Ryan's Tacoma Build and Adventures Thread

My wife and I headed back to Bethel Ridge on Wednesday night. Got to our camping spot around 10:30PM thanks to a 30 minute wrong trail detour that shoulda ended at a downed tree... Which instead I thought was a great opportunity to try out my new Ego Electric Chainsaw for the first time (amazing btw). Finally came to a bit of a soft meadow and didn't want stuck, and at that point I knew I was off the correct trail.



This is the second time we've camped up here, and have loved it both times. Surprisingly little traffic, especially being right on the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR).




On Friday afternoon the rest of the troop showed up. Had 2 other rigs and 9 adventure bikes in all. The plan was to take off Saturday morning on the BDR and head up through Ellensburg and on to the Lion Rock area to camp.




Rim Rock Lake and dam in the distance, and farther out is Mt. Adams.



I'm actually pretty glad we only hiked out this trail, as it had a very steep, rocky section on it.

 

Shortly after leaving the ridge we hit the only real mud of the trek. Wasn't much.



However, the Land Rover, lacking enough momentum, found the downfall of AWD vs 4WD (a center locker was already in their plan and woulda taken care of this).



The tiniest tug and they were free

 

Somewhere on the WABDR between Bethel Ridge and Nile.



The mud on the hood was courtesy of my buddy's wife, trying to move his truck without it being in 4WD (back at the mudhole above). The top of my Habitat looked about the same as my hood.




This pic was somewhere between Nile and Ellensburg. My wife had time to take some photos since we were handling the next photo below.




The Land Rover shredded a tire. I think the road was rough enough they couldn't tell for a lil ways. Woulda been a quick fix, but those lug nuts were a challenge for him. The chrome covers on the lugs were deformed from years of abuse so they finally just ripped them off.



Sadly, they decided to hit the road home when we made it to Ellensburg. They'll be back camping with us again soon, though.

Overall a great trip, and am looking forward to getting back out again soon... that makes 29 nights in the Habitat!

 

Haha, I hope it’s not too boring. My build has definitely gone a few different directions, as my life has changed a lot these last few years. Sadly, I am not very good at taking pictures when I am out on adventures. Working on that though.

Painting your rear bumper shouldn’t be too bad. I definitely recommend painting the back side first before doing the exposed side. That way the backside gets all of the overspray while the front still looks great. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

So it looks like I finally got my 30th night in the Habitat. My wife didn't come out for this one, though. We had a quick overnighter guys only camping trip. Called it a work team building trip, since we all work together. Although I was the odd man out, an accountant among four engineers.


Luckily I had the Habitat 95% loaded. Others didn't necessarily come quite as prepared. Steak knives? yeah, i got em. Water? yup 6 gallons. salt, pepper? Yeah, and Lawry's and dried garlic. Tongs? yup, two sets. Paper towels? yes... I'm sure I could go on! O yeah, and I'd like to add I had the fridge on all weekend... I don't think it came on once. Sure helps efficiency when the temperatures are so low this time of year.


I won't take any credit for photos, they were all from other members of the party.

Here's a great panorama from the opposite side of the lake from where we were camped. The water was so low we could easily hike most of the way around. We made it here just in time for the two who stayed behind to holler across the lake letting us know breakfast was ready... the bacon was a lil cold 30 minutes later when we got back.






I managed to blow 2 fuses with the goal zero lights before I figured out what was happening. One of the linkable Goal Zero Light-A-Life 350s must have an internal short. Bummer, but the other three were still great. Now I just need to remember to replace those fuses in my battery box.








We made our way up a real rocky and brushy road to a good overlook. The lake below in this photo is where we had camped.




It was the Montero's first "offroad" trip. He will be wearing the pinstriping with honor.

 

Your awning brackets look like a great solution. Any tips, I'm planning on copying your idea.

 

Only tip is to use a miter type saw if you are as crappy as me with a cutoff wheel. And make sure to post up some pics when you've got it finished!

 

Did you put the 5 inch against the camper or the 3 inch side? (How far away from the camper is the awning? Thanks

 

5 inch side is against the camper. The awning is somewhere between 3 and an 1/8, and 3 and 1/4 inches out from the side of the Habitat since I had to add a few washers between the bracket and the awning to clear the gas strut when the Habitat is vertical when opening (otherwise it hits, but just barely). This distance out from the side of the Habitat is good though, if you ask me, as the side of the awning room closest to the truck is resting against the truck (you can see this in some of my earlier pics).

 

Looks great, thanks for posting the pics.

 

Last question, I hope. I called ARB to find out the height of the extrusion, he couldn't help me. How much face do you need on your bracket to fit the awning. I was thinking of ordering the 5X3 tubing, 1 12" inch piece (cut in 2), but when cutting the angle to to raise it up, I may loose some mounting surface. Do you think I need more than 2, 6 inch pieces. Thanks again.

 

That is exactly how I did it, one section of 5x3 rectangle tubing 12 inches long, 0.1875 thick. It is plenty. I just marked at 4 and 8 inches and drew lines to cut along. Something like the below drawing I just threw together (view is of the 12 inch tall, 3 inch wide section). The triangles with the Red X are just waste material.

 

Figured I better get this on here before I forget. @Kidwidataco swapped me his Ditch Light brackets and his cut cowl for my uncut cowl. I don't have any lights yet, but plan to buy some Baja Designs Squadron Sports in the future. Until then... they'll look like this.

 

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Headed over to Cheney, WA to visit the in-laws this past weekend. They haven't quite got their new house move-in-ready yet so we stayed in the Habitat. I gotta say it was nice having a 110 hook-up. Ran a space heater all night, kept it pretty comfortable for being down below freezing all night.

That makes nights 31 and 32 in the Habitat. Starting to plan our next trips so we can get that number growing this year!

 

Before and after polishing it up with the handy-dandy Harbor Freight angle grinder.

 

Went with Rustoleum Self Etching primer and Semi Gloss black.
Used three cans of primer. And oh yeah... Harbor Freight saw horses picked up for the job this morning.

 

Two cans of black down. Tomorrow will swing it upright for a couple more cans at another angle.


Still need to polish up the swingout and sliders but I'm a bit limited on space. Will take care of those after the main bumper is finished up.

 

Finally time to install the Bruteforce Fab high clearance rear bumper!






I was hiding behind my buddy Mike trying to focus on taking pictures instead of the fact he was cutting larges pieces off my truck... I've had it since new and only started modding it in the last couple years.






And here she is with the bumper! Still gotta finish painting the swingout and get it installed, but at least we are getting closer!

 

One step closer to done. Got the swingout on, but still need to mount the camera, table, basket, etc... Got a trip planned in a few weeks, so I better get it finished up!