Thads Cement Grey Long Bed Build

12/07/24

We got our Christmas tree! It was unusually warm and the snow was thick, heavy, and dense. We wanted a good d fir which meant we had to go up high and into the snow. The ruts were deep and we trugged through a lot of snow to finally find our tree. It was pretty mediocre if I’m being totally honest but we didn’t want to keep driving up the mountain. I had a buddy go back there a few weeks prior in an 80 on 40’s and said the snow was DEEP. I was able to stay at street pressure which is easy but also less comfortable.

The last time I used my saw was for cutting railroad ties in my side yard. And as a result, my chain was roached. I kinda burned through the trunk but we got it cut. I ordered a new chain when I got home. I also didn’t have a fully charged battery in the saw. It was kind of a shit show of day if I’m being totally honest.

 

You have a link to the skid plate?

 

It’s the skid plate from yotaverse.com!

 

2/22/25

My wife low keys hates the truck. It’s not uncomfortable or anything like that, but the interior is just too small and there is not enough useful passenger storage space. She’s a water bottle and bag gal, and her water bottles don’t fit in my cup holders-they do in her 4Runner. She also hates the sliders because she’s short and can’t climb in and get her legs around them without getting muddy or wet. cupholders have been an issue for a while tbh.

she always kept her bottles and bags in the footwell of the passenger side and the truck being taller and less stable, has a lot of body roll. Every time I’d go around a corner the water bottle would go flying and hit her ankle and she’d have to reset everything. A heavy water bottle kinda hurts. So she had minimal footwell space and that space would have to constantly get reorganized. We would have to bring different water bottles on road trips that fit my cup holders and it was just a whole ordeal.

well, I finally fixed that problem. I picked up an AJT designs oversized cupholder insert for like $38 and installed it yesterday afternoon. This is one of those things that I never wanted to do because typically when you rip apart a center console or something like that, it never goes back together the same way. This time it did go back the same and I should have done this YEARS ago. Normal or oversized bottles all fit and it’s honestly awesome to have a useful cup holder. I took out my cup holder divider a while back and probably threw it away so I’ve gotta dig through old parts and find that again so that bottles don’t rattle. 10-20 min install. You gotta take the center console apart unscrew the factory cup holder, screw in the replacement AJT cupholder then re clip in the center console. We took the truck to dinner last night and the wife was much happier to have her foot well back, bottle in a cupholder, and not get constantly whacked by a water bottle at the many round abouts of Bend. It’s been less than 24 hours and already been a game changer. I initially did this for her, but in reality, it’s really nice and I probably benefit just as much as she does. I also bring a yeti water bottle to work and it sits on my back seat with my work bag. NOT ANYMORE!







While I was in the garage, I noticed something else…

 

You know what probably has bigger cupholders? A raptor...

 

Gen1 prices are coming down a bit!

in all seriousness that isn’t happening for a while if ever

 

3/08/25

This bad unit rolled 50k last week. It was time for some maintenance before heading to Utah in 2 weeks! The dealer changed my oil and rotated tires a few weeks back but I needed to grease my control arms (I’m finally at 5k intervals) and I needed to change my T-case oil. After 50k miles it was time. Unfortunately oriellys doesn’t stock a GL-4, 75 weight gear oil so I had to wait a few days and order it to the store. The taco case takes 1qt so I quickly drained the old stuff out and put the bottle of the new stuff in. I had washers in the garage so I swapped those and torqued the drain and fill to 27lbs. Pretty rudimentary.

 

3/20/25

Moab bound! Spring break was upon us and we hit the road for the desert. Bikes on the rack, beers in the cooler we hit the road at like 4am and we’re in Boise for breakfast. Cruised at 80 the entire way across I84 and got like 12mpg. Rolled into SLC around 3:30 and rode the Istreet jumps for a bit. We stayed with some friends in SLC for the night and continued the journey south west the next morning with them. The weather was primo-75-85 and sunny everyday and we were able to snag a pretty dialed campsite for the week. We mostly rode bikes and went into arches for some short hikes, but I did have a trail day and drove fins and things and then headed out to chicken corners. We seriously considered renting a SXS for a day, but those things are seriously expensive to rent-$600-$800 a day. Sheesh. Obviously, we passed.

It had seriously been a minute since I had been to Moab and I need to make trips like that a priority. Desert riding was all time and you really can’t beat camping with friends you don’t see that often. Be back soon! Here’s some pics!