Driving a Tacoma around the world

we had it made from a local design shop in Medford Oregon called Sign guys.

so far the weboost has been okay. We right, boosting a zero signal by 30 decibels is still zero. We’re finding that it may add one bar of stronger service

 

we’re hoping for another couple of weeks of nice weather to go north to Yellowstone and Badlands and then we’re heading to spend some more time in Utah. Colorado has been a very varied state; from the beautiful mountains to sagebrush flats in between. We’re loving it

 

Yeah we didn't go north of I-70 except in Denver due to the smoke from the fires. Excited to go back

 

Sub'd...

 

Thanks for the trip report. It seems that sometimes we spend more time finding a place that won’t be crowded than finding the best place to go. This is especially true of the Cascades near Portland and Seattle. This is why I live in Eastern Wa.

 

Even in the Cascades it’s crazy. We tried to find campsite on Century Drive outside of Bend Oregon on a weekend in August and spent two hours driving around. I’ve been going to that area for 40 years and have never seen it so crowded. I’m thinking it’s a COVID thing

 

Recently my wife and I got to do an epic Colorado drive up Imogene Pass.

Considering it was only 11 miles, I figured it couldn’t be that bad considering I’ve driven in the woods for 35 years. Best description I saw that it was an easy Jeep trail to 13,000 feet as a plus we could camp along the way.


typical road grade

In reality, Imogene Pass is an easy trail for Jeeps, but for a loaded down, basically brand new, Tacoma it was challenging. The road is a steep road with some pitches having up to a 30% grade up rock ledges with a 10% outslope. It was a bit nerve-wracking because I don’t know the tip-over point is and I Really don’t want to find out. The road grade was steep enough that I used 4WD with low range in second gear for most of the of the drive. In places I had to go into first gear and engage the rear locking differential in a half a dozen places in order to creep up 12 to 15 inch rock ledges..


steep, but straightforward, near the summit

It took us about 3 1/2 hours to cover the 11 miles including several stops for photos and to allow traffic to pass us. And places the road is very narrow but most of the time it was wide enough to allow two vehicles to pass each other. Probably 90% of the vehicles were Jeeps. We did see two other Tacomas.


A technical section with a 25% grade with a 10% out slope, rear lockers engaged


Definitely puckered here.


now for the downhill to Telluride.

The views from the top were stunning. And the drive down into Telluride was simply gorgeous in the afternoon sun. To sum it up I’d highly recommend it to people with 4 hours of time, with either a Jeep or a slightly lifted pickup, and a driver who knows how to pick a route through rocky terrain

more pics on our website

 

That looks like an epic trip!

 

It was for sure for me! My wife not so much, thats why we have such nice photos as she walked probably a mile of it, too far out of her comfort zone

 

Should add a link to your website in the OP

 

good idea!

 

Had a nice stay in Colorado’s second largest city. They have a really nice city park called Garden of the Gods for either a couple hour hike or a quick look-see




This is Balanced Rock

 

Sub'd. Couldn't be more stoked for you guys;stay safe and thank you for keeping us updated!

 

sure thing!

 

I'm looking forward to following you're site's updates. An amazing sounding journey.

 

Thank you for the kind words. We’re enjoying ourselves exploring CO what a great state and continue to toy with shipping to England in mid-January

 

So normally posts are generally where someone has successfully completed a mod and is proud to announce it to the world. These two that I have completed have been what i would describe the results as mixed...

I decided that installing paint protection film over all four doors would help the paint from inevitable scratches brushy roads. While at the same time i also wanted to install security film on the door windows. The idea being that it dramatically increases the break in time.

Paint Protection Film

Here’s the brand of PPF i used.

If you want to attempt this I’d advise purchasing an installation kit like this:

It doesn’t look like much but you’ll need all of the help you can get

So here’s my advice:

- do no more than one panel at a time (ie: do only the lower part of the door, save the upper part around the windows for another piece
- the curved sections along the corners of the doors are the worst.
- its super important to wash it really, really well and then strip off any wax with dishwashing soap
- Cut the sheets about an inch wider/longer, you will trim/tuck/fold it later
- there’s a backing layer that gets peeled off, spray with a slightly soapy water solution as you peel the backing. Spraying the water allows the PPF to be separated if it sticks to itself
- Spray the solution all over the cleaned panel, then put the PPF on, spray the water on the outside of the PPF as well
- take your time, start smoothing with the blue card in the middle and slowly work your way out
- the idea is to squeegee out all of the air bubbles but realize that you're not going to be perfect...
- It can be peeled off and started over or you can stretch it
- on corners the hair dryer will slightly shrink it but overheating it will mess it up...
- on the bottoms of doors leave it about an eighth of an inch too long and wrap it underneath or between the gap in the panels
- use the hair dryer to activate the glue along the edge where you’re trying to fold it over
- use a towel to dry up the water along the edge
- be careful along your fender edges as dirt accumulated in the fenders will wick up under the wrap
- the bubbles that you missed can be pricked with a pin to let the water/air out and then can be smoothed down, mostly...


Getting it ready for rough cutting. I found that taping it in place help cut it roughly to size. Notice the wrinkles in the PPF; these smoothed out just fine


Spraying it as i remove the backing layer


Notice all the bubbles, they’re the enemy!


Here you can see where I’ve smoothed the bubbles and where I haven’t yet


My smoother approaching a dreaded fold. The blow dryer helps in shrinking these


Hard to see but that a speck of dirt that somehow got underneath. Not much you can do over than peel it back up and try to clean it off. Hint, they like to stay put.

Overall, i gave myself a C+. Each lower door panel took about an hour. The good news is that it should do the job. But i still see folds underneath the door handles

Security Film
In theory applying this should have been easier as this material was 3X the thickness, 4 mils. It actually had stiffness to it. Also i only applied it to flat windows. While applying was indeed much easier the outcome was worse. No matter how may times i washed the window with a clean microfiber cloth. This is what the darkened rear windows looked like:

Yup! Spots of dirt, etc that didn’t go away.

Here’s a closeup:


The darkened rear windows showed it the worst. But even the driver and passenger front windows look like its slightly cloudy or dirty. So far I’ve left them on but may peel it off. I give myself a D on this mod

 

Maybe you could try using a clay bar on the window, thats should get rid of all the particulates that are stuck on there.

 

If you get to Yellowstone, go up through Grand Tetons NP. Moose Wilson Road north from the Tetons Village is worth the drive, especially with your truck. Check the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve (https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/lsr.htm). Trails and easy hikes, and a nice pull off at the north end. We saw moose and bears a few times at this spot. It's about an hour drive to the south entrance of Yellowstone from there. One note, the road will close in November for the winter.

 

That is a darn good idea! The actual application didn't take very long