Lone Star Toyota Jamboree Live! (2018)

haha. Yeah those small towns are speed traps! Gotta watch out for the 5-0 when rolling through them, they are looking for people bringing pot back from colorado.

 

Man, too bad you couldn't hit Wolf Caves Off Road Park near Mason, TX on your way back to CA. Easily the best technical 'wheeling in TX! I'd love to see your truck tackle those trails; we've probably used the 235:1 in the Jeep more at WC than any other place.

 

i have heard good things about that place. Havent had a chance to make it that far south in a while though.

 

Hey guys! Been very busy today and haven't had time to update

Finally leaving the Dallas area! Going to check into my hotel to drop off stuff in my cab before heading to Barnwell.

@Zac of all trades Yeah man the cops were crawling everywhere all along my route last night. I am concerned about not having mud flaps but so far no attention from them!

@SubCultureNM Thank you for the recommendation. We attend two annual events near Mason and I might be driving the Tacoma back this way in October. Maybe I'll plan an extra day and see what WC has to offer, thanks! Side note: We can get your Tacoma geared lower than your JK *wink* *wink*

 

Yeah i dont think mud flaps are required here...

Edit: Welp yes they are... but i think we are good....

"Safety guards or flaps are required on all trucks, light trucks, trailers, or semi-trailers (in combination with a towing vehicle), if the rearmost axle of the vehicle (or combination) has four tires or more."

 

I finally got a full night's rest at my friend's house. Slept in until 9 and grabbed an early lunch with him before doing some errands around Dallas

This beauty was waiting for me this morning, eager to do some wheel'n



Our early lunch was at a Hard Eight Pit BBQ and it was very good!





While inside we saw numerous people outside in the rain taking pictures of the Tacoma, and an employee asked the typical question, "Cool truck! How much were the tires?"

 

Mud flaps are only required in Texas if you have dual rear wheels. No worries on you truck. There are plenty of the “stance” crowd trucks in Texas running deep offsets and spacers with the whole tire out from under the truck.. as long as you are under 102” wide you are ok. If this passes yours will.

 

Ive eaten there a few times over in Louisville. Not a bad place for lunch...

 

Make it back out this way and we'll do our best to come 'wheel with you, if it's cool to invite ourselves. Side note: I'm already drooling over the doubler for the Tacoma. It will happen.

 

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Correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't 40s on 5.29 gears the same effective ratio as 37s on 4.88 gears? (within a few % at least). So do you think its the exhaust that is helping that much?

I'm quite a fan of hypermiling, as futile as it in these trucks. So I am genuinely curious.

 

Thank you gentlemen. I should research these things before making another multi-state road trip. In CA rear flaps are required if your tire sticks out past the body line. You could install (in my opinion unattractive) Bushwhacker-style fender flares and you'd be ok. On my '81 I have removable flaps and I need to do the same to the Taco. CA also requires a front plate however even many new cars like Teslas, Mercedes, and even Corvettes don't run them so that's a lower priority. Nevertheless, I shouldn't keep the window of probable cause open when I'm able to comply with vehicle codes.

Mannnnnn What am I doing over here with my Tacoma? I'm building it all wrong. I should have built it to look like that sweet stance truck you shared!!

I'll try to remember this in 7 months and will see if you're available to show me some nice trails!

Hello Ripcord and thank you for the question. It would be a similar effective ratio had it not been for the fact that the manual transmission 3rd gen V6 Tacos come with 4.30:1 R&P from the factory. As it stands even still, at 5.29:1 I have not quite returned to a factory R&P to tire size ratio.

To calculate, factory 4.30 R&P divided by factory tire size of 30.6" results in 0.140523. That resultant multiplied by 40" equals a 5.62:1 required R&P ratio. This ratio only reflects listed tire size and not actual. Nevertheless, according to speed and RPM data I've recorded over the years, with 40" + 5.29:1 I am still about 200 RPM too low in 6th gear at 65 MPH. It doesn't seem like much but as this causes the RPM to often dip below 2K engine speed in 6th gear on the highway, it is a struggle and requires the occasionally downshift.

I'll never go lower than 5.29 for strength reasons. I am very satisfied with the ratio.

Regards,
BigMike

 

While in Dallas I made a surprise stop at Toyota Of Dallas, the very place where I flew in by plane almost precisely 2 yrs ago after placing orders for my new Tacoma with eight different dealerships to finally acquire my impossible to find Tacoma

(Read the full story here. Warning: Very long post)



Here I am parked where this truck and I made sweet sweet love at first sight!!

April 19, 2016:



Today, May 3, 2018:





It was so cool returning and seeing the very same people, the only people who were able to get stubborn Toyota to build this truck for me!

Thank you Chris and Hardy. This Tacoma has been one of the biggest journeys of my life and I feel we've only just begun!!

I shifted into Triple Low and let it idle in the service drop-off area which quickly caught the attention of the Toyota employees. A few took video and a service writer named Chris told me that he has seen countless countless Tacoma's and none have ever looked as cool as this one! Thank you Chris!

Here is am with the gentlemen who made my dream a reality, from left to right: Chris (parts manager and long-time customer of ours), Hardy (the extremely experienced sales man who gave me no lip or run-around, and got the Taco special ordered and delivered ahead of schedule), and yours truly!



Couple more with these gentlemen from April 19, 2016:

Checking out the truck for the first time with Chris:



Finishing the paperwork with Hardy, 19K miles ago

 

I was more comparing your ratios with the 37" tires against the 40" tires, as opposed to comparing either one to stock. Since you noted a bump in MPGs after switching to the 40s on 5.29s.
4.88/37=0.1319
5.29/40=0.1322

But I digress. Looks like a very neat road trip. Be safe with those storms out there!

 

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, I completely missed your question. You've got a good point; The ratios are essentially the same. On one hand the 40s are heavier and can store more potential energy (inertia) requiring less energy to maintain constant speed on level ground. But on the other hand going uphill we must be continuously accelerating to offset gravity and hold a constant velocity, so it must be far less efficient in the hills.

Perhaps the exhaust is helping much more than expected. The Coopers certainly have a lower rolling resistance than the old 37" BFG Krawlers.... so I have a few factors working in my favor. Bummer I couldn't take a direct comparison. The truck is in a state of continual improvement.

 

Leaving Dallas it was really raining scorpions and snakes out here!!

 

Stopped at a Walgreens to grab some honey-coated throat lozenges (because I'll be doing what the Japanese call マシンガントーク or "Machine-gun Talk" none stop once at the event) and the clerk was asking about my truck and checked out my build thread. To the clerk: If you find this thread, then thanks for also checking it out!



While I was chatting with him, Marlin texted me pics from him currently at TLCA's annual Cruise Moab event in Utah. Ohhhhh man I am incredibly jealous and bummed I'm missing that but I'm also excited to see what this Jamboree is all about!



Looks great Marlin!!

BTW guys this truck has a final drive ratio of 1,148:1 That's 22 times lower than stock and makes my 580:1 look like child's play. Marlin's t/case alone is 50:1 which itself is already 42% lower than the entire truck trans and R&P included stock!!!!!!

 

Finally getting into some forested area of Texas...



And made it to my hotel!



Neat pics from the 2nd floor

 

And finally guys the moment you've all been patiently waiting far too long for!!





I finally made it to Barnwell Mtn State Park!



Holy crap man that was a seriously long drive

 

It was just past 6pm when I arrived. It was not raining but you could tell it was about to...

Once on the property you are greeted by a worker directing traffic to the registration booth



The man has a very nice FJ C and was excited to hear about some new products we're working on for his rig



While signing release waivers this nice 2nd gen Hilux with our Dual Ultimate Marlin Crawler setup pulled up. It was a 1984 ExtraCab with propane conversion

 

There were only a few vendors setup



Booth spaces were marked by red spray-paint and judging by the number of spaces, by this time tomorrow it'll probably be packed.