haven't had a chance to replace it yet and want to get some feedback first before I try it.

Hey Chris,
try this...

"Dear Santa,
I have been a good hiker this past year and all I want for Christmas (since my Steelers already embarassed the Cowboys) is a skid plate from skidplates-dot com"

Stiller wrote:The Tonto Forest official map has it listed as "4WD", which by my experiences on past roads labeled as such means they're not kidding.

My experience is exactly the opposite. I took my Ford Escape to a canyon near Roosevelt Lake this past summer which required driving on 4WD roads. I didn't know they were 4WD till after the fact. The Escape I had was 2WD and I thought the one road seemed a little tough, so I looked it up. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I was able to do 4WD roads in a 2WD car. After all it was a company car, and we all know that company cars and rental cars will go where ever you want them to go, 4WD or not.

This trip solidified my reputation for getting vehicles into (and out of) places that they shouldn't be. I had a few witnesses. Oooh... the memories.

Matt once drove a Geo Metro to the end of Tortilla Rd without losing so much as a hubcap.
He's also the only man in known history to take an H2 off road. It broke a tie rod in the first 1/4 mile.

you might look at Quality Bumper for aftermarket x parts.

I found a website with what looks like a good replacement plate at a decent cost. But, this is the holiday season and I have to save my money at the moment to pay for presents for my kids, wife, etc, and to pay for the tv I bought last to watch the Steelers beat up the Cowboys on. So the new plate is gonna need to wait.

Matt, were you on FR421? Were you on all the roads? FR421 is about 2.5 miles long and had 2 trails (supposedly) at the end of it.

Hey Stiller, I was not on FR421. I was on the complete opposite corner of the lake on FR38. You might try asking Pickletree; I think he might have been back FR421 this past summer.

Oh, and disregard te-wa. I would love to try driving a Geo Metro back the Tortilla Rd though.

Hoffmaster wrote:

Stiller wrote:The Tonto Forest official map has it listed as "4WD", which by my experiences on past roads labeled as such means they're not kidding.

My experience is exactly the opposite. I took my Ford Escape to a canyon near Roosevelt Lake this past summer which required driving on 4WD roads. I didn't know they were 4WD till after the fact. The Escape I had was 2WD and I thought the one road seemed a little tough, so I looked it up. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I was able to do 4WD roads in a 2WD car. After all it was a company car, and we all know that company cars and rental cars will go where ever you want them to go, 4WD or not.

This trip solidified my reputation for getting vehicles into (and out of) places that they shouldn't be. I had a few witnesses. Oooh... the memories.

Sounds about when I took my Kia Rio on FR 143 from the Beeline to Lone Pine TH......that was fairly hairy in a few spots but I managed to dodge every rock in the road. I was a nervous wreck the whole 2 1/2 hours up to the TH though ><. Got to the TH and immediately jumped out of my car to check my oil pan and the rest of my undercarriage and thankfully I had not a scratch.

rushthezeppelin wrote:Sounds about when I took my Kia Rio on FR 143 from the Beeline to Lone Pine TH......that was fairly hairy in a few spots but I managed to dodge every rock in the road. I was a nervous wreck the whole 2 1/2 hours up to the TH though ><. Got to the TH and immediately jumped out of my car to check my oil pan and the rest of my undercarriage and thankfully I had not a scratch.

That's impressive...I wouldn't try it!!

Ya I just take good ol' El Oso Road now......much much better side of 143. I just wish it didn't take 2 hours to get up to that trailhead but man Four Peaks is worth it.