Gwarden's MT Build - 2004 AC TRD V6 4X4

Quick update / travel log:


I lost my cell phone on the most recent trip which was a bummer, but throughout the trip I recorded some clips to make a trip review video. I'll definitely be making more highly produced videos of our trips in the future, I have the video bug once again.

Once again I will steal @mtnbike247 's awesome pics as I am without anything I shot from this past trip.

With a lot of help from @mtnbike247 I managed to build a lightweight roof rack with CB mount and 2 18w camping lights. I really like his design because it is amazingly strong, but I wanted a lighter rack with no pillars in the center. The setup you see above is basically the full design, with the exception of a horizontal crossbar to keep things stiff.


A quick example of how we chose to mount our worklights - these are some of my favorite mods to date.




We started the trip off by stopping in the foothills above Kernville CA. We found a telephone service road that looked reasonably treacherous and proceeded to seek out a flat spot to set up for the evening. Some of the guys picked up a pellet gun to mess with. Not much firepower compared to what a lot of you pack, but this was enough to fight off any beer cans that encroached the camp.


Some of us gathered some surprisingly dry wood while others cooked dinner. Ultimately we were left with enough wood for two full nights of fire.


There were a total of 7 on the trip - three chose to sleep in their ENO hammocks. This night was not pleasant for the newly minted "Hammock Boyz", whose boyband nickname stuck immediately. Sub 20 degree temperatures overnight left all of them with a layer of ice on their hammocks in the early morning.


The group got a late start the following day as the Hammock Boyz defrosted and re-caffeinated.



We enjoyed a meal of stovetop heated Costco muffins and dusty croissants. You simply can't match the convenience of Costco food for trips like these. The careful observer will notice a 15 pound propane tank which is now installed in the bed of my truck.


We had a lot of miles to log, but we couldn't resist taking a while to play on the muddy slopes of our improvised campsite. Here @mtnbike247 and his brother navigate down the freshly melted terra firma.


After grinding down the east side of Highway 198 we stopped for a very chilly hotdog break in Olancha.


Even the views from the side of the road were new and impressive.


A little more than an hour later and we were in Death Valley. The guys took a much needed de-bitching walk while I diagnosed a new noise - my passenger CV decided it had had enough and puked its grease out. I took the opportunity to drop my coilovers to around 2.25" of lift.


Not a bad spot to wrench on the truck.


Excited to be off the pavement, we aired down and got moving through a seemingly endless minefield of sharp rocks. We bashed our way through some rough stuff during our trip and I had the rack fully loaded - no cracks to speak of. Here it supports a weary traveler as we waited on the results of a recon mission. We made the mistake of neither planning a route nor bringing paper maps. Many lessons learned this trip.



As the sun set we found a steep road up the western slope. Once again the convoy drove until we found somewhere to camp. We strung the hammocks between our bedracks and called it a night. The morning revealed an incredible view of Panamint Valley and Telescope peak.


We spent the next day exploring a nearby mine site and a few remnants of gold rush civilization. This is a historic mine headquarters which is maintained by good Samaritans. Anyone can stay there and the logbook reveals it is a popular spot.


Cool mining gear galore. Most of the stuff we found was put there in the mid to late 1800's.


Some more modern equipment was left behind at a different site. This sluice had a handle marked "Made in China".


The end of the weekend eventually came and it was a long trip home. Lonely roads aren't so bad when you have your buddies along.

Happy Trails.

 

Bump. Some great pics!

 

Thanks @MakoTacoma !

 

I spent a while today doing some modeling of the rear suspension. @mtnbike247 and I are working on several parts at the moment which include rear shock hoops.

 

In addition to doing some research on shock relocation for @Gwarden, we're also in the process of making some sliders, similar to this model we've come up with here. Anyone have any complaints or suggestions that they have from their sliders? We're going to try and make these bolt on, and burly. What is the consensus on a need for kickout? Anyone have any tales of horror because they wish they had a kickout?

Current Design: