AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

No More Ice Runs or Wet Sandwiches - ARB Fridge
July 22, 2017.

It was July 8, 2017. I know because I will always remember the day @mrs.turbodb said, "You should just get a fridge for the truck."

We'd just returned from our week-long trip to Canada with the little kiddo, where we'd pre-prepared and frozen many of our meals, using our crappy 48qt cooler to keep everything chilly. Of course, even sandwiched in the middle of our gear and under the CVT, we had to get ice every day (does Canada not have block ice?) - which meant staying relatively near civilization.

So when we started talking about our next trip (attempting to run the OBDR again), we knew we needed to do better. And that was the day that @mrs.turbodb spoke the magic words.

On July 14, this showed up on the front porch.

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We brought it inside and plugged it in. It cooled. It was quiet. It was an ARB 50qt Fridge Freezer - 10800472. We had big grins on our faces. And later that night, when we were talking about putting some water in the freezer for our next trip, we realized…we don't need no stinking ice! And then we thought, "What are we going to do with all the room in there?"

But what we did need now was power in the bed of the truck. Second and third gens of course have power in the bed already, but being the proud owner of the best gen, well… I guess there were some improvements in later models.

So I gathered supplies:

1. A waterproof PVC box (4"x4"x2") (I got at Lowes; also at amazon)
2. Two weatherproof 12v outlets from Blue Sea Systems
3. Two weatherproof toggle switches
4. Two 1/8" rubber grommets
5. Some 14 gauge wire (red and black) and loom
6. Blade connectors
7. A few zip ties
8. Electrical tape
9. 1" 3M VHB tape (not cheap, I had some already)
   
10. 1" x 3 1/2" plastic strips (I cut them from an old electrical box)

And some tools:

1. Drill and bits
2. Fish tape
3. Soldering iron

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Materials gathered, I drilled holes in the box for the 12v outlets, switches and rubber grommets and installed them. Then, I tackled the wiring. That was a bit trickier but I was able to send the wire and loom from the Bussmann I installed earlier this year, down through the engine bay by the passenger firewall, and into the frame along the passenger side. Using the fish tape to pull it through the frame to a hole under the bed (I never want to have to do that again), I wrapped the loom fully in electrical tape and ran it up between the bed and cab; then under the bed liner; and finally, up the side of the bed rack to a convenient mounting location under the CVT.

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Now, we have switched, fused power in the bed, and we'll be eating in style on the road.

Of course, we still need to go to town for gas, but that can be days between runs…

 

Feel free, links above for most of the supplies (I added a few more, for the box itself).

The box is held on with the zip ties alone, which are plenty strong. The way they work is that I used some 1" 3M VHB tape (not cheap, but I had some around already) and extra strips of plastic to create little channels for the zip ties. That tape is so strong as to never have to worry about it. And with 4 zip ties in the corner of the bed rack, the box is super secure. There's about 1/4" between the top of it and the bottom of the CVT, and it doesn't move enough even to bounce on that over bumps.

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Love power to the bed. Like the refrigerator concept.
====BUT====
be careful about your refrigerator spec's. I had looked at getting one (probably 10 years ago now - so eons ago) & everything I found kept food in the danger zone. Great idea, but what was available back then simply increased your risk of food borne poisoning by magnitudes. You mention a kiddo who would be particularly vulnerable. Read your specs & make sure that unit does not hold food between 40F & 140F - you want lower &/or higher to keep you safe.

From Wikipedia
The temperature range in which food-borne bacteria can grow is known as the danger zone. Food safety agencies, such as the United States' Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), define the danger zone as roughly 4 to 60 °C (39 to 140 °F).[1][2][3] The FSIS stipulates that potentially hazardous food should not be stored at temperatures in this range in order to prevent foodborne illness (for example, a refrigerator's temperature must be kept below 4 °C (40 °F)[4]), and that food that remains in this zone for more than two hours should not be consumed.[5] Foodborne microorganisms grow much faster in the middle of the zone, at temperatures between 21 and 47 °C (70 and 117 °F).[6]

 

Yeah, thanks. If you're still interested in a fridge, you should check out the ARB units. They aren't cheap, but they are actually fridge/freezers - that is, they can keep food frozen, with temps down to 0°F when the outside temp is 90°F, and at 32°F @ 120°F outside temp (and I don't plan to be in that situation often).

Edit: But I noticed the same as you - there are a lot of much cheaper "powered coolers" out there from the likes of Coleman that look tempting, but can only cool a delta of 30-40°F, which lends itself to that danger zone.

 

Went to the product page.
"Not to be confused with less effective 12-volt "coolers", the ARB unit is a true refrigerator/freezer"

I guess I was looking at coolers back then. Good to know the difference. Now to get the 'new' truck through emissions so I can start buying toys.

 

Icom 5100A Install (OMG, did I just drill a hole in the roof of my truck?)
July 23, 2017.

Ham radio is for old guys.

I must be getting old.

As the truck has gotten more capable, and as we’ve started doing longer and more remote trips, I’ve started carrying more tools, extra parts, etc. in order to make (minor) road repairs - hopefully enough to limp back to civilization. But in the back of my mind there is always a little voice that’s been saying, “What happens if you’re many miles out?”

I knew I needed some sort of ability to communicate. I considered getting an inReach device a SPOT tracker, or some other ePRB/PLB, but those solutions seemed too single-tasker to me. Not only would they require ongoing payments for the service, but ideally, I’d never use them.

Instead, I decided it was time to get a radio in the truck, and since I might need longer distances, the choice between CB and HAM was obvious: HAM. With a bit of research and a great deal on eBay, I decided to go with the ICOM 5100A (with Bluetooth) and a Diamond antenna (NR770HBNMO - thanks @Blackdawg) and NMO mount (C213SNMO).

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That was in May - early May; just before we headed down to Oregon to meet up with Pops and my Uncle. My hope was that I could surprise the old fogies with how old I was getting (which would imply an even older age for their generation)! Unfortunately, it arrived the day after we left, so even with my newly minted Technician’s license, I didn’t have the hardware to back it up.

And then we got busy. With the kiddo out of school, summer projects around the house and with the truck, and lots of exploring and camping, there just wasn’t time to get everything hooked up.

But I did get my updated vanity callsign, which was pretty cool.

Fast forward to late July and our impending trip back to the OBDR, where once again we’ll find ourselves exploring the great beyond, sometimes very remote. It was time to get the radio installed.

But wait. There was another reason I’d been in no rush to install this puppy. It meant drilling a hole in the roof. And, if that wasn’t scary enough, it also meant taking out the headliner (at least partially) and I’d heard that was perhaps the most painful thing you can do when working on your vehicle.

So yeah, that’s actually two other reasons.

But it had to be done, so I bit the bullet and got started on Sunday morning. I figured it would take all day because I was going to go slow and make sure I didn’t mess any of this up. The game plan was:

1. Remove the headliner.
2. Drill a hole in the roof.
3. Install the NMO antenna mount.
4. Run the antenna wire under the passenger seat.
5. Run power from the Bussmann to the passenger seat.
6. Plug in and test the radio.
7. Button everything back up.

Removing the headliner... I searched and searched for visual instructions on this and didn’t find any, though I did have the FSM info which turned out to be pretty reasonable. At any rate, when I was all done removing everything (How to Remove a First Gen Tacoma Headliner), the truck looked like a disaster but I hadn’t broken a single clip.

It was a huge success.

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Next, it was time to drill the hole in the roof. I’d purchased a ¾” hole saw for this since everything I looked up on the interwebs said that’s what you use for NMO mounts, However, just in the nick of time, I watched one last YouTube video where the guy drilled a 3/8” hole.

What?!

Yeah.

Turns out, the Diamond NMO mount I’d bought (C213SNMO) is different than most and requires a smaller hole. So, I whipped out a step bit, taped up the roof to catch all of the metal shavings, put some cardboard in the cab above the headliner (to catch the rest of the shavings) and started drilling.

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The whole thing went flawlessly, but I never want to do that again - I think I lost several years of my life in those few minutes.

Finally, after some touch-up paint on the bare metal of the hole, I screwed on the NMO mount and buttoned most of the interior.

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Then, I ran the cable from the antenna, power from the Bussmann, and the cable for the head unit along the passenger threshold and under the rug; coming out under the passenger seat where the ICOM 5100A will be located.

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Then, I plugged everything in and tested the radio. Amazingly, it worked. So the rest of the trim and passenger seat went back in, and it looks like nothing happened. Well, except that there’s an antenna on the roof and a head unit on the dash. That’s what I call success.

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[EDIT Oct 2017:]
I've since replaced the Icom 5100 with a Kenwood D710G in order to get APRS functionality.
Read more in Adding APRS with a new Ham Radio (Kenwood TM-D710GA, Mobilinkd TNC2.2)]


.[/CENTER]

 

Thanks for posting. Gives me confidence to do the same on my truck w/a sunroof.

 

Nice build man. I don't see many threads with the kind of documentation and photography that you have.

 

Sure thing. Just take it slow and you should be fine! One thing to look out for with a sunroof, is that you want to make sure you get an antenna that doesn't need the roof to be a ground plane.

Thanks. It takes some time, but it's a lot of fun. Hopefully at some point it helps someone else out too.

 

First Gen Tacoma Headliner Removal
July 23, 2017.

I needed to drill a hole in the roof of my truck. Crazy? Yes. Necessary: Yes. Curious why? I covered that here.

So. Removing the headliner. I searched and searched for visual instructions on this and didn’t find any, though I did have the FSM info which turned out to be pretty reasonable.

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…armed with that, I got started. First I removed the passenger seat to get some room to work. Then, the two clips in the rear of the headliner.

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Next, I tackled the back panel. Tape on the end of my screwdriver really helped here. And pry carefully - that upper back panel has been baked in the sun for years on our first gens. If any of the metal clips that hold it on come off in the back wall, you can use a small magnet to retrieve them before you reinstall the garnish.

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Garnish removed, you have easy access to the bolts that hold on the back-seat rest. Remove those; lift out.

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Now you can remove the back panel. Carefully. Start on one side and slowly pry out the plastic clips. Pull it out. When you’re done, the rear wall is completely exposed.

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Time to start on the side quarter panels. The rear seatbelt pries up when you stick a screwdriver in the slot. The passenger seatbelt cover pops off. Then, remove the 14mm bolt for each.

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Pry off the plastic cover of the rear window to expose two Philips #2 screws (actually JIS, but Philips works) which you will remove.

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Then remove the four #2 Philips screws in the door threshold and remove the threshold, since the end of it overlaps the quarter panel.

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Carefully pry off the quarter-panel (all those little white clips) like you did with the back panel. At this point, you are mostly home free if you aren’t taking the headliner all the way out.

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The only fasteners that are left are a couple screws in the dome light and two screws, clips, and bolts for the sunroof (if you have one).

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Remove the trim around the inside border of the sunroof. It just pulls off - a friction fit. I only pulled off the rear half of mine, so I could drop the back of the headliner, but wouldn’t have to worry about re-positioning the border trim.

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And with that, carefully pry the back of the headliner out of the rubber trim along the top of the back window. Be careful to not bend the cardboard in the headliner as you do this. When you’re done, the headliner can be dropped down a good foot or so along the back - plenty to gain access to the roof.

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Oh, and your truck will look a mess.

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If you need the headliner down completely, then you’ll need to remove the A-pillar trim. And that means taking off the handles, which are tough to get out (but once you do, the trim comes off easily) and then the entire headliner comes out.

And then, you can get on with whatever project you were planning to do. And hope you never have to service that project in the future .

 

Nice sunroof

 

Thanks, I didn't want it, but they have it to me "for free" (it's what they had, I think). So far no leaks... Which was why I didn't want it, so it's been fine .

It was a pain, but with a kiddo, I needed those seats. Maybe you will too, soon .

APRS, would like to. Running the OBDR now, but will have questions about getting set up for APRS on my return.

 

Return to the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route

Back in May, we'd attempted to run the northern 40% of the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route, from Seneca to the Washington border. A day in, we chose a more reasonable goal: Seneca to Unity. And at day three, we called it quits - less than 50 miles from our start point.

So you can imagine that we were excited for a second chance. Redemption as it were.

In the month leading up to the trip, we got ready. Alcan leaf springs, a new HAM radio, and an ARB fridge were going to make us more capable, safer, and well fed.

Our plan was to run Route 5 - from New Pine Creek, California to Walla Walla, Washington - in a week. It would mean approximately 150 miles per day (assuming no major re-routes) which we knew was a lot, but we hoped we could do.

Our daily goals would be:

Day 1, Saturday:
Home to Starting point in New Pine Creek, CA

Day 2, Sunday:
New Pine Creek to Summer Lake - 160 miles

Day 3, Monday:
Summer Lake to Riley - 150 miles

Day 4, Tuesday:
Riley to Seneca - 140 miles

Day 5, Wednesday:
Seneca to Granite - 170 miles

Day 6, Thursday:
Granite to Kamela - 130 miles

Day 7, Friday:
Kamela to Walla Walla - 100 miles

Day 8, Saturday:
Walla Walla to Home​

And the route we would take would be based on a route we’d found from 2015:

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While this route was close to our ultimate path, there were a few deviations - mostly to keep us off of ATV-only tracks, and out of the middle of lakes. Luckily, we recorded everything so that the next time we want to make the run (hahaha, that’ll be a while), we know right where to go!

Return to the OBDR Day 1: Excitement, Adventure, Disaster.
July 29, 2017.

"Damn it." That's what I said when I felt the back of the truck slip a few inches downhill and come to rest on the side of a tree. It was 7pm, I was tired, and it was looking like the whole trip might be a bust.

But we are way ahead of ourselves. And we're just at the beginning.

The morning of day 1 we awoke early, showered, and got on the road. The drive from Seattle to New Pine Creek at the California-Oregon border was a 9-hour drive, and we had a couple of stops in Bend planned to pick up some gear.

Our first stop was at Stark Street Lawn and Garden, a local Stihl dealer. Having cleared 30+ trees in our last outing, I'd arranged to pick up a little something to help with any downed trees this time - an MS-261 chainsaw with a 20" bar. Boy, were we glad that I did! They good folks at Stark Street were great, and we were in-and-out in less than 20 minutes, the proud owners of this beauty.

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With that, we headed up the street a couple blocks to @Cascadia Tents, where we'd arranged to pick-up an anti-condensation mat for the Mt. Shasta we'd installed for our last trip to Oregon. We'd used the tent for 20 nights of camping already, and it was fantastic, except for the condensation we had to let air out each morning under the mattress.

The new condensation matt fixed all that. Completely. It was like magic.

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And with that (plus a quick bite to eat), we were back on the road for several more hours until we reached our destination: New Pine City, California - the start of the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route (OBDR).

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As we pulled off the pavement, we made a quick stop to get our bearings, get the GPS showing the OBDR setup, and get the cameras ready. We decided we'd try to make it a few miles to the Oregon border to find a spot to camp for the night, so we aired down to 18psi (where we'd remain for the next 7 days!) and we got going.

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Immediately the trail had points of interest. Lakes and old mine sites proved too alluring to just drive by, so we explored. The Lodge Pole Mine was long abandoned, but the Moonlight Mine had more recent activity.

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One thing that was a little strange at the Moonlight Mine - the outhouse. You don't generally think of miners using a two-holer. At least, I don't.

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With that exploration behind us, we continued on the trail to the north, following waypoints on the GPS, despite the lack of road on the map. Up on a ridge, we had views to the south, where there were fires burning in California.

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That lack of road probably should have been a tip-off, but we continued on until we ran into our first tree on the road. A small one - easily moved.

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And then, a second tree. Bigger this time. Exciting - the first chance to use the new chainsaw, which made quick work of the obstacle. It would instill a confidence in us that was unwarranted and would shortly get us into trouble.

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As we proceeded on, the trail got narrower. There were more trees down. And then, a section of trail covered in trees. Probably 30 or so over a half-mile climb to the top of the mountain. So we parked, I got out the saw, and we started clearing - from the top of the trail back down to the truck. Ninety minutes later, we'd cleared 25 trees (and refilled the chainsaw with more gas) and we were ready to go. As we started up the trail, we wondered if the entire trip would be a tree-clearing operation as it had been in May - much easier now that we had the chainsaw - and if all the roads would be this narrow.

The Tacoma is narrow, but it's no ATV, and there were a few places I'd had to cut down trees because the trail was clearly not wide enough. And then, as I was crawling through one especially narrow section, the back wheels slipped slightly left (when the right slider hit a tree) and the bed of the truck came to rest against another tree.

"Damn it!"

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I got out an assessed the situation. Pulling forward or back would just do more damage. The only solution was to cut down the tree.

Of course, it was leaning slightly over the truck, and there was another tree that would keep it from falling away from the truck, so they both had to come down, and we were going to have to be careful! Luckily they were dead, so we'd be able to pull them away from the truck with a rope as we notched and then back-cut them.

So I got out the saw and gave it a pull. Nothing. After 10 minutes trying to get it started, it was clear that it was flooded. Definitely my day. "Damn it."

I broke out the 10" pull saw and got to work manually. After notching the tree away from the truck, and starting the back-cut, I got @mrs.turbodb setup to complete the cut as I pulled the trees away from the truck. We got them both out successfully with no further damage.

But still, I was not a happy camper.

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At the top of the hill, we took in the sunset and re-evaluated. The trail was getting even worse, and it was clear that I'd be cutting down trees just to continue forward. This was clearly a motorcycle/ATV trail, and not something meant for trucks - even compact ones.

Less than three hours into our adventure, with the sun setting to the west under smokey skies, we decided to turn around.

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We headed back to the Moonlight Mine, and ate PB&J sandwiches for dinner in the dark. Tired and defeated, we crawled into the CVT knowing that tomorrow would be a new day - a day that we'd have some choices to make if we were going to complete our mission of conquering the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route.

 

Sounds like a good trip.

Sub'd.

 

Very nice!

 

is there anyone else who can't see the pics? All I get is a broken image symbol really want to see images!

 

I noticed the same for a while. Looks fixed now. Gotta love the interwebs.

 

So weird. Didn't work on my Mac mini but works on my phone

 

OBDR Day 2: There's always a go-around.
July 30, 2017.

After a long day, we'd fallen asleep quickly and slept soundly by Moonlight Mine at the top of Crane Mountain. Morning light brought a bit more time to explore the mine and make breakfast out of the fridge - scrambled eggs, spicy sausage, toast and strawberries - delicious, and ready for @mrs.turbodb when she climbed down from the tent at 7:45am.

The anti-condensation mat worked fantastimagically, and there was very little condensation under the mattress - the only morning we'd have any. Even with the condensation, it was on the floor of the tent, away from the mattress itself, so there was no need to wait for the mattress to dry out - just wipe off the floor and we're done.

Anyone who's got an RTT should get a mat. @Cascadia Tents mats will fit all brands, and they are the cheapest I could find.

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While making breakfast, another truck rolled by the mine - a local, one of only two times we'd run into someone on the trail - who was out "scouting for deer." He asked if we were doing the same, and was intrigued by (and clearly not interested in attempting) the idea of running the OBDR.

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As I put away the tent and @mrs.turbodb took care of the breakfast dishes, we knew that the moment of truth was upon us. Where would we go, and what would we do - given the previous night's excursion?

As we loaded into the truck and took a look at the maps, what would become our first rule of the trail became clear:

When the trail is impassible, there is always a go-around.​

If we'd simply looked at the map the evening before, rather than blindly following the GPS waypoints, we'd have seen that with a few extra miles though the Dismal Swamp, we could join back up with the GPS track just over the Oregon border.

So we did. And the Dismal Swamp was anything but!

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Lush and green, the road was enjoyable and our spirits were raised. We were back on our adventure, and we'd learned a valuable lesson - the OBDR is a long trail, and constantly changing conditions mean that there's more than one way to complete it.

As we drove, we saw wildlife (and cows), beautiful scenery (much of the smoke of the day before had cleared), and remnants of long-forgotten structures.

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We also ran into more trees along the road - not many, but a few - easily dispatched by the chainsaw. And, not that I needed any real justification for the purchase - my motto is that all tools are totally required, but all that sawing the previous day had been "unnecessary," so it was nice to know that I hadn't "totally wasted" my money.

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In all of it we saw no people, and in retrospect, we probably didn't need to pull over to the side of the road (super-off-camber) for lunch. Let's just say we were "aiming for shade." LOL.

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Into the fridge in 95°F, it was so nice to have all of our food dry and 37°F, no longer dependent on block ice. We sat in the shade eating for a bit and then got back on the road.

We made our way through mountains and meadows - on some well-groomed gravel, and rutted dirt tracks. There was a side-excursion on this leg as well (as on all legs) up to the top of a mountain - some sort of radio tower, we think - but a two miles before the top stated "Road Closed - Sensitive Electronics," with a locked gate. Skirtable in an ATV or motorcycle, but the end of the road for us.

So it was back down the mountain where we ran into the second (and last) human contact for the week - three more retired guys out "scouting" on their motorcycles and ATVs. After chatting with them for a bit, we headed into Paisley for some gas, chuckling to ourselves about "scouting" for deer, which we've decided means:

1. Getting to play in the woods on your ATV.
2. Camping with your buddies.
3. Shirking any household duties.
4. Hoping you see a deer, but knowing that even if you do, they probably won't be in the same place a week or two later when you actually (maybe) go hunting.

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One of over 50 gates we'd pass through on the trip.

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In Paisley, the gas station was closed. I mean, why wouldn't it be, right? - it was Sunday around 2pm. Luckily, the Internet hadn't shut down for the weekend, so we had one bar on our phones and found another gas station about 7 miles out of town. We headed that way and passed a pair of sandhill cranes in the high meadow.

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With a full tank of gas (we tried to fill up whenever possible, not knowing where our next gas would be or what type of terrain we'd run into), we headed back into the woods towards our destination: Summer Lake.

And then, we turned into a dead forest. Close to 90% of the trees were dead - from a fire, years before, and we knew that this could spell trouble.

Also, like the day before, this road wasn't on the map…it was just a set of GPS points.

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We continued for a mile or so, up to the top of the ridge. Trees were down everywhere, but they'd been cleared from the road - we were lucky! Someone else had come before us, not just clearing trees, but also - seemingly - taking the wood with them.

Later we'd discover that this area was a designated firewood collection area…and where's the easiest place to get wood? Yep, right out of the middle of the road.

Then our luck ran out. The firewood gatherers had gathered all they needed. What they couldn't fit in their trucks they left on the road, and we weren't going to cut our way through - especially because at this point the road was transitioning into an ATV track.

So, we followed our newly minted rule: There is always a go-around. Because there was.

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This road was a National Recreation Trail. And it turns out (according to Wikipedia) that mostly means "it's for hiking and sometimes biking; not usually for trucks."

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Back on track, we continued on as afternoon turned to evening. Soon, we found ourselves along Winter Ridge above Summer Lake and when we got out for a quick look, we stumbled upon a trailhead.

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We also just happened upon a geodesic location marker from (originally) 1948; a cool find in the middle of the wilderness.

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With a goal of being halfway up Summer Lake by 7pm (to setup camp and make dinner), we were back in the truck and cruising along a really cool red lava rock road when we ran into our first "standoff."

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Some honking and a slow approach got the cows off the road, and it wouldn't be the last time that we ended up in this situation (more on that later).

Shortly before 7:00, we arrived at Fremont Point (on Winter Ridge) to a fantastic view of Summer Lake and thousands of butterflies. We later learned that the hatch happened the previous day.

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We found a nice overlook and while I setup the tent and played with the HAM radio, @mrs.turbodb warmed up the chicken and mushrooms I'd prepped before we left, and made a salad to go along-side. With the wind at our backs, we looked out over Summer Lake and relaxed - the first full day of OBDR behind us.

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Then, this amazing sunset. While the smoke didn't make for the greatest views during the day, it did help the sunsets and sunrises be extra brilliant. We climbed into bed the comforter kept us warm, even on the windy ridge. We'd get less sleep due to that wind, but at the time it was a welcome respite to the heat of the day and we nodded off to sleep under a half-moon.

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Little did we know that our first full day had been one of our easiest. There was much adventure and excitement in store over the days to come.

[missed the start of the trip? catch up here.]


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