Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

last time I was in Superior coming home from the UP was in middle of winter (late January/early February) brrrrrrr.......
work vans washer fluid tank froze somewhere in Appleton that year (moved around a lot)
had to let it thaw in a local dealer garage lol
non-Toyota company work van

 

@SconnieTaco You the guy that said hey in the festival driveway a week or so ago? I feel like this is turning into a Craigslist missed connection post!

Holler if you ever want to meet up and talk trucks!

 

No doubt. This last winter was brutal. I’ve never contemplated moving south until then. My furnace actually konked out on the coldest day (-51). Someone suggested clearing the intake/exhaust (up on the roof of my house, BTW). Bundled up, I crawled up there...to no avail. Long story short, furnace tech stopped in and replaced a short hose. To this day I haven’t asked my wife what the bill was.

 

Ha! That was me! Perhaps one day. Dropping the truck off at the body shop tomorrow for some insurance works to be done.

 

Just received word that my ATH Fabrication rear steel bumper will be ready to ship next week...the anticipation...

For you fellow Tacoma nerds here in the north, I plan on either powder coating the bumper or "plas-coating" it (i.e. a polymer armor, similar to a bedliner but smooth in finish). Any thoughts on which would be best for protection? @geekhouse23 you may have some experience here

 

Powdercoating hands down.

 

Had my ATH bumper powder coated last November. The powder coating is oxidized to all hell already. Looks like shit. If you have a garage... maybe powder coating... if not (I don’t) I’d reconsider powder coating. I’m going to have mine sandblasted and rattle can it so I can fix it when I need to.

I do love my At the Helm bumper though!

 

Thanks for the heads up!

I'm going to be talking with a local coating company about options when I have the bumper in the next week or two - they do good work and have tons of products. The plas-coat is probably what I would go with, as they use that for snowplow blades and other heavy-use items. Only downside is that the finish overall might not be as smooth as PC, but I'm willing to make that aesthetic trade for durability.

 

I'm in the Eau Claire area every month or so. I'll post here the next time I head that way in case anyone wants to have a beer and talk trucks and BS.

 

My powder coated skid plate after 1 Wisconsin winter

I painted over the “TRD” logo and it’s barely showing any oxidizing. Unfortunately I can’t remember what I used, probably a Rustoleum product.

 

You guys are scaring me! I have powder coated rock sliders. I decided to power coat because it was only $100, and I don't actually rock-crawl, so I'm not really worried about it scraping off.

I hope it holds up, but at least I can't say I wasn't warned.

 

Open house sat 7/13

I’m leaving Racine 9:30am and should be in Milwaukee at 10 if anyone wants to ride in. I’m bringing some beers and a few chairs. Anyone want to meet up for the drive post it up.

http://performanceoffroadwi.com/#

 

I lived in Wyoming for 5+ years with my truck and saw half the rust I got in 1 year of Wisconsin road salt. I hate the way WI treats it's roads.

 

I suspect it has a lot to do with how well the powder coasters prep the steel. And I think the powder coating creates a barrier, if salty water gets in it stays in and rusts away. Hopefully your sliders last more than one winter.

 

It might not be at 9am for me, but I may be able to swing by in between some errands tomorrow mid morning

 

Anyone running the TWAT with us tomorrow? Meeting at Cabela’s in Prairie du Chien at 9 am.

 

@BookieBob must have missed you earlier, but stopped at the open house for Performance Off Road in Sussex, WI.

Mostly an aftermarket shop for jeeps and full size trucks, but they have done a few Toyotas before. The owner, Darren, has a sweet '88 Toyota prerunner that he really enjoys working on - it's basically stock, as you can see. Otherwise saw lots of Jeeps with a few Gladiators in the mix - I held down the only Toyota representation, but some cool folks all around.

 

I saw maybe 12 jeeps and a Mercedes. I thought I saw a Tacoma as I left.
I should have stayed longer! Just missed you.

Also I was in my wife’s Jeep! Lol

 

We're still working our way home from Wyoming but need to give big props to @deekyn for the campsite recommendations. Absolutely stunning views and free of charge.

 

@Atrox1529
You’re Missing the pop up beer garden in Racine Quarry park.
No free beer for you!