Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

No. Your shovel is facing away from due EAF.

 

Lol Thanks.

 

I drilled a hole in the wrong place on my rack trying to mount the grips haha

 

Oops.

Your 4R is looking great!

 

Thanks! Coming along. New skid next week!

 

Similar experience here.

I ran Duratrac for 40K, they were good in the beginning. They were very beat up in the end. 3 tire punctures, 1 ripped sidewall, 1 torsional sidewall cracking around the lugs. I moved on from those to some Toyo MT. Very happy at the moment.

 

Near you, Starkey, Hepner (both ancient lava beds, many of the roads up there turn to basically gravel roads of lava rock)

 

I know I'm coming to this way late, but I'm 250 miles from ending a two week, 4000 mile road trip with my freshly built cheap wood drawers and I couldn't be happier with them.

I would have liked my truck to be lighter for the trip of course, but the drawers were not the biggest offender and definitely worth their weight. Many miles were driven across the desert with three adults, tons of gear (much of it we didn't need, f-ing siblings...), and stock suspension.



10/10, would do again.

 

Since we were talking about it in here a few pages back I'll go ahead and post here, although it might need a new thread. I know I'm not the only one dealing with a crapload of weight. And now I'm adding a crawlbox so it's time for an axle upgrade. Here's what I came up with:
Found a 14-bolt today for $300, even comes with a set of Chevy 63s that I've been wanting.

So here is the plan. The axle is 67" WMS-WMS and ours is 65" if I understand correctly. I want to keep the stock width because I'm still IFS up front for the foreseeable future. I found this 6 bolt disc brake conversion:

https://www.sneveysoffroad.com/gm_14_bolt_ff_6_lug_conversion_kit/4_wheel_parts_off_road_parts

which says it will narrow it by 2.5", I already have a set of 3/8 hub centric spacers on the way so that SHOULD work out perfectly IF I'm not missing anything.

Shave kit $150:

http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-21924500-15-bolt-conversion-kit-ring-gear-machining-required.html

Shaved gears $300:
http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-6268292-gm-14-bolt-shaved-gears.html

14 Bolt Toyota flange:
http://www.highangledriveline.com/new_products.html

Add the ARB locker, brake parts and some machine work and it should be good to go.

Am I missing anything? I think I"m at $2400 plus the brakes and machine work. Hopefully I'll come out under $3k for a diff that I can't brake.

 

Part of the reason my truck weighs so damn much

 

I bet you can break it...










after you get rid of the IFS.

 

I don't know that I will ditch the IFS. I keep reminding myself that this was supposed to be an overlandish build. More trail rider than outright wheeler. I want to do stuff like the trans American trail with it and for that I'm not convinced that SAS is the way to go. Right now getting it all together and enjoying it for a season is priority 1. We'll see what happens after that

 

Bets anyone?

 

Fucker.

 

What about rethinking your strategy for overland travel? And by that I mean, really scrutinizing the gear list. I would start by evacuating everything non essential to the trucks daily operation. Then only add what you need, vs. what you might need. You could potentially save a lot of weight.

Although I've got things pretty dialed in at this point, but sometimes a good audit is warranted.

Case in point, if I have no trips planned in the next month or longer, I'll pull the fridge out, saving approximately 50lb for DD duties... Within hours upon returning home from trip, I clean the gear off the roof racks, everything is evacuated from the back of the truck, the interior is cleaned out. Everything comes out, except permanently mounted items.

 

That would be logical but not really my style. I like being prepared for anything. I've found that what I carry is as important, if not more so than what I carry it in. I know I don't NEED a full tool set but I use it all the time. I hate those moments that I realise a job would be easy if I just had _________. So I carry shit tons of gear. As much for others that are less prepared as myself.


It's almost turned into a joke now.

"Hey man you got a"
"Yes"
I don't need to hear the rest of the question. I have it.
12mm gear wrench, yes
18v 1/2 impact, yes
Welder, got it
First aid kit, stocked
Duraflame log, got 3
Spare mags, Glock or AR?
That log in your way, I have a sawzall, we can fix that
Broke down and need to hike out? Got a bag packed and ready to roll

Even if I stripped it all down I still would trust the axle. I am running surplus 37s on an elocker rear with a crawl box waiting to go in. That's a bomb waiting to happen either way. I blew the factory gears on 33s on the side of a mountain. That made for a SHITTY night that I don't plan to repeat. Might as well over build it once and call it good.

I see your point. It's valid. Just not the way I do things cause I'm a big weirdo like that

 

Well, Cap, when you put it like that there isn't a whole lot of options... Keep building your Tacoma... Or get a bigger truck. J/K .

I'm nearing final stages for my build... First retire from DD duties, then bumpers, skids, and probably gears. Also have to swap in some UCA's and LCA's.

 

All I see is "blah, blah, blah, I need to get a trailer."

 

If I wanted to drag some irritating pile through the middle of nowhere I wouldn't have spent all that money on a divorce lawyer.


No trailers. I don't wanna drag it around and most places we go you can't set a base camp and leave it. Be ideal for places like Area BFE, but not here