Mjp2's thread

I'm beyond humbled. Thanks to everyone for their support! Derek, it was great meeting you and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you being there! Seriously, for someone I've never met to set aside days to drive to a different state and help me out with my admittedly goofy hobby...I just don't have the words. Thanks many time over!

We rolled back into NJ last night and today has been spent unpacking, cleaning up, taking inventory, rearranging vehicles in the driveway, etc. It feels great to be home even though I'm not yet ready for this Fall weather.

As martie mentioned, I broke a c-clip that holds the lower ball joint housing in place. On the ride home I called Camburg to tell them what happened. Without hesitation they said "You installed the lower bracket upside down. We know your pain -- we did the same thing in our own Tundra at the Mint 400." So the breakage was my fault, but it's a comfort to know that the vendor made the same mistake on their own rig. It's an easy fix for me to make and the new parts are already in transit from Camburg.

I'll fix what's broke, beat the hell out of the truck over the next year, and give it another go next year. Considering that both the truck and driver had zero race miles on them, the fact that the only breakage was minor and nobody was hurt is a win in my book.

The truck rode like a Cadillac over the rocky course terrain and I was even told to go faster by my 60yo co-driver/dad. I shook Sal Fish's hand, made it through the infield course without error, and passed 1 buggy on the side of the course before the day ended. Recovery was a late-night affair and involved dragging my trailer up the course, loading up the Tacoma, and dragging it back out. It was a 2mph trip that tore the heck out of the trailer but we made it out. The Ford diesel was in low-range 4wd and pulled through without a problem.

If anybody has ever questioned the capabilities of the Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires, don't. They held up and we never even came close to getting stuck. As for the BFG KM2's, they look unused after tearing through the rocks at 20-30mph. Both are awesome.

For the record, both my tow vehicle and trailer have twice as many race course miles as my race truck. Bring on the jokes.

I was multi-quoting as I read through this thread. Thanks to everyone for their support, even if you're not quoted below.

I made it to your sig pic? Bitchin!

I met some unbelievably decent people out there.

Joe Bacal (http://www.jtgrey.com/) actually parked next to my rig in the Buffalo Bill's parking lot in the hope of meeting the owner. He's a wealth of information, has worked for Toyota for 20 years, and was a test driver for the TRD suspensions on our trucks. He and his family are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet and I look forward to staying in contact with him.

The Greasecar Racing guys (http://www.greasecarmotorsports.com/) stopped by and offered their support. Great guys with a great attitude. Their VW Bug was running on cooking oil and smelled like french fries as they drove by.

The Homemade Motorsports guys (http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=40843) seemed to really like the truck. Most of them drove Tacomas and had an appreciation for the direction I took with it. John Paul took the time to really look over the truck and point out areas that could use improvement. If you watch Dust To Glory, he's the guy on the lathe turning a new hub in Robbie Gordon's trailer.

I cannot emphasize enough just how supportive racers are. There will always be the random yahoos in any group, but everyone I met was positive, encouraging, and offered any help they could.

Sorry to laugh, but . Hope the recovery wasn't too much of a bear! That's way too quick an end to the day!

This is a great idea. I know I'll be there!

Fixed that for you.

Definitely will do! I'll make sure the truck has some test miles on it next time around so it'll be more fun for everyone involved.

Don't hate. Appreciate.

Amazingly enough, it's great to be back in NJ.

 

Im high fiving my screen!! Good job, Mike!

 

Both sides are installed upside down. The weird thing is that when installing the uniball housing, the wrong way looks right. I would have found it during testing but I ran out of time and started the race with an untested truck.

Camburg even made the mistake on their own truck not long ago so I don't feel too bad about it.

That's exactly the way I'm looking at the whole thing.

And I wonder why I had the uniballs upside down...

You evil genius.

 

Did you EVER get a Sammich?

 

No.

 

Exactly! I really think that's sadder than the whole race breakage thing.

I guess some things never change.