My Rough n Ready Taco excruciatingly slow build

Well it had it’s moments for sure, had a NASCAR spin and save, or half spin and save, about a half day before Whitehorse, Yukon. Ended up with my butt off the other side of the road, locked the hubs and drove on out. Then backed into a side road later that night in Watson Lake, got too close to the edge and dropped a wheel in the culvert(small one luckily) and dropped it into 4lo 2nd and crawled out of that, went back and got fuel and kept moving, overnighted at Liard river hot springs then had a great day driving through the rest of Muncho Lake and Stone Mountain Provincial parks, and went over Summit pass, before I saw any pavement. Then a day of mud in the oil patch and a couple days of big winds till I got down south of Prince George, it was smooth sailing, but Canada wasn’t finished with me yet. I had to replace the fuel filter in Oliver, BC about 20 miles north of the border.
One of the more interesting trips, started out about -5F at the cabin, a few cold stormy days then it warmed up quite a bit.

 

Ah wintertime, no better time to move…., or is there?
Thursday after the storm in Washington:


Winter progresses along up here in eastern Washington. We got about 18-24” of fresh snow earlier this Wednesday- I was driving the fiancé’s Suburban back from Montana at the time, having hauled a trailer and a load of stuff over to the Madison valley.
Lookout pass on I90 around the border between Montana and Idaho:

Conditions weren’t too bad although, the signs on the I90 warned of a big storm on Wednesday…. For once the weather guessers we’re right on the money.
Going to miss certain aspects of living here:



Onto local chores after clearing the driveway. I was using the Tacoma- as I had to change out a faulty thermostat on the Suburban out in the driveway while chasing down parts and tools( what better timing than during a move- hah!).
Tacoma with a tools and 10 bags of pellets- that will anchor you to the planet:


The hungry baby in the basement:



One of which was hauling a few bags of pellets for the voracious pellet stove, as well as tools, camping supplies ( the Tacoma is never without camping/winter survival gear), so ended up with about 800+# in the truck and there is nothing like some ballast to keep you planted on the road. The Tacoma handled everything with a shrug, slowly perhaps but:



Running around in 2wd w/studded tires on packed snow and ice reminded me of my first Toyota-74 HiLux with a wood camper shell and 4- 5 gallon buckets of sand just inside the tailgate- which I drove during my first winters in Ak. I went just about anywhere I needed to go- except up a few steep driveways then it was chain up and go.
Looks a bit more level than the HiLux did:


Needless to say the Tacoma with the Icon AAL pack added preformed as expected, it held up well on the AlCan, just broken in…
Still has the pretty paint:


Post snow clearing, time for some power packing now:




Next up will be replacing the super bright led auxiliary backup lights - which aren’t that weatherproof it seems with a different set, testing continues….

As well as getting a warm spot to sort out the trailer brake kit and get it wired in while not getting blown into Gallatin county. Always something new and interesting. Life is good, and cold….

 

Well everyone is likely tired of the updates on the Pretty Rocks slide, but I found a recent pic from this spring. Looks like the road has dropped 40-50’ , they have let the project out for bid, with an actual design now. Not sure if it’s FHA or DSC, but the result was they got around a half dozen contractors, mostly big outfits from Outside to bid on it so it looks promising for something to get started in the spring with any luck.

 

All of the grey material is gravel they put on the road in 2021, the area in the upper left of the photo is where road ended on the other side of the slump. If I understand correctly the proposed bridge will go across from the cut where the people are standing straight out to the far side of the oxbow above the dark brown outcropping to the right of the wing support frame which is out of frame on the previous photo but on the left side of the picture in this post. So basically bypassing that whole oxbow slide area and attempting to make an easy left turn off of the bridge back onto the road for the long passenger buses (and the very rare full length 40+’ tractor trailer rigs that they occasionally allow to transit after midnight). It is likely that there will reduced vehicle size restrictions in the future depending on the bridge design. Kinda just speculation on my part, but time will tell.


That is to minimize the amount of material they have to cut off the bank and expose less of the rock glacier strata. As I said it should be a very interesting project to watch.

 

Well another AlCan run is in the bag, another quick trip. Got a late start due to wrapping up the move from Eastern Washington to Montana, and finally a cameo appearance of spring. The trip went well, with a couple discoveries.
1) the crappy Champion radiator finally started leaking- true to form apparently. A small leak, so I pulled the trigger on a KoyoRad VH010513.
2) might have a bad caliper on the front, seems to randomly stick, this happened 3 different times with varying degrees of intensity. Kind of a light stick then a solid clunk of engagement, and the last time the passenger side grabbed while stopping at a traffic light in Fairbanks, although it could have just been loose gravel and sand.
3) had a couple of interesting clunks under the back but I saw no signs of and cracks in the springs when I checked a couple different times- so I plan to get it up on a rack and do a closer examination. It might have just been a spring shifting.

So when I get down to the cabin and resurrect Roland the 85 from hibernation, the taco will be getting some love. Probably go through the entire brake system, check out the suspension, and replace the radiator. Change the gear oil, engine oil and grease the drivetrain. Perhaps finally get the taillight and trailer brake wiring completed , some electrical wiring cleanup, even get the air compressor wired in, so a busy summer looms. Rip out the carpet, install some DynaMat, new pad, and vinyl instead of carpet- much easier to clean and better for mud.

But all things considered, still always good to be in Ak

 

A few photos from the sprint up the AlCan:

finalizing(?) the load after changing the the studded tires for the Toyos sorting out a way to haul the new rear ARB leafs for Roland up to the cabin, this turned out to be both necessary( couldn’t let the tailgate down all the way) and also safer- dropped the weight down lower still, which made for a much smoother ride.
stopping for a break from the road in the Peace River canyon.

 

You need to keep an eye peeled for these girls & boys:
No open water at Muncho Lake yet
Camping at Liard River:

 

Bridge replacement underway at Tetlin river:Smooth sailing onto Haines Junction:Next up Kluane Lake Provincial Park:
Sheep Mtn I think:

 

Heading for Destruction Bay:not much open water , just starting to moat:
Onto the paved motocross track, closing in on Beaver Creek and the border

 

No open water on the Tanana River yet either, seems abit late but not really. It’s been trending warmer the last 10 or so years. The tripod is still up, wish I would have picked up a couple of tickets.
The MOUNTAIN is OUT! I sure miss seeing that out at Wonder Lake.

Still quite a bit of snow at the cabin, I guess I know what the first order of business is:
Need a temp spring trail to the outhouse:
Some refreshing exercise after sitting in the Tacoma for 6 days:

 

A bit of driveway clearing:
Access to the facilities:

Cranked up the Efel oil heater, love this stove, small but very capable:

 

Time to wake up Roland the eternal;Alive and ready for some exercise:

 

Friday morning, not quite shorts weather:But a beautiful day awaits, time for a cup of coffee:Should be a great day to make some power:
It’s going to be a fine day

 

Looks like radiator arrived undamaged. Now to find out where they delivered the radiator cap.



Sometimes one wonders how some businesses stay afloat, they got the address wrong sent it to the next town(wrong zip code?) That PO sent it back as undeliverable, which I found out once I drove 18 miles. Ordered one from a different source, and it showed up today:
Not a big deal, ran into some friends and played catch up.
Also the lower radiator hose won’t be here for another day or so anyway.

 

Off to the recycling yard for this POS:
Well the planets aligned and I finally got the KOYORAD VH010513 radiator installed. All it took was having to sideline the Tacoma to deal with an axle boot(might be a cratered CV, the dreaded thump, clunk, and intermittent spinning banging sound - new development happened). So I installed the radiator changed the oil, greased and soaked the bolts for easier removal to be ready for the axle replacement.
Notes about the installation- poorly documented as always, just head down and get it done as always here in the open air gravel garage.
1) good build quality
2) get the radiator cap KOYO SK-C13
3) flanges are to fairly close tolerances so if your truck is a bit tweaked be patient and expose the core support, make it as easy as you can
4) might not hold as much as the champion POS
With that time for photos
Looks pretty good

Good clearance:

Uses the same NAPA hose the chumpion used NAPA 8971


great approach angle

No leaks at this time.
Not expecting any but it will be a couple weeks before the Taco is back on the road. Besides it is due for a vacation and some work.

 

I went through 3 champions before I went back to a factory 4Runner unit.

 

I guess I was lucky it lasted as long as it did before the leak got bad enough to be an issue. I am hopeful that this one lasts for a long time, comparing the build quantity I get the feeling that it will last for quite awhile, the tube slots are much bigger, the tube walls are thicker, and the have a better extrusion depth through the tube sheet.

I flew out to Kantishna last Sunday for work, and got a chance see the slide on Polychrome pass:

a couple of pics on the way out west:




A much quicker commute to the west end, Kantishna airstrip:

A couple photos from Tuesday morning after a freshening of the snow in the hills:




The spring madness has eased, only one job to finish up this weekend. Be a good chance to knock out some spring cleanup around the cabin, maybe take a deep dive into whatever is making the weird noise.

 

Well I may have discovered the mystery sound from under the truck, looks like it may have been in part caused by delaminating brake shoes. LR front shoe brake lining came off completely when I removed the drum:


Leaking wheel cylinder apparently dissolved the glue/bonding agent, that ahead the lining to the shoe:


Looks like the other side was thinking about it as well:


Obviously the linings were due for replacement, which was on the list of things to check this summer. Parts are here according to tracking, so next week it’s brake repair time. Thinking about getting a Trail Gear rear disc brake kit next winter, and possibly a driveline E-brake kit. Not sure if it’s necessary, the drums seem to do quite well on the rear axle. Just a bit more involved inspection wise.

Thinking about upgrading the brake master cylinder to a Tundra/T100 to help with the braking,
Of course the Tundra front disc upgrade is head and shoulders above the stock setup, but….

Time for some research. Waiting to hear about some front axles as well, then rebuild/replace the boots, before the Taco is back on the road. The fun continues….
Update:
Not going the rear disc route anytime soon, not sure it’s worth the time, effort, or $$$ at this time.

Roland is picking up the slack for the moment

 

One side done, got interrupted with a service call, so the other side is tomorrow’s childFigured I should at least wire brush and paint the drums. I was able to get a coat of primer and 1 coat of paint before the rain started:

Hope to wrap this end of the rig done tomorrow waiting to send the other set of wheels down to Anchoragua for sandblasting and powder coating- semi gloss black should just fine, then mount the Falkens on the new wheels. Kinda like this:They are pretty big…. Hopefully they will be drama free.

 

Dropped off a couple of my rims in Fairbanks, to get blasted and painted, the others are waiting for a chance to mount them up.
Next up finish bleeding the brakes and grease the chassis, get a coat of paint on the sliders, and might even get the brake controller wired in, at least one of those will be fun to do in the rain. It’s that fun time of the year, the last few years with the jet stream shifting, it seems like a lot of the storms and weather systems are moving through much faster than they used to, should be interesting…..
Once these are done and the Taco is back on the road, then new ARB rear leafs for Roland, and the old Toyos go onto the 85. Bleed the clutch, grease the chassis, check the diffs, maybe get in a bike ride or two.
Could be fun…