The Batoll Builds

Have to say out of all the rock throwing games, simple rock skipping is hard to beat.

 

True, though not every location has the right rocks for that. And in sites without water, games of accuracy are really the only option.

 

The Lake Hike

Plan for the day is to get on top of one on the peaks.

After a nottle (homemade skottle) Breakfast of bacon, hash browns and eggs. Started packing up and getting ready for the hike.














After reaching the top, names were added to the log, found some shade ate our sandwiches and took in the views.





Once back at camp a little rain had come in, and felt perfect after a long hike. The rest of the day we just hung out be the lake swam and enjoyed the views.

Have to say the Danner boots are holding up well.




After some tacos and beer, the sun started to go down and we decided to head back to the trail to capture it.

Unfortunately I had to go back, and check in on the Rosie, she was beat and didn’t want to go back up the the ridge. The hike up to trail was worth it. But I missed the best part but the wife capture it.




After a night of lighting flashes,we woke up The next day had breakfast and packed up and headed back to the city.

On the way home, we saw the results of the lighting as we drove passed two fires which would grow in the the LNU Complex Fire.

 

Smog check.... pass

 

Been collecting a few things to refresh steering components and my wife bought me some max trax for my b day!




Also picked up some bronze bushings the mod the clutch torsion spring

 

The BEST MOD(an most annoying) The Infamous Noisy Clutch Pedal

My clutch as always had the squeak us MT owners are used too. Finally after 4 years of ownership I came across this https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/clutch-pedal-squeak-new-bushing-design.76599/

Ive seen the linear spring method but felt it deviated from the original design. So bronze bearing replacement was better (IMO).

so goal is to replace all connections of the torsion spring with bronze bearings.


After I removed the clutch assembly, it was worse than expected.


So it’s been metal on metal for a while now. Oh and both thru holes for the spring ends (Where the flange bearings will be seated are seeing the same issue).ALSO dam spring had a grove in it in the center mount location. So disassembled the whole assembly and got the welder out and did some weld build up to restore the bearing surfaces, even the spring. Grind and redrilled holes and painted. Reassembled and modified the bearings and final result....




Note: the C bearing in the center needs the be small in width, anything to wide will force the bearing to rotate and fail as the radius of the spring will catch The side of the bronze and slowly initiate a crack and split the bearing in half.


Overall it took about 6 hours total from beginning to test drive.

The state of the clutch assembly was a surprise and most of my time was spent fixing it, im not a fan of welding on such thin walled material or welding on a spring.

But, was it worth it?

YES! So far the clutch is butter smooth and no noise it’s amazing!!!!!!

it will be interesting to see how long these last as there is a decent amount of force applied to the bushings and it will see a high number of cycles

 

Pretty stoked with the tube mounted bag, so I pick another up for the drivers side, and a tow strap.


Cutch pedal update: so far so good, still smooth. However, clutch has been slipping the past month and slowly getting worse so it looks like that will be replaced soon.

 

Ammo box got swapped out, so I could have a permanent home for the water port.

 

what's the mileage on your clutch?

i've had that interior assembly pedal squeak off and on for over 20 years! and it usually gets very noticeable when the seasons change to very cold (below freezing) and maybe added moisture in the air in the spring activates it again

did you spray the new parts with any lubricant?
i found this magical concoction from Canada called Nut-Z lube and sprayed what i could reach close to a year ago now and it eliminated the squeak but introduced another odd noise that might be a plastic part idk yet

 

The clutch is the original, so it’s at 137k. It’s not terrible yet, but not fun when trying to accelerate on a freeway on ramp and watching the rpms run away from you when you shift to 3rd gear hahah.

For the pedal assembly I used white lithium for every rotating bearing surface. I have tried spraying in the past, but it never lasted And there’s so much wiring and crap under there I never knew if I was hitting the right spot.

This the stuff your referring to?
https://corrosionfree.com/store/nut-z-lube-corrosion-fighting-lubricant-2-pack/

 

yes, that's the spray I used, but i definitely did not pay $10 per can!, it was ~$3 per with a 70% discount after buying some product of theirs to spray in the door and tailgate inner seams to try and keep that salt water out of those areas.
I will suppose the Nut-Z lube is good at fighting any humidity corrosion too

so far i have not yet had that slipping in 3rd or other gears at 165k (mostly highway cruising for that mileage) but lately have been noticing some funky stop and go stuff in 1st, might be the throwout bearing idk, also a severe cold weather startup lurching when the pedal is released in neutral
but am going to try and get it past 200k so i shall see hahah

 

nice man! well hope you make it to 200k. I do get occasional squeakiness from the clutch fork but little grease here and there fixes that.

Ive owned the truck for 37k and very conservative with my clutch use, I just don’t know how the PO drove the 100k. It doesn’t really surprise me though. Again, it just the initial signs of of wear/warning for replacement, so I’ll just knock out the maintenance, as my wife and I are headed to Utah in 2weeks and I dont want to Be driving around with constant reminder.

 

Square cup holders no more! Recently purchased cup holder mod from:

http://www.bh3dprinting.com/product/1996-2004-tacoma-double-cup-holder/

 

Modified the bed rack to reposition hi lift on the cab side, added a crossmember max trax mounts and added some quick fists for the awning pole

 

Teaser from Utah trip still compiling photos

 

Curious to see how you like the onboard water - and if it ever gets warm enough for showers. Mine never did, but then I was hoping it'd actually be pretty warm...

 

I've had the waterport for sometime, just wanted a more permanent mount, rather than being strapped down in the bed. I haven't used it for a shower yet and doubt it will reach decent temps. FYI, I'm liking the new TW banner

 

1st Year Anniversary Adventure


The wife and I set our sites on Utah to celebrate our 1st year wedding anniversary. We had explored Utah 5 years ago in a VW Golf and stuck near the western border. The plan this time is to explore more dirt in the southern region then make a loop through Moab and capital reef back down to Zion.

With a new clutch, inner and outer tie rods, steering rack bushings and a new bed rack configuration the truck was ready to roll.

Got off work at 3pm and started packing the truck, with everything loaded and a few errands completed it was already dark and we hit the road for our first stop, Carrizo Plains. Arriving to camp at 1am, we popped the tent and passed out. The next day we woke up to a familiar view.





I don't prefer campgrounds but it's right off the main road, free and It was nice to wake up without a herd of cows surrounding your tent ahaha (See the previous trip to the plains, Back to Carrizo)

We quickly packed the tent and cracked a can of cold brew and hit the road. Our way out of the plains was an interesting drive as we dodged rabbits and a tarantula trying to cross the road.

Hours later we had made it to Utah hitting the trailhead just before sunset. Making our way thru the trail, there were a few minor obstacles but nothing to write home about, in no time the trail turned into a graded road and we found our campsite upstream from our destination, Poser WaterFall.

 

The next day, we packed up camp, found a way down to the base of the waterfall for a quick dip and made our way back to some pavement.



Along the way and still on dirt, out we spotted a Subaru getting mounted to a tow truck just after an obstacle. Turns out he had taken the wrong line and the Subaru could not operate under it own power. That’s guna be on pricey tow.


After the tires worked the pavement for a few hours, we were back on dirt and ready for our hike through some slot canyons





















It was started to get late so we headed out to find our camp for the night.




After some searching we found hills and a wash we wanted to explore in morning and set up camp near by.

 

Back at camp we slaved over our gourmet dinner.



Next day we go up early, made some coffee and set off for our morning hike.




We followed a cattle trail to a wash and the walls quickly grew tall and narrow.



Coming out of the miniature canyon the walls opened to these colored hills(our destination)





I geeked out for a while enjoyed the view. What make it more exciting is you could tell no one had been in this area (for sometime) as there were no foot prints or evidence anyone had been at this location. With more than enough pictures taken we enjoyed the hike back, packed the truck up and made our way towards Moab, hitting all the tourist spots along the way.



Hit 140k!











Just south of Moab we found a campsite and call it an early night, so tomorrow we could get a full day at Arches National Park.