What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

I took mine off with my 700lb Kings drive 15 miles and put it right back on! It drive like crap and I have literally rebuilt my whole suspensions and underneath! So I got the quick detach end links from him!

 

That sounds like you drove alot of automatic honda cars on chopped springs.

Even with my bar off and bad shocks collapsed coils was standard. Its not a race car.

Drive a 4 or 3 link and watch the flex. Stiffness is not off road savy.

 

Same here, and I live in California (southern) in Los Angeles. Fortunately, we have the San Bernardino, Angeles Crest and Cleveland National forests just outside of the city with tons of trails, as well as huge expanses of desert trails if you drive an hour or two outside of the city. Also we have the mountains. I'd go insane living here if I didn't have these places to escape to on the weekends.

 

I don’t know why a person would live in a place like Cali. I have to use 4WD to get out of my drive way. 20 minutes max in either direction and there’s no houses for 45 minutes to 3 hours.

Cali sounds worse and worse with every post.

 

The southern part of the state has a million different trails, the area he lives in is probably the worst to be in as far as urban sprawl goes. There's actually quite a bit of beautiful landscape to drive around offroad in California, especially if you live in the very Northern part or Southern part of the state.

The politics and crowded cities are what ruins CA though

 

Seriously? 600lb springs on mine and I couldn't hardly tell that I took the sway bar off...maybe I just drive like a grandma

 

I’ve never even driven in a big city, biggest I’ve driven in is Grand Junction, Colorado.

And I’m happy to admit that.

 

I'll be honest. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. It's just so diverse and there's always something to do. It's absolutely beautiful. Can't complain about the weather either.

I spent a couple weeks right outside Jackson, Mississippi and it was a huge culture shock to me. You were either black or white, and nothing else. All there was to do is drink and go to church, no joke. You meet someone from every walk of life around here in California. It's one of the most diverse places I've ever been in my life.

California isn't for everyone but I love it. Yeah, I'll admit. The laws are absolutely asinine but that's the price you have to pay.

 

I envy you. If all goes according to plan, my fiance and I will be out of here in a couple years or less and living somewhere much more quiet. I grew up in Oregon for awhile and miss that area like crazy.

 

My truck has the total of about 5 inches of lift so maybe it being higher or something not sure! I also have a high camper shell so the wind effect me badly!

 

I've driven my truck in downtown San Francisco a handful of times. Actually sold some parts to a firemen who worked downtown.

Yeah parallel parking this truck on one of the busiest roads in the city wasn't easy. Had like 5 angry taxi drivers honking at me while I was trying to maneuver up a hill and park. Lol.

It's not fun.

 

Hope it works out. I’ll probably end up ina bigger city down in a Texas for a while when I graduate, if all goes to plan anyway.

It’ll be worth it for the $$

 

I used to feel that way but the older you get, the harder it is to justify living here. Living expenses are astronomically high compared to most anywhere else in the country, in fact I think your area San Francisco is almost edging out NYC as far as being the most expensive place to live overall.

A few weeks ago there was a report on NPR here in Los Angeles...if you aren't making at least $80,000 a year, you're considered below the poverty line for the county. You can't even begin to think of owning a home without making over $100k....$200k+ per year if you want a "nice home in a nice neighborhood". It's insane.

 

Yup. Living in the Bay Area is one of the most expensive regions to live in the country. A news article came out recently that if you make $100k and live in San Francisco, you are considered low income.

Here are average prices for a ONE Bedroom apartment near our transit system per month. I have a friend who lives in Downtown San Francisco and pays $3,000 a month for a 1 Bed/1 Bath Studio. San Francisco recently became the most expensive city to live in the country.

 

I don't know much about social media but it seems as though Instagram is that guy's safe place.

Good for him.

 

see that just plain depresses me, lol.

My fiance and I pay $2100 a month to rent a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house outside of LA (not an apartment, it's a small craftsman style home with a front/backyard). We got lucky finding this place because most others like it are a lot more expensive. It's a tiny house though, and last we checked it was valued at $600k.

$2100 a month or $600k could buy you a MUCH bigger house in most any other state...and being an owner is much more desirable over being a renter. I couldn't dream of owning a house here in CA yet and with our combined income, we make over $100k. Sucks to say the least. But 'we could go to the beach, desert and mountains all in one day'....true, we could. But I'd have to survive the road rage first lol.

 

If you think that’s sad, don’t look at the mid Atlantic. Ever.

I have trails that are barely legal or restricted due to dumping within an hour or two, but anything truly nice is 5 hours or more. Otherwise you drive a minimum of 2 hours to an off-road Park where you pay to wheel. And if you want to camp, be prepared to pay. Everything is illegal. Sleep outside? Illlegal. Camp fire? Illegal.

California is a whole league of their own on living expenses. I live in a decent area of NJ, 25 mins to Princeton, an hour from NYC, and 45 mins from Philly. We have a pretty nice house, and my wife and I do decent financially. And even then, I looked at houses in the San Diego area when we were there on vacation and a comparable house was over double than what our house is worth. I have no idea how Californians afford it. The only bright side you guys have is paying like half the taxes we do.

 

Don't even get me started on housing prices... seems like you can't buy a decent house up here for at least $500k. We're actually in short supply of homes, too much demand not enough supply.

 

Son of a...

I knew there was someone on TW that build quick disconnects but couldn't remember, or find, them when I was ordering new end links.

 

Several organs.