AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Genius Camp Stove Tube Extension

For a couple years now, I've been using a Coleman Camp Grill/Stove. While the stove isn't perfect, I don't consider its drawbacks to be that big a deal, and as far as camp stoves go, I think its one of the better values out there.

In fact - both of my (only) complaints about it are related to its fuel system: first, the burners aren't adjustable enough - they tend to be fully on, or off. This is annoying, but not really that big a deal for what I do on the trail, primarily boiling water or reheating food I've previously prepared. The second issue however, has been bothersome. The propane connection - on this particular model - is on the back right corner, and the propane neck situates the propane bottle diagonally behind the stove.

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This positioning of the propane bottle means that the entire setup needs a bunch more room. It can't easily sit on a bench or narrow table like most stoves - which generally situate the bottle next to the grill, by having the connection in the front right corner.

But, I recently discovered and ingenious solution. And by discovered, I mean that @Dirty Pool suggested it to me after I complained a bit (not to him, just in general).

The solution is to cut the neck (replacement part 5430) on the propane regulator using a small tubing cutter, and then clean up the ends with a reamer. Once that's done, you can use a length of ¼-inch inside diameter vinyl tubing to extend the regulator line by any length you'd like - in my case, 2 feet. I used a hair drier to heat the tubing enough to slip it over the ends of the steel pipe - and no need to worry about clamps on the connections here; the regulator that's connected to the propane cylinder keeps the line pressures at 5 psi.

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Now, for the price of $0.69/foot of vinyl tubing, the propane cylinder can sit anywhere I please. And that makes this stove even better.

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Oh, and one final thing - for all those keyboard commandos of the internet... Yes, I know that the vinyl tube I'm using isn't technically fuel-grade tubing and might harden over time. But that's the key - over time. This tube will see use maybe 100 nights/year for about 10 minutes per night. I'll get dozens of years out of it before it degrades, and if it ever does, I'm sure I'll see it coming. The cost and weight savings of going this route are totally worth it for me, but if you're one who wants to tell me to use something different - by all means, go that route yourself; the design idea is the important bit.

 

You used two whole feet? Easy fix for those claiming the tubing could be a problem, carry two more feet haha. It's like an oz haha

 

The only issue I can see is the porosity of the tubing. Prolly not even a big deal outside. I bought something with a flex hose that fits the stove as well so I think replacing the idea is money.

 

I'd hope that isn't too big of an issue propane molecules are rather large and this is ~1 to 1.5psi regulated

 

Yup.

 

Seems we have conflicting information here. Is it 1-1.5 or 5 psi? There is more than 100% difference between the two.

 

Don't mind me. All our offices are shut down today but the boss man said I had to stay logged in since I'm WFH. So I'm just surfing the information highway today. EOD can't get here fast enough.

 

I'd be really surprised if it exceeds the usual 1 to 1.5psi. That's what household propane is regulated to. I mean maybe that's why camp stoves only have off and high haha

 

I don't really care. I'm just bored and stuck at the computer. Either way, it's low pressure.

 

Installing a BAMF Rear Diff Skid Plate

First gen Tacoma's don't see much love from the fabricators these days. It's understandable, really - these trucks are getting older and there aren't as many out there as 2nd and 3rd gen Tacoma's. Plus, those of us that own 1st gens are cheap - that's part of why we're still running these older trucks!

Knowing that this was the case even a few years ago, I eagerly awaited a sale to purchase a rear diff skid from Jerry @JLee and the good folks over at Bay Area Metal Fabrication (BAMF). One came along for Black Friday, and despite the several-hundred-buckaroo-even-with-a-discount price, I scooped one up - because I knew it wouldn't be around much longer, I knew it'd be a quality part, and I liked the idea of supporting BAMF.

It arrived, and it was beautiful. I put it in the living room awaiting installation. And that was two years ago.

I held off on the installation for a couple of reasons, but the only one that really matters is that I didn't feel like there were any trips that would require it, or that would put my rear diff at risk. However, this fall we have a group trip to Colorado in the works, and knowing how these trips trips go, I wanted a little extra protection, so to speak.

Plus, the Tacoma is getting old, and we all know that when you get old it's not uncommon to start wearing a (diff) diaper.

Installation looked straight forward enough. Jerry sent the skid with three brackets and six bolts - everything I'd need to get it installed.

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Figuring it'd only take a few minutes to install, I got started by holding it in place and loosely threading in the bolts for the two brackets that secure the skid to the axle housing. One of these required bending a bit of brake line to get the bracket to clear, but otherwise went off without a hitch.

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The last thing to do - before tightening everything down - was to position the front bracket. This one is supposed to fit over a rectangular casting on the 3rd member, but for some reason mine seemed to be positioned a little too far forward, the bracket contacting the 3rd member right around the pinion seal. It would probably be OK, but I didn't love it.

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The solution required a small modification of the skid plate, but wasn't hard by any means. All I needed to do was to partially cut off the nuts into which the bolts that secured the front bracket threaded, tilt (bend) them back slightly on the skid plate, and re-weld them into place. I did much of the welding with the skid plate on the truck, just to ensure that whatever alignment I ended up with would fit my configuration correctly.

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A bit of paint - which on a skid like this will probably need to be refreshed each year - and everything was good to go. I still won't run this skid all the time - there's no point in hauling it's beefy, badass, ¼" steel self around - but it sure is nice to know that I have it if I need it!

 

@Uphillshunter

 

Diff diaper install looks good, Dan! I’ve been very pleased with mine for the most part.

When are you guys heading out this way and what trails are you planning to run? (If you don’t mind me asking, of course ).

 

They did already. Bout 2 weeks ago

 

Yeah, so we were there at the beginning of October; probably should have reached out! I, for one, forgot entirely that you were in NoCo. I'd blame it on old age, but I've been bad at remembering forever.

I'm hoping that next time we plan the trip in a public thread - or at least have a public thread for it once it's planned; so other folks can opt-in (up to a point).

 

Maybe just a bigger convo...

 

No worries, Dan. Looking forward to the write up

 

Big fan of your trip reports, LNT values, and overall attitude.
Thanks for all the time you put into these.

Hope to catch you guys on the trail someday!

 

Prelude to Clear, Colorful, Colorado

This story starts a little differently than most. See, every year a group of folks head out for a two-week-or-so excursion to a spectacular location for a bit of wheeling, a good dose of camping, and a ton of fun.

But last year was different. I mean sure - we had all those things for the most part, but we had to cut the entire trip short when - within a couple hours - all three trucks ran into serious issues on the trail. It's worth reading at least that part of the story from Redhead Down, but I should probably summarize it here:

• First, the brakes on my truck didn't work and I almost smashed into both Mike @Digiratus and Monte @Blackdawg as we turned to climb Mt. Antero.
• Next, Mike blew out the top of his coil bucket - the piece of the frame that holds the front suspension to the truck.
• Finally, as we were evaluating the situation with Mike's truck, Monte discovered that his lower ball joints (LBJs) were so loose that they nearly fell apart.

Clearly, not our best day. And, the end of our trip, the Redhead unable to make it home under her own power.

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Over the winter, much work was done to fix the issues that had cropped up - and then some. Over the course of a couple months, parts and tools were acquired, the Redhead's engine was pulled, and old parts were cut off so new ones could be welded on. It was a herculean effort, as Dan @drr, Zane @Speedytech7 and I helped Mike get the truck back into shape. Mike was on top of the schedule - of course - and the work was mostly done by December, though additional upgrades to things like the rear suspension continued into the spring.

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Monte too set about fixing his truck - though a bit closer to "trip time" than Mike. It was April before he started working with the vendor of his aftermarket lower control arms (Solo) on figuring out the solution, and it was the end of July when he finally got them replaced. Of course, he did some other work as well, strengthening some of the same parts that Mike had blown up the previous year.

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I on the other hand, did very little. I never could get my braking situation to repeat itself (thankfully), and since I continued to head out on trips through the winter, I figured that everything was mostly OK. There was normal maintenance of course, but I was lucky enough to spend most of my time in places like Death Valley's Hidden Dunes, where I was buzzed by F-18s - one of the most exhilarating experiences ever.

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Top Gun, in person.​

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Snow wheeling in Mojave National Preserve.​

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The Alvord Playa is a very special place in Oregon.​

As the time got closer for us to depart and we finally settled on a firm date, things were going smoothly - too smoothly! It was then that we found out that Monte wasn't really ready.

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Franken-leaf-pack, Monte's specialty.​

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Bed stiffeners, also a last minute addition, given that Monte's bed was still falling apart - more than a year after he discovered it.​

And, not to be out done, Mark @IDtrucks - who had also decided to join us for the first time since 2017 - discovered that he had a bit of an issue with his front suspension.

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Classic Derp.​

So yeah, with two days until departure, we were in scramble mode. I offered some parts to Monte, and Monte offered parts to Mark. Mike and Dan were also offering parts - it was a mad dash to get everyone into a working state.

Things were right (or at least normal) in the world again. And that meant it was time to start a two-week trip into the Clear, Colorful, Colorado!

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We Arrive, and Our Timing is Perfect - Colorado #2

I should preface the title to this post with a bit of a caveat. Our perfect timing had nothing to do with when we all showed up at the camp site. In fact, only Dan @drr and Mike @Digiratus were really "on time."

See, Mark @IDtrucks had coordinated a meeting with Monte @Blackdawg in Grand Junction where he'd gotten a local shop to open up on a Sunday evening in order to help swap a coil spring from one of Monte's old front shocks to replace the broken one he'd discovered less than two days before the trip started. Monte was more on time than normal - only an hour late or so as compared to the original planned meeting time - but Mark was later by another hour, a fact that I'm sure the shop owner appreciated, as the 20 minute job stretched into three hours.

Ultimately however, they easily beat me to camp, as it was 12:30am when I finally pulled into my spot at Silver Lake, a couple hours outside of Grand Junction, to freezing temps and a roaring propane fire ring. We hung around the fire for another couple of hours - everyone happy to be together again - before climbing into bed for what would be our first cold night at over 10,000 feet of elevation.

The next morning...

Even after my 21 hour drive and nearly 24 hours awake, I was the first one out of the tent in the morning - or rather, I sort of tied with Dan as he climbed down out of his GFC. It was 9:30am and the sun was shining, warming up camp immensely. My first look around showed us to be in a beautiful location - the skies blue, and the lake clear.

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After a bit of a stroll, I found myself back in camp eating breakfast - Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds and some extremely cold milk, the ARB fridge reading 31°F, even though it hadn't been on all night. With Dan and I banging around, the sun warming the tents, and the excitement of a new adventure in front of us, everyone else was up shortly - breakfasts being made and camp being put away. Still, it was nearly noon when we pulled out of camp and got on the trail.

Immediately, it was clear that we'd arrived to this section of Colorado at the perfect time of year. The fall colors on the aspen were amazing, and we couldn't help but stop at regular intervals to soak in the golden color.

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As we made our way through Grand Mesa, we wound our way past numerous lakes and through woods composed of evergreen and aspen. The roads here were well graded, allowing us to make good time - the warm, dry weather making the situation a bit dusty but otherwise quite pleasurable.

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One interesting thing we ran into - which we'd see a lot more of along the two week route - was a beaver pond, its dam holding back the clear water of roadside creek.

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Our CB radios loud with the chatter of friends finally able to talk-rather-than-type with each other, we pushed on, lunch now on several of our minds.

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It was 2:15pm when we found ourselves at Leon Lake - heading north on FS-127 - the perfect place for an afternoon lunch. Having enjoyed the tuna sandwiches we'd eaten on our Nevada Backcountry Discovery Route trip just a couple months before, I'd prepared an entire Tupperware of the stuff, and eagerly spread it out on some sourdough bread. Yum!

Lunch also presented me with the first opportunity to break out the homemade chocolate chip cookies I'd brought - the batch of sixty or so of the yummy treats sure to last our group less than a week, even if we only ate them at lunch (which we didn't ).

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A quick dance of circle-the-wagons was in store as folks found the perfect spot to park for lunch.​

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This is a lunch view I could get used to.​

A little under an hour later, we set out again - as before, the yellows of fall casting a warm light on our adventure, the spacing between our trucks lengthening in order to avoid a bit of the dust.

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And then, our first - or at least first notable - "uh, hey guys," - over the radio. It was Mark. For some reason, he'd gotten out of his truck to look it over - perhaps he'd felt a weird vibration, or was just wondering if the duct tape he'd used in several places was still holding together - and what he saw wasn't good. Apparently, he generally used his front skid plate to hold his front diff in position.

It's here that I should note that - no, that is not normal on a Tacoma.

At any rate, he'd neglected to install his front skid for this trip - having "run out of time" for that 3 minute operation - and now his front diff was working its way down and out the bottom of his truck, the rubber bushings wiggling over the bolts that normally secure the whole thing in place - the bolt heads now buried somewhere up inside.

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Luckily - or perhaps this was Mark's plan all along - trail maintenance is somewhat of a specialty for the rest of us, and within minutes, Monte had produced a set of sockets, Dan had his bottle jack in hand, Mike produced a Milwaukee M18 mid-torque impact wrench, and I happened to have a couple of washers - left over from my upper control arm replacement - that fit the bill perfectly to secure the bushings and front diff.

Mark got to work - as usual - in style.

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Emily, his girlfriend - and if we're all honest, better half - took a breather from the bumpy roads and truck chatter to catch up on a little shut eye. Smart woman, this one.

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Half an hour or so later, everything was secured and tools were re-stowed. We were once again ready to roll.

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The afternoon continued in much the same way as the morning. We exited - and then re-entered - dirt roads near Vega State Park; roads were reasonably graded and the fall colors were in full force and effect. Our band of five, 1st gen Tacomas made quite the statement as we cruised through the wild.

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Through the day, there was only one unplanned re-route - when we ran into a landslide and had to backtrack a few miles to find a different route - or so we thought. As Monte pulled up to the end of the road, he got out and scouted the situation.

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Back on the radio he hold us that that, "A huge pile of dirt has been pushed over the road. I can't even see any indication of a previous road." We didn't have the ability to do this at the time, but it's clear from looking at Google Earth now, that the "pile of dirt" was clearly a landslide.

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What we didn't know - couldn't have known - at the time, was that we were a few short feet from a go-around that would have saved us a couple of hours. Of course, it's not like we were in any real rush anyway...

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Well, that's all water under the bridge, and a great reminder - as we discussed in camp later that evening - that even the best route planning always has uncertainty in it, and we enjoyed our alternate route just as much as the original one I'm sure.

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Just before sunset - aournd 6:45pm if I recall correctly, we pulled off the side of the road into our evening's home. A nice flat area nestled in the aspen, we were sheltered and yet still had a bit of a view - a distant hill illuminated by the long rays of the sun.

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Tents were deployed and camp stoves extracted from their bins. Mike broke out the propane fire and got it going. Now, it was a waiting game - those of us with ham radios and APRS leaving them on so that Monte's parents - Steve @woodnick and Megan - could find and join us for a few days of exploration!

As we waited, a light show across the sky and landscape provided ample entertainment, the colors vibrant as the air around us cooled.

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It had been a great first day. We hadn't hit any high peaks, and yet here we were - camped at just over 10,000 feet once again. Our camp fire lasted late into the evening - talk of wood vs. propane camp fires, and what "established" camp sites really means, taking up much of the time and leading to much energetic banter. These were fun times - times we all look forward to on trips like this! Finally, around 11:30pm, we called it quits, climbing into our tents and hunkering down for another chilly night.

If we'd known the sight that the next day would bring, I'm not sure any of us would have wanted this day to end.

 

That sunset with the falls colors!