BigMike's 2016 Tacoma Trip & Trail Log

BigMike's 2016 Tacoma Trip & Trail Log
The truck that took 8 dealerships 261 days to get!
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Build Thread: BigMike’s Big Journey: New 2016 Tacoma

Welcome to the Four Wheel'n and Trip Log to my 2016 3rd gen Tacoma! I've been wheel'n the new Tacoma for a year and a half and now that I've begun tackling bigger trails I've realized a separate Trip Report thread is long overdue!

The main reason to start this thread is that trip reports have begun exceeding 50 pictures per event which is cluttering up my build thread. Because I'm only just now creating this Trip thread 21-months after my build thread, there will be duplicate info here until I get caught up to the build thread (which is currently at Sept 2017).

Trip #, Date, Description. Click each image-group to view each trip.

2016
Trip 1: April 18-24: Picked up from Texas after waiting 261 days


Trip 2: April 26: Tacoma meets Hilux!


Trip 3: April 30: Toyota Land Cruiser Association (TLCA) Bakersfield Land Cruiser Rally (booth event #1)


Trip 4: May 3-8: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com) -- Chicken Corners & Booth Event #2


Trip 5: June 3: First Bald Mtn Day Run


Trip 6: Dec 3: Valley Children's Hospital Toy Drive



2017
Trip 7: May 4: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com) -- Fins & Things & Booth Event #3


Trip 8: May 5: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com) -- Flat Iron Mesa


Trip 9: June 24: 31st Annual Moonlight Madness -- Bald Mountain Trail


Trip 10: July 14: 29th Annual TLCA Rubithon (http://rubithon.com) -- Rubicon Trail

Trip 11: July 20: FJ Summit XI (https://www.fjsummit.org) -- Black Bear Pass, Ouray/Telluride, Colorado

Trip 12: July 21: FJ Summit XI (https://www.fjsummit.org) -- Poughkeepsie Gulch, Ouray/Telluride, Colorado

Trip 13: July 22: FJ Summit XI (https://www.fjsummit.org) -- Imogene Pass, Ouray/Telluride, Colorado

Trip 14: Aug 7: Private Bald Mountain Video Trip -- Bald Mountain Trail

Trip 15: Sept 14-17: 1st Annual BigMike's TacoBox Run at MCR16 -- Rubicon Trail

Trip 16: Sept 30-Oct 1: Pomona Expo

2018
Trip 17: Feb 5-9: KOH

Trip 18: Apr 27: Cheapo Saddle 40" tires and MarRack Shakedown Run

Trip 19: May 1-8: Texas Toyota Jamboree
Lone Star Toyota Jamboree Live! (2018)

Trip 20: May 16: Moab: Hole In The Rock

Trip 21: May 18: Moab: Top Of The World

Trip 22: June 1: Bald Mtn Video Trip -- Bald Mtn Trail

Trip 23: June 21: 30th annual TLCA Rubithon -- Rubicon Trail

Trip 24: July 19: FJ Summit XII - Imogene Pass -- Ouray/Telluride, CO
FJ Summit XII Live! (2018)

Trip 25: July 20: FJ Summit XII - Poughkeepsie Gulch -- Ouray/Telluride, CO

Trip 26: July 21: FJ Summit XII - Black Bear Pass -- Ouray/Telluride, CO

Trip 27: Sept 12: BigMike's 2nd Annual TacoBox Run at the 17th Annual Marlin Crawler Round Up / MCR17 -- Rubicon Trail

2019
Trip 28:

 

post saved

 

Trip #1 - Getting the truck! (April 18-24, 2016)

To kick off the thread here is a map of my Journey to purchase this elusive truck



Excellent in-flight reading material



After waiting 261 days for 8 dealerships to produce this truck, it truly was love at first sight!





Only 3 miles old!


Marlin, Texas!

 

Outside the San Antonio Toyota Factory where the truck was built only eleven days prior!

 

Various pics from the drive back to Cali

 

After traveling about 5,500 total miles I arrived safely back home!

 

Trip #2 - Tacoma meets Hilux (April 26, 2016)

Location: Millerton Lake, CA

The next week I introduced the Tacoma to my 1981 511:1 Triple Transfer Case Hilux Rock Crawler and took the two to a local lake for a quick photo shoot. Nothing too special to discuss. It was neat having my two trucks together. The Tacoma got a good look at what it's near future is gonna be like





Basic specs for my 1981 shortbed Hilux are:
Purchased and built back in 2004 (build thread)
World's first 2.7-liter 3RZ-FE Tacoma 4cyl swap into a 1st gen Hilux
Marlin Crawler W56-A-HD manual transmission
Marlin Crawler Heavy Duty Clutch Kit
Marlin Crawler Triple Ultimate (MC08 + MC08-R10 w/4.70C) 6-speed Transfer Case System
--511:1 Final Drive ratio featuring 30-forward gears & 6-reverse gears
Marlin Crawler 5" USA-made Betts Leaf Springs F&R
Marlin Crawler USA DOM-steel full body armor
66.5" Front Diamond Axle (64.5" + 1" wheel spacers) with FJ80 High Pinion 5.29:1 + Toyota E-Locker
Original Longfield 27-spline Chromoly Axles (not the 2014 and newer junk Chinese-made Longfields)
63" 1st gen Tacoma rear axle (60" + 1.5" wheel spacers) with 5.29:1 + Toyota E-Locker
37" x 12.5" x 15" Interco IROK tires on 15" x 8" Allied Beadlocks
Truck makes 20 MPG @ 70 MPH and since I've owned it, it has never been trailered: I drive it to-and-from every trail

 

Sweet pic



Found a ditch for some flex action



Comparison



Little hill climb on 7th day of ownership



And lastly I topped off both gas tanks (20 gal for Hilux, 21.1 gal for Tacoma) and weighed them back-to-back

Fully-built 1981 1st gen Hilux Rock Crawler: 3,780 pounds
100% Bone-stock 6cyl AccessCab manual transmission 3rd gen Tacoma: 4,420 lbs

Wow! The Tacoma is only just a baby boy and is already more than a quarter ton heavier than a fully built Rock Crawling elder haha



And that's it for when the Tacoma met the Hilux!

 

Trip #3 - TLCA's Bakersfield Land Cruiser Rally (April 30, 2016)

Next trip was having my Tacoma at our booth to support the introduction of our newest "TacoBox" Dual Case Crawl Box for 1995 and newer Tacoma/4Runner/FJ Cruiser/Tundra/Sequoia/T100!





Here's the Tacoma with only our second time seeing family friend Kay Spector after the passing of her beloved and iconic Land Cruiser industry husband

 

Trip #4 - Moab! (May 3-8, 2016): The Tacoma does it's first trail

Event: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com)
Approximate miles driven: 1,750
Trail name: Chicken Corners
Location: Moab, Utah

This trip was discussed on page 8 of my build thread, so I'll copy much from that here.

Traveling alongside the !





Arrived to Land Cruiser heaven!

 

From main camp I headed south-west and finally made it to the trail. The guide book wasn't kidding: It was easy. A Subaru could make it through most of it. Nevertheless it provided some good fun and good pictures

My first time airing down! Having these fancy tire pressure sensors will be interesting once beadlocks go on



There were many by-passes that looked like this...



...so of course I had to try them all.



Already dragging the rear tow hitch LOL



Backing down I incurred my first "trail damage"



So off came the front valance! Goooooood riddance

 

Some misc pics

 

Following the Colorado River





Didn't even find large enough ledges to break traction.

 

I can see this sat nav is going to be much fun







Got the tires to chirp a little here

 

Nice vistas out here-





That is a sharp drop-off to the left

 

Random pic from the driver's seat. That fake hood scoop takes up precious viewing real estate.



Finally got the Taco dirty



Back at camp the Tacoma was in it's second trade show booth in only 2 weeks of ownership



The Taco photo bombing a busy pic of Marlin explaining the new TacoBox



The drive back west was a bit slippery



Maintenance Required only after owning the truck for two weeks? Something must be wrong

And that's it for the Tacoma's first Moab trip! Averaging nearly 325 miles per day for half a month

 

Trip #5 - Bald Mountain (June 3, 2016)

Trail name: Bald Mountain
Location: Shaver Lake, Central California

This trip was discussed from reply #161 of my build thread, so I'll copy much from that here.

A few weeks after Moab I slipped away and did a quick run up to our local Bald Mountain trail with "TURBO" Tim. Bald Mtn is a proper trail that provides a great overview of our popular High Sierra Nevada wheel'n: Large exposed granite, tight tree squeezes, steep and sharp climbs and descents, loose rocky sections, and a few high speed sections. It is our only trail (out of a twelve trail network) that is traditionally open year-round and also the only trail without any lakes.

One caveat with this trail is that it lacks gatekeepers from either entrance and all major obstacles may be bypassed. For these reasons it is common to find vehicles that we don't normally see on other trails, such as Bronco-IIs, Blazers, Rangers, Frontiers, and so on. It also means we see a few Tacomas with lightbars, smoked tail lights, and much chrome so it's a good place to do some proving of the new Tacoma

Here I am next to our newly updated Trail Condition Bulletin Board (Google Street view of location):



Bald Mtn trail head



Stopped to air down



I'm love'n this live tire pressure monitor. "The future"

 

Starting out strong with some mad flex



Our beautiful central California granite



The visibility out of this thing is horrendous



My first trail glamor shot!



Made it up a descent crossed-up section without the "Auto-LSD" engaging but with a lottttttt of clutch slipping.

 

At this point I had encountered my first two annoying characteristic of the new Tacoma.

Old School Rock Crawler's Off-road Impressions I

• The V6 flywheel must weigh a full metric ton. If you try jam'n through the gears in low range the RPMs don't fall at nearly a quick enough rate. I have no doubt this was done for better fuel economy as well as less apparent mistakes to novice gear jammers. I already have a simple solution for this in my mind.
  
  
• The Hill-Start Assist is a major pain in the butt off-road as it prevents the ability to rock the vehicle back and forth in search of traction or a line adjustment. This is important especially on snow runs. If you're unfamiliar with it (like I was), the truck will hold the brakes for about 2 full seconds while you make a gear shift from a stop. The reasoning is to allow time to engage a gear and begin disengaging the clutch before the truck has a chance to roll down a hill. I can see this being a helpful feature for all the Tacoma owners who use the truck to take their cats to the pet groomer every Wednesday before picking up their kids from soccer practice. But come awn man people want to drive stick shift for the love of toe-and-heal clutch work. Afternoon cat food delivery Tacoma trucks have automatics by definition. With a manual trans Tacoma, they should at least provide a way to defeat this. It's not that hard: I'll just simply remove the clutch engagement switch from the system whenever in low range (insert relay, done). Now the ECU won't know when I'm using the clutch. Problem solved.

 

I've always wanted an XtraCab, aka Access Cab. The stock ground clearance is pretty sad...



...especially the horrendous design of the exhaust crossover. What was Toyota thinking here? The exhaust pipe is lower than the cross-member. It will, at least however, not be in the way of our Dual Case products which is nice but definitely I'll have to improve this.



At the base of Hollywood Hill



Up the approach to Hollywood Hill



High-centered again