Tacoma Rollover on Mount Princeton Road (06/26/11)

Story:

Drove into BV on Saturday afternoon and drove up to just past the Radio Tower on Mount Princeton Road to set up camp. The intention was to get up @ 5am, get to the cabin at the top and hike Princeton and maybe some adjacent peaks. At about 6:30am, got to maybe 1/2 mile from the top when the road narrowed due to there still being snow on the road. I started forward slowly but the rock-hard snow slipped me sideways a bit and into the shoulder, which was quite soft. I immediately stopped and made my 3 passengers get out, and attempted to back up the ~25 yards to "solid" ground. I got to within 10' of the wider, firmer road when the shoulder gave out on my driver's rear tire and the truck slid down, hit a rock and hopped over. The truck landed on the driver's side, flopped onto the roof and continued over and into a small cluster of pines where it landed on the wheels. Truck was about 10' off the ground IN the trees with a ~2,000' slide area to the driver's side, dropping off @ a 30-40° angle. This is the result:


Where she landed


With that valley below!


The shoulder where the tire slid


Result of the roll


I'm standing on the ground taking this pic above my head



Recovery. Dual winch lines.


What a shame. Liked that truck!

So long story short, Mount Princeton road is still pretty dangerous up top. If you chose to go up, watch that snow! I'm happy to report my only injuries were a couple of bruises and a tiny piece of glass in my hand. Even drove her back down the mountain once the tow guys recovered it to the road, and the A/C worked, along with everything else I tried (windows rolled, doors locked, etc). These are some tough trucks!

 

holy shit, man glad you made it out alive!

Driving it back out, now that is impressive

 

damn bro sorry to hear this...good move on gettin ur friends out....glad ur ok..trucks can be replaced

 

Holy shit! God bless those trees! Tacomas are solid trucks

 

thats ashame, glad your ok!

 

You are one lucky SOB. Go play the lottery so you can get a new truck.

Glad you are alright.

 

Will buff out.

 

If this thing is totaled and you buy it back to part out, dibs on the CVs.

 

Geez, lucky man. Glad you are ok. Smart getting the passengers out.

Very impressive that you drove it out. I knew these trucks were tough but damn. Doesn't even look like it had a huge amount of damage. Like jandrews said, "will buff out."

 

Glad your ok but dibs on rear drive shaft and the wheels and tires !

 

Wow you are lucky to be alive. That could have been so much worse

 

Can I put dibs on the halo headlights?

 

I've witnessed this before...a handful of months ago a local member rolled his Tacoma off a steep cliff as well! Scary shit, thank god no one was hurt...wasn't the members fault either...just bad luck unfortunately

 

....Wow! Glad you made it out alright!

 

Glad you're alright man and good move getting everyone out before hand. I say keep the truck and don't fix anything unnecessary...big ass dents give it character.

 

Dude he drove the thing down the mountain. If it runs, who cares what it looks like? He just needs some body work and a few new windows. And maybe a new undercarriage. And probably a realignment... Oh what the heck, dibs on your sliders!

 

Incredible! Great photos! Glad you're alright.

 

Your biggest threat here was not a crushed roof, but impalement by some inopportune tree or sharp rock.

No curtain airbag deployment? What year is your truck?

 

Your one lucky guy if those trees didn't stop you who knows where you would of ended up. Go play the lotto or stop by a casino, got dibs on the stering wheel

 

Whenever someone doubts the toughness of the 2nd Gens, this needs to be brought up...