05 Taco Build

Great meeting you too!

 

Compressor race: VIAIR vs Tsunami MF-1050
My brother has been wanting to race air compressors ever since I bought my Tsunami MF-1050 from pepboys. He has a VIAIR. This weekend we finally had the show down. He aired both of his front tires down to zero PSI. Took the valve stem cores out and didn't put them back in until the tires stop hissing. We started at the same time and stopped at the same time. We let the compressors run for 7 minutes. The tire he inflated was at 33 PSI and the tire I inflated was at 38 PSI. The look on his face when he lost to a $50 compressor... PRICELESS!

 

Sub'd!

 

She's coming along slowly but surely. Today before work I added chalk to my tire tread. Hopefully I don't forget to check when I get home. I want to figure out/confirm my correct PSI for on-road. I've always done 35psi because that's what I've always done but we'll see.

 

Well... turns out that 30 miles is too much for the chalk test LOL. All the chalk was gone by the time I ran some errands and got home. Either that or my tires are perfectly inflated causing the chalk to fade off evenly. I'll be trying this again at a shorter distance.

 

Thank you to @David K for the thorough write up. I followed it step by step to complete my differential breather mod.

Here's a link to his post.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-differential-breather-mod-photos.111954/

Here's my outcome



To figure out how much slack I needed I ended up running the hose and lifting my rear end by the tow hitch. What everyone else has said is about right. I bought six feet of hose and cut off about one foot once done.

 

Just in time for my Gorman trip tomorrow!

 

Yesterday was a loooong day. From sun up to sundown.





Before






Let the magic begin



I even had a side kick help me throughout the process



Then back to work



The front was where all the fun was at...






And finally. The finished product


The rear stayed the same at 24" from center hub to fender since I only changed the shocks. The front went from 23.5" to 27" with the new shocks, coils, and spindle lift.

 

Truck looks good

 

I got tired of slamming my antenna in parking structures so I trimmed it flush with the roof of the truck.

 

Today I made my own version of a flag mount. I cut out some steel flat bar and bolted it to the tow hitch bolts.

 

Went to Pismo for the weekend and had a BLAST with the suspension that I got from @itaro. Thanks again man. It was so smooth in the whoops. My wife got to drive the truck for a bit and didn't want to give it back. Just what the doctor ordered to get her into off roading. She even caught flight a couple of times.



I also updated the crappy gauge on my tire deflator.

 

Huge thank you to @eccracer104!!!

This weekend was a pretty lucky weekend for me. Right before heading out to New Orleans mid last week I noticed that my brake pads were thin and rotors needed to be resurfaced. I was freaking out because I leave for the Mojave Trail this coming Saturday. I hit up @eccracer104 And he took care of me! New pads and rotors were at my parents house before I even got back to Cali. Next thing you know that storm starts brewing in Texas. I was able to get a flight back home right before the storm. As soon as my plane lands, I shoot over to my parents house and sure enough...




Out with the old






And in with the new





I should have the pads seated and ready to go by Saturday

 

Mmmmm those look good! Hell yeah man!
The anti-vibration shims EBC uses are cool too. Super easy to put in.
Take the first ~100 miles easy on the brakes and they'll be solid!

 

I should have 200 by the end of Friday. One of the few benefits of working far away lol.

 

The trip started off with one f150, one Cherokee, two 2nd gen tacos and one 3rd gen taco. Everyone 4wd except for me. Hotter than hell but thankfully the A/C worked without a glitch!

Soda lake was dry for the most part but mud pockets were hiding under the dust. Not enough to cause damage but just enough to get everything dirty.


Right after soda lake, the jeep said he was over heating. My brother I the f150 went back to check on him. He got a little carried away on the way to the jeep and blue a tire.


The rest of us waited ahead while my brother changed his tire and the jeep cooled down a bit. Meanwhile my new buddy from northern Cali started playing around.


The lava tubes was a sight to see! It turns out there was a lady in there doing a nude photo shoot right as we were walking in. I didn't get to witness anything since I walked in last. All I saw was glitter sprinkled around.

At this point the jeep said he didn't think it was a good idea to continue. He said his goodbyes and headed home with his tail tucked between his legs.




Somewhere along the lines there was one rutted hill that my 2wd required a tug. Everything else went through with ease.




We stopped for lunch and had some burgers on the back side of a hill.


We finally made it to camp. Luckily we found a nice camp ground at the top of a hill. We set up camp and grilled some juicy steaks. All of a sudden, out of no where, it started getting super window so we all scrambled to tie everything down. Right as were finishing tying everything down, then it starts to rain. We all scrambled into our tents and get cozy for the night. Then... the main stops. Wtf! I was already. Comfortable so I just called it a night. Around 3am I wake up to coyotes howling. They sounded pretty close but kept their distance. We made it through the night without an incident.



I even had a grasshopper hitch hiker for a few miles. He decided to hip along once I got to the whoops.


State line! Almost to Laughlin!


And we made it! It was a looooong 2 days but I was bummed when we hit pavement.

We spent the night in Laughlin. The next day it was time to come home. We said our good byes to everyone and parted ways. My wife and I decided to take the scenic way home. She told me of a nearby lake that she saw on Google maps. It was only 30 minutes away from the hotel and sort of in the direction of home.

I set the navi and we're off to Goose Lake. We're about 5 minutes away and I see a sign that says pavement ends and I'm instantly smilining again. We make it to Goose Lake only to find out it is closed to the public by DFW.


There was a set of stairs with a deck next to the signs about the lake and the geese. This was the view.


On the way to the lake I had seen there were dirt roads that ran closer to the lake so I took those on the way back out.


We were able to walk down some rocks and touch the water on the Arizona side.


We then went over to the California side to touch the water again.


Once leaving the river we stumbled onto a jerky store. The name of the store really does describe the jerky lol.

We wondered around some more and found this train.


Followed by good ol' route 66!


We finally got home and shot straight to the carwash!


I can't wait to do it again when it's cooler out!

 

I can't believe how difficult that mud was to remove from the truck. I spent over 45 minutes beneath my truck with a power washer.

Was a great trip for sure man! We definitely need to do some more together

 

Trip looks like a great time.

 

I just replaced the headlight bulbs with Volsa H4 +100. Thanks to the write up that @crashnburn80 did. Man oh man what a difference! Unfortunately I didn't get some before and after pics since my previous bulbs burned out. I should've done this a long time ago.