BigMike’s Big Journey: New 2016 Tacoma

This

This looks so tasty! I would love to get mine to look like that!

 

June 24, 2017: 4th Trail Run: Moonlight Madness 2017 (continued)

Around the corner from V Rock is a fun climb called Hollywood Hill. I had previously demo'd the "Auto LSD" feature here a year ago (see page 9). Finally with the TacoBox I was ready to properly run the hill! Here is the only pic I have heading up



Continuing on a club member took me through a pretty nasty section that I opted to back out of. 33" tires and hardly any lift isn't gonna cut it here. Pretty cool shot of the All Pro slider saving my body



Flex is such a relative term!





Glad I backed out. I was in a pickle. My exhaust pipe was also happy I didn't go any further. This is such a lame place for the exhaust. I've already got a nice plan to relocate it.

 

Enjoying the many large exposed granite domes









Something about this AccessCab is still really, really exciting me. So much room here compared to my Hilux!

 

Finally made it to the top of Bald Mountain! This is one of many U.S.F.S. Fire Lookouts and a great place for lunch.



Overlooking Shaver Lake, CA



Few random pics while stopped







Back at camp I pulled out and *finally* put on my first sticker indicating I have a superior Manual Transmission!

 

Later that evening the main run for this event as you can imagine for an event called Moonlight Madness begins at dusk. I was part of the Trail Committee, providing support for the hardest obstacle known as Posi Hill.

Leaving camp



Beautiful sunset on the way back up the trail





Ohh yeah first time night wheel'n the Tacoma!! DUDE!! These fog/driving lights are awesome!! I get the forward light from the highly efficient LED daytime running lamps and then nice, essentially Rock Crawling nearby flood lighting courtesy of the small lower driving lights. No headlights needed--I LOVE THIS. Very, VERY nice touch with this Toyota -- Obviously not designed for this, but very cool to use it while slowly Crawl'n on the trail.

 

Here we are working Posi Hill. This can be as hard as you make it. Around to the left are a couple less challenging ledges and to the far right is what many refer to as the "Buggy line": Two big ledges that are a wheelbase hole for many vehicles. It's pretty nasty to the far right.

The Crawler Truck and my Tacoma ready to provide assistance.



There were some people definitely using too much skinny pedal resulting in some carnage. This was the only roll over pic I got, this one a UTV. There were three or four roll overs. When you don't have low enough gearing, the only option is to gun it and hope for the best. It's unfortunate.



There were lulls from time to time when we'd be waiting for different run groups to make their way to Posi. During one of these lulls I decided to give it a go in the Tacoma: Attempt Posi Hill on the left side without having any posi lockers!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzfX-QffQqI

After I made it up this diesel-powered military Hummer came up to attempt the same line. He was also open-open....and....he....failed....over....and....over....again....and....again! He must have tried for a solid 10 mins. He then turned around and left the area and people came over to me very impressed how my Tacoma was able to make it up. MAN I love my Marlin Crawler!!!

 

July 2, 2017: Hauled my biggest load to date

On July 2nd I hauled 1,080 pounds of patio stones for my mother. This is the largest load I've hauled to date.



The All Pro 3" springs were very much not happy with the load, Fox Shox 2.0 fully compressed.

 

With a couple trails out of the way it was time to get going with Stage 2!

July 3, 2017: Stage 2 has officially begun!

The next day this project was kicked off by the arrival of these:



ATX AX757 Chamber Pro II beadlocks, size 17" x 9" wide, -24mm/-0.95in offset
Mfg info: http://www.atxwheels.com/wheel/33129/ax757-chamber-pro-ii

These wheels were strongly recommended by a friend who has a lot of experience with tires larger than anything I've ever wheeled before. *hint



Wow these wheels are BEEFY. The ring is MASSIVE. They make my Allied Beadlocks look like a cheap trick. I'm already way in love them

 

Those tires are so big.

I'm interested in the next updates to see how you fit them.

 

So what is my Stage 2? First some background

Here was my original timeline with this truck:
Oct 2015: Take ownership of the new 3rd gen Tacoma (didn't happen)
--Ended up taking 261 days, see page 1

Winter 2015/2016: Finish Stage 1 in time for a few easy annual events (didn't happen)
--Didn't get the truck home until nearly May

Summer 2016: Finish Stage 2 in time for Rubithon/June (didn't happen)
--Having only owned the truck for 1 month there was no way I could be ready for Rubithon. It wouldn't have panned out anyhow: Crawler not developed for new 3rd gen yet, R&P not developed for new 3rd gen yet, lockers not developed for new 3rd gen yet...
--Once I missed Rubithon in June and the wheel'n season was in full swing, it was pretty much a wash for me all the way through our annual Marlin Crawler Round Up event/September and the Pomona Off Road Expo/October.

So 2016 was a bummer for sure. The next best time to get it done is now!

My goal for Stage 1:
Drivetrain: Marlin Crawler TacoBox (goal accomplished)
Tires: 33" tires (goal accomplished)
Suspension: 3" All-Pro UCA lift (goal accomplished)
ARB air lockers F&R (installed but not connected, no on-board air yet)
------

With a Crawler, slight lift, 33" tires, and lockers F&R the Tacoma should be capable to do all of the easy stuff. I could have just stopped here. I could have left the truck on 33s and ended up looking like 90% of all other Tacomas on the trail. But that's not me. That's not the Marlin Crawler iconic truck way. I need to do something that is really going to stand out, and most importantly something that is going to challenge the opinion people have of the Tacoma.

My goal for Stage 2:
Drivetrain: Marlin Crawler TacoBox (carry over from stage 1)
ARB air lockers F&R (carry over from stage 1 + get these puppies working)

Tires:
I love the look of 37" tires on my Hilux so my goal has been to retain the same aspect ratio on the Tacoma. Here is what this means: The 37" Interco IROK tires on my Hilux measured 36.5" new. The body of the Tacoma is 25.6% longer, 19.4% wider, and 21.7% taller for an overall average size increase of 23.0%. Now take my Hilux tires 36.5" X 23.0% body size increase of the Tacoma = 44.6" Stage 2 tire size holy crap that is huge! I couldn't even do this if I tried as California only allows up to a 44" tire for highway use. When I calculated this I was really bummed. I love driving "to the trail and back" but can't see myself driving 44" tires across multiple state lines for events. So I thought, ok, how about we meet in the middle which would be a 40.5" tire and the compromise I like: I will run 40" tires.

Suspension:
Since day one everyone has been asking me when am I going to Solid Axle Swap the Tacoma, and while my comment on P1 said at least not for the first year, my answer since earlier this year is now never. Here is why: Anyone can SAS a Tacoma and go run X Y and Z trail and make it look easy & sexy. But what I am going to do is run the same X Y and Z trail while retaining IFS while on crazy huge tires to prove that with the incredible control and safety of the Marlin Crawler, a Tacoma doesn't have to have a SAS in order to hit some very challenging trails. I see a market here that no one is exploiting in this industry. Everyone I've shared Stage 2 with thinks I am out of my mind and I LOVE it. This is what will drive us to push the industry forward & make some awesome improvements to the IFS system to prove that IFS + our TacoBox can take you anywhere!
------

And that's it for Stage 2. I've already got a Stage 3 planned for winter 2017/2018 (World's First Triple cased Tacoma [of ANY Tacoma 1st/2nd/3rd gen], Front & Rear Bumpers [to be marketed and sold by MC], and a significant bump in power *hint), some of this is already underway

 

July 4, 2017: Stage 2 has officially begun! (continued): New meats showed up!

Without any further ado, the following day these showed up!!

 

I was going to ask this but then you got to it at the end. Please make a rear bumper! I've seen previous gen mc bumpers and loved them. I'll be waiting!

I knew those "37's" looked huge.

 

Ok my friends, you are looking at my brand-new Cooper Discoverer SST Pro 40" x 13.5" x 17" tires!
Mfg info: http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Light-Truck/DISCOVERER-STT-PRO.aspx

I have so much to discuss about tires because the hunt for a 40" tire was pretty brutal. I didn't like any of them and most were a high load rating, will be noisy as hell (expected, but hoping to find a tire with at least some low noise tech), and won't wear great on-road. I spent a solid week reading reviews and looking into tires that I was familiar with. I then spent another week looking at 39s and 38s but the problem here is a new 38" will only measure 37.5" and after two years will be 36.75" and then I'm right back to my Hilux... ho hum. If BFG made a 40" All-Terrain I would have immediate purchased it but no one makes anything close to an All-Terrain this side of 37". Then the same friend who turned me onto the ATX wheels strongly recommended these Coopers (I've never owned a set of Coopers in my life) saying I will not find a better all-around 40" tire. After taking my friend's advice and reading a bunch of reviews I felt very happy with these new Coopers and ordered them. When I placed the order there were only 6 available on the west coast and many threads I was finding (mostly from earlier this spring) were claiming of big back orders from Cooper. So I was psyched to be able to get a set. They are Cooper's newest tire, a load rating of only C (for this tire size that's awesome), made in USA, and many claim even as a 40" they have good road manners. I'll of course give my full review of these babies no doubt about it. For now I gotta get to sleep and will try to chime in some more tomorrow!





vs. 285/70R17 (32.7" x 11.2") BFG All-Terrains



In the worlds of the Phantom Phreak, Man oh man this is gonna be good!

 

@friendlywithbears

I told you those tires were huge.

 

40 inch? Can't wait to see how you get those to fit. Keep the updates coming mike!

 

lol

 

This photo sequence needs the "Jaws" theme song playing.

 

do those fit stock? Asking for a friend...

 

Easily.

 

Define "fit".