FJ Summit XII Live! (2018)

What's up everyone, BigMike from MarlinCrawler.com here and I'm finally ready to start another Live! trip report thread!

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If you're new, welcome, I really enjoy making these threads. Past examples include: Lone Star Toyota Jamboree Live! (2018), Cruise Moab Live! (2016), and Cruise Moab Live! (2015). This time I'll be covering the 12th Annual FJ Summit, https://www.fjsummit.org, which will be located in and around Ouray, Colorado, and is one of the nation's largest annual Toyota events and certainly one of the highest (over 13,000 ft / 4 km)!



Last year was my first time at the Summit and this time I'm bringing Marlin & Christine and the famous 1,149:1 1980 Toyota Pickup, aka the "Crawler Truck" -- the truck that founded Rock Crawling! Please consider visiting our amazing Vintage picture gallery of it on our site here: https://www.marlincrawler.com/gallery/vintage-crawler-truck-pictures

I originally had my wife riding shotgun with me in the Tacoma but last minute project at work caused her to have to cancel. Next year for sure babe!

For anyone viewing this thread while I'm posting you'll note that it isn't Live! at the moment. Today was a blur and it was best for me to wait until now to kick this off. We are already at our first stop in west Utah. This thread may depart my usual format just a bit as we'll be at 8,000 ft (2,400 km) elevation and above for four days with no internet connection while on the trail. So I'll most likely be posting up in batches so here comes the first!

Leaving Rock Crawling HQ just past 11am



The first leg will be about 500 miles



Edit: I am using voice-to-text recognition so sorry in advance for any typos

 

Anytime you're in a caravan with the Crawler Truck you KNOW you're in good company!!

For those curious: Marlin and Christine did eventually become accustomed to such comforts as a tow rig with A/C and they have been trailing the Crawler Truck on long trips (about > 200 miles or so) for roughly 15 yrs now. The Crawler Truck has, of course, been driven to half of all US States -- see this thread on our forum!



I have to admit, drafting behind a tow rig is super nice. Here I am averaging 21.6 MPG over a 120 mile flat stretch on 40" tires with the new 3.5 V6



Whew. 102* F!

A few pics from our lunch stop in Bakersfield, CA!

 

About to start our first climb of the day, this being the pass over Tehachapi, US State Hwy 58. Using my OBD-II scanner, I noted engine temp at 190 before the climb and it only got up to as high as 194* F. Very good cooling system considering it's triple digit heat and I'm rolling 4 x 40" tires at a brisk pace up the hill.



Cruising within miles just north of Edwards Airforce Base in the Mojave Desert



Getting our first tank of fuel in Barstow, CA



Woohooo 20.3 MPG average including the mtn pass! (thank you wind break! lol)

 

Parked to grab some last minute supplies before getting back on the I-15 North





Marlin wanted to show me the new EddieWorld in Yermo so we stopped for a quick break.



Some idiot doesn't know how to park. Geeeez. Kids these days

 

And then I had a long business phone call and breezed straight through the remaining 4 hr drive! Time flies when you're having fun that's for sure, but sorry no pics through messed-up traffic Las Vegas or any of the lightening around Mesquite, Nevada.

Here we are at our first hotel, now about half way to the Summit event!!

(Check out that "CRAWLER" license plate! #goals)



The winds were so bad that they were bleeding in through my driver's side window and Marlin was struggling to keep the Ram 3500HD on the road. Some of the worst winds I've driven the Tacoma through to date and I've passed through some strong storms so far. Can't complain with a near 18 MPG average through all that mess!!

My truck hit 25K and I didn't even notice!! Ohhhh man huge opportunity missed to have gotten an awesome picture!



And that's it for Day #1! Be sure to Subscribe to this thread to receive update notifications as I'll be posting randomly and hopefully frequently. The schedule will be as follows:

Wednesday July 18
Late afternoon: Arrive to Ouray
Evening: Vendor Show #1

Thursday July 19
Morning and afternoon: Go wheel'n!
Evening: Vendor Show #2

Friday July 20
Morning and afternoon: Go wheel'n!
Evening: Meet up for dinner with customers and fellow Toyota enthusiasts! (No vendor show on Friday)

Saturday July 21
Morning and afternoon: Go wheel'n!
Evening: Vendor Show #3
Night: The Huge Main Event Raffle!

Sunday July 22
Early morning: Line up and take a sweeeeet group picture with all participants!
Head home!

Ok guys gonna get to sleep, it's just past midnight here. Looking forward to picking this up in the morning for a true live fashion!

Regards,
BigMike

 

Goooooooooood morning ROCK CRAWLERS!!!!!!



Had a nice continental breakfast, kept my almond milk latte additction going..



..got some fuel







..and we're back at it!

 

Today will be another 500 mile (483) journey and we will need to get to the vendor show not too late if possible.

The tow rig is no longer restricted by the low CA towing speed law (55 MPH; we ran aroud 60 MPH most of yesterday) so say goodbye to my impressive fuel economy -- for example we're currently doing 75 MPH up a steep grade and Marlin is pushing the UT speed limit on the flats which is 80 MPH.

This is definitely the fastest I've driven this truck on these 40s to date. I have over 10,000 miles on them since March but I normally cruise around 67 MPH on my own. I'm pulling these grades at 75 MPH with 40" tires in 5th gear; This 3.5-liter V6 never ceases to impress!!

This early prototype NITRO Gear & Axle rear 8.75" 5.29:1 Ring & Pinion gear set is getting some awesome stress testing today!

 

There are many long steady climbs out here. We are doing 75 MPH in the slow lane while big rigs probably doing 80 are passing us in the middle lane... Exciting to see things like this not possible (illegal) back home-



Just merged onto our final Interstate, I-70! This Taco is gonna go past the turn-off for Moab for its eight time woohoo!

 

Stopped for fuel near Saina, UT



I'll be honest I was NOT expecting my MPGs to be this high. I had it pinned in 4th gear probably four or five times - definitely the hardest I've pushed this truck since fitting the 40s

 

Enjoy some random pics for the love of the open road

 

Marlin making me work!!



Sheeeeesh why so fast dude

 

Uh oh



Yup..

 

We are now honorary Coloradans!

Quick potty break in Grand Junction

 

Top'n off before climbing up to Ouray



This Tacoma is running really great, and I haven't been drafting as much since yesterday.



I wonder if non-Californian fuel, perhaps with lower regulations, have less ethanol? The truck definitely prefers out of state gas

Speaking about California gas, to all my California friends back home, DON'T LOOOOK!!!!!!





RIP all California thread viewers haha

 

Questions for a stock 3rd gen automatic V6 owner:

What is your engine speed when you are cruising in 6th gear at 65 MPH? Also 70, and 75 MPH? Thank you!

Edit: The reason why I'm asking is because I've been averaging 17 MPG with these 40s @ 67 MPH. With my 6th gear manual and gear/tire mods, that is 2,200 RPM for me. But since we're out here averaging at least 75 MPH, I'm now wondering if I've been operating at engine speeds lower than peak cruise efficiency.....

 

Could I do most, if not all, of this trip with a near stock 2nd gen DCLB? Where I normally wheel, the trails are pretty tight so maneuvering this limo is a bit much at times. Colorado looks to be much more open. I'm considering skids and sliders next, and I was wondering if that would be enough to tackle the difficult sections, you think?

 

Hello Slashaar! Yes, a stock vehicle will do just fine here. The long bed would pose issues for the switch backs of Black Bear Pass, but even still, all you'd need to do is turn each 3 or 4-point corner into a 5 or 6-point corner and no big deal.

This might not help, but I have done Black Bear Pass (rated as "Difficult"), Poughkeepsie Gulch (rated as "Difficult"), and Imogene Pass (rated as "Moderate"), and all three of these can be done in my truck in 2WD (unless muddy). Difficult obstacles may be bypassed. The only thing I'd say that makes these trails difficult is that it does require technical driving, patience, and finesse in some sections. If you are comfortable off-road, then you can do these trails in a stock truck.

The tree trails I ran last year all included at least one 100% bone stock vehicle in each group. So get up here and join the fun!!

 

We'll see next year then!

 

We made it safely to Ouray and instantly were busy!! Like always when you travel with Marlin you can't even get out of your truck and people are already talking to him and looking over his truck

Shout-out to Mac, Josh, Parker, and Sarah!



Got the Crawler Truck unloaded and it's tow rig stowed away