HeadStrong Off-Road Forum Member Appreciation Give-A-Way VOTING THREAD

This is the official voting thread for the member give-a-way. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/headstrong-off-road-forum-member-appreciation-give-a-way.659053/

Posts 2-6 are the semi-finalists taken from the 3 sister forums (Tacoma World, Tundras.com, and 4Runners.com). Voting will take place on each forum and the votes will be tallied.The voting will go until Friday April 10th at 9am. The member with the highest votes will be crowned the winner of the new SmittyBilt X20 10k winch with wireless controller.

https://www.headstrongoffroad.com/store/p387/SmittyBilt_X20_10K_Winch_-_97510.html

Please cast your vote on the poll listed above. Only 1 vote per member

Have fun!!

 

POSTED BY FAJITAS IN THE 4RUNNERS.COM FORUM...

I really don't have a great story to tell, but it means something to me, so I'll share anyways.

This is a story about a 2016 4Runner which might have saved our marriage (corny intro) and also changed our outlook on life (not corny, this is true).

2015, watched a few YouTube videos about off-roading and thought, what a dumb thing to do. At this point in time my wife and I were having some trouble after 11 years of marriage. I thought, eh, moonshot, let's stop being so boring. She wanted a 4Runner, I said I don't care as long as it's 4x4. Bought it, she was upset. The 4Runner didn't have auto headlights, power liftgate, remote start, and bunch of stuff we didn't think we could live without.

Started off-roading, first place was Hidden Falls ORV Park near Austin, TX. We were on a dirt road in 4LO, we had no idea what we were doing. Pretty sure I ran 44PSI on highway tires and we'd stop and panic before hitting every single bump. One funny thing was, when we would hit something underneath, to keep my wife from panicking, I'd tell her it was a mudflap, so ignore that noise (I had no idea if it was...just wanted to calm her). From that day on, even years later, when we hit something really hard, we laugh and call it just a mudflap!

Anyways, shortly thereafter, maybe 6 months, I was poking around Tacomaworld and found some people in my area going to Barnwell Mountain. I just took a chance, rolled the die, and told them I'd join up for a ride. I ended up meeting some people on that trip that, only a short 4 years later, feel like lifelong friends. These people really got us...the camping, the love of vehicles, the desire to explore and adventure.

With Jambo (yea you know what I'm talking 'bout!) quickly approaching, the 4Runner needed a lift. I researched heavily and determined Marie @HeadStrong Off-Road knew her stuff. Called her up, ordered and lift, and my new Toyota friends helped me install in my driveway. Tires and lift really take these things to the next level, and we triumphantly ventured to the Lone Star Toyota Jamboree that year in style!

At Jambo, our band of misfits doubled, many new faces. The great part was the diversity. We had grandparents...kids in college...married couples....married with children (Great show!)...people in their 60's, people in their 20's, and all in between. As with our other friends, many these Toyota people just get us. We bonded quickly and started planning trips.

We started taking road trips, such as Big Bend, Smokey Mountains, Arkansas, and this year Colorado (yasss).

Truthfully, our 4Runner didn't save our marriage, it was just the tool that added the much needed adventure to our lives, and ask us to move past the complacent.

A month ago, one of my Toyota family (one of the original ones from 2016) called and said he and his wife wanted that 4Runner, and asked if I'd sell it. To be clear, it wasn't for sale, but he's the one who helped me install the lift, do the bumpers, weld junk, ECGS Bushing it, etc. So just for him, I worked to make him a super good deal to ensure it would be a great buy. The wife and I agreed the best thing for the truck would be to keep it and adventure, or send to a friend to adventure; but it needed to keep living it's truck's life to the fullest. He picked it up a few weeks ago. While we'll miss that truck, nothing has changed, our relationship has remained strong, and our desire to adventure only increased.

That truck has a 10k Smittybilt X20 winch, which is what triggered these memories. I sold everything intact so he would be immediately ready to go.

I'm currently building up my 2020 4Runner ORP so my wife and 5 y/o son can continue our journey. The lift will come first, but the winch is on my short list, it's just not essential to completing the build yet.

One final comment, the friend who bought my 4Runner might be coming to Colorado with us this year! It would be fantastic to see my friends driving our shared projects (he helped me on this one too already). What's cool to consider is that both our 4Runners now are the way they are because both of us worked on both of them. It takes a village

 

POSTED BY TRUCKYTRUCK IN THE TUNDRAS.COM FORUM...

Because I'm not to be trusted near any mud in anything

 

POSTED BY TITUS94 IN THE TACOMA WORLD FORUM...


https://youtu.be/CPJtxF2ud7o

 

POSTED BY JLS in WA IN THE TUNDRAS.COM FORUM...


I need a winch because I have a very lovely wife. She encourages me to explore the hinterlands in search of Alectoris chukar, also know as the chukar partridge, red legged partridge, devil bird, or simply mother ^*+%~’ers.

The chukar partridge resides in some very remote parts of the western states and getting there sometimes requires negotiating sketchy terrain. A winch would allow me to negotiate this sketchy terrain, while accomplishing what is most important to my wife.

Bringing the dog home.....

 

POSTED BY DESERTRATLIFF ON THE TACOMA WORLD FORUM...

My buddy Seth and I have a long history of doing dumb stuff together. I have so many stories throughout the decades, but here was the last one. We met out in Bluff, UT and decided to head out further in to the desert for a fall camping trip before it got too cold. He used to own Toyotas (85 4Runner, 87 Turbo pickup, long travel 92 pickup) but now owns a Cummins rig with a pop up camper. He still drives it like his 92 long travel truck (most of the time). We found out, on this trip in particular, it weighs slightly more than the Toyotas he's owned in the past ! Definitely more than my 2014 pictured pulling his out.







The first stuck was an easy fix. He was just trying not to drag the camper too much on departure and got hung up. The 2nd stuck, not so much. My Taco blew through the crossing but, in the only other cautious, slow driving I've ever witnessed him doing, he killed the Cummins as he tried to crawl through in 2nd gear. WTF Seth! We dug for 8 hours or so, tried pulling with my Taco, tried a tow strap/cam strap/tire winch type recovery deal we saw on YouTube (that just ruined a tow strap) but to no avail. At about noon the next day, a Jeep with a 10k winch rolled by. With his 10K winch, a snatch block, a HiLift and both trucks blocked and locked together, we got that big, heavy Cummins free.

Please vote for me so I don't have to rely on Jeeps to pull my friends out when they do dumb ass stuff! Thanks! And thanks again Headstrong!

 

I vote for him

 

vote on the poll above

 

Woo hoo! Top 5!! Thanks Marie and @HeadStrong Off-Road.

For the record, sandy water made its way past the pinion seal on Seth's Cummins. He drove home and flushed both diffs, but it was too little, too late and our mis-adventure ended up taking out his rear 3rd member; not a cheap lesson, so he was stoked to hear that our story helped get me in the top 5. We've got plans to take the wives to Baja in our rigs next Christmas and are building both trucks up for the job. Your vote here would mean a lot, TW! Thanks!

 

I cant tell which username is his

 

It's JLS in WA

(but I'd take your vote! haha!)

 

I was about to give u my vote for ur honesty lol but JLS needs some love it seems

 

JLS in WA . I made the names stand out more since they were blending in. You can also reference the post number as well.

 

i dont count?

 

Happy Taco Tuesday! Don't forget to vote for your favorite post

 

Truckytruck needed some love

 

Morning Bump! Get your votes in TW

 

Thanks! Either that or a shovel and a slap in the back of the head!

 

One more day left to Vote for who you think deserves a free winch! So far the polls are:

FAJITAS 35
TRUCKYTRUCK 17
TITUS94 39
JLS IN WA 10
DESERTRATLIFF 21

 

updated totals:

Get your votes in only a little bit left....


FAJITAS 36
TRUCKYTRUCK 17
TITUS94 43
JLS IN WA 10
DESERTRATLIFF 24