50+ thread

Yea the tread pattern does not look to severe. The wheels are still in the fender wells. I think you got it right.
Hey I had to get you back. You told me to kiss your ass..

 

I know I just joined this thread, and kind of just jumped into the fray feet first. I feel an introduction of sorts is in order. I cheated a little and pulled this straight from another thread so if you get some sort of deja vu feeling all over again, don't worry - you're not going crazy (maybe)

I figure this would be a good time to introduce myself (if you don't already have the pleasure of knowing me)

My name is James. On other forums (mostly Expedition Portal and Tundrasolutions) I'm known as jim65wagon.
Because I used to own this:
1965 Chevy II Nova Station Wagon (my dearly departed first love)




On a couple of others I am CaptainMonkeyshines. So named by my wife because I really do have a sense of humour sometimes.

I was born and raised in southern Indiana. Went to college in Ohio (where I met my second love of my life- Elizabeth).
After college, we married, bought a house, had 2 kids, blah blah blah, etc, etc, etc.
With the kids came the need for a "fullsize" truck. We bought this in September 2002


It's our 2003 Tundra Off Road. Our first new truck. It's taken us 250,000 miles without complaint and is my DD even today.

We moved to Virginia in 2005. Started camping ( something we didn't have time for in PA) and enjoying exploring. The Tundra got a little modified to contend with our adventures and even today still looks like this:



At some point about 7 years ago Beth and I began planning our future without kids. They grow up you know and become their own people. Our decision, based on our love of travel was to build a camper that could go anywhere our truck could go all the while keeping us comfortable for long term camping. I wound up selling my wagon to finance some of the build of our wonderful teardrop the CrowsWing


Having a CrowsWing meant the Tundra became the CrowsTow

Our long term plan is to sell everything except the truck and trailer, then take a year or so and travel the country. The realization hit us the the Tundra may be hitting 300,000+ miles by then (it's 250,000 now), and a newer truck might be in order. Thus came along the Wild Crow. Our 2014 Tacoma TX Baja




The Wild Crow is not a daily driver. You may see it taking me or my wife to work on occasion though. We're trying to keep miles off it until our trip. The Tundra is still my daily ride. So for the next 3 1/2 years we will be here. Living in King George, kayaking the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers on the weekends - fishing or fossil hunting; camping on vacations; and just generally trying to get through life until we can fly the coop so to speak.

So that's my story roughly. So if you see this:


or this:


feel free to wave, or stop and say Hi! (if you can catch us that is)

If you see this:


or this:


we're probably going somewhere fun (to us - we're glampers not hardcore wheelers - but if it takes mud and scratches to get somewhere we're happy to go!), but you can still (again, if you can catch us) stop and say Hi!

 

Cooper did right by that tread pattern. I've had mine through rain, snow, sand, mud, gravel roads - all kinds of conditions - and they just go. I'll buy a set for the Tacoma when I get funds and time. Foe now the BFG AT's it came with do OK

 

im tellin ya,that truck would look great and be a big head turner-everybody does black! yay ,lets be the same as everybody else. this is my
taste though-and i get you use your truck like a truck and not a street queen like mine. bottom line chris-i like it!!

 

Did the A pillar Ram mount mod today for the Garmin Alpha GPS dog tracker. One of those things you hope you never have to use, he should stay in range but he is young yet. Have mile to mile and half range with the 13" rubber whip antenna. With the roof top mag mount that gives me 6 miles if I need it which I hope I never do. But am ready just in case. Doesn't interfere with vision at all. I can rotate it out of the way up against the pillar until I need it and mount the Apha in seconds now with the X grip.



Would take the Wings Works holster off when mounting with the roof top antenna.



Didn't have room on the tech deck extreme LOL. Don't want to use the bottom mounts because they interfere with the control knobs IMO so am limited to 3 devices.



Mag phone mount for wifi and music, 7" Nuvi with Hunt onXmaps topos, and 12" Windows tablet with Hunt N Scout Aspen habit map which requires internet. Most of the 4 million acres in Superior National Forrest doesn't have cell phone coverage let alone data so the Nuvi will see more use. I did hack the registry on the Windows Tab to allow caching of 500 mb. of google earth though. After hunting season I will take the tablet mount out. But all in all everything is out of the way and pretty seamless.

 

I have a question for you guys, I purchased the bushing and install kit from East Coast Gear and I'm just a little Leary on doing this, I've read quite a few threads on it and most say it wasn't too bad to do, any of you guys done the install? And if you have how was it and is this a Sat afternoon type job?
Thanks for any and all input.

 

Awesome intro WC.... Nicely done

 

well played! i've put alot of research into this process of lift and wheels and tires. my first effort of a spacer lift and 9" wide wheels that had my tires sticking way out was deemed not prefferable. as it was explained to me the other wheels would put too much strain on the wheel bearings and hubs plus the tires were liable to rip my flares off. so i've had to completely redo the entire thing. i hope i now have a system that is functional, dependable, and will last

 

That's the great thing about paint.....if you don't like it, you can change it. You can try all the colours of the rainbow until you get it right

 

Wow. That's a lot of electronic staring at ya..

 

I'm guessing he doesn't have to ask for directions often.....

 

Great intro, vehicles and teardrop! Very well done.

Not near as much as the throttle flats of the engine room of a ship. Feel back at home LOL. Well maybe with about couple hundred more....

 

Sorry guys, new at this, was afraid I would F This up!!!

 

wonderful intro and as close as we live to each other we're going to have to meet up for dinner or something

 

Awesome!

 

Sounds great! Dinner is one of my three favorite meals!

 

Welcome!

 

To go where ???

 

looks great you did a nice job organizing it all

 

Welcome.....don't be afraid