BigMike’s Big Journey: New 2016 Tacoma

Great posts....Big question for me is....when can I buy a Marrack? I want to be in the top 10 for one!

 

At this rate, I’d guess fall of 2030

 

That's being a bit generous, maybe if he gets in the first shipment, if not, probably 2040

 

He's giving updates on this stuff from the beginning of last yr at the beginning of this year if that tells you anything. I wouldn't count on anything anytime in the next few years. Remember this has been going on like year 3 now with little to nothing on the market. Their bread and butter with the crawl boxes can't even get out the door without a 6 month wait or more.

 

Yup I’ve read all those posts on the MC forum. I know he’s cross posting them. Just thought since he’s making the effort to do anything over here on TW that I’d see if he was willing to update us with anything at all. Was trying to do it in a non confrontational manner...but then the mob showed up.

 

Good morning and thank you for the comments everyone. The heat is understandable.

The largest / sole delay for the project has finally turned a corner as of last Thursday and we are finally preparing to begin pre-orders. Best case scenario is we begin pre-orders by month's end with kits rolling out third week February. The delay we've had since last April has been out of our control (involving multiple parties in multiple states), and I wasn't even involved with RCLT HD from June through October. It's been a long series of missed promises and massive opportunity loss to our business. Musk was right: Being in production hell sucks.

I'm eager to updated the RCLT HD thread with good news and in part of this recent motivation is getting this build thread updated (I'm currently working on July-Dec 2020 updates). This has been the largest investment in a new product line we've ever done and because it's taking so long other aspects of business are impacted.

Thanks Airdog, but please keep in mind the MarRack does not work with factory steering geometry. It will only work with RCLT HD knuckles so the two go hand-in-hand

Sorry but here comes more pain of a product that still isn't available... Fingers crossed for the best February in company history.

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal)

The next morning I was off for the all-new Adventure Expo being put on by Four Wheeler in Costa Mesa, California (about 260 miles south of us). My wife Misato came along with me to help at the booth which was awesome. ありがとうみっちゃん！This is the first year for the Adventure Expo and from the sound of it they're planning on making this an annual event :thumbs:

This is the first overlanding expo we've ever attended, marketed towards mountain bikers, hikers, rock climbers, campers, and "adventure experts".

Event details: fourwheeler.com/adventure-expo/



Loaded up and ready to hit the road!






First stretch of the journey and things were already going well @ 19 MPG including some stop & go city driving.



Checking in at the event!



Clarence we have clearance!

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

We picked an outside booth along the main path between the largest parking lot and the exhibition haul and it worked out very well.

The next morning, as soon as the gates opened and people made their way in to the event, we had attendees non-stop. Early on I was impressed with the attendance.





It's not difficult to draw a crowd at an event like this where other Toyotas have stock transfer case gearing and metric sized tires.

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

We took the same RCLT HD IFS vs Factory Toyota IFS display that we built for KOH which was turning out to be a really nice display.



We do need to add the MarRack to the display. Despite having MarRack's enormous inner tie rod fitted to the display, people just assume that connects to the stock rack. So from time-to-time I'd get the question, "What's good about all this knuckle strength when you still have a Tacoma steering rack?" My response is always, "Go look under that white Tacoma." I don't want to lug a pair of racks to events so I'm thinking of cutting my original rack and a new MarRack in half somehow to cut down on space and weight...



Got Ground Clearance?



The mirror is used to show the Marlin Crawler TacoBox T/Case setup

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

The head-on view was described by a lady as a "Pirate Truck"

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

We knew that one of our close friends would be there, and before long Fred Williams along with Dave Chapelle from Dirt Every Day stopped by to feature us on their Dirt Every Day Extra coverage of the event!!











That was AWESOME and a lot of fun! If you're a Motortrend subscriber, you can watch the episode here:

https://www.motortrendondemand.com/detail/the-new-marlin-crawler-rclt-suspension/130328/

Details from Motortrend:

The New Marlin Crawler RCLT Suspension (episode: #893, length: 9:17m)

"Fred Williams and Dave Chappelle run into the son of Marlin of Marlin Crawler, who has a brand-new suspension for late-model Toyotas. This is an IFS suspension designed for rock crawling. We're excited to see how it works on the toughest trails out there."

H-U-G-E Thank you to Clampy for helping us promote RCLT HD!!!



(Note: While preparing this post I tried the link and the page doesn't load. We currently don't have a Motortrend account so someone else will need to verify it)

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

All thumbs up!



And officially endorsed by My. Clampy himself!!

"Marlin Crawler continues to innovate. What started with gearing has evolved into a Toyota IFS for the Rock Crawler." -Fred Williams, Dirt Every Day

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

I was able to slip away for a break and found our good friend Jason, who is a certified Denver-area Marlin Crawler Distributor and Product Installer at his company RSG Off-Road!! If you're from CO then check them out, they do amazing work: rsgoffroad.com.

RSG trailered their beautiful 5th gen SAS 4Runner on 40s out to southern CA and it was great to see it again



Supercharged dual-VVT-i version 4-liter If I'm not mistaken, they are Magnuson's largest 4.0-liter Supercharger vendor and have more experience with them than anyone else



No built rig would be complete without a Marlin Crawler Dual T/Case setup!! (Automatic 4-speed TacoBox Supreme setup, 4.70:1 reduction, 12.08:1 combined low range) Pretty sure this was the only other TacoBox at the event lol



Inside the main exhibition hall I found Radflo and got to chat with them for a while regarding technical details of a bypass shock for a, um, future project for the Tacoma. I am very pleased with my Radflo shocks! I like them much better than my old Fox shocks that were non-adjustable.

Inside booths did not seem to be as busy; I probably just caught a lull.

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

When I got back to our booth another long time friend was there waiting to greet me, Mr. Steve Sasaki himself, founder/owner of Powertank!! If you are EVER in need of a truly amazing portable air system, then definitely look no further than powertank.com!! While they market heavy in the domestic truck world, Steve is a long time Toyota gearhead and his personal wheeler is a fully-built red 1st gen 4Runer on 37s with a Marlin Crawler Dual Ultimate 4-speed 10.72:1 T/Case setup

Steve had not heard about RCLT and was very impressed, especially with the fact that the system can be removed and the factory IFS reinstalled. He compared RCLT HD to being an improved version of the old Solid Axle Swaps that got so many 1986-95 Toyota owners started with Rock Crawling back in the day, stating, "this is the new SAS for modern Toyota's."

Thank you very much for endorsing RCLT HD Steve! We are eternally grateful for having close family friends like you and all the history we have together.

Two big endorsements from two big off-road names. This has been a great event!

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

"Busy, busy!" -Misato











It was around this time Sunday when I first heard about some new outbreak happening over in China. I rarely follow the news and due to my position I stay off social media. I didn't think much about it. We've had outbreaks before such as Ebola, Zika, Swine flu, etc... Meh, probably it'll blow over. Back to the event!

Nice meeting ya @diesel__sam!! Love that vintage Trucker style Marlin Crawler hat! <3

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

By mid afternoon Sunday it was finally starting to wind down.









This awesome couple is building up a blue 3rd gen Tacoma, and the next time I'm down their way I need to remember to meet up with them. They were a really nice couple and we chatted for a bit

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

My Recap of the event

You know, I have to say, I was pretty dang impressed with the overlanding crowd. Unlike how I envisioned them, these people actually do their own homework and asked intelligent questions. Even while explaining processes & designs for Rock Crawling, they had a good understanding and could follow along. For example, and no joke, while I was tied up helping others, I overheard on two separate occasions other people explaining the benefits of RCLT HD to their friends and others nearby. They had learned about RCLT HD online and were reciting our own key points of the setup to others. First time I had EVER experienced this!

It's highly curious why this younger generation isn't in to increases (traction, torque, control, capability, safety) and decreases (bouncing, breakage, trail abuse, risk) that results from drastically lower transfer case gearing. Is it because the average overlander only keeps a rig for a year and gets out of the hobby?

In contrast, of the many generic off-road expos I've vendored at, such as the nearby Pomona Off-road Expo, you get the Monster Energy flat-bill hat wearing types who are just there to see chicks and get free swag. This is especially true at the SEMA Show. Four Wheeler definitely did their job at marketing this event towards people who actually own and use their vehicles off-road. Genuinely great off-road enthusists from start to finish. We will for sure be back in 2021!!

A few pages back I posted "future photos" from this event that were shared to me by Instagramer 4runningmutts and I'd like to re-post them here. Thank you @4runningmutts!

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

Another event in the books! Time to tear down, pack up, and head home. Thank you to my trusty 17yr old "Farm Jack"



All loaded up & ready to drive home

 

March 6-8, 2020: Four Wheeler Adventure Expo (Costa Mesa, SoCal) (continued)

Before returning to the highway I wanted to say goodby to RSG and got some comparison shots of two late model Yotas on 40s.