Diet Taco... trying to keep things light

Hell, I want a set of aluminum skids just because I like the clean underbody look.

 

If love to have a full aluminum armor package, just can't justify it since all my truck sees is pavement and the occasional fire road to a rally event.

 

The South American manufacturers faulty cylinders all all out the market in North America, Europe, and South East Asia. Have been for years. The Ragasco / Viking cylinders are made in a country with higher cylinder safety standards than the United States and are legal to purchase and use worldwide.

Wouldn't want to tarnish an entire industry because some deuchebags from Miami decided to chop the safety funding of their Latin American operation to speed up production.

 

I wouldn't either, but that's exactly what happened. So like I said, seem great but make sure the filler you use is happy with them. For awhile people with perfectly safe and legal cylinders couldn't get them filled because of the Miami douchebags.

 

Just came across your build, and went throught all the pages. Nice and functional, not over the top.

 

Last Dash through Owens Valley
August 2016

With the clock ticking down on our year in CA the itch to get one last trip in had to be scratched. This would also give my wife a free weekend to get some uninterrupted packing done while I took our daughter out for the weekend. Our daughter had been asking for weeks when we were going to go camping again but it really wasn't my favorite time of year to head out. Finally @Crom's trip report on the Owens Valley proved to much and I succumbed to making a hardly planned at all one night and two day trip up the valley mostly to just kill time. The end goal was to get up to the Bristlecone Forest though I wasn't sure my daughter would really be very hip with that.

We left Saturday morning with the plan to kill time along the way by stopping interesting places. First stop was the Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale. This really is a must stop site - amazed I hadn't done it before. All in one little lot is the U-2, A-12, SR-71 and D-21. Quite a sight to see them all together. I've seen them all separately before various places but really neat to see the whole high altitude heritage of Skunk Works in one spot. My daughter loves the SR-71 and has a little toy version of it so this was an easy sell.

A-12 w/D-21 in background
​

And then right next door is Joe Davies Heritage Airpark with an extensive collection of aircraft. It was getting hot and I didn't want to test my daughter's patience so we bypassed everything and headed straight for the 747 that once hauled the Space Shuttle around. She is also a big fan of the Space Shuttle and so this was a big hit with her too.

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA)
​

From there we headed off to provision for the trip at a nearby grocery. It was just one night so we really didn't need much at all. After that we headed north to Rosamond to visit The Cat House which is a rare feline conservation facility. It was getting quite toasty by this point but the place is nicely shaded. Amazing collection of all sorts of big cats. We were there at the right time to see two tigers get their afternoon treat of a turkey leg.

Unfortunately things were getting a bit hazy due to the variety of forest fires burning around CA. This is one of the reasons I typically write off August as not great for camping. We continued up to Lone Pine where we had dinner at the one place acceptable to my daughter - McDonalds. Sigh.

From there up to Big Pine and just east of there a little ways down the Big Pine-Death Valley road we setup camp on top of a hill to get some nice breeze. It was a rather warm afternoon but clouds building over the Sierra crest meant our hill was in shadow as we arrived which kept things reasonably pleasant. I also tried out a hand pumped water mister that worked very nicely in the dry air to give us some extra cooling. We killed time resting and my daughter enjoyed digging random holes around or site (which I had her then fill back in).

Owens Valley Campsite
​

We had a lazy evening and a pleasant night. In the morning we ate a quick breakfast and then drove up to the Bristlecone Forest. As I suspected my daughter was not particularly interested. The visitor's center is over 10,000 ft and despite drinking lots of water I was getting a mild headache. Based on my daughter's slight testiness I guessed she was suffering similar effects. So we ate a picnic snack, my daughter declared it all "not very interesting" and we proceeded back south from there. I was also noting large thunderheads rapidly forming just east of the visitor's center and sure enough about 45 minutes later radar showed some decent precipitation up there.

Along the way we stopped at the relatively new interagency visitor center in Lone Pine which my daughter enjoyed. It was extremely smokey this day which made the drive rather boring. No beautiful views of the mountains. In fact, from Lone Pine you couldn't see *any* mountains which if you've been there before you understand is kind of mind blowing. Smelled of smoke everywhere as well. The Indian Wells Valley was similarly full of smoke but it cleared up south of there.

In Mojave we stopped at - you guessed it - McDonalds again. My daughter decided she really wanted to see the SR-71 again which is a rather minor detour off of the 14. We got there a bit before they closed and today it was quite windy. It was still a hit with her. And from there back over the San Gabriels to home and a very well rested wife.

So it was all really a rather silly trip with too much driving, poor visibility due to smoke and rather hot temps most places. But my daughter still had a blast and it was good to get one last trip in before we headed back to MD. Oh, and I quite liked the mister we tried out. Think that is going to come out at a lot of future lunch stops!

 

SR-71's and Tacoma's, what's not to like?

 

Bye-Bye California...
September 2016

Well the end of a year in CA. Truck was bought in March 2015 with Flip-Pac put on in April 2015 in anticipation of us being in CA for a year from Sept 2015 to Sept 2016. That would give me plenty of time to get the major mods done before Diet Taco would get tucked into storage only to be used for camping every few months like my old 1993 was. And it would mean the family would get to use it a bunch while we were in CA.

My "plenty of time" went by really fast, but in the end I did get almost all the major mods done that I wanted to. I think the only thing that didn't happen was remounting the Flip-Pac without the bed caps. In the end I think DIY that would have been a fiasco (at least for me). So if and when I decide to do that it should be a part of a day thing done by experienced people with the right tools at one of many camper top places in the Las Vegas area.

I got lots and lots of shake down trips done both solo and with the family during our year in CA. Truck and gear is definitely dialed in and ready to rock-and-roll for any trip with zero notice and just a few hours of provisioning. I'm sure I will continue to fuss, mod and accessorize (heck, I already have a list of things to do) but in the end it is all set for my standard fly-in camping trips. I've got a cheap Southwest ticket for early November already. So I won't be away from the truck for too long

At the end of the year of modding, fussing and camping I've got to say all of this would have simply been impossible for someone like me without Tacoma World. The hours and dollars saved are pretty much uncountable at this point. I hope I'm adding a little bit back to the community with this build thread.

Between now and November I'm hoping to catch up the build thread to minor things and thoughts left behind in the rush of the last year. Thread will be transitioning more to trip reports and cool camping gear as the list of mods gets reduced. I *still* need to get good photos of the typical deployed Flip-Pac interior and campsite. Guess that's something for November!

We had a mostly uneventful drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas the Friday before Labor Day Weekend. Got on the road by noon to avoid most of the traffic though volume was definitely heavy. Truck road a lot better with 400 lbs of luggage in it on the Expo leafs than it did the stock leafs on the way in...

And OMG did I just miss getting nailed in a massive speed trap right as we approached Las Vegas. There were already five people pulled over just past St. Rose Pkwy (NV-146) as another motorcycle cop came flying on the freeway with lights on. I saw him in the rear view and smartly slowed and moved two lanes over better exposing the lead foot in front of me. I was over the limit, but he was over more and in front. I doubt my pulling to the side and slowing did anything, the guy had been marked before we ever crossed the overpass. Anyway, I actually think this massive enforcement on holiday weekends is a really good idea. That's a deadly stretch of highway and seeing six different people pulled over right as Vegas comes into view probably keeps everyone slowed down through the whole city. I checked YouTube and saw even heavier enforcement from previous holiday weekends - one video shows 11 different cops having pulled folks over at the same exit!

Anyway, Diet Taco is tucked away in covered parking for a bit now. It got a nice professional wash and wax before we left Los Angeles. It really needed it too because of a bad idea to be reported on later.

Here is Diet Taco at the end of the year in CA, and stay tuned for more "Tales of Diet Taco"

​

 

Looking toward to the next trip report with interior pictures. Good luck on your next adventure.

 

Just getting caught up....where to?

 

thanks for answering all my questions earlier. Another one I have... You don't see a need for sliders to protect the cab? Or maybe I missed that post. Thanks

 

Oh, should have mentioned that! We usually live in Maryland and that is where we are back to now. Wife and I both grew up in CA and lived in the southwest for the first 35 years or so of our lives. Been in Maryland since 2008 except for this past year back in CA.

Good question. I've been back and forth on the sliders question. I have no need for a "real" slider meant to actually slide on rocks in actual rock crawling. But I have considered lighter and weaker options that wouldn't require welding in order to protect from bumps or bangs clearing smaller obstacles - so "nerf bars" as they are often called. None of the options seem particularly light weight - unlike my rear bumper which actually removed weight from the truck. The few times I've been worried about the cab it has actually been well above where sliders would help.

So to date they haven't been on my list. It isn't that I don't think they are useful in general, it is just based on my experience driving the places I drive they seem less useful than skids and the better clearance rear bumper while bringing a non-trivial weight to the truck as well. For now I hope that if I ever contact the cab it only happens once and repair costs not much more than sliders would have

 

Sliders are one area I think I'll need to go despite the weight because 1. long bed/long wheel base and 2. with a Prinsu rack on top of both the cab and the cap, and me not being tall, I can see them being a real advantage to loading/unloading/securing rack gear. But I'd opt for some BAMF HREW bolt-ons, most likely.

 

Yeah that sounds like they are a real sensible mod on your truck. Thanks for the pointer to the BAMF. About 120 lbs and a nice design. If I do go sliders would probably be those or something like it.

Looking forward to some nice BAMF install photos in your build thread...

...probably in late 2019...

 

+1 DMB

*sighs* they are pretty low on the list.

Working on lift spec now, but having a hell of a time sorting out the rears. Not on numbers or what I want, but on getting it without welding shit.

Also considering ditching the current Leer in favor of a sliding windoor model.

 

I don't do a lot of heavy off roading, but I went with the BAMF bolt-ons because there are occasional obstacles that I have come across that they have saved me from. Not to mention they've saved me from countless car door dents. Definitely worth the investment, especially if you're already running armor underneath to compliment.

 

@DVexile , I love my rock sliders. It was the first true mod that I did to my truck when it was about a month old.

Mine are welded on and only weigh about 40 lbs. each!

They have supported my trucks weight 100 times over by now. A true investment, IMO.

Stubbs HD-SKO, not as popular as other brands, but exceptionally strong and very well designed. Affordable too!

There are other benefits such as impact Collision resistance, side step, being able to stand on to load above the truck, and also protect your doors from morons in parking lots who let their shopping carts go.

 

Alright, you guys are selling me on the sliders now... Especially at 40lbs per side @Crom, that sounds like a reasonable trade. I'll start giving sliders a look and if welded has a weight advantage over bolt on I might just go that route even though I don't need the strength. On my November trip I hope to stop by the scales and get axle weights again now that the truck is close to its final weight. Maybe that will make me feel more comfortable about adding ~80lbs more protection to the thing.

I'll want to do a late winter/early spring trip and maybe can take a day to get whatever I choose installed at that point. Hmmm....

My wallet had just stopped walking funny and thought TW was going to be gentle to it from here on out too.

 

Flip-Pac is DEAD! Long live Flip-Pac!

So the big but not very surprising news this summer is that FRP the manufacturer of the Flip-Pac is no more. I had been fortunate to have no major customer service issues with them during my install or when my torsion bar broke, but they had a long history of complaints. I went in eyes wide open knowing that it was pointless to email, phone calls would rarely be returned and to be skeptical of schedule estimates. In the end it all went smoothly for me. For others very much the opposite.

Many people wondered how on earth they stayed in business with such bad customer service. Worse, they repeatedly screwed over anyone that tried to be a dealer for them. The Flip-Pac was a bit of a side business for FRP as I understand they primarily fabricated industrial fiberglass parts. Maybe they didn't care much about the revenue from the Flip-Pac?

Earlier this year AT announced their Habitat for the Tacoma (mentioned earlier in the thread) which is a similar concept with an arguably better made tent, aluminum instead of fiberglass shell, pneumatic struts instead of the problematic torsion bar and opening to the rear instead of the front (this is to allow for the strut design instead of the torsion bar). Really slick product, more expensive than the Flip-Pac but it should be for what they are delivering. I kind of prefer how the interior flows with the front opening Flip-Pac but I'd be very happy with either and recommended anyone looking to purchase should look at the AT product first given FRP's rough customer service history.

Well the two products overlapped for only a few months. This summer no one could reach FRP anymore and phone number disconnected. This would leave Flip-Pac owners in a bit of a pickle given it was already hard to get torsion bars from FRP when they broke.

Fortunately this created enough of a crisis that there was finally success in finding an alternate source for torsion bars. Sway-a-way now makes a replacement bar reverse engineered from a broken Flip-pac bar. They had actually done this custom for an owner awhile back and were made aware there is a significant market for them now so they have made it a standard product. I'll likely buy one as a backup as soon as folks try out the first batch and report back.

I asked if they could comment on what might have made the original ones unreliable and their lead engineer helpfully replied over on Expedition Portal:

Judging by the original sample bar that was sent to us there are a few factors that work together to cause these to fail. The first thing is the surface finish is terrible. The second is there is what seems to be no effort to stop corrosion. There's a very slight chance it might have been plated originally, but if it was, the rust had already won and it would only be a matter of time till it broke. The third reason was the heat treat hardness (ultimate strength) was a little lower than you'd expect for that part (if you assume it was going to be made out of 4340). Now we didn't test what the material actually was but whether it was 4140 or 4340, the strength was lower than they could have pushed it to.

So on our bar we fixed all three of those problems. We centerless grind them to a 32 rms finish, we make them out of 4340 and heat treat them to a ultimate strength that's roughly 25% higher than the original, and lastly we finish them with powdercoat to prevent corrosion.

As far as the design itself goes, its really not that aggressive because bars that are really long and thin have lower stresses. Even with this bar going all the way to 90 degrees the stresses are a little bit lower than the what we see in most of our VW torsion bars. It's actually pretty clever because the packaging of that torsion bar is a lot easier and gives progressive resistance whether your closing or opening it. I can't comment on the rate and whether its too stiff or too soft because I've never opened or closed a flip pack, but to get the same affect with some sort of gas strut supported mechanism it'd be a lot more complicated, expensive to make, and hard to package.

-Eric T.
​

So hurray! Looks like a reliable source of better quality torsion bars so Flip-Pacs in the wild should have a couple of decades more service life in them - including mine hopefully.

 

Thank you for your detailed write up, Ken. I'm going to show a shop your work, and ask them to duplicate it on my truck. My exhaust under the xfer case has been compressed for some time, and it's finally time to move it out of the way.