GA Tacoma Owners BS Thread

Similar situation for me. I’m in the production/manufacturing industry, so not essential as a whole. Monday will be the beginning of who knows how long that hourly associates will be on unemployment. Salary get one more week of guaranteed pay, then likely furlough if working remotely isn’t possible. Sadly if the assembly lines aren’t running, working remotely isn’t realistic for most. I’m one of the lucky few that fall into the ‘essential’ category. I’ll still be going into work and working remotely. At least for now, furlough for me is a few weeks off if it comes to that. Sadly the writing is on the wall that many folks may not return from this shutdown. Too much sales lost already to recover for 2020. I fear we’re in for a tougher ride ahead than 2008.

Tough times folks. Keep your head up and loved ones close.

 

You said it.
Keep your head up and loved ones close.

 

My civilian job is closing its Georgia doors end of month. I’ll be flying back and forth from Phoenix to work my “essential” job...

 

The restaurant/hospitality industry has been slaughtered by this.
I love being a chef. I’ve followed my dreams and passion from high school to get where I’m at in my career. I took many ass kickings from busy nights cookings, scarified countless holidays and family gatherings for my career. this is now the third time I’ve lost my job due to no fault of mine. The mental struggle and depression is here this time around. I don’t know if I really want to keep on doing this dance with my industry. A career change for me seems like such an overwhelming obstacle bc all I know is the kitchen.
Anyhow. I just needed to vent. Hope everyone is doing as good as possible. Keep y’all heads up.

 

Hey Dan, hang in there. It sounds like we had similar paths to becoming a chef. I started washing dishes when I was 15 and worked my way up to being a cook. I was lucky to work with a some talented folks and learned a lot along the way. I ended up going to CIA in Poughkeepsie, NY. I graduated and worked in DC and VA for the next several years. Along the way, a couple of restaurants where I worked closed down for various reasons. I changed careers when I was at a crossroad in my life. My wife was pregnant with our son and the owner of the restaurant where I worked was nuts. (Shocker, right?) I kept cooking while I took my tech classes, it was a pain in the ass but I was absolutely determined to succeed. (And, frankly, scared of failing) I eventually got my Microsoft MCSE certification and took a job doing help desk work. Pay wasn't great at first, but I moved up quickly- 40 hours was a joke compared to my hours as a chef. Looking back, I have no regrets. Sorry you're going through this, for sure. All the best to you.

 

Thanks Bill. Chef life is a hard one. Quality of life is another reason I’m thinking about making a change. I make good money now, and know I won’t get close to what I’m making now, I also know that I’ll be able to see my toddler daughter and new born son grow up. Plus my wife would enjoy having me home as well (I hope she would, lol). When you’re younger and have to tell your mom you can’t be home for thanksgiving or Christmas sucks. Telling your wife that you will miss your first child’s first and second Christmas(hell any of them) sucks big time, and the look of disappointment on my wife’s face says it all. (And she is a very supportive wife) The time with family and seeing my kids grow up is far more valuable than any amount in salary. I know Im somewhat speaking from my emotions right now, but some of this is a logical thought as well.
Thanks for the kind and encouraging words.

 

Reach out to all those around you Dan. Just like now. I will dig deep and put my feelers out in a variety of Industries.

Like Bill and yourself, I had to make a change. I went to school for animation and vfz for film/commercials.
Ran that mutha like a drag car from my early 20s-mid30s...crashed and burned. Money was great but my ass was owned by the man. Last job I had was working at Turner as an Art Director. My job was to oversee and execute all the On-Air, Web, and Print. It was a f’ing craY ass job, big money at stakes and no mistakes allowed. I was either coming into a place right after layoffs or we were hearing rumors about one.

Two close buddies died of cancer before they hit 40 and all I knew was a huge chunk of my life had flashed by me. I was a fucking old dude all the sudden.

Anyways, I talked it out with some buddies and my pops. I walked from y industry leaving behind stupid ass money and a career I had like yourself become top of my game.
What I realized is, my time was not going to be determined by anyone else. I would create a business that was service oriented and P2P. I am good with equipment and I like the satisfaction of doing great work. This I began a landscape business overnight. Mind you I do mainly service, but I do installs from time to time. The money is in maintenance. You can easily make 300-800 a day cutting grass.

Not that this is the best option for you. I just want you to think about various talents you have so you can focus on making revenue streams in a few ways.
Service is one thing that will always be needed. Plumber, HVAC, Exterminator, etc.
Really good money can be made this way, but even more importantly relationships that are P2P is the key.
Take care brutha.

 

Just throwing this out there, if anybody needs a place to work on mods or installing stuff my place is open. I’ll be working on the Supra and can lend a hand/tools for most mods. Just let me know and I’m sure we can work something out. I’m working from home so I’ll be available basically for the next month. 7 days a week will be fine unless something comes up

 

moving the conversation to the correct topic lol.

5100’s are nice.

the cheapest thing I did this week was the AJT key fob. There’s lots of little things you can do to keep busy and not spend a whole lot.
If you find any good deals for cheap mods let me know

 

Truck talk is the best for sure. I dont do much off road so no need to go all out. Kinda would like a hair more lift but dont know if I even need that. Sorry if I used the need word. I know people dont like the spacer/ block lift. I thought about a 3/4" top spacer for the front (adding the 1/4" to the left side I already have for the lean) to get 1 1/2" up front then adding 1 or 1 1/2" block to rear. Can do that for under $100. I've read that if I stay at 2" or less I dont need new uca's which I want to stay away from. I know new coils/shocks with aal can do this too but at a much higher price which right now is out of the question. 5100"s up a couple of notches will give me some lift but not sure how the ride would be with the stock coils compressed some. Sometimes I think my head is going to explode thinking about these truck things...lol. I'm the type that thinks about it , then thinks about it some more until I'm all thinked out or talk myself out of it completely. This is good therapy talking about things.

 

I had a spacer lift on my last truck. It wasn’t the best riding truck on the planet but it’s what was within my budget and needs. And it leveled it. I see no harm in going with a spacer for now and making changes later on. I had big plans for my last truck but didn’t have the means to do it until it was totaled and I used the profit to build my dream. Food for thought.

 

Thanks. Appreciate the input.

 

I blame @CowboyTaco who got me thinking about ubolt flip kits...
Y’all got recommendations on practical, reliable, and affordable kits?
Do I really need new bump stops too? Seems like that adds a lot more $$$

 

Coppinger Cove got a snack today.



Anyone got an 05-15 MGM short bed passenger side bedside for me? Can be already cut for HC bumper or have damage on the bottom of the bedside towards the rear since I’ll be cutting that off anyways.

 

IMO going with a flip kit makes the rear look clean, but that’s about the only benefit unless you’re spending a lot of time playing in the rocks (as in boulders). It reduces things to get hung up on and makes sense if you’re relocating the shocks. Did this on past Tacoma’s that were more aggressive. But as you said, the decent bump stops aren’t cheap either.

Expect about $200-250 however you piece it together, if you go with nice bump stops.

 

Dude! You’re not pulling that with a plunger or suction cup! LOL. There are a couple of Tacoma’s being parted on CL. I think by the same company...might call them

 

I say you leave it and continue to wheel.
You need to UTE that thing you wheel it so hard.
Looks like you got to keep your tail light.

 

I think I can get the majority of it out by pulling the cubby in the bed but it’ll still look super lumpy

The thought is there... it’s just dumb bad lol. I’ve been soooo careful up until this point and have invested tons to avoid body damage. BUT I knew knew knew it was inevitable doing what I do so I’m not really upset about it. I’ll probably just bang it out best I can and passively search for a bedside. My luck would be I fix it and same thing happen next trip hahaha

 

Yeah, my FJ80 was straight at first, then replaced two quarter panels, painted them, then lost the same rear which you can’t do anything for.
I did my body work as I have a BFA and fuck it...then ran the same side down the same the trail later that year. That time I busted out my rear side window and tail light.
At the end of this madness I decided the FJ was to be a trail rig and that is the way it stayed...
UNTIL... I sold it to my buddy who did extensive body work, painted it, and then rashed it up on the trail again

you see where this is going

May I recommend some hoops on the sides of your rear bumper. I know they are not as sleek looking, but they can help. I have also seen them bent into a bed, but I think that was on a home built bumper.

 

Awesome trip none the less though!!