Lefty's golden taco.

The next day after everyone was up and ready we headed over to the lave tubes. Which was a treat as the was a chick was doing a photo shoot. And the tubes are pretty awesome. We took some pictures and explored. There was also a sweet first gen S&R truck so I had to take some pictures. Not gonna lie I'm kinda partial to there setup. The suspension was a nice mid trave also.

After a quick lunch we set off down the road again. The road became very convoluted with may paths to take and it was pretty open so some high speed fly by's were done ,after a near miss jets were cooled down a bit and we stopped to see a different mine..Alan went to check out a possible future camp site and ended up in a committed locked and 4low one way trail.
After the mine we came upon the soda lake. I don't know alot about it but I do remember reading that you want to stay on the main drag as you can quickly become stuck in the slick mud under the surface. Also I thin its supposed to be a protected area. We did stop of pictures.

Towards the end we came upon the visitor area . I believe that what it was called..
There's a plaque with a message on it in the center..but I can't share what it says. You'll have to see for yourself. We did add a rock to the pile.

We did check out the crust a bit and even did a taste test. And declined other dare's.
Back on the trail.

The road became sandy and skirted some dunes. Wich was fun to bombing down.
https://youtu.be/s_7kSIRstS8

 

We stopped by a borax mine

Some more rock art. At least they have good taste in music.

We looked around for a bit and settled on a camp nearby as there was a hike that Mike wanted to see.
There are a lot of slot canyons in the area. Dylan Mike and Will adventured off to see one .
We had another night of a full moon and trains wich were super cool to see and hear at 3am.

The next morning we pretty much finished up the trail hitting the 2 water crossings and some other mild desert.
We aired up and found the nearest gas station. My drive home was slightly expensive as we were all done and ready to be home.

Gotta pay to play I guess.
So much more to see I'll definitely be back.

Incidental breakage.
Be for we even hit the trail my driver's side door handle shit the bucket. I have since replaced both hanels with new metal handles that work amazing better.
I broke part of the bracket for my license plate light. It's still hanging on but I'll look into a replacement. And my knock off trash-a-roo the split at the seams.im going to try and have it repaired and or replaced. Also I'm going to make a new poop canister that will be dedicated to just that task. I'm thing a rocket canister or pvc pipe.

 

Washed the truck pulled my winch line got it all washed and rewound and I added a rope gard that iv been holding onto forever.

New door handles. Super happy with them they went in easy and operate way easier than the old ones.

 

Went and a short trip. Back way to crown king.

 

https://youtu.be/WnHNd2JyJUQ

 

https://youtu.be/ubX14VujtQQ

 

Working on my video editing skills.

https://youtu.be/w6j3gylxNi8

 

New leaf pack came in the other day.
Probably won't get a chance to install tell next week. I'm trying to finish a camper shell bedline project for my mom first.

 

So I finally got my springs installed. I didn't do any before or after measuring. I always seem to remember to do so about 1/2 way through the process. Anyways they went on without much drama, the ass end is definitely sitting higher but not as bad as I was worried about. I do have my carpet kit in the back with a couple of odds and ends, so there is some weight in the back but not a lot. They ride nice, firm but not harsh and all my axlewrap is gone. The packs are side specific there's a extra leaf on the driver's side. I have a couple of pics of it next to the j59's with the add a leaf.

 

What did those run you?

 

Let me grab the receipt. I wanna say it was like 12 after taxes shipping and the u-bolts.

 

Well since I'm waiting for paint to dry. I thought I'd tuch up my sliders and bumpers. No better way to bother the neighbors at 1 in the morning.
I also just went through and re torqued the rear springs and u-bolts.
I'm starting the process to buy parts to freshen up the front suspension. Eith my shocks or my upper control arms are rattling. I think it's the shocks. So I'm going to start with those first. I'm going to try the stainless steel uniballs and see if I can get some more milage out of those.
My aftermarket cv's bind at full droop and the boots are getting ready to tears. So I'm going to finally reboot my old OEM cv's. I was supposed to do that tonight but I got side tracked.

 

In preparation to work on the front I pulled my skids. They got pretty banged up on last outing. I smacked it with the sledgehammer for a bit trying to get it somewhat straight before I pulled it. I'm going to have to add some sort of reinforcements. One of my bolts got pretty manged. And my gastank skid took a good hit too. Looks like I'm gonna need a better transfercase skid. I think I did that in Utah.

 

The driver's side slider, before. It has a nice patina that is threatening to turn into rust. It's been like this for a couple of years. Good thing I live in the SW.

 

And the finished result.

 

Nice leaf choice Chris! Rear looks way better now.

 

Thanks man I need to take it out and flex them a but.
How are yours holding up?

 

They are still golden. Was hauling through the desert near Roosevelt Lake with 5 people and a bed full of gear and it just ate it all up, problem free!

I picked up hundreds of pounds of tile from HD a while ago, couldn't even tell, it squatted so little.

Love these Alcans.

 

So long since I've updated this.. probably because ive been a slacker . It was summer and I was lazy and ive been working 2 jobs again for the last couple of months. But ive got some extra cash flow for a second so the tacos getting some love.

Reminding the FedEx and UPS guys why they hate me. These 2 heavy boxes showed up yesterday. A couple more parts to order then it's time to finally refresh the front..ive made a local purchases that's gonna compliment the rear shocks too.


Ive got a couple of extras coming soon too.

 

So I got a photo memory or whatever it's call from my phone the other day.
11 years ago I took the tacoma out for a little ride as the official new owner.


I thought it was cool to see the truck in it's stock form, I had done a few rides with the truck a few years before hand as I had borrowed it for like 2 years. I remember being amazed how capable it was and how much more reliable it was than my jeep.

So I'm still parts collecting to do the front-end overhaul. But ive been busy nonetheless. I did press in some new lower spherical bearings on the new to me shocks. I think I may run them over to my shock guy for some fresh oil and nitrogen.
I'll be putting in my order for the rest of the parts today, I had hope to find some holiday deals but total chaos doesn't do sales apparently.

My tundra got some new accessories . Added some raptor light to the pro grill, new DD fogs are waiting on a part and I added a tb spacer and intake tube. Sounds awesome when you get on it.


Also I did my Christmas lights. You can see the sad taco on the side.i had to unplug the trickle charger to supply the lights.