@Socalexpeditions Vagabond Drifter Build Thread and Trip Reports

Well I can report back it was a fun trip!

 

Kenda Klever RT's in a 35x10.50x17...Paid $130 each for them!

 

Mojave Trail Trip Report

Ran the trail from East to West. Was my second time doing the trip, so my Gaia file was pretty accurate. Total of four days, three nights spent out, arriving late Thursday to a camping spot in Needles and leaving first thing in the morning. I have no pictures of Thursday night when we arrived, however I made the mistake of bringing the wrong size tent for our air mattress. So, we emptied the bed, blew up the air mattress, and slept in the bed with no coverage. Have to admit, it was pretty dang nice minus my girlfriend freezing!

Friday morning we left the campground that was on the Colorado River and stopped at a Walmart to get a tent to use for the trip. They had normal tents...then they had a Teepee. You already know which one I bought! We left Walmart with out new 7-person Teepee, ready to start the trip.

First stop on Friday morning: Fort Piute. This was at the start of the trail and the first thing for us to see. If you walk down past the gate onto the hiking trail, you will see some running water! If you plan on doing the hike, I would not follow the trail map posted as it is inaccurate.




We pushed on after this stop and headed up the mountain to finally break into the tight, narrow section of the trail.



After stopping for a quick lunch, we then headed towards the Penny Tree! Last time I missed stopping here, so we made sure to get to it this time. There were a few other people in Four Wheel Campers here, as well as a group of Jeeps that passed through. One of the Gladiators in their group had a bent frame from towing an offroad trailer, and it was pretty sad seeing the bed angled down on a new truck.



Next stop was the abandoned house. FYI, there's a huge beehive on the left side that I missed walking to the back of the house to check out the outdoor stone oven. I wouldn't walk on the left side...



After stopping at the abandoned house, it was time to find out camp spot for the night. My initial camp spot I marked was Mid Hills, which is a good 1/3-1/4 into the trip. I felt as if it was a good stopping point, and I had camped there before. However, we ended up driving a loop to Hole In The Wall, and ran into some horses (and a donkey) crossing the road! They were either previously domesticated and let go, or the owner just lets them roam.



After spending some time with the horses, we then found our campspot. We were driving the loop from Hole In The Wall back to Mid Hills, and followed this random road we found on Gaia. Ended up at this magnificent, yet extremely windy spot on top of the mountain just in time for sunset. We parked strategically to block as much wind for our giant Teepee. Reminder: Never buy an Ozark Trail Teepee...they suck. Anywho, this was debatably the most beautiful sunset of the trip.



Saturday morning we woke up quite early from the wind and quickly ate, packed up, and hit the trail. I planned for Saturday to be the busiest driving day, as well as the most exciting day. First stop was the Lava Tubes. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera inside their to snap some pictures, but we arrived at the perfect time where the sun was shining directly through the holes on the top, lighting up the entire cave with a beam of light just like the Narrows. I had never seen something like this.

Right after seeing the Lava Tubes, we pushed on to the Rock Quarry a few miles down the trail to eat a quick bite and climb around the huge machines that were left there.



At this point, we talked about which way we wanted to finish the route. I originally drew up two plans: one finishing the trail after crossing Afton, and one leading south through Kelso Dunes towards the 40. We were concerned at first about the Soda Lake Bed being caked again, but heard from a group that it was clear to cross. We decided to run the trail all the way till the crossing and pushed on! Here is us arriving at the lake bed...in fashion.



After playing around at the start to Soda Dry Lake Bed, we carried on crossing it. I let my girlfriend drive for about 3 minutes until she hit a bump too hard and sent everything in the bed flying out...I will do a full breakdown of how much stock suspension sucks on the Mojave Trail at the end of this report. Pit stop at Travelers Monument...Group picture, like my missing tooth?





We discussed our next camp spot as it was pretty windy, and aimed to have it by Afton Canyon where there was some shelter. However, if you know my friend Mark, if it's not a pretty view, we aren't staying there. So here is our camp spot where we arrived just in time for sunset, at the West end of Kelso Dunes.



That was by far the windiest camp spot we could have ever picked. And not only was it windy, but our Teepee (aka the wind sail) was held down by three water jugs, a fuel jug, rocks of every size, and 12 stakes. We ate dinner with sanding pelting us, then proceeded to wrap our faces with shirts and wear glasses to keep the sand out of our eyes. Next time, I'm bringing goggles. Somewhere in the middle of the night though, all wind stopped, and we woke up to the most beautiful view of perfect dunes and no sand blowing in our face.

Sunday Morning



We ate, packed up, hit the dunes one last time, then made our way into Afton canyon. First stop was to check out the slot canyon!



After that, we headed to the water crossing. I took a drone video of us crossing it...I've done this crossing once before and like to keep one bow wave in the front, and a baby one behind it. If you try and stay behind just that one bow wave, there's still a ton of water you're pushing - but if you have a bow wave + baby wave, it's ideal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9jsiCzneFZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

That sums up the whole Mojave Trip! I was very happy to run it from East to West again and go through Afton with no issues. Last time, the water level was much higher and claimed my transfer case. This time, my truck handled it pretty well minus searching for grip in the early section where I bogged down a bit (even in 4LO and locked rear). I'll be changing my fluid and adding a diff breather asap!

Review of stock Third Gen: The TRD OR Bilstein 4600's are by far the worst shock I have used offroad. I mean, I'm hating on a stock truck...But coming from my +2 LT truck which could've gone an average of 15 mph faster, this thing needs coilovers asap! The truck bottomed out on pretty much everything, and the whoop sections were a nightmare. If you go too fast, you slam the skid plate on the ground. If you go too slow, well, you're going 4 mph. Can't wait to throw some Kings under the truck! The access cab has been great to me, dare I say better than my old DCLB. I love the rear doors, and I can fit just enough in there to where it's organized and useful. The long bed is something I couldn't ever live without though, and I'm happy I didn't settle for a DCSB. If you don't turn Traction Control off completely every time you start the truck and drive offroad, it does this weird brake pedal modulation crap that nearly caused me to flip the truck in the dunes, so make SURE that crap is all off before doing any stupid stuff.

Remember, never buy an Ozark Trail Teepee tent. I packed that thing back up and returned it to Walmart.

 

First Mod: Sliders

@Shmellmopwho worked his magic and created some sliders for the rig! I've had Ryan's sliders on my previous truck and loved them, plus they saved my cab multiple times. This time around I wanted them to stick out a tiny bit more, so the legs are just a tiny bit longer. Can't wait to get them on the truck! If you live in So-Cal...you already know who to go to

Here are a few pictures that Ryan sent me building the sliders. Even added an extra support of square tubing near the kickout that I'm super stoked on!

 

Just a note: The Bilstein's on the TRD OR are not 4600's. They are a yellow and blue monotube shock, and they're made by (or at least branded as) Bilstein and that's where the similarities end. The 4600 is a larger diameter shock with more oil volume and a 46mm piston compared to the TRD's 36mm piston.

I'm pretty sure Toyota knows that the stock Bilsteins do well for most owners but will be removed by demanding owners anyways, so there's no point in putting a trick suspension on it when the Pro exists.

Looking forward to see where your build goes!

Also, where did you get your tailgate bag?

 

Oh I'm stumped, I was sure they were. I'll crawl under the truck and take a look tomorrow!

The tailgate bag is a Trasharoo. I got this one for free and love using it - I had one prior and carried firewood in it, definitely don't recommend doing it unless you want holes everywhere

 

For the life of me, I can NOT find budget rims (under $900 for 4x)!

I was in contact with Dustin from FN, but the last week he has disappeared.

Other than the clear vendors like SCS, VTX, and RRW; does anyone run good-looking rims that don't weight 23lbs+ and don't cost $300 per?

 

They are hard to find. There's a reason why SCS F5's (and similar) are so popular. I want F5's for those exact reasons.

 

I may just end up buying some F5's, but I see them pretty much everyday where I live.

Hell, even steelies are an option now. I personally think the FJ Steelies look rad.

 

Yeah, I wish we got the steel options the Aussies get, given that most US wheels don't clear our brake calipers. I'm glad I don't see a lot of F5's outside of the forums, lol

 

Good day! Got Kings, Uppers, and new rims on the way!

Build should be finally in progress by next week.

 

Would love to see how the Kenda tires fit.

Great photos btw!

 

Pic should be in by next Friday!

Thank you too, I love photography.

 

What wheels did you get?

 

These. The size, width, offset, color, and look were perfect to me. Ended up offering $600 on eBay and they took it. I plan on painting the center cap black to get rid of the logo.

Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/264664051373

Picture:

 

For one second I thought, "Blue on Gold? Will that work?" and then I remembered Subaru's are things. Excited to see how it will look, now!

Given that you're forging into some unknown territory with those and given their place of origin, I might suggest hanging on to the T4R Pros for a bit until you're comfortable with the MST's performance.

 

My old car

 

Keep drivin it!

 

Someone has to keep me away from the order button. This All Pro +2 deal got even sweeter!

What a fine deal, 20% off (15% + 5% wheelers subscriber).

Total comes out to $3,094 shipped after tax. Damn! The midtravel kit I pieced together runs around $2,400 said & done. For some reason, I really like the boxed look.

 

After the Mojave trip, I noticed my car was beginning to smell...musky.

Afton water crossing has done me dirty two times - First time, I lost my transfer case. This time, my entire passenger side got soaked. Thankfully, no electronics were harmed. Hoping to be dry by Friday!

If anyone has tips, let me know please! I’m constantly spraying lysol to clean it out. Carpets are already dry, but I'll let it dry out another day or two.