Calgary Roll Call

Gas detector + my field gear probably adds up to a couple hundred pounds of weight in my bed. Seems to make a little difference.

Once on location I don't keep much back there besides recovery gear, a box of survival gear, and a shovel because I simply don't have enough room for bags of sand when fully loaded heading to a location.

 

Thonx

 

Truck box, Bed Slide, RTT, Bed Rack. Probably a good 300-400lbs. Even with my balding BFGs truck has been surprisingly planted this entire winter.

 

I have A/T tires with the severe winter rating and I am getting a lot of traction....except when on an ice covered hill and I am trying to drive up it lol

 

I run Michelin Latitude Alpines. They've been kicking ass on the snow and ice, but I just got back from a month of working around Grand Cache and I'm glad I bailed when I did. This warm weather has those rig roads a day or two shy of complete goo. Winter tires don't handle that very well and I don't feel like putting on my BFG A/T's yet haha.

 

I use to do the tire swapping every fall and spring with my old car but when I got my truck I splurged for AT's with the Severe Winter rating so I could run one set for a few years straight.

I am loving this warm weather lately, anyone get up to some wheeling this weekend of camping?

 

I still find my A/T's lacking on ice and hard packed snow versus my winters, but they are definitely livable year round.

My winters are junk when the lease roads turn to mud during these thaws, so its a bit of a toss up.

I enjoyed the warm weather for the commute back from GP last week. Didn't even manage to wash my truck though

 

Best thing you can really do is get a set of studdable mud tires to deal with the ice/hardpack/MuckThaw.

That's what I was considering. Then stuck with dedicated winters cause I don't see much muck in the winter.

Ugh. GP to Calgary drive. How horrible. I don't miss that commute at all!

 

My first winter, I never saw the muck, and dedicated winters worked great. Last two winters, I've been sent off to the boonies and seen the occasional melt. I'd say my winters are still good for 99% of the time though. I just try to hit the road before the sun is up and catch everything frozen from the night...or at least a bit more solid.

And sweet jesus man, that drive is terrible. The stretch between Valleyview and Whitecourt is usually littered with Moose (both suicidal and already dead) and overturned contractor trucks haha. That stretch (along with a part of Highway 40) is literally what makes me want an ARB bumper.

I get bored on the drive, so I stop for coffee often. Then the drive takes longer. It's a viscous cycle. Have to just find something good on XM or a podcast and power through it haha.

 

Sounds like my old commute to Fort McMurray I hated that drive with a passion and the idoits on the road never enhanced the driving experience.

I use to have a sirius radio but I ended up just changing channels all the time.

 

You definitely trade idiots for scenery there.

Best drive was going to Wild Cat Hills. Gorgeous scenery and zero traffic!

 

I'll sometimes put on O&A for mindless comedian chatter. But you know the drive is too long when satellite music channels start to repeat their play lists haha.

I did the Edson to GP drive on Highway 40 in the summer; that is absolutely stunning! It also has turns, and elevation changes! During the winter though? Its basically Russian Roulette with your truck.

 

Hey Fuse, do you live in the belt line? I think I keep seeing you.

Also I keep seeing a Red DCSB with a new OME lift and ARE or Leer cap. Also there is unicorn running around downtown, it is a lifted (I think) 2005-2011 Silver DCSB TRD OR with a cap as well. Are these guys on here?

 

I do, but if you think you've seen me in the last week, its probably another Tacoma. I've been up north again for about a week now. I think my HID Retrofit is probably a good way to tell if its me.

I see a lot of Tacomas in the area.

 

Fuse, is your truck black or a darker color? If it is than I have totally seen you when I walking home from work, usually around Bottle Screw Bills and or Hudsons.

 

Yeah some of them are fun. Some of them are butt pucker fun.

 

Probably not me. My truck is Speedway Blue; its a fairly bright shade of blue. This is me:

Best drive I've done in Alberta since moving here I think. On pavement, anyway.

 

I've been on pretty much every road for work and some that are private. Definitely some amazing country out there if you go looking off the beaten path.

 

Yup, definitely not you then. I have seen you running around town though.

You should sell that Avid Bar...it would look amazing on a MGM DCSB truck I know

I need to find some more epic drives here. Do the drives you are talking about top Highway 22 between Blairmore and Turner Valley? Or the Forest Trunk Road south of Spray lakes or north of Cochrane? If so I need pics lol

 

Yeah, when I'm in Calgary I usually end up running around downtown doing errands, and the truck is fairly distinct. Give a wave next time you see me drive by!

And the Avid bar is spoken for (should the day come that its replaced, at least). My younger brother picked up an '06 TRD Off-Road (silver) last spring and bugs the hell out of me to sell it to him haha.