Urban Escape Camp Road Tripper

Nice build man

 

Since I'm butting heads with my garage landlord over doing auto work there and have been super busy lately, I took it to Any Seven Offroad on San Leandro for the last upgrades. Once in their shop I got to see all their buggy builds and was impressed. They race Hammers and are really good at what they do. Darren used to be a software developer so they're not just some redneck hacks either haha. I highly recommend them to anyone

 

Thanks! Your truck was part of my inspiration!

Got a call from Elite Offroad today, they said my rear bumper is on the way today!

 

Damn! Look at that hinney! Nice rake mang!

 

Did a little post-Thanksgiving cruise through the woods yesterday with my GF's brother. I wanted to run Cow Mtn and was trying to run some more difficult trails but it was closed so we just drove a dirt road called Bartlett Springs up in Lake county near their house. Not real wheeling but it was a fun day trip. There were some fun little play trails off the side I wanted to hit but since he has a stock ZJ Quadra Trac on street tires we couldn't go up most of the more difficult parts. He and his Jeep did pretty well through a few deeper ruts though considering. We had fun on some cool trail features but I didn't get pics of that, too busy driving and spotting to think about stopping to give him my camera to make him take pics, oops. Lots of deep puddles and little stream crossings made for a splashy muddly good time though.
WARNING: More scenery than wheeling pics
Some early morning rig shots




This one shows the rock lights a little. Yes i KNOW the factory tow hook is backwards and is stupid. The elite bumper doesn't allow it to fit the other way I just need to get shorter bolts and delete it.

Weak poser shot haha


















I really wanted to run this but we were losing daylight and he didn't think his Jeep would make it so I 'll just have to get it next time.





I didn't even bother to remove the hitch or disconnect the sway bar but I'll probably try that next time. I think it cost me a little, maybe you can tell in that shot of me in the rut coming downhill.

Yeah, much better now! Thanks for suggesting the AAL, you were right! Next time lets meet and wheel around Lake County!

Tim from Elite called and said they had to ship the rear bumper back Once that's installed I'll have a little more rear clearance and want to hit some harder stuff

 

So while I wait for my rear bumper to arrive, I am debating my next set of tires. the MTRs have been great off road but less than great on pavement. DEbating going up to 33s. As much as I want 12.5 all my research points at 10.5s. I'm considering Toyo MTs and Cooper SST, and even Duratracs. I know they are step down for a trail tire but I spend more time driving on the highway than wheeling and I think they will be okay for my intended trail use, at least the Toyos and Coopers. I just wish both were available in 32s, so now I might need to go to 33x10.5. I know they work fine but I'm also kind of wanting some different wheels. Maybe steelies, but definitely black.

Thoughts?

 

Look what just came in! Happy New Year!

 

Also ordered wheelers type b wheels, 883 coils and trim packer to fix the gangster lean today. 33s should be here in a few weeks. It's all finally coming together.

Anyone want some 882 coils with 3k on them?

 

hate to see the wheels go, like those alot for oem wheels, always have. nice contrast to the black too. good luck with the new setup. nice pics too.

 

Man all i can do is drool over your truck. Its a great build so far.

 

I just ordered 33x10.5 Toyo MTs too!

Yeah, I have a kind of love/hate relationship with the stock wheels. I bought the steelies because I thought I would go 33x12.5 for awhile then changed my mind (EVERY one of my vehicles, I have stuffed "limit of what can fit with lots of work" tires on them, and I'm kind of over it, at least for now. Plus I've always loved the way black steelies look, and although I don't want to add more unsprung mass that isn't tire, I thought about it and went for it. That and if my clumsy wheeling on some rocks were to chew/crack an alloy wheel, id be stranded at the worst and pissed in the least scenario, so the steelies are going on.

 

Thanks! I wish I had your front end and interior though! I don't know why but I always end up buying my least favorite bodystyle of every vehicle I get. I've been putting her to to good use a lot lately. So far I've taken her to Tahoe 6 times this winter, slept in the back in the resort parking lot for about 4 days and been pretty comfortable, and been piling the miles on between Tahoe and SF for all my snowboard trips, and done some minor wheeling.

With the rear bumper and 33s on, and the stock hitch removed, I'm looking forward to taking it down to Hollister soon. I have a very promising job interview next week further south and if I get it, I'll be really close to Hollister and be buying a single family home somewhere down there. Love SF but I'm over living right in the city. Give me the mountains lakes rivers snow and trails

I've been thinking about getting a sled to ride the backcountry more and more lately when I move to a single family home outside the city, and seeing more newer fullsize trucks with sleds in the back has made me consider replacing it with a Tundra (plus to town the Evo to the race track), but I don't think I'll be able to get myself to sell it anytime soon. Researching ways to fit a big powder sled onto this little Taco...

 

nice build , I may be interested in the 882s

 

I love your truck, cant wait to see the rear bumper installed with the new suspension and wheel setup!

 

Thanks trowbowcop! Your truck looks really nice too. How do you like the Duratracs? Wheelers was out of stock on the wheels, so I just cancelleed the whole order for now. My tires should be in next Fri and I am not sure if I want to try to find some other 15x8 steelies, use the OEM wheels again, or wait. Also not sure if upgrading to 883s will make a significant difference? All I know is with the bumper, winch, and front+belly skids, I am not seeing much lift out of them.

 

I dont want to wait for wheelers steelies to come into stock so I ordered Summit series 84 wheels in 3.75" backspace. Normally I'd be a little concerned about these fitting but I already have 1.25" spacers all around. I was hoping to take them off with the new setup, but on the other hand I like a wide track and am already going down to 10.5" tires and some of these wheels don't fit without spacers, so if they don't fit without the spacers I'll now be running a skinny 10.5" tire on a 2.5" equivalent backspace wheel. Wide track and skinny tire. It might looks weird but it should work.

 

Grrrr the wheels are backordered at Summit too. Going to cancel that order too. WTF is this a sign I need to use the OEM wheels again?

 

I got the 33s on the stock wheels, and it's like a whole new truck! I can actually comfortably drive 70+mph, these tires are almost silent. It doesn't feel like I'm riding on flintstones octagon wheels anymore. Combined with all the sound deadening, I can't believe how quiet it is in the cabin. They worked better in the snow and ice so far than my MTRs too. The MTRs weren't that bad, but maybe its narrower contact patch and the little sipes the Toyos have that help a lot. The downside is that going from 32 to 33 has diminished my MPG a LOT. I expected this, but not this much. I think I am getting about 50 miles less per tank. The Toyos are also a relatively heavy tire. I haven't really taken them in the rocks and mud on trails yet but in snow they are excellent and are good on the street and highway too.

Speaking of wheeling on trails, I've been eager to put on my new Elite rear bumper and hit Hollister but after painting it, it doesn't fit. The first one Tim sent me, he called back before I picked it up from the shipping place to address some problem with. I'm pretty bummed this second one doesn't quite fit either. I guess I'll just wait to see what he says. It was lame putting my stock one back on after an afternoon of trying to get that thing on. At least I got the hitch receiver off.

In the meantime I've been putting the camper shell to good use on snowboarding missions.

This is home sweet home away from home. 10 degree bag and $75 memory foam mattress from Ikea makes for pretty comfy accommodations. I even slept back there below zero in Tahoe a few weeks ago. So far I think I've spent 5 snowboard mission night like that. Would have been a lot of hotel $. Besides, I get onto the lift that much sooner just putting on my gear, brushing my teeth, eating some breakfast and getting to the top of the mountain this way.

 

I personally love those stock Tacoma rims you have. I've been browsing CL for a set myself. Anyway... Your build is AWESOME! Have you had to use the warn much? How do you like it?

 

Just had to do the same thing. Bolts are Part #91642-81235 if you're looking to stick close to factory parts. They are the shorter ones used for the recovery bracket on the driver side.