Kelowna Newbie Intro - Rob

Hello Tacoma World,

Rob is the name, and I hail from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
This forum is awesome to pickup tips, see other mods, and especially what worked well for others. I intend to copy several ideas I've seen and will contribute an ongoing build page of my own.

Back into a Toyota pickup after 15 years, this time a "new to me" 2005 Double Cab, 6' box, V6(of course), Automatic with Tow package SR5, TRD Sport (real limited slip) in Speedway blue.

Mods by the previous local owner/dealer, are a power sunroof, RevTek lift kit, 17" Toyota Tacoma wheels, and new BFG All Terrains LT265/65R17. Picked it up(or as they like to term - "stole it") from Penticton Toyota dealership at 96,000+km young. Extended the Toyota warranty for another 3years or 60,000km. It will be 10 years old when the warranty runs out!

Intention is to have a capable & well prepared (ie Expedition style) to carry me on back road and trail explorations, especially to support my role as a SAR volunteer. The reality is this is still a daily driver, and travelling long hours on the highway is still a requirement.

Current mods completed or in the works are :
Lighting improvements over stock - PIAA bulbs in the headlights, HID fogs, LED marker bulbs, & 8W LED backup lamps. Interior area light switch to LED.

Interior install of Amateur radio, cell phone amplifier, ScanGauge II, and GPS antenna.
New canopy (roof rack rails, win doors) is on order for 1st week in January; using ammo box mod for now to carry some minor essentials. Custom setup in the bed to carry recovery gear, safety gear, camping gear, yet still allow me to remove gear quickly so I can bring home the house reno supplies, or do runs to the dump. Custom roof rack in aluminum is already sketched out, with a simple awning method that worked well for me in the past on my work truck.

Skid plates, and rails are next - protect the investment. Upgrade rear suspension with new & real leafs (allpro), + shocks, to replace the stock leafs, shocks & spacer block.

Currently researching best choices for the front end, would really like to find some extended ball joints, to restore front alignment with stock UCA, and replace the stock spring + spacer setup with a Coil over build.

Rear bumper & hitch replacement + adding a brake controller for towing. From experience it is almost always the rear bumper & hitch that hit long before the front bumper, so the rear bumper will be changed out first (Relentless Fab is my fav. so far) The skids & sliders should help me over the hump, considering my long box & DC setup is less than ideal for off road, but about the same as a full size truck.


In my younger years, I drove an '84 Toyota Pickup, regular cab, 22R engine. Loved the solid axle front end and those burly knuckles, and the abuse this truck was able to take off road. The horrible bench seat, combined with buckboard style highway ride, and the slow long climbs up the mountain passes left something to be desired, especially when migrating to 4x4 from a modified to go quick Datsun 280Z. Other than Tires & wheels, and a canopy, never did much for off roading mods. It pretty much did what I asked it to do, including hauling a stuck tow truck out of a mud bog. This little truck is still around, now a flatbed. Engine was changed out at 330,000 km for one from a wrecker yard with 90,000km. That truck must have 600,000 km on its chassis by now.

Spent the next 15 years in company provided 3 year leases of new Ford F150s; usually a 4x4. I had to baby this of course as it was a company truck, leased, and couldn't very well mod it. Made me appreciate even more the little truck that could, though I thoroughly enjoyed the space and comfort of the full size truck. By the way Ford's, I believe it is 2006 and up, F150 trucks with the shocks mounted in the wheel wells are 80% better in controlling wheel hop on washboard Forest Service Roads than any other truck/van I've driven. It was easy to leave other vehicles literally in the dust. Was vehicle less for two+ years, saving up for the truck I knew would work for me - 2005+ Toyota Tacoma.

That's about it for now, enjoy meeting new folks on here & hope to be contributor soon rather than just feeding on the great content here.

Rob

 

Welcome! I live in Kelowna for 8 months of the year as well!

 

Welcome from the coast , Rob

 

Welcome to TW from Sparks, NV

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Welcome from the overly liberal state of MD

 

Thank-you Al, I've had a chance to enjoy Maryland, on the Delmarva peninsula. exploring on Sundays and after work around the area of Cambridge, & Linkwood. Wish I had a kayak with me. I remember seeing the village signs along the road where the population of the village was about the same as the elevation above sea level...and it was less than 10!

 

Welcome from the West Kootenays! Lets see a pic of your truck

p.s. Heres a link to our Kelowna area thread. Lots of locals post here http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/canada/157408-okanagan-meet.html

 

Thanks Shohgi,

Hopefully the 8 months in Kelowna is for fun stuff too!
I like taking visitors and friends off the beaten path on trips on between Vancouver & Kelowna on the Coq, specifically the Kane Valley Rd, or the shortcut from Aspen Grove over to Kane Valley Rd. The Aspen Grove shortcut is a fun one in the winter, as the center 4km or so of the 9km single lane are not plowed (the road has a different name on each end) Kane Valley is especially picturesque in the winter. In the summer beware of cows, and RVs on the weekend. Still makes for a senic & fun break from the rat race on the Coq.

 

Thanks Peter. Where in BC do we find good deals on Toyota parts & Mod parts, such as your OME upgrade?

 

I got my OME kit through Cap-it , and my LR UCA's directly from Toytec .

There has been some other Canadian members reporting better prices on the OME kit in Canada , but I can't remember from where . If I remember I'll look up the thread when I get home .

 

Welcome from SoCal!

 

welcome

 

I like your canopy idea John. Recognize the unistrut material. Good on you for an original design & build!

 

Ok see here:


I'll have to take some of my own pics soon (these were from the Penticton Toyota dealer before I bought it), likely in the new year or when I have some time off.

 

DCLB FTMFW Bitches

 

Ok, Thanks OZ-T

 

Well it's for school, up at UBCO, so not exactly fun haha. Buttt, I like it up there!

You should take me on said paths, it'd be fun. I'll be back up there from Jan till May… So anytime you're free we should take a drive and you can show me the roads! If you're interested of course. We could probably even get some of the other kelowna guys to join us.

 

The route is capable by most vehicles; 4x4 not necessary. Its off highway but not off-road -main FSR type. It is maintained year round. From the west, you can exit at Exit #256, Coldwater rd (bridge over Coldwater river, at the bottom of a long hill on the Coq,, after Larson Hill) You want to wrap north back under the Coq, the go north parallel to the Coq. Turn off on Kane Valley Rd, where you'll go under the Coq again, heading uphill and east.

The 30km or so route drops back onto the connector at Corbett Lake.

The shortcut is Aspen Grove, is approx. halfway through Kane Valley Rd, coming from the west, you will pass through a ranch with its home & barn buildings at about 17km. The large Y shaped turnoff is to your right, within a couple of km after these ranch buildings, heads south to your right, at the end of a lake. Again the first part is plowed in the winter up to the last ranch home. There is a section of approx. 4km in the middle that is not plowed and its condition will vary, but no rock climbing or anything extreme required. There is a road there. It then drops down back to a plowed section of forest service road, and in another km + a bit your at hwy five in Aspen Grove. Turn to the left (North east) to get to the connector. To the right (south west is Hwy 5 to Princeton) & Kentucky Alleyne Lakes.

In winter there is next to no traffic, but summertime there is lots on the long weekend.

 

Welcome to Tacoma world