Lone Star Toyota Jamboree Live! (2018)

I appreciate it. Been trying to read through your build thread - there's a lot there.

 

Not a whole lot left but just my journey back home to California The excitement is already over so I'll just quickly post a few and call it a wrap. Next time I'll try harder to keep the thread Live!

Sunday - Texas to New Mexico

I was surprised at the high number of vehicles abandoned on the side of the interstate. In California this is illegal and even when it's an emergency they get towed off the road quickly. It is rare to see this in CA but they were everywhere in TX





Wow found some slots!!



This is the TacoBell parking lot I was at when those people were taking pics of the truck I mentioned earlier

 

You bet Also thanks for checking out my build. Typing 90+ words per minute is a curse

Sunday - Texas to New Mexico (continued)

Back to the never-ending display of windmills









The wind wasn't as strong but it was definitely more head wind than cross wind. Fuel mileage had dropped to the low 16s - high 15s.



Here's a question for my fellow 3rd gen owners:

I've seen a lot of complaints about not having a holder for the gas cap. I've even seen threads of people making 3D printed fuel cap holders and people are purchasing these custom holders.

Why not just do this?



Piece of cake. Been doing this since my first tank of gas.

 

Sunday - Texas to New Mexico (continued)

It takes 9 hrs of pure driving just to get out of TX



Grab'n some Panda Express in Albuquerque for dinner



Gotta do something to pass the time



Love driving at dusk/night/dawn. Cool weather, no sunburn, less traffic...

Thanks again for the tip -- Worked out perfect on the return trip as well

 

Sunday - Texas to New Mexico (continued)

Check this out! I was cruising along when I suddenly received the following text:



Hahahah too cool!!



It turns out a driver of a UPS big rig is friends with one of our distributors and he sent me the text only moments after the big rig had passed hahaha Too cool!



It was great because I was pretty tired and got to eat up some miles playing tag and blocking for the truck. If you're out there reading this then thanks for the highway company and safe travels my friend

It was around this time that this happened: We've hit 20K!!



Finally made it to my New Mexico hotel!!

 

(Update from the past)

I completely forgot to post this! While at the event on Friday I got my 'Maintenance Required Soon' CEL: Oil intervals go by quick while racking up miles like this

 

I used to and still do the same with my gas cap but its no longer attached to the gas lid in the same place. I didnt like the stretch so I moved it closer and now it hangs really easy. I dont have pics but heres yours showing the move I did.

 

Forgot to post that right before I got into New Mexico I saw the Midwest Expedition Outfitters (MEO) buggy on a trailer headed home to OK from Cruise Moab!!

It happened while I was heading up hill before a long left corner

Just now checking my Facebook messages and saw this! Thanks for the message Freddie!! Hope you guys made it home safely



Marlin get some sun glasses

 

That's a nice idea. Does the tether ever get caught while closing the door?

Monday - New Mexico to California

Sometime after midnight while trying to sleep in my NM hotel I made the decision to split my remaining 800 miles. The thought was either, 1) push home another 14+ hour commute (inclds. stops) and be exhausted and useless at work on Tuesday, or 2) split it up into two days, using the extra time to get work done from cafes along the way home.



Yeah, screw that, I'll just split the remaining distance like I should have done from the beginning.

Got to sleep in until 8a and got to a really nice locally owned cafe in downtown Gallup, NM





Eggcellent parking. I stayed there for a few hours doing some MC work from my laptop

 

Before I left I stopped at a supermarket to pick up some vegetables for the road and while returning to my truck I met some really cool people who were checking out the truck! I should have taken a pic with all three of them but here I am with Ray, who is an avid Jeep fan and was very impressed with the Tacoma. A younger lady with him owns a second gen AC and was extremely proud to be a Tacoma owner! People have been very friendly during this trip.



Not too long after that I was welcomed to AZ!

 

I don't know what to tell you guys. This truck is incredible



During a full 320 mile stretch that included climbing up to a 7,000 ft elevation Flagstaff, AZ...

 

...Thank You!

 

Open road + Tacoma = <3

BTW I-40 is full of construction zones. I can't remember the last time I've seen so many...





Right before stopping in Kingman, AZ to pickup some Chipotle, I saw this dude merge onto the freeway without a helmet on. I assume this is allowed in AZ but not where I'm from (and I used to ride) and it caught my attention immediately.



Look at the early May weather in west AZ



Stopped for dinner. I'll take 16 MPG with 40 all day



And made it safely to my hotel in Needles, CA with time to get more work done!

 

Tuesday - Needles, California to Home!!

While I was only about 6 hrs from home and had time to spare, I just B-lined it straight home to complete the trip!

Leaving my motel room at 6:20am



Long open stretches out here



Quick coffee break in Barstow



Timing fill-ups to perfection

 

Tuesday - Needles, California to Home!! (continued)

Endless roads...



Picking up lunch from a Baja Fresh in Bakersfield. ONLY TWO MORE HOURS TO GO!!!



And finally back in Fresno, I stopped off for...

Got it checked! Result while fully loaded including our Marlin Crawler display booth and a lot of apparel is: 5,340 pounds with a 1/4 tank of fuel



(This is only a photo comparison. The weight from 2016 was unloaded + full tank of fuel + 100% bone stock. It was 4,420 lbs then. I'll run by the scale again sometime this week to get a comparison weight of unloaded + full tank and will reply with results!)

Quite the difference two years can make.
Left is 44:1 final drive ratio
Right is 580:1 final drive raito (1,218% slower)

 

Tuesday - Needles, California to Home!! (continued)

And finally! Safely made it back to where I started!!



She is well on her way to becoming a fine Rock Crawler!!

 

Glad you made it safely, sleep well and happy trails. See you next year!

 

I've had it that way for over a year and 30k+ miles put on the truck and its never got caught on me.

Its been fun following this trip. Glad you made you made the trip home safely with no issues.

 

ho........lee..........sheeeeeeeet!!! that truck looks awesome man!

 

Yeah man! Glad NM was kind to you.