AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Yeah, it's pretty awesome to see what these vehicles can really do and how driver experience is the more limiting factor.

I will say though that my sliders and aftermarket skids were used quite a bit. Enough to bend my front skid. Saved my truck from a lot of damage.

 

Saw this on the Facebook

 

Driving without plates on the road!

 

LOL, nice. Saw a couple nice rigs on our way back as well.

Always hard to remember to take them off, usually happens at the first fill-up when I see them and feel lucky again that I wasn't stopped! Hopefully if I ever am, a description of why they are there, dirt on the truck, and photos on the camera will get me off with a warning.

 

Rig Review: Anza-Borrego & Ruining Around in Utah - What worked and what didn't?
Rig Review is a new type of post that I'm going to try to write up after most trips, where I'll note any things that worked really well, or could have been better. The idea has always been to optimize the Tacoma build and setup over time, so there's nothing really new from that perspective.

I won't talk about everything I've got going on - just new equipment to the trip and/or any outliers that deserve a mention. At the very least, I figure that long-term, real-world reviews of the products I use are good for everyone!

March 30, 2019.

Well, this month has seen a lot of adventuring - Double Fun @ Anza-Borrego and Ruining Around in Utah meant that there was lots of hands on time with a few different bits of the rig, with some interesting findings. I figured I'd write it all up as one Rig Review, since there wasn't much (any in the case of Anza-Borrego) time between trips, and the rig was essentially the same for both trips.

SCS Stealth6 Wheels replaced with 3rd Gen 4Runner 5-Spoke Wheels (new)
TL;DR - To solve the problem with mud being flung everywhere with my SCS wheels that stuck out past the fender flares, I installed some new-to-me 1999 4Runner wheels on the truck, which sit under the fender flare. This solved the mud issue, but introduced a slight incompatibility with my new ADS front suspension - the tires rub on the shock reservoirs at full lock.

The 3rd Gen 4Runner wheels are already a welcome change to the truck from a functional perspective. Only 7½ inches wide and with 4.625 inches backspacing - a mere 1/8" more than the stock 2000 Tacoma aluminum alloy wheels - they pull the tires inboard just over an inch on each side of the truck as compared to the SCS Stealth6 wheels, which were 8 inches wide and had 3.5 inches backspacing. That inch means that the entire tread - and most of the sidewall - is completely under the wheel well and fender flares; flying mud no longer makes it onto the sides and top of the truck.

For the most part. And from that perspective, they are a huge win. I have even less mud on the truck than Igor does at this point.

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Igor on the left, the Tacoma on the right.​

However, perfection is hard to obtain, and they are not without their problems. Two have presented themselves so far; one I'd like to solve reasonably quickly.

1. The first problem is that being an inch closer to the frame means that when I fully turn (lock) the steering wheel to the driver side, the front inside corner of the passenger side tire gets reasonably close to the frame (and vise versa when turning to the passenger side). It's not close enough to rub on the frame at all - there's probably a good 2" to spare - but the remote resis for my recently installed ADS coilovers are attached to the frame in that exact location and sit 2.75" off the frame...so the tires rub on them a bit at full lock.I'll need to relocate the resis to a different location so that doesn't happen anymore.
   
   
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2. The second (minor) issue is that I like the look of the SCS Stealth6 wheels more than these 4Runner wheels. I think it's mostly a color thing, so I'm going to let that go for a bit and see if the silver bling grows on me.

The Bed is Cracking
TL;DR - I found two cracks in the bed of the truck, likely from the weight of the RTT bouncing around up there. I'll need to fix them and come up with a way to reduce/change the stresses in the future.

Just before our last few trips, I discovered that the bed of the truck was cracking in two places. The first was at one of the locations where the bed rack attaches to the bed rail - a crack had formed along the inside edge of the rail. The second was in the front corner of the bed - between the front and the passenger sides of the bed.

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I've got a feeling this is happening because of the weight of the tent rocking back-and-forth (and up-and-down) as the truck goes over rocks. My increasing speed over the last couple years probably hasn't helped the situation.

I think there are two problems - which I obviously plan on addressing.

1. I think the crack on the bed rail is due to some High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) rubber that I have installed between the bed rack and bed rails in order to reduce metal-on-metal rubbing. The side effect of this is that the rubber compresses slightly as the tent moves up-and-down over bumps, putting stress on the bolt hole rather than the top of the bed rail. Over time, this has resulted in stress in the metal at that point.
2. The crack in the corner of the bed is likely due to the weight (and momentum) of the tent moving side-to-side over bumps and around turns. As it pushes and pulls on the sides of the bed, those stresses are transferred to the corners, causing one of them to crack.

Stay tuned for work in this area - I've already got a couple solutions in mind and in progress!

The CVT Roof Top Tent - A Stargazer-less Rain Fly
Bobby at CVT @Cascadia Tents was able to get a stargazer-less rain fly to me for the Mt. Shasta tent, and that got installed just during the second Anza-Borrego trip. While it didn't rain in Anza-Borrego at all, we did get one night of rain, and one morning of (light) snow in Utah and the new fly behaved exactly how I hoped it would - as the sun came out, it absorbed the heat and dried off nearly immediately.

In fact, even when it snowed a little bit - this fly didn't get nearly as wet as the previous one.

Perfect. Thanks Bobby.

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The CVT Roof Top Tent - Sticky Zipper
To get the tent all squared away, I purchased some Gear Aid (previously McNett) Zip Care Cleaner and Lubricant. It's probably some expensive scam for what it is, but I spread it on the zipper and it was like magic. I'm not sure how often I'll need to reapply it - but with 2 oz. of this stuff, I've got plenty to last quite a while.

Problem solved. ...And honestly, I don't think that the problem would have solved itself as I was originally hoping - once the zipper gets dirty, it's too hard for it to clean itself.

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Coleman Camp Stove/Grill (updated)
TL;DR - I found solutions for both the wind screens and keeping the bottom of the grill clean of drippings. I really like this stove now.

I added the Coleman Camp Stove/Grill back on the F.U.Rain trip. As I noted, I liked it for the most part, but the securing mechanisms for the wind screens seemed poorly designed. After looking things over, I was able to fix it reasonably simply - I made what turned out to be two popsicle sticks from some scrap maple hanging out down in the shop. These can be inserted into the securing mechanism, making it impossible for the wind screens to dislodge. When not in use, they can just be left on the "floor" of the burner, so they pack along with the grill.

Problem solved!

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I also made a second tweak to this setup, which I'm really liking. When using the grill side of the stove, juices from burgers, steak, etc. would drip down onto the bottom of the stove and were hard to clean up (and over time make the kitchen box stink). So, I gave it a thorough cleaning and then lined the bottom with some aluminum foil. Works a charm to catch all the drips, and then at the end of the trip, I simply toss the foil liner.

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Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews

1. Stealth Custom Series (SCS) Stealth6 Wheels
2. The CVT Roof Top Tent
   1. Stargazer windows in the rain fly
   2. Rubber cover zipper was still tough to close.
3. Coleman stove wind screens

Unchanged / Still an issue from previous Rig Reviews

There are some things that have been featured in Rig Reviews that are - as yet - unchanged from when I originally reviewed them. Rather than highlight those things again, I'll simply link to them here.

1. The Swing-Out Table - as expected, it was unusable on this trip.
2. The Electrical System - continues to have the limitations of a single battery system.
3. The Ham Radio Antenna - continues to have the shortcoming mentioned.

 

Oh I have a solution for the Ham radio antenna. Its a 14''ish whip my Dad uses. Said for repeater stuff it works just fine. I'll try and get the model

 

OP, I'm planning my second trip out to Moab for later this year and the Druid arch hike is at the top of my list. Is the drive in from the elephant hill trail head, hike to the arch, and drive back out possible in one day? How many total miles (on tires and feet) did that cover?

 

Very doable in one day I would say. I would think if you started in the morning you could be out by early evening. I don' remember the miles, I'm sure he can answer that better.

 

Probably doable in a day, but it'd be a long day. I'd personally prefer to take it a bit slower and do it in two days - or rather, spend another day in the park to check out things like the Confluence,other hikes, etc.

As far as doing just Druid Arch, here's the timing. Note that from a driving perspective, we had no other traffic on the trail to contend with, and rigs capable enough that we could make good time (not worry about terrain). We do however stop to take lots of photos, so that adds time - driving a capable rig straight through could cut 15-20% off driving times, I'd guess (but then you wouldn't enjoy your surroundings).

• Drive to Druid trailhead (from Visitor Center):2-3 hours; 10.5 miles
• Hike (roundtrip; half hour at arch for lunch): 6 hours; 10 miles
• Drive back out (different route, part of Elephant Hill is one-way): 1.5-2 hours; 11 miles

 

That's the rub, ain't it? Yes, I can lay down some decent speed and cover ground. Also yes, I want to enjoy the entire route.

Thanks for the solid info, I'll have to mull it over. The wife isn't really into camping, and we have very little gear to do it. She enjoys the off road aspect, as long as it gets her to some remote trail head where she can get out on her feet. So, decisions.

 

I wouldn't do it in a day. Be a loooonnnggg day. The worst being having to drive some bumpy trail for 2-3 hours after having walked a long hike.

You can just hike to Druid though from the elephant hill parking lot. You'd miss out on the Joint Trail but could do it.

Also, if you're not planning on camping, does that mean a hotel? Cause the nearest one of those is Moab or Monticello...which is about an hour or more from Canyonlands.

 

Long days don't really bother us. The last time we were in Utah we went from St George thru zion, Escalante, moab, telluride, ouray, lake city, Breckenridge, then home. To Kentucky. Not counting crossing the US, we did it in 10 days with hiking on every. Single. Day.

But I see what you're saying about the bumpy roads. The worst trail we did, I'd say was top of the world. And several days it was surface roads or alpine loop type trails.

Hotel is a must. My wife is a strange type of rugged. Shell get dirty and scraped up all day long, but has to have a hot shower and a good bed that night. (We ain't kids anymore) So, I guess that would add a couple hours to an already long day.

Really appreciate the info guys. @turbodb love the reports, as always. And @Blackdawg always a wealth of good info. Thanks

 

haha awesome.

You'd be in similar to slightly more technical sections on Elephant hill like TOTW. The harder spots being going in vs going out. You could do it in a day im sure. But Id bet it'll be a 14 hour day minimum. You'll sleep good that night!

Wouldn't be too bad to drive from Moab to the trail head and just hike to Druid then head back that night.

 

Fortunately, there are lots of options in Moab, we'll have a blast no matter what we choose to do.

 

Beginnings - We Pick Up a 2019 Double Cab TRD Off-Road Toyota Tacoma
April 10, 2019.

I'm not really sure how to start this post. I mean, what can I say except that it was inevitable that I'd eventually drive something besides a 1st gen Tacoma. We all will - that's the harsh reality of life, the harsh reality that we and our trucks are getting older, the reality that eventually, we'll all have to make a change.

This trip started out unlike most others. We didn't climb into the truck, instead we climbed onto a plane. And at this point, @mrs.turbodb didn't know anything about the surprise waiting for us in California.

It's a short flight though, and so a couple hours later we were in a parking lot, keys in hand - me with this big goofy grin on my face, and @mrs.turbodb completely in shock. Could this really be happening? It was so unlike me.

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Of course - as would be the case for anyone, the first order of business was to take some photos. The silver color was great - from experience, I knew it'd look killer out on the trail. Of course, it was a TRD Off-Road, because if you're going to drive a 3rd gen Tacoma, what's the point without crawl control? And, it was a V6 - for more #herspers.

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Oh, and I flexed it out. Because I was going to start off on the right foot this time - the #instafabulous foot. I should note that it was actually harder to get it up on this curb than I thought it would be - the OEM tires not providing the grip I'm used to in the 1st gen. But, I'm sure I can fix that with some better tires, eventually.

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For now, we had a couple days before we had to head home, and we were going to make the most of them - plans in hand to go out and explore some of what California had to offer - the double cab offering us more space than we knew what to do with, coming from a 2000 Tacoma.

As we made our way south towards dirt, we got to try out some of the new systems. First impressions were definitely positive - at least mostly. The cab is so quiet - we don't have to yell back and forth to be heard over the road and wind noise. The adaptive cruise control is sweet - once I realized that you set it to the max speed you want to travel and then just forget about it, I really started to appreciate it. Oh, and the gas mileage - we didn't know it at this time, but it's like 25% better than the 1st gen...at least in it's stock form.

Of course, there were some things right off the bat I didn't like as well - the auto transmission being the most obvious, it's shifting behavior a bit clunky.

But I could ignore that - it was just a detail - one I hoped I'd get used to as we provisioned at the grocery store for our adventure the next day.

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April 11-12, 2019.

The next day couldn't come early enough. Not knowing for sure if we'd have the Tacoma, we'd stayed in a hotel, so the anticipation that'd grown by morning was immense. We piled into the truck and headed out - curious what it could do in it's stock form, sure that it'd be capable after my recent Ruining Around Utah trip, where Brent (@PcBuilder14) had a basically stock 3rd gen on much tougher terrain.

Soon, we were on the trail.

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We were all smiles. The auto that had felt clunky on pavement was actually quite nice - at least compared to the manual - when on dirt, at least in the sense that I didn't really need to think about it or worry about stalling. As we headed up into the hills, we stopped to admire the beautiful surroundings in which we found ourselves - everything a brilliant green - spring in full effect.

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Reservoirs full of water and fish, we even got to see an osprey swoop down and snag a reasonably large fish, and then retreat to a nearby snag to enjoy its feast.

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We continued on - the 3rd gen performing very well, even as we flexed it out - pushing it further than most would in their first 24 hours for sure. Of course, this meant that we also got to test out 4WD - some of the terrain (and line choices) a bit too slippy for the stock tires. But nothing it couldn't handle with ease.

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We did discover at this point that one drawback of this truck is its incessant beeping. It beeps if either front seat belt is not fastened; it beeps if you put it in 4WD without being in neutral; it beeps if you put it in 4Lo without also putting it in ECT; it beeps pretty much any time you do anything.

I'm sure there's a way to turn it off though, just need to read the manual a bit more.

At any rate, our exploration took us miles and miles over the pastoral land that stretched in front of us. Along the way we discovered more amazing views, and even the ruins of an old cabin site - albeit likely much newer than the Native American ruins I'd come from in Utah.

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We even came to our first water crossing. It was small and rocky - I proceeded through slowly, unsure what the stock, P-rated tires could really handle in a situation like this. But, it was reasonably muddy as we crossed the creek, and we did get to experience the traction control - something non-existent on the much-older 1st gen.

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Up and over the next hill, we found ourselves at yet another reservoir - the water rippling in the wind, the sky blue overhead. The perfect place to get out and take a stroll - a little distance giving a nice vantage point of the silver double cab against the greens, yellows, and blues.

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Eventually, and - as it generally seems at the end of every trip - unfortunately, it was time for us to head out. As we made our way out of the mountains and back to civilization, we marveled at the first 48 hours - just imagine what this thing could do with a few mods here and there!

And then - our last water crossing. It was one we'd taken slower when we'd come this way early in the trip, still new to driving this new beast. But this time I felt more comfortable, and the last two days had shown that even in stock form, this truck was going to have no problem with a little speed through a creek much larger than this one.

So I pressed the skinny pedal and let it eat.

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Oh yeah!

As we headed back onto pavement, we'd had a blast. Seriously - so much more fun than I think either of us had thought possible. We'd talked about little over the last two days besides the new truck - a true indication, in the case of @mrs.turbodb of the fun it was providing.

All that was left was to head home. So, we did.

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Unsub-ed

 

Yeah, you liked that ehh? I simply couldn't resist. Who knew that you could rent a brand new 2019 Tacoma at Avis? I sure didn't.

Was a blast. Nice to get back to the 1st gen though. So much smaller and more agile.

 

It's California, you can pretty much rent anything here.

 

Knew it was too good to be true!

I bet you can understand a little more as to why I went to a 3rd gen though

No temp plates are what threw me off as well.