iK0NiK's 2015 TRD OR "Mostly Modest" Build

Beautiful. It makes sense that beefing up those hangars and locking everything together with the crossbar would really help with stability. It looks like you're running Superbumps, too. That's another thing on my list. Did you do those before the hangar upgrades?

 

Yes Sir I had all the suspension done and my wife got me the Hangers for my birthday. He sells the cross tube already built and powder coated but I am lucky enough to have the means so I fabbed it up mysef. I will warn that the cross tube eliminates keeping your spare under there. It isn't a deal breaker if you don't use the tube though as the hangers make the biggest difference. Hell the truck even corners way better

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm considering on buying some 6112/5160's, but I was debating whether I should go with AAL or upgrading to something else. Glad I asked, cause this may have just answered my question. Thanks bud!

 

Glad to help! You can't go wrong either way, just think about your future plans. If you'll be doing much hauling and/or doing an expo overlander kinda build the Dakars are a great buy.

 

@iK0NiK Did you ever bump your 6112 up to the 4th notch or are they still sitting on the 3rd notch? Im looking to get around 1.75”-2” and was hoping the 3rd notch would put me around there. Your truck looks perfect

 

Thanks! Mine are still sitting at the 3rd notch. Originally I was obsessed with a level truck before I started doing more truck camping. I quickly found that if you've got a level truck you're blinding oncoming traffic once you throw a few hundred pounds of camping gear in the bed. I ended up just lifting the rear more with the Dakars and left the front alone.

It's worth mentioning the RTT stays on the truck full time. If I didn't constantly carry the extra weight in the back I would've bumped up the fronts to #4 to be more in line with the lift in the rear, but right now I prefer the functional benefits of rake vs the aesthetics of level.

I'd have to pull an updated measurement when I get home, but I think my #3 setting ended up settling in around 1.5" over time. I do have a roof rack and sliders so that pulls it down ever so slightly. I still think this chart proves to be the most accurate once you take settling into account:

 

Just read your entire build. Love your setup. My plans are very similar. I live in Clarkesville. I am about 15 minutes from Tray mountain. Still learning the area. We moved from Dallas Ga about 2 years ago. Next time you come up let me know. Would love to meet up and ride some.

 

Thanks man! Fingers crossed Tray opens again some day. Unfortunately it's been closed due to erosion for over a year now. I was SUPER lucky to be able to run it just before they shut it down. I'll be sure to post up next time we head that way. The wife and I are probably going to try to do some spelunking around Dahlonega on our next trip north.

Good luck with your build. If you need any help don't hesitate to reach out. We've also got a good group of guys on the Georgia discussion that are pure gold: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ga-tacoma-owners-bs-thread.17642/page-1186#post-23402980

 

Trip Report: Chattahoochee National Forest, Labor Day 2020



Man what a trip this one turned out to be. Rough planned route: Clayton > Dillard > Tate City > Clayton

We were tipped off about a great winery in the Dillard area, and decided to make a full weekend camp trip out of the Labor Day break. The intended route was to keep us on-pavement until around dinner-time Saturday in which we'd hit the gravel on Patterson Gap road working our way towards FSR 32C. Let me say this whole region has exploded with off-road enthusiasts. Speaking as one, I don't want to be the pot calling the kettle black, but you can't go down a single dirt road around the upper end of Rabun County anymore without meeting a lifted Jeep or an Overland group. Just a small observation.

Anyways, after the long trip up and time spent eating in Clayton and wining at 12 Spies, we hit Patterson Gap Rd. which quickly turned to gravel. Patterson Gap is one of the roads on the far east end of the Georgia Traverse and was a nice ride through the backcountry. It's a county maintained road all the way from Dillard to Persimmon Rd. so there weren't many surprises. After about 4-5 miles FSR32C branches north off of Patterson Gap and the fun begins.



It had been close to 3 years since I had been on FSR 32C. In that time the road has been graded (apparently there was a washout a couple of years ago) but the brush has grown up a bit. Truth be told I was excited for this one but a little disappointed. It was much easier than I remembered it being, and the water crossing at the Coleman River wasn't nearly as deep as it was years ago. It was still a good ride. As we crossed the Coleman I hopped out to cut some brush out of the road only to hear gunshots no more than a few hundred feet from where we were. Panic struck and I hopped in the truck speeding down the trail. Fortunately we quickly realized the shots were coming from a group of campers and were not at us. UNfortunately, those guys were at the campsite we intended to camp at so we moseyed our way further along 32C. Earlier this year we'd been tipped off to a campsite on a nearby hilltop which we figured would be our backup plan, so we decided to hunt it down instead. All we had was a coordinate and a dream.



From this point on, progress kind of slowed to a near defeating crawl. The trail we were taking to get to the possible campsite was heavily overgrown so we had to stop to clear brush well over half of the way to the site, uphill, in the hot afternoon sun. Over the next 4 miles we ascended over 1000 feet and our average speed was around 1.8 MPH. Every curve we went around we were having to trim briers and tree limbs. To say I was tired would be an understatement. I was completely fatigued, felt defeated, hadn't found the campsite, and was about to give up. To make matters worse when we made it to the campsite we had the coordinates for it was so overgrown a snake wouldn't have wanted to stay in it; at least the views through the trees were good.



Having come this far, we saw one more clearing on the map and decided to give it all or nothing to reach the last hope. We took yet another secondary road and crawled a 1/4 mile section of rutted and rocky trail. I had flashbacks to Tray Mountain in its heyday. The terrain was rough enough that I hopped out of my truck to let my wife take the wheel while I guided her through the roughest sections. Picking a good line was critical to avoid scraping the belly and the final climb to the campsite was butt-clinchingly off camber. Very fun, but also a bit nerve-racking.

And then we were met with the best campsite we'd ever experienced:



All of the work had been worth it. We had the place all to ourselves and enjoyed a very cool September evening (55* low) under the stars. In the far distance we even could see a fireworks show going on at Lake Burton. We made a fire, grilled hot dogs, and turned it for the night around 11PM. Sunday morning we woke to an equally spectacular view.




Around 11AM we packed up and started the trek out. All of that fun we had coming up the last 1/4 mile was just as interesting going back down. Again, I hopped out to guide the proper lines and Haley handled the wheel like a pro.
















Eventually we connected into Coleman River Road and were estatic to see this beautiful old cabin tucked away in a valley between the mountains. It felt like taking a quick step back in time as we were driving by.



We spent the rest of Sunday in Clayton stopping for lunch at U-Joint, supplies at Walmart, and dessert at Hillside Orchards. From there we headed towards Tallulah River to find one of our favorite campsites. Again, since everything was so busy, our usual campsite was taken so we doubled back south of Tate City and ended up snagging a nice spot by the water at the Tallulah River Campground. This was the campground Haley and I stayed at the weekend I proposed so it brought back a lot of great memories.



Monday we had a super relaxing morning at the site. Hammocked, cooked breakfast, hung out by the water. We packed up and made one last stop at Churrahee Brewing in Clayton before making the long trek home. Yet another cool spot in Clayton we can highly recommend.

On the ride home the only thing we could think about is how beautiful this area will be in late October when the colors are in their fall peak. We absolutely won't miss it.

 

I could be game for a fall-leave-change trail ride.

 

Looks to have been a fun trip. Stop telling people how great it is up there.

Man I miss home.

 

Peak season is supposed to be sometime late October!

I kind of hinted on that in my post. I think social media has kind of become a problem for the area. Wander North Georgia, as good as gold as they are, brought a lot of eyes on the area and in retrospect ended up taking down some articles about off-the-map locations in the area because of over exposure. Now the Georgia Traverse and overlanding Instagram and YouTube crowd have started flooding in and you've got the Facebook overlanding groups posting locations publicly. When you see a row of 12 Jeeps coming off of Charlie's Creek trail covered from top to bottom in mud when it hasn't rained in 2 weeks it worries you a little. People post pictures all the time on the North GA Overlanding FB group of folks going off trail under the power lines and stacking 20+ vehicles in Tallulah River just to get a poser shot.

It does seem like from what I've seen the trend is sticking mostly to the Traverse route. The Warwoman / Tiger areas aren't very popular, and the Nantahala Forest trails near Franklin NC were very peaceful when we were up there around Thanksgiving.

Obviously everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy and experience the area, but respecting the local culture and land seems to fall by the wayside with many people. I didn't grow up living there like you did, but Clayton has been our family's vacation destination for the past 20+ years and it's crazy to see how the area has grown and changed.

 

I still consider myself new to the area and want to explore all the trails. But I've learned about almost all of them from posts on here as opposed to social media.

The one exception being Charlie's Creek. I saw the water crossing at the end and made a post about it and got a group to go.

 

Oh 100%. I don't consider TW social media haha. We all pretty much know each other on here.

 

Agreed. Technology has been wonderful and awful for so many facets of life. While I don't know you personally, you seem to be a steward rather than a Stew just out for insta fame. Thank you for that.

While I am blessed to call those hills my home, they do belong to all of us. In that respect, yes, everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the area. But its still up to each of us to attempt to preserve it for future generations, and to protect the entire ecosystem that exists there. Obviously this mindset is applicable everywhere, not just our little slice of Heaven in NGa.

 

Mini blog post.... "Holy crap has it really been a year since I last posted on here?" edition.


With highs dropping back into the 80's it was finally time to start getting back outdoors again. The wife and I had a great mini wheeling trip up to the Talladega NF on 9/4/21. One of the first cool weekends of the year. It was still hot, but we managed to do 600-1 trail headed north, then doubled back and came back through headed south. Fun trip!





Some good semi-technical sections now. It's probably the roughest it has been in the past 2-3 years. On the way out we spotted a dude in a brand new 2021 Silverado that had already ripped the lower valence off of the bumper from the rutted sections. No real wheeling pics, but I did get a chance to do a ham radio POTA activation on top of the mountain.





And on the ride home we stopped by the Smith Mountain Fire Tower near Dadeville, AL on the way back and caught an awesome sunset.







September 24th thru 26th weekend we made it out on a 2 night camping trip into the Clayton area. Pretty much the only trip we've ever done up there that didn't involve any real wheeling. We left out Friday afternoon, setup the RTT in the dark around 9PM, and crashed for the night on Earl's Ford. We were surprised that Earl’s Ford was as packed as it was. Most campsites from the bridge all the way down to near the river crossing were taken, but we still got a nice spot to ourselves.





Saturday we woke up early and headed to Tiger Food Mart for their legit world-class breakfast biscuits before making a hike up to the Glassy Mountain Fire Tower. Shoutout to @backcountryj 's stomping grounds.





Spent the remainder of the day in and around Clayton before we headed up to Tallulah River Rd. for night 2 camp. Steak and potatoes for dinner on the campfire! Potato & egg omelets for breakfast.





We also had a fellow overlander staying in the campsite next to us on at the Tallulah campground. Super cool guy, Colby, from Southeast Overland Adventures. He was shooting promo footage for his teardrop camper rental website. Check him out here if you get a chance: https://southeastoverlandadventures.com/


Once again, we can’t wait to get back out as Fall settles in and the leaves really start changing colors.

 

Mini blog post.... "It's been 6 more months since the last update" edition.

First nugget would be the blower motor resistor replacement back in October 2021. The blower motor started working only on High during our September 2021 trip mentioned in the previous post. Shout out to @CowboyTaco who not only helped me diagnose and fix the issue, but also gave me a killer deal on the replacement plug and resistor. Quick ~30 minute job that fixed the issue immediately. Replaced the resistor plug and resistor, then re-taped everything up to "factory standards" .

Burnt Resistor Plug:


Resistor & Plug Replaced:


All Patched Up:



October 23/24, 2021: We took an overnight trip to a new WMA located in Taylor/Talbot County not far from Columbus named the Fall Line WMA. Did a bit of very mild trail riding before we set up camp. Enjoyed a cool night under the stars and had the entire campground to ourselves. Knocked out a POTA activation while there.






January 8, 2022 Haley, Lily, and I met up with 3 local friends and hit Talladega Forest trails 600-1 and 600-2 running from North to South. It seems to have become an unintended but welcomed tradition for us to run the TNF trails every winter. Overall GREAT trip. It was cold with highs only reaching into the 50's and very windy on top of the mountain. The TNF trails have definitely gotten a lot more wear and erosion on them as of late, and make for a bit more aggressive off-roading compared to the past couple of years.











The trail was definitely much more rutted with deeper gullies and washes than I'd ever seen. Most of these photos were taken on the southern half of the 600-2 trail.







Unfortunately, not all of us made it off of the trail this day. As we were completing 600-1 nearing the southern entrance, the Land Rover Disco slung a belt due to a pulley failure and was DOA. Luckily we were able to coast it down to the highway in neutral, then tug it around the corner to a nearby parking lot. She was fixed and back on the road 2 days later.




January 17, 2022 I installed a new Icom 2730a 2M/440 ham radio. The formerly installed Yaesu FTM-100DR had a critical failure during a trip in November (blown final) and had to be completely replaced. Luckily the Icom rig used all of the same power wiring of the Yaesu, I just had to swap out the control head cable and radio bodies.





No new updates here as of late. In late March 2022 I suffered a stroke due to a blood clot on my brain which took me out of commission for a couple of months. I've luckily bounced back to near 100% and hope to be back on the trails really soon. Can't wait to be getting tires dirty again.

 

Holy hell buddy!

Great to hear you’re getting back to 100%. We’ll wishes and prayers going your way. Seems like you’ve got a solid support network as well.

 

Thanks so much, man. It's been a road but I'm feeling like myself again!

 

Dang! Glad to hear you are back to 100%. That's scary, as I'm pretty sure we are about the same age, or at least close enough.

And you just got lucky that I had incorrectly diagnosed my own AC problem and replaced a part based on incomplete research. Glad I was able to help and not have that resistor and connector hang out in my garage for too long.