AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I had to go check my Flickr photos, looks like it will be 6 years old in June. And made me realize how much the orange logo on the cover has faded, LOL. It's definitely 54", so that's cool!

No no no, ya'll shouldn't take me so seriously. I think it's funny and amazing as well, I was just joking around.

 

You'll do no such thing!

 

I like this twice.

 

Is this down by Saratoga Springs area? @turbodb

EDIT: Nevermind read the rest of the drive report.... Name of cabin?

 

Please let me live vicariously through you. Awesome right up & Photos Again. Was the mine as Explosive as was written on the door?

 

Death Valley is such a cool place to explore. Its been way too long since I was there.

 

Definitely makes my list of coolest places to explore. Always like going there and this trip was a fun departure from the norm for us. Lots more hiking, felt good. Even if my legs wanted to fall off around the alternator rebuild portion of the day

 

so cool!

 

Oh, I see how it is. No likes for me, or the story - just for Zane.

It's right there in the story, hahahaha.

Glad you guys enjoyed. Definitely a fun time had all around. The mine was no longer explosive...at least as far as we could tell. But hey, we couldn't get past the bars over the front, so

+1 on the hiking - it was great.

I've come to realize that one of the great things about DV is that it's got a lot of well-preserved stuff (as compared to other desert destinations) and it's a lot less populated once you get off the main, paved roads (again, compared to other desert stuff). Both likely due to the National Park status, which makes me want more parks even more!

 

Rig Review: Hiking Death Valley - What worked and what didn't?
Rig Review is a new type of post that I'm going to try to write up after most trips, where I'll note any things that worked really well, or could have been better. The idea has always been to optimize the Tacoma build and setup over time, so there's nothing really new from that perspective.

I won't talk about everything I've got going on - just new equipment to the trip and/or any outliers that deserve a mention. At the very least, I figure that long-term, real-world reviews of the products I use are good for everyone!

February 18, 2019.

Hiking Death Valley was a different kind of trip - one with more time away from the truck, and less time driving. So the rig review this time has a little less to go on - but that doesn't make me any less passionate about the bits of kit that were working well!.

Exped MegaMat Duo 10 LXW (new)
TL;DR - if you ever feel like your RTT mattress leaves a little something to be desired, don't buy a foam topper to try to increase it's thickness. Get an Exped MegaMat Duo 10 LXW. You won't regret it even though it's pricey - this is the most comfortable sleeping experience I've ever had.

For the last few trips, I've started to notice that the foam mattress in the @Cascadia Tents Mt. Shasta Pioneer has started to be a little less "supportive." I think this is mostly due to age and is totally expected - it's been used for over 200 nights at this point - and a lot of folks end up adding those egg-crate style toppers to their mattresses in order to counter this phenomenon.

I wasn't keen to add a topper since I already feel like I'm smooshing stuff quite a bit when I close the tent, and so I set about researching a replacement mat. The key - I believed - was that it be inflatable. That inflation would provide extra support where the foam couldn't, and thus keep hips, shoulders, etc. up off the floor through the night.

When I stumbled across the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 LXW, I initially just scoffed at the price and moved on. But the more I researched on various forums, the more the Exped continued to be brought up as the ultimate in a good night sleep. At four inches thick, and composed of both foam and air, it seemed like it could do a good job... if I could just get over it's hefty price tag.

Ultimately I did, and let me tell you - my body, and more importantly @mrs.turbodb's body, have never been happier after a night in the RTT. This thing is seriously like sleeping on a home mattress. It's that good. Shocking I'd say. Easily worth the price - assuming it lasts - and now my all-time favorite mod to my camping setup. Wow, that surprises even me.

Oh, and as a side benefit - because of the construction (air simply pushes out of the mat), the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 compresses even more (and more easily) than the original CVT foam mattress - making closing up the tent easier than ever before.

As far as fit goes, there are three versions of this mattress depending on the size of your RTT:

• for a 56" wide tent, get the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 LXW (Long & Wide) at 78" x 52"
• for a 48" wide tent, get the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 (Medum) at 72" x 41"
• for a single sleeper, get the Exped MegaMat 10 LXW at 77" x 30"

None of these is as long as an unfolded tent - generally 96" - but that's OK. The mat leaves about 6-8" of space on each end, which I find to be a good place to stash shoes, clothes, bags, etc. that I bring into the tent. Plus, those spaces really aren't usable for sleeping anyway due to the angle of the tent wall as it reaches the floor. If it really bothers you, you can easily slide the Exped toward the head end of the tent and leave all the space at the foot end - you'd never notice it while sleeping.

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Rear Shock Relocation, ADS Suspension, and SPC Upper Control Arms
TL;DR - the ADS setup is working great. We didn't do much dirt travel this time, but what little we did do was no problem at all. More to come in the future.

This was the first trip with the relocated rear suspension running 10" travel ADS 2.5" smooth body shocks with remote reservoirs in the back of the truck as well as new SPC Upper Control Arms and ADS 2.5" coilovers with remote reservoirs in the front of the truck. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this setup was not only better and more comfortable than running without rear shocks along the entirety of the Mojave Road, but was also better than my previous rear shock setup. The fronts were a little harder to tell - but again, we weren't really pushing it this trip.

Additionally, there were no problems bottoming out the rear shocks, which was a good thing. Hopefully that remains the case into the future.

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Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews
In all fairness to the rig, I didn't really do anything except maintenance since the last review, so it's my fault that there's nothing to list here. My apologies to the truck.

Unchanged / Still an issue from previous Rig Reviews
There are some things that have been featured in Rig Reviews that are - as yet - unchanged from when I originally reviewed them. Rather than highlight those things again, I'll simply link to them here.

1. The Swing-Out Table - as expected, it was unusable on this trip.
2. The Electrical System - continues to have the limitations of a single battery system.
3. The Ham Radio Antenna - continues to have the shortcoming mentioned.
4. The CVT Roof Top Tent Stargazer windows in the rain fly continued to be a significant issue, which I hope to address for the next trip.
5. Rubber cover zipper was still tough to close; this is on me though - I need to clean and wax it.
6. Stealth Custom Series (SCS) Stealth6 Wheels - mud wasn't that big of an issue this trip, but I still need a way to pull the wheels further inboard.

 

Not sure why I am happy I got the first "Like" on this post, but cheap thrills.

 

Lol, I was looking today and it looks like I'm still leaking a little in both tires. I'm going to save your tip, but since the truck is getting new kicks a week from Tomorrow, I probably won't plug again.

 

Great write up, and great pictures. I have no regrets about that nap... I needed it. Plus if ya'll needed me to lift something heavy or punch a dent out of something, I would have woke up for you!

 

hahahaha!

Makes total sense. No need to waste plugs if you're getting new rubber. What's the plan for the new set?

Thanks man. Had a great time with all you guys, and heck, I would have taken a nap too if I could have. I know I did when I got home! lol

 

Mitigating the Mud - 4Runner Wheels for the Tacoma
February 26, 2019.

I love the look of the SCS Stealth6 wheels that I've been running for the last 14 months. The dark bronze and six spokes are fantastic. Even the lug nuts are significantly better than OEM. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I really do like stance added to the truck by the 3.5" backspacing - having the wheels and tires pushed out a bit wider makes the truck look ready for anything.

But, I can't stand the mud. That same backspacing that gives the truck a cool stance also pushes the tread of my 255/85R16 Cooper ST Maxx tires about an inch past the fender flares. And as I mentioned in a recent rig review - that get's mud everywhere.

So it was time to try and change that. I started by looking into different fender flares. Having a 2000 Tacoma, I knew that the flares for the 01-04 models were slightly wider - about ½-inch wider - and so those were the first place I looked. Unfortunately, they are super expensive and hard to come by second hand... and being only ½-inch wider, they still wouldn't get me fully covered. Then I looked into aftermarket options. Bushwacker is the most popular option here, and they have three different flare widths - including one that's an inch wider than stock. Alas, they too are pretty expensive, and frankly, I'm not a fan of the look that their wider flares give - the bolt heads providing more of that #instaflare than I generally go for.

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And so, I started looking at wheels. Knowing that I needed something with closer-to-stock backspacing, I started with Toyota wheels, and it wasn't long before I stumbled upon the 5-spoke, 16" wheel from the 99-01 4Runner Limited. I'd seen this wheel before, but I'd assumed it was a 15" wheel - like my OEM wheels - which would have been too small to fit around my upgraded Tundra brakes. So, I kept an eye out on my local Craigslist and it wasn't long before I found a set for an amazingly good price - likely someone getting rid of them to install some aftermarket option as I had with the Tacoma.

I picked them up and one more from eBay for a spare, and gave the truck a makeover. I call it, "what if I skipped leg day?"

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Boy, let me tell you one thing though - after dealing with 33", E-load tires for the last year, it was a genuine pleasure to install these 31", P-load on the truck. It was like I was Superman.

New wheels installed - and clear of the Tundra calipers - I headed down to Discount Tire to get my tires installed. The ST Maxxs have worked well for me over the last year, and seem like a great compromise for the combination of pavement and dirt that I run, so there was no need to change course there. Not that there is much tire choice at the 255/85R16 size anyway.

Having showed up without an appointment since I was headed out the next day on an adventure, it took the better part of the day for Discount Tire to get around to installing the new shoes. But they did, the truck looked great, and I was happy.

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Function before fashion, but still reasonably fashionable.

All that was left was to give them a try. And that was going to happen very shortly - we were headed to Anza-Borrego!

 

FIRST

 

Why didn't you look at jungle flares?

Scs wheels still look better..

 

Watch out for the:
scorpions
black widows
rattlesnakes
tarantulas

 

Small correction... Bring a UV light to spot the scorpions, I've lived in AZ for almost two years and never seen one dammit

 

I caught a few near Avondale and let them go across the street in the cotton field. They are out there, you just need to start picking up rocks, plywood, and other things they hide under.