Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

Ok,

 

The only part I didn't believe was the 180' bong......nobody has the lung capacity to clear that!

 

I often think about spending my retirement on the road, maybe not in such a glamorous fashion.

@taoist , the truck camper you have looked plenty comfortable to me! And, I like the fact that you can set it up at the campsite and go explore in something a little more nimble.

 

True!

I did see a beer bong with about a 50' hose at a frat-house in Whitewater, but I did not partake. No, I did not go to college (which is probably quite obvious to anyone who has ever had a conversation with me). But, I found myself at college parties often in my early to mid 20's.

 

You just need to get one of the solid axle sportsmobiles. Thats more your style.

 

Unimogs are cool as hell! But they're huge!

A Volvo C303 would make a super cool overlanding build platform.

Triple locked, with portal axles... hell yeah!

 

Same. I’d want to do it for a few weeks / months with somewhere to return to for a break. I dunno that I could do it full time.

 

Absolutely, that looks very svelte and compact!

 

You can for um.... Business reasons.

And a top speed of like, 45 mph lol

 

So, you're saying that my brother's business needs a Unimog?

62, actually. That's fine for the back roads.

 

Gotta take it slow and enjoy the scenery

 

Exactly!

I prefer to take back-roads whenever I have time, anyway.

Although, considering the C303's wheelbase is the same as its height, there might be a pucker factor driving it around at top speed for any period of time.

 

We went from a life of tent camping to a truck camper and have never looked further. We like the ease of on/off, setup is literally three minutes, adequate space for two people and being mounted on the vehicle rather than towing.

 

Best pictures I could snag for now. I'll have it on the jacks later when I'm installing the transfer case skid.




Driving it this morning you can definitely feel the weight but in a good way. I don't usually carry much in my bed unless we're camping so I think it's made the ride more to my liking.

Still doing my research once I have a known weight with everything and everyone loaded for some new suspension stickers.Probably stopping at the CAT scales before Tigerton in August when I have my girls with me.

One thing about the scratches FedEx provided (for free!) is I can justify some nicer rattle can paint to touch up my frame too. Wahed off the Fluid Film and my rust removal attempts are showing

 

No.


I'm saying his business needs two unimogs

Fair. 62 ain't bad

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-toyota-mega-cruiser-3/

Time to start a go fund me to buy this

 

You can get them from Northeast importers for like 40 Grand.

 

OK, where to start...

When I left, I threw the scanner in the truck as I've been having problems with my shifter, resulting in CELs. Good thing I had it!

Coming in off of a trail late Tues, fairly easy trail, just a couple of moderate rocky climbs... nothing too difficult, the engine sputters and I get a CEL. Read the codes...fuel rail low pressure. Reset and head back to camp. Quarter mile later, almost to the main road, big chug and very little power, CEL. Again, fuel rail low pressure. Baby it off the trail and about 3 miles down the road...fuel rail low pressure. This probably isn't good.

As I'm driving, I notice that every time I transition between throttle to decel, I'm getting a shake in the rear driveline...not big, but a quick brrp. WTH?!

The reason I finally had cell service was because I ran into town (55 miles away) to get a professional opinion on the code and the vibration. He thinks my fuel pump may be dying, pressure is inconsistent, and my carrier bearing is beginning to take a dump. Fuel pump estimate was $1100, and if I wanted to re-do the driveshaft another $600. Probably 2 to 3 days to get parts (God only know what brand) and probably another day for repairs.

Well, I'm home. I went back to camp, packed up and made a run for it, hoping to make Odessa, where the first Toyota dealer is. The truck threw CELs 4 more times by the time I got to Odessa, but it kept going. By that time, the temp had dropped to approx 82*. Did I say that on Tues the temp was 103*? With the lower temps, the fuel pressure stabilized and I didn't get another CEL all the way home. I'll get it checked this week, probably see if I can find a fuel pump from a wreck...a new one is something like $700.

The driveshaft, OTOH, doesn't feel good, and has definitely gotten worse...but it made it home.

Two for two this year...I guess it could be worse. The two days on the trails in TX were amazing! I have mixed feelings on not being able to do the River Road. Park Ranger told me to expect it to take the whole day (Old Ore Rd took 3 1/2 hrs to go 23 miles), and the washes down by the Rio Grande were pretty bad in 2 spots. If I had problems down there, I may have to walk back out, as I likely wouldn't see anyone most of the day.

 

My 2nd gen didn't lose it's fuel pump until about 140k, I'm a little over 110k now and had the fuel pump replaced under recall at about 36k. Toyota switched suppliers for the 3rd gens, and they don't seem to be as good.