Diet Taco... trying to keep things light

so a used fridge that can run on battery more and recharge with the outlet in the bed? Now you have my brain working

 

Sorry about really slow reply, was busy moving back across the country!

Death Valley is great for a lifted prerunner. There is surprisingly little sand to deal with. Rough spots are usually rather short and require clearance and durable tires more than anything. Honestly the thing I like best about 4WD on my DV trips is not four wheels being driven but that fact that I have 4LO to use on a few terrifyingly steep downhill stretches on a few short spur roads.

The standard Death Valley remote adventure is 40 to 100 miles of washboarded or rocky roads forming a loop or a long drive from one paved road to another. Often somewhere inconveniently in the middle of that will be a few modest washouts, steep dips or banks, or minor boulder field that require some clearance. A stock prerunner would typically clear all of those, you'll be even better lifted. None of them really require 4WD at all - they are clearance issues rather than traction issues. A few sections may have sand but on these "through" roads (as opposed to "spur" roads) all the sand sections I can think of are flat and thus easily run at modest speed such that you can use momentum to get a 2WD vehicle through.

Off of your 100 mile loop there will be shorter spur roads that access canyons or mine sites. Stock prerunner probably tackles 75% of these. Of the remaining 25% you either got worse clearance issues (so you'll be fine with your lift) or in a few cases traction issues either with sand or gravel. The spur roads are often rough, narrow and twisty so you can't tackle the gravel or sand with speed. Most commonly you are headed up an aluvial fan in these cases so backing out of a stuck position often gravity is on your side. If the road gets iffy by this point you are within a mile of the end of the road anyway (most of these spur roads are quite short) and so you can just park and walk the rest of the way.

I'm very much of the opinion that a sensible and well prepared person with a truck like yours should be able to go 95% of the places in DV without any real issue or risk. Remember - if you have adequate water, food and someone reliable to report you overdue in the worst case "stuck" is just an "unplanned camping site". A sensible person will back off anything obviously risky and will be prepared with a good shovel and traction aides to get themselves unstuck. Said sensible person will get themselves unstuck in reverse and turn around rather than trying to press on.

One of the most helpful things to have is good intelligence on what you are trying to tackle. DV is blessed with two truly amazing books on the backcountry:

$16 Hiking Death Valley: A Guide to its Natural Wonders and Mining Past

https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Death-Valley-Natural-Wonders/dp/0965917835/

Hiking Western Death Valley National Park: Panamint, Saline, and Eureka Valleys

https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Western-Death-Valley-National/dp/0965917819/

Keep in mind road conditions change out there but there is a DV thread here to ask about any route you might try.

Glad you've enjoyed the thread so far! I'm behind on some mods and trip reports because of the move. Got to catch up!

 

I'm using the Mr. Heater Little Buddy (honestly, that is what it is called). Actually works really well. Takes two of the little 1 lb bottles to run the whole night. We don't camp that often in the cold so that's just fine for my needs. Obviously the more economical approach if camping a long time is a larger propane tank but because of the logistics with needing to park and store my truck for long periods the disposable 1 lb bottles are what I use.

The Yeti works great for how I use it. Supplement with dry ice and the thing keeps stuff cold for a long time. I intend at some point to do a post on how I use the Yeti and why I don't have a fridge, but I can summarize here on the Fridge vs. Yeti decision.

A fridge and a Yeti with plenty of ice weigh about the same nominally. But a fridge typically requires a camp battery, or a larger battery and in some cases a solar panel. Batteries are really freaking heavy. If you've got other camp power needs because you blast incandescent floods all over the place well then you've already got the second battery so whatever. But if you run a low power camp then the fridge is the only thing driving the need for another 50 lb of battery and all the wiring to support it. So the marginal weight of the fridge can be very high if it is the sole thing driving the requirement for a battery, solar panel or both.

Now there is one person you will find who absolutely swears by a fridge and with whom I would have no complaint even if they have to add a battery for it. A prodigious beer drinker. More specifically an American beer drinker, a Brit would happily swig down warm beer. A cooler simply can not do a good job cooling down lots and lots of warm stuff. You can help it along in a pinch - pack dry ice instead of water ice, wrap your warm beers in a wet towel overnight and put them into the cooler in the morning and so forth. But if you bring *a lot* of beer then the fridge saves lots of space and ice since it can be refilled with warm beers and cool them down. Similarly someone addicted to soda might find themselves in the same position.

If on the other hand you just need to keep food cool for a long time and perhaps have some ice to occasionally cool down water or a drink mix then the Yeti solution works great and I think the fridge may be superfluous for most folks. The fridge is of course always easier in use, no need to make any effort at thermal management. The cooler requires some packing and use discipline. A good topic for a later post.

 

Anyone using a composite propane tank instead of a steel one? They are lighter, and you can see how full it is. I saw them on "How It's Made", and it got my Diet Taco thinking going again.

http://vikingcylinders.com/products/

 

We have three of the 30lb cylinders that they used to make that were on my fathers sailboat. Can't find them anymore and will have to replace them with their 22lb cylinders once they get to the end of their service life.

 

FWIW - I have the Pelfreybilt Steel bumper... and at less than 5mph nudged up against a buried rock in Moab. Here's the results:


Buddy I met in Moab had all the Pelfreybilt skids in aluminum. He was literally leaving aluminum shavings on rocks. Steel is heavier but much more durable if you actually want to off-road or rock crawl at all. If you're going to get aluminum don't get the thin stuff. Aluminum costs more and it's more for looks than function in my opinion (mall-crawling).

EDIT: Shoot... just realized I just replied to a post from April. LOL

 

Just because we don't all rock crawl in Moab doesn't make us mall crawlers. I bought my aluminum skids for the kind of off-roading that I do, not what you get into. I tread lightly and do not rock crawl unless necessary. I use my truck to go to the woods, make long road trips where road quality might be low, and to drive everyday in the winter. I need to protect the wires, plastic, and other fragile bits of a modern truck against smaller rocks, the occasional branch or log, random stuff that gets bounced up under there when off-road, and to slide over snow. Gas mileage and overall performance are more important to me than being able to high-center on a giant boulder for no reason. Before joining Tacoma World I had a Dodge Dakota with a composite skid plate for 12 years and it did the job just fine for me. Do what you want to your truck, but don't throw insults just because not everyone does the same thing.

 

"Aluminum costs more and it's more for looks than function in my opinion (mall-crawling)."

Seemed pretty clear.

 

Agree...love this thread. Not sure where you get off jumping in and telling me to chill, but whatever. I really just want to talk about propane tanks. Moving on.

 

I've got a propane grille.

I don't even wheel, but 95% of the threads I follow are nicely built wheelers. I got love and respect for all Tacoma owners and enthusiast.

@Kyitty would never disrespect his people like you think he did @PaulK. Much love brother.

 

I looked into composite tanks about 9 months ago. What I found was a manufacturer totally screwed the pooch a few years back causing a massive recall, company out of business and DOT revoking certification on the majority of composites that existed in the US. As a result people were having trouble getting fills even with certified tanks from other manufacturers not under recall. A lot of propane vendors started refusing to fill composites from any manufacturer because they didn't want to take a chance or bother looking up what was decertified and what wasn't.

Otherwise they looked great, but I'd check you've got someone happy to fill them before purchasing.

 

If you are actually going to intentionally slide over rocks definitely get steel. Aluminum will gouge badly and also be more likely to hang up than steel because of the gouging. Aluminum will almost be ablative if grinding it over rocks repeatedly! Steel can actually slide.

Most of us with aluminum don't go on routes like that and drive appropriately for the terrain we are on. We are never forced to intentionally use the skid. We are looking to survive minor bumps at 5 mph or a wheel sliding off of an obstacle. If the skid gets bent, dinged or gouged it's doing its job as far as I'm concerned. I expect some of my skids will never be hit at all for the life of the truck and the ones that do will take just a few hits at low speeds. It's insurance rather than a tool we expect to use every weekend intentionally grinding down slick rock humps.

As for mall crawlers I've seen more big steel winch bumpers on trucks that obviously never leave the pavement than I've seen Al skids. In my experience mall crawlers go for the most look for the lowest cost with the least thought to function. Tends to be thin steel.

 

Yes Big Time. I use Aluminum skids and they are better for my needs. I also use Aluminum Propane tanks, and will not consider a steel tank...ever.

 

Yikes. 30% weight reduction from the composit tanks doesn't seem worth it now. I'll look into aluminum.

 

I'm also glad I chose aluminum for my ifs skid, and plan to at least add the trans skid in alu too. I don't rock crawl, my needs are for forest road romps with the occasional Tech section here and there. Ill never go to an offroad area with a "gatekeeper" of boulders, or with fake tech sections. Recently I was on a trail that was in a stream valley. The track crossed the stream a dozen times or so. I tired of checking each crossing, and seeing other tire tracks I charged across one. Well darn if I didn't hit a rock. It shook my truck and sounded bad, bad enough to stop immediately and get out on my hands and knees with a flashlight. Turns out the skid did its job, and the dent was minor. RCI lists the ifs skid at 20lbs, I didn't weigh it and i was able to pick it up with 3 fingers.

With aluminum, I never have to worry about the finish or rust, and I enjoy 20lbs weight savings (the steel lists at 40#) for the life of the vehicle. Works for me.

 

is that a stronger recover point than stock?

 

No that's just painted. I was painting my recovery stuff like my shackles and snatch block so I didn't leave it trailside (it seems that when you use this stuff, you are tired, ticked off, the sun is setting, it's raining, etc...), and thought it would be fun to paint the point as well, it's stock

 

@PaulK I'm sorry you took my advice in a personal manner. It was meant to share the experience of another Tacoma owner and what he told me. He spent lots of cash buying aluminum skids (high quality ones from the amazing folks @Pelfreybilt ) and regretted not getting steel. I personally witnessed the shavings of aluminum on the tops of rocks after he went over them. My purpose in sharing that story was meant purely to share experiences so you can make a more educated decision on what is right for you. I just want to make sure you get to see how aluminum and steel react when bashed against things. Both provide protection - steel just provides more (though it's about twice the weight).

Ultimately it's about what works best for you! The great thing about TacomaWorld is the fact that members will share their experiences so you can make decisions after learning all the angles - with the hope being you don't regret a purchase later on.

BTW - I used to own a 2003 Dodge Dakota R/T Reg Cab in the metallic silver color. Awesome truck! Have missed it since I had to sell it in 2006.

Thanks @ChadsPride I'm glad you understood my intent.

 

I saved way over 20 lbs. Buy doing a full set of skids in aluminum. I think it was like 190, but I can't say for sure, and BudBuilt doesn't seem to have weight listed on their site any more.

 

Understood, and appreciate the clarification. No harm done. My friend.