Little Red Turbo Creeper

You sure made that look easy.

 

I'll take that as a compliment

It definitely took me longer than I expected but I also took a lot of extra time cleaning as I went.
I took a heat gun to the plastic trim pieces after cleaning them to remove some of the smaller scuffs and scratches, its looking fresh inside the cab right now.

I think the bluetooth steering wheel out of a 2nd Gen Taco would look right at home in there now.

 

I finally find the roof drip molding for the rear passenger door


Should be here in a few days and install only takes about 5 seconds

 

A compliment it was.

 

Does this mean It no longer is haha

 

Makes me think of Alex Trebek.

 

Perry Parts bumpstops came in today.



https://www.perryparts.com/toyota-tacoma1

 

Right, now hopefully I'm done messing with the seats for the next 10 or so years.

I can officially say I've got my seats on brackets, on brackets, on brackets and it only cost me stacks on stacks.

Corbeau Baja XRS seats are bolted to Corbeau dual locking sliders bolted to Planted industry's seat brackets bolted to Desert Does It Seat Jackers that are bolted to the cab. Let's just say this hasn't been a weight reduction for the truck but the seat and seating position are feeling much better.

I haven't spent much time in the seat just yet so I won't really go into it

What I will say is that I should have installed the Seat Jackers long ago. Knowing they are a local (ish) business makes it that much better. My hats off to you @EasyDoesIt
I wasn't expecting such a quick delivery and I'm glad they made it in time for the upcoming road trip.

Installation was a snap and I love when things come with ALL the needed hardware.

As I layed out the packaged content I was a little puzzled why they sent me red grease but thought maybe it would help slide the seat bracket onto the seat Jackers easier and prevent scratches. Then I realized it was an individually wrapped sweetish fish

Still soft and fresh, a true testament of rapid shipping.

After a quick fish lunch I went to work

Install was simple enough the only drama was due to the Planted bracket.
It was already a bit too snug and had to be forced into position. there are two score lines on the Planted brackets where a bend should have been that I think they missed, one for the seat belt receiver and one on the front outside mounting tabs (the tab you see above)
I tried to force it at first, probably could have used a bit of grease. while doing that I scratched the face of one of the Jackers but it's hidden by the Planted bracket now so it's fine

That's why you don't force things kids.


That adjustable wrench was very handy for bending the metal tab in a pinch. once I got that taken care of everything else just fell into place





Thankfully the passenger side was less dramatic as I had already bent the planted mounting tab in order to fit the seat properly


Shortly after installing the Jackers we ordered some take out from my favorite local Thai restaurant and I got a glimpse at driving the truck with support under my knees and I have to say it's quite the warm feeling in my tummy... or maybe that's the spicy curry

 

If you haven't done this yet I highly recommend doing so. If you have been on the fence about doing it how's an extra 15% off for a little incentive, get it while it lasts

Do it, You wont regret it!

 

I like maps so I've been playing with onX and Google maps a bit and thought I'd share a couple routes I've planned for the first big ish trip with Turbo powaaaa and Corbeau seats.

First option is the Standard "get in and go" route I've taken a hundred times over the years that takes me through Moab


It's the fastest and arguably easiest route but in the past this truck has struggled with it. I ordered The Hayden Trans cooler after it's first time and that helped a lot but I-70 and 4 speed automatics just don't mix well. It would be interesting to see how a little bit of boost changes things and it should be cold enough to keep the engine temperatures down (That's my main concern).

The second option is more fuel efficient. It's 40 miles shorter with less elevation change but slower speed limits so it takes a bit longer.



The problem is if I go the eco friendly way I'm inclined to take a couple detours and make it a bit more scenic but a couple small detours really adds a lot to that drive and not just in the views


A couple small turns add a lot of elevation change and stretches the time line out quite a bit and ultimately I'll probably avoid this mostly because our bigger dog doesn't love being in the car and that extra hour and a half with a drooling mess panting heavily between the front seats just isn't appealing but there are some spectacular views.
All that is just to get me to (or from) the mountains.
We are going to stay in Blanding for a couple days to do some exploring around the Abajo Mountains and the Elk Ridge.

These mountains have been calling my name a bit louder and louder over the last few months. The last time I did the trip around the Abajo mountains was in the 09 taco with my Grandpa. It was as perfect as you could ask for, we saw a black bear, a group of large bucks, at least ten turkeys, and a couple doing "yoga" in the middle of a meadow next to a white 4door 2nd Gen taco all in less than 3 hours.

The 09 taco was totaled shortly after that (along the first half of the route above) and Grandpa has since passed so it's definitely not going to be the same but I'm excited to show my wife a place with many great memory and hopefully create a few more.

 

180 miles on 10 gallons. Haven't seen that for a minute

 

Too bad we missed all the fall colors out here but in my minds eye I still see it

 

After spending a little over 20 hours in the truck during the long weekend celebrating the Marines Birthday and Veterans Day I'm very happy with how the Corbeau seats have turned out. I don't necessarily feel wonderful but the seats didn't sap as much energy as usual. The seats heat up pretty fast and the low setting is easily warm enough. I think the only complaints were It being a little harder to get the seat belts to retract eithe and sometime around the 6th hour the passenger side back rest rubbed the B pillar and made some annoying sounds a few times but I don't remember hearing it again after that. It's also more obvious that the seatbelts need cleaned, I hadn't realize how dirty they were until seeing them against the nice new seats.

The trip too and from went smoothly there were a couple hills that brought the engine temperatures into the low 200's but cranking up the heater brought it back to the 190's

I averaged 17.8 mpg on the beautiful 180 mile stretch of Hwy between Loa and Blanding (on the way there and on the way home).



Twice we stopped along the winding river roads to stretch our legs and the other 8 furry legs squabbling over the limited space provided by the bench seat in the back.
The weather was perfect for November, you can walk around in the desert in the daytime without being vaporized and it's cold enough at night to encourage snuggling under a shared blanket.
Each night of the trip we were granted and great view of the setting sun the first night we were passing by Lake Powell as the colors began to pop. I was focused on the road but my wife got some great shots and I think the rear view mirror camera system picked up a couple decent videos, I'll have to check it out.

The second night we were up the mountain with a view from 11,000ft and it started just as my father and I got back to the truck after a little Grouse hunting (my first time hunting Grouse and we were able to bag two birds).

I knew I'd regret not hiking with my camera, at the bottom of the this canyon on the right side of the trees were at least 12 elk. I think they may have been a little out of range for my current lense anyway. A kicked rock goes pretty far here


After reviewing the onX maps when I got home I realized where we had parked was private property by a couple feet. Man it would be nice to have property like that. A little further down the ridge line and we're back on government land looking at the distant Bears Ears National Monument. Growing up this wasn't a Monument and there are a lot of people in the area who aren't happy with its new designation.

A hint of reflection off the 4th reservoir below

The next night we watched the sunset from the comfort of the Vrbo outside town a little ways but we were too busy playing a round of Munchkin with my cousins to get any pictures but the starts later that night were almost as good as the sunset.

I need to do some learning with the camera so I can get pictures of the nights sky. The phone just leaves something to be desired




The way home we found ourselves in a small canyon giving the dogs their 3rd break from the car when the colors started to appear




Reminds me I'd like to disable the daytime running lights.
The headlights themselves could use a little bit of an adjustment but really they aren't very bright so I use the SS3 fog lights to compensate, they work very well.


Veterans day also marked the 3rd year I've had this truck. I've managed to put 20,000 miles on it, another 1000 miles I'll have to watch the odometer more to make sure I capture 333,333 miles for the 03 taco.

I seemed to have a lot of blow by during this trip and had to empty my oil catch can along the way home, it appears to have been full for a while judging by the mess on the inner fender.

I emptied it when I moved it closer to the air filter and it didn't have much in it so seeing it full was a surprise.
While climbing up to the radio towers on top of Abajo Peak I started to smell something and when we got to the top I opened the hood and noticed it was making a mess but there wasn't much to do about it at the moment so I just noted it and kept on my merry way. Part of why I relocated it was to be able to unscrew the tank without removing its mounting brackets so I was thankful for that being done when I emptied it (into Starbucks bottle while fighting the intrusive thought of lighting it on fire).


Just waisted fuel and oil that could otherwise be used in the block for useful things. Should really set it up to be sucked back into the intake but also think maybe adjusting the valves or something could help reduce the blow by.

Here's a tree my dogs though was very suspicious until further inspection

Barked and growled at it first of course

 

Here's a picture my Grandpa took many years ago

That little guy on the left is me.
Grandpa was the better photographer for sure.

While we were there another little Toyota passed us for a second time

 

Missed opportunity to try and recreate the photo hah

 

It really was a missed opportunity. My sister has an old fj still and she's recreated that picture with her kids but it would be better to make my dad pick me up haha

 

Wow that was a lot of blow by, how many miles since the last empty? Mine is the same catch can and I do leak out the air filter fitting on top as it is not the best quality, but I have never had enough blow by since install to even reach the top of the 'steel' wool they provided.

 

Yeah that's a TON of blowby and it looks reasonably clean... I wonder if the valve cover is missing a PCV baffle or something.

 

I did use a different steel wool, it's a stainless steel kitchen scrubber haha

I believe that would have been about 500 miles for it to fill up. Still a bit crazy, there was hardly anything in it when I moved the catch can forward and I think I had more miles in it too.

Its still running great

 

Whats the PCV baffle?

I put a new PCV valve on with a new gromit when I did the valve cover gaskets the first time not too long ago.

Would having the catch can in a lower spot have anything to do with it. I wonder if that's part of the reason why my PVC hose was always wet before the Turbo. I remember bringing it up and was set straight on Silicone lines for the PCV.

I'll keep an eye on the catch can and see if it goes back to normal after driving around the city instead of being on the Hwy.

If you have any suggestions I'm all ears.

I also remember seeing a bit of oil in the plenum each time I've removed. May even have some pictures