Colorado B.S. Thread

Awesome. Hope it all works out in the end.

Hopefully the asshole(s) broke an ankle trying to run away from the truck.

 

@Deathbysnusnu

If I buy a locking gas cap, can you rekey it so that my one Toyota key can open it?

 

Dont 1st gens have a locking gas door?

 

Looking for everyone's opinion

2004 Double Cab, 3.4, 4x4. 99% of my driving is on road. I do like to disperse camp to try and get away from people. And carry a decent load.

I need to buy rear leaf springs. OME is obviously the best bang for the buck. Roughly $500. I have them on my 98 xtra cab, 3.4, 4x4. They're okay. Perfectly fine for my needs.

The truck rides stiff with no weight in the bed though. Yes that probably has a lot to do with the nitrosport shocks as well.

For my 2004 DC I already have Bilsteins with the softer valving (I believe it's 170/60) to help with a better on road performance.

That said, I did get a quote from Alcan giving them the specs as best as possible. Came out to over $1000. Obviously Alcan's reputation is stellar and I'd love to support a CO company.

But those with Alcans... is the on road performance that much better than Dakars? The cost difference is significant.

 

My 98 does. My 04 does not.

I guess I can try to find a locking gas door and install it. Then have Brett rekey it?

 

Nope. Locking gas caps use a cheap, low security key system and cannot be retrofitted to fit your Tacoma key.

Not all of them did. Mine did, my brothers '01 single cab did not.

Maybe. It's the rivet used to hold the cam in place that might cause a problem. It's not reusable.
You need the tab inside the filler cavity for the door to latch to as well.

You could carry a separate key, in the old days cars and trucks had a separate door and ignition key. It's cool to be retro.

 

A guy on another forum recent had a big ford, large trailer, 5 adventure bikes and all their gear stolen, worth north of $180K. Like yours they found the truck a few blocks away disabled like they were coming back for it. The trailer with the bikes was transferred to another truck and is gone. It was also was a targeted theft.

There's some sophisticated car rings operating on the front range, not your TicTok kia stuff, serious $$. On top of that it's often not a priority for the LEOs when they're covered up with more serious crimes. Keep your stuff secure.

 

Yeah my 90 Bronco had a door key, ignition key and the Stant locking gas door key. Retro is cool sometimes, but not when I'm carrying my keys in my pocket.

 

You should see my pocket bulge with my work keyring...

 

Lots of ways to deter would be thieves.
Motion sensor lights, alarms, camera's, park girlfriends car right behind the truck, big scary dog, chihuahua, feral cat, leave the big city, etc..maybe just remember to lock the door.
Or park in the garage if you have the room.

 

I am pretty happy with how my alacans and bilsteins ride. Haven't had a single thought of replacing them for something softer. They're over 10 years old and haven't sagged either.

If my truck wasn't torn apart I'd offer to let you test drive it and decide for yourself

 

What about airbags? That will cover your variable load issues.

 

I loved my alcans, but yeah they are pricey. I was never impressed with my Dakars, but I also think that had a lot to do with me being heavier than they could support to begin with. How heavy are you? I was 800-1000lbs of cargo and I think even the dakar HDs are only rated to like 600 and that's a lie.

One thing to consider, Alcan was up for sale awhile back. Not sure if they changed hands, but I don't know anyone who has purchased springs from them in the last few years so you may want more recent feedback and maybe find out if owners changed.

 

Never say that to me again.

k, thanks

 

I'm about 195 lbs now. Lost 30 pounds in the past 8 months. Thanks for asking.

The only time I'm carrying weight in the bed is when I'm going camping... or driving around with the small fiberglass shell (which is on my truck 99% of the time - until I get the hoist system in my garage installed).

I was going to call and see if Lou(?) was still building the springs. Apparently his expertise is what everyone loved.

 

Congrats on loosing the 30lbs! I actually think I may have found them, if you want them back.

How heavy is your rig? Swing out? Fuel? 35" Spare? Reason i ask is if not, you're probably not in need of a custom Alcan pack.

I worked with Bill Ford, completely via email. Linked in still shows him as the owner which is a good sign.

 

Currently all stock with the rear hitch and fiberglass shell.

Eventually want a dual swing out minimalist rear bumper. Would mount a spare on it along with fuel and water. . 32” equivalent on a fairly light T4R alloy wheel.

 

I had OME springs and nitros on my first gen and felt it got around on/off trail quite well. Steel HC bumper w/ swing out, 35" spare, CO2, tools in a Plano box, softopper, hilift.... Probably missing 500 other things I thought I needed to drive around with every day. I also installed the AAL to compliment the dakars.

Edit: put it to work during this trip with all of the shit aforementioned. I might be an outlier, but I thought OME did well for my needs and cheapass budgeting.

 

Truck is home, locked and somewhat cleaned out. I managed to only loose a couple things. with what they left i think they were either coming back but probably not going to take the truck. it was couple out of gas. Was ultimately found .4 miles away from where it was taken. been up for about 23 hours at this point. Huge thanks to @JasonLee for the initial post. very grateful for this community and the people in it.

 

did they siphon the tank or were you literally that low on gas?
Glad you got it back with no damage.