PcBuilder's 2018 Tacoma Build

Bye-bye stiff mattress and velcro straps!

 

Photos from last weekend's camping trip to Great Basin Nation Park. Stayed at another free BLM site similar to the weekend prior that was about an hour from Great Basin. Will definitely need to go back when it warms up enough to hike to the peak. Very beautiful and quiet national park with no fees.


_DSC0001 by Brent Prater, on Flickr
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You'll love that Exped Megamat, good decision.

And it looks like perhaps a "Congrats!" is in order for you and the @mrs.? If so,

 

I better, or maybe I should say the wife better. She was kind of shocked by the price. I laid down on the old mattress right before swapping the Exped into the tent and there's a significant difference. We'll find out next weekend when we go to Utah though.

You caught that, huh? I didn't even notice she was doing that in the picture until I was editing it haha Thanks!

 

Well, my front suspension has about given up on itself with the off roading and extra weight. Truck sits so low the CV axles are angled up.

So with that, I had these show up and now I just need to wait until the coilovers get here.

 

Memorial Day Weekend Trip

So a couple weeks prior to Memorial Day weekend the wife and I realized that between our inconsistent work schedules we both had the same 4 days off for the holiday weekend. With that, it was time to plan something out. Something with a good mix of sites, hikes, and off roading.


I began planning for a trip in South Central Utah among around Brian Head and Fish Lake National Forest. I spent a few nights gathering info on hikes, the typical touristy sites, and any off road trails or scenic byways in the area. As usual I realized there was a lot more out there than 3 full days could handle, so I eventually got it narrowed down and got a route built on Gaia GPS.


4 days before we're supposed to head out, Utah gets slammed with a ton of snow from the cold front that swept across the West coast. To include one area we were supposed to drive by getting covered with feet of snow...






So, with that it was time for some re-planning. I had 2 different ideas. Build a new route that explores some of the Southern Utah Traverse (S.U.T.) and checks out some areas of the North Rim that I've never seen, or go to Gold Butte just outside of Vegas to be a little closer to home. After going back and forth trying to decide if the cold nights on the North Rim were better than the hot afternoons in Gold Butte with no shade. In the end I had to go back to North Rim. Even though this would be our 3rd time, it's always a place I keep wanting to go back to.


I tried building my own route, but again it ended up being too much for the time we had. So, the night before we were supposed to leave I decided to just do the Southern Utah Traverse until we got near Page, Utah and then head to the North Rim and check out some of the fingers I have yet to see as well as show my wife Point Sublime since she's never gotten to see it. This was definitely one of my least planned ahead trips I've done but it definitely added to the adventure.


Friday morning rolls around and we take our time getting a few remaining items together. After all, we had no schedule and nobody we had to meet up with. It’s safe to say this was the latest that we’ve ever hit the road. We had a 2 hour drive to St. George where the start of the “trail” would begin. Actually, make that 2 and a half hours with our tradition of stopping at Chick-fil-A every time we drive through St. George. What a pregnant lady wants, a pregnant lady gets


With Chick-Fil-A in hand and finally on some dirt, we saw a sign for a BLM site called Fort Pearce.


“Fort Pearce is one of only three remaining stone guard posts built during Utah’s Black Hawk War. This “war” was actually period of intermittent raiding between 1865 and 1870, during which the Ute Tribe, led by Chief Black Hawk (Antonga), and other Native Americans allies attempted to drive the Mormons from the Ute traditional homelands.”








We took advantage of the nice seating area to eat our lunch before making our way over to the petroglyphs carved into one of the large rocks. We also found this large divot in the rock. We weren’t sure if this was man made or just from rain












During our lunch a man and his grandson came by so the grandson could ride his fourwheeler around. This area is a large recreation site for OHV traffic. Talking with the grandfather, we discussed the petroglyphs and were told that he’s found a lot of arrowheads and pottery around here. Then he continued to tell us he may have some back home to remember this place. This of course is not cool and let’s just say the conversation ended pretty abruptly after that. NEVER TAKE RUINS OF ANY KIND!


With this, we decided to air down and continued on our way along the S.U.T. route until we came across the Warner Valley Dinosaur Tracks. This a pretty cool site that I wish I would have spent more time at. There are a ton of tracks in the area, but we stuck to the easier ones to find near the sign.









After the Dinosaur tracks, we had a decision to make. Take the most immediate route back to the highway or take the more “difficult” section. The more difficult section is known to change every year due to precipitation making it more easy or difficult. Since it was only around 12:30 I figured we had time to check it out, and if it proved to be difficult, we could always turn around. With that, we headed for the Historic Honeymoon Trail.





Turns out this trail wasn’t really difficult at all. At least not this year. Had just enough difficulty with loose rock and a steep incline to need 4wd. But, with enough momentum a 2wd could probably make it through eventually.


As we kept climbing the views got better and better and the trail got steeper and steeper to the point that we started to lean over quite a bit in one section.













Once we crested the plateau and crossed the cattle guard, the view opened up to this awesome grassland.








We continued the rest of the way until we got back to pavement and I got us aired back up. We took a quick gas and bathroom break, and of course had to get some snacks in Colorado City, UT before making our way farther West to look for camp.


I didn’t get many for the rest of the day, but we headed towards Coral Pink Sand Dunes and made a left onto some forest service roads that had some severe washboard section from all of the OHV traffic that has been through here. We aired down to 20psi, but it was still quite rough with the basically stock suspension, although the air bumps in the rear made it at least a little less rough.


About halfway through the forest service road we came across this awesome site with a great view. This would definitely suffice for the night although it was only 4 in the afternoon. We got camp set up and got a fire started.










Now I can only sit for so long, so I continuously found something to mess with or go look at to include finding another okay camp site with a nice view making for some good pictures.










Eventually I finally decided it was time to settle down, get dinner started, and enjoy the rest of our night. We called it a bit early once the sun disappeared and enjoyed our first night’s sleep with the new Exped mattress.


Both of us ended up sleeping for about 10 hours of much needed sleep that probably would have been more had the dog not needed to go to the bathroom. The new mattress making a world of a difference making it my first time to wake up in the RTT without being sore. Thanks for the recommendation @turbodb


With it already being after 9 in the morning, we elected to just have a breakfast of granola bars and fruit and then we started packing up to start our day. The rest of the forest service road provided more great views.












We got back to the highway, aired back up, and made our way to Orderville, UT for our first hike of the day, Red Hollow Canyon. This trail leads into a slot canyon and is a relatively quick and easy out and back trail.


Don’t do what all of these people did, this is how trails get shut down…













After we finished the short hike, I decided we should see if there are any dog-friendly places to eat. Luckily this place called Forscher German Bakery and Restaurant had outdoor seating. So we enjoyed the weather while eating some delicious sandwiches on fresh baked bread.


Afterwards we continued on to start a 75 mile section of dirt that would end near Page, UT.







Unfortunately, about 15 miles in we came across a “road closed” sign that would cut this section down dramatically. So we headed back South for the Utah/Arizona border.






Our next stop would be the Wire Pass trail. Another hike that leads into a slot canyon. This one unfortunately had a fee of $6 per person/dog. So $18 later we started our hike. At least it goes towards keeping places like this open I guess…














Afterwards we continued down the remainder of this dirt road to get to the North Rim for camp that night. I didn’t get many pictures because we had a lot of ground to make if we wanted a camp site with a view.









As usual, the forest service roads on the North Rim offer some awesome views. I could honestly spend a whole week out here. We tried getting to a really nice spot in the hopes it wouldn’t already be taken, but unfortunately it was. So after some searching on the Gaia map, I found a trail that went along the edge of cliff. So I decided we should take a chance to see if there would be a camp site along it path. And luckily there was!


With camp set up, around 6 this time, we had dinner and enjoyed our time at the fire wondering what we would do tomorrow for our day on the North Rim before going to bed.









3 hours of sleep later, I wake up to my wife being extremely sick. A very concerning thing when she’s pregnant and you’re in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. Immediately I tried to decide what the best decision would be. Thankfully she felt well enough that she was confident she could rest in the truck and be fine. So at 1:30 in the morning in 25 degrees I’m packing everything up in the pitch black. We then began our 5 hour drive back home which was thankfully uneventful. Even though our trip was cut short, we enjoyed our extra day back home to relax and make sure she was feeling better.

 

Wow, love that shot. Added to my list for some day. What's with the fence around it?

 

Totally awesome. Why was Nakota wearing shoes?

 

Thanks! The fence was for what looked to be some sort of water collection compound. There was a large drain pipe that dumped directly into the wash we hiked through too.

Because he runs around so much that he tears up the pads on his feet making himself bleed. Especially on all of the sandstone out in this area. And he’ll keep going too

Last time we didn’t put them on we had to bandage his paws for a week.

 

Oh dang. Sounds like he doesn’t know when to take a break!

 

Got a couple goodies in today. Hopefully I’ll get the coilovers and UCAs installed next weekend. Not sure when I’ll get the lower reinforcement plates welded on. Big thanks to @M C M at MCM Fab.

 

Finally got around to installing this. Definitely the way it should have came from the factory considering it’s literally the only thing that requires the key.

https://youtu.be/97_W-eFL5MA

 

Finally got around to detailing the entire truck. It desperately needed it after 3 trips.

Also removed the RTT and bed rack since we’ll be driving to Texas soon. Need to cut as much weight as I can. The rear sits about 3.5” higher than the front without the tent and rack. Really wish I would have had time to install the coilovers and get an alignment. I blame work.

 

You’ll scoop lots of leaves for sure with that big rake

 

Wasn’t exactly planning on buying new wheels this soon, but SCS finally had the exact size and color wheels I wanted for the first time in a while. Now I’ll at least have them when it’s time for new tires rather than wanting them when they’re not in stock. At least that’s how I justified it

So tempting to get them installed now. Definitely the nicest wheels I’ve ever had!

 

Got the driver side suspension swapped out. The UCA bolt always makes for an interesting time...

Shout out to @M C M for the coilovers and great customer service. Would highly recommend his shop for anything ADS related, especially if you're in the Vegas area.

 

Pictures from a quick trip through Mormon Well Road last month.

 

Photos from today's run through Tie Rod Canyon.


_DSC0048 by Brent Prater, on Flickr
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A few additional photos from a cell phone.

 

Installed a molle panel behind the rear seats a couple weeks ago. Like it so far if not just for how much more room it creates at the bottom getting rid of the OEM plastic. I’m sure I’ll get a couple different molle bags eventually.