DannyBFresco's "El Taco Fresco" Accumulation of Hand-Me-Downs and Other Assorted Stuff & BS

It's an excellent word! Gold star for you, buddy

 

Little weekend trip with my buddy Dave and his friends to Lake Alpine. Since we were headed there anyway, we decided to try running Corral Hollow again after being turned away by downed trees last time. It was definitely tight squeezing through some of the cuts, but we made it all the way through. Always a chill little trail to run. Lake Alpine is cool too. 10/10 would go back.

 

I need to get this spare 35 out of my bed again now that the RTT is on. With the bed cage and spare 35, I have almost no room (again lol). I think I'm gonna go with a hitch-mounted carrier like the Wilco Hitchgate Solo Standard (high clearance is too high to open the tailgate). Holler if you know of any for sale near the Bay Area, CA!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wtb-wilco-hitchgate-solo-standard-or-similar.730580/

 

Gotta love TW! After putting the word out there that I'm looking for that Wilco, @GHOST SHIP is building me a custom one thanks to @fatfurious2

 

Woohoo!

 

This escalated quickly…many thanks to @GHOST SHIP for knocking this beefcake out so quickly!!! It’s just what I needed. Been doing some testing at the mall by driving over parking blocks and speed bumps at 55mph no jiggle at all yet







So much room for activities again!

 

Haha. That was one of the fastest turn arounds for a custom project. Glad you’re diggin it man!

 

The timing worked out perfectly for a quick pick-up too. Ideas are brewing for more things too

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-800-rtt-raptor-series-offgrid-voyager.732025/

Selling the rooftop tent I had on my Land Cruiser

 

Did you cut off your right recovery point to make it fit!’?

 

We did.

 

Yup, sure did!

 

Late update here - upgraded to 2010+ 5th gen 4Runner calipers and rotors. They're quite a bit bigger than the Tacoma brakes, and the upgrade was much more in my budget than the Tacoma BBKs on the market. I used 2011 4Runner Powerstop rotors and pads with freshly rebuilt OEM 2011 4Runner calipers from Ebay. Easy peasy swap thanks to @TRDrunner and the braking performance is definitely better. It's not gonna be better than a true BBK upgrade, but it's an improvement nonetheless for only about $350. Link to writeup HERE

 

Well, I'm once again back from another period of being MIA lol, but I'm back with good news! After numerous failed attempts to fix whatever the heck was wrong with my engine, I threw in the towel and bought a fully rebuilt motor. Shaffer's Offroad, which is now in Union City, CA, did an awesome install job on it, and I couldn't be happier with how the truck runs now. Other than needing a full suspension refresh (bushings, uniballs, shock rebuilds, etc.) and an interior detail, the truck is brand spanking new!

 

A few pics from a recent trip to Barney Riley Trail in no particular order. We took the route from the 395 in Nevada into California, which ended up near Markleeville on Hwy 89. Although not super technical, the western part of the trail got a little sketchy with tight turns with no room for error, and the pictured Carson River crossing was pretty sketchy. I was glad to have done all the intake and diff breather re-routing in the past.

 

Finally got my Front Runner footwell water tank up and running after who knows how many years lol. It has capacity for 10.5 gallons and has whatever kinda food quality rating so it can handle drinking water. That's a shit ton of water lol. I used some regular fittings and hose from Home Depot for each side (needs two because of the hump in the middle separating the two sides of the tank). I'm pretty stoked on this thing, and it both doubled my water capacity and took another thing out of my space-deprived bed.

 

If 2022 could be summed up for this truck, it would be “f**k it, add it to the list of things to fix.” Lol thankfully I have the friends and resources to keep grinding on it. Just over the last month, we’ve knocked out:

1. o2 sensor
2. Inner and outer tie rods
3. Cv axle boots (again)
4. Entire rear drum brake assemblies
5. Wheel studs and lug nuts
6. Cab mount bushings (partially so far, rest to come)
7. Broken, fixed and beefed up front bumper mounts (both sides) - pics below

Before:



During:



Final (sans paint):



Many thanks to @GHOST SHIP for the fix and beef!

 

Anyone ever used something like this in their RTT? I feel like I've heard of some people using one to great success and added space for bedding, etc. when closed

$153 LOSTHORIZON Air & Foam Camping Mattress, Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad, 4.5" Thick, with Pump Sack, Full

https://www.amazon.com/LostHorizon-...3f-479b-841a-dbb7f0dacf79&th=1&language=en_US

 

I've also been hearing good things about this switch panel that resembles the Switch Pro. Thinking about swapping to this instead of rocker switches to clean up my wiring

$170 Auxbeam 8 Gang Switch Panel BA80 Automatic Dimmable LED Touch Control Panel Box Electronic Relay System Car Touch Switch Box Universal for Truck ATV UTV Boat Marine SUV Caravan -Blue, 2 Years Warranty

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KZLB74K?coliid=I1EIET08KBP4G4&colid=24FG657RKXUR&language=en_US