Tundy, house and beetle build thread...and exploring.

Whoa

 

Long story short.. Doubt I'll be hanging out at this house long.

It'll likely end up as a rental and I'll start on another location, or build a second place on the property to stay in while i do that. Depending on the economy. It tanks it'll probably still be a rental and I'll be on vacation road tripping.

Trying to connect with sources of capital to start building specs or subdivisions, but at the same time I'm ready for 4 months off, so no promises.

 

Got parts back on it, tracked down the no brake lights to somewhere near the switch.

Decided to take it out on a run. It handled 6"+ of snow pretty well until i realized i was in the middle of no cell phone service while it was dumping snow and I really didn't have much gas.

It drove better on the highway than the tundra or the Tacoma ever did (due to both having the "standard" driving vibrations). It was hella smooth.

Sure isn't a rocket by any stretch, but it drives. Front tires rub when turning and off-road. Heat kinda works... I don't want to keep the windows closed since the likelihood of asphyxiation is high so i could still see my breath but the windshield did stay defrosted.

 

Exhaust leak?

 

Yeah, the heater boxes push air across the exhaust and into the cab...

And the dumb thing is still leaking oil.


But whatever, ordered a big boy ham radio and antenna for the tundra, yaesu ftm400 xdr.

All the parts should be here this week for the trailer winch, so I'd like to get that installed and operating.

 

Bummer. I'd get that fixed before you doze off driving down the road and don't wake up again.
Where's the leak coming from?

Nice! I keep pondering CB/HAM. Mostly because getting out and meeting up with the group on foot every time we turn onto something is a bit tedious. Especially in larger groups. If I go CB I want to mount a PA speaker for Shits and gigs.

 

After having a ham... I pretty much did away with the CB. Yes, they are useful, since people still have them, but I didn't have room for both. Now I just have handheld baofengs but after you use them for a while, they start shocking me... literally through the metal mount thing on the back. I've wanted a real one for a while, this will have APRS and 50w of power to reach out and touch someone. Best thing about the ham is being able to inexpensively have a ham in the truck and also handhelds if you get out (or if you need a spotter but cant see or hear them, radios work great).

I haven't wanted to wire anything up to the tundra... still scarred, but this will be the one thing. I've wanted aux lighting for the stuff i do, but just make do with what I have. None of that until its on something I own.

 

Just take it slow and make sure you're soldering all connections, and heat shrinking them to prevent bad connections and shorts.

 

Yeah... Well i think this radio comes with the harness and fuse, so it'll just get connected. But still nothing else wired on this one.

 

I actually like wiring. As long as I have a 'helping hands' stand to hold the wires together. I wired in mine and my wife's head-units/subs. Nothing in the Taco yet. Waiting till I have a garage and fun money before I start delving into electronics etc. I want to do some under seat subs and just a bit of sound deadening.

If/when I do a tundra engine swap, I'm going full Mil-spec plug and wiring up my own looms.

 

Yeah, I'm not much of a fan of electrical. I've learned a lot and before doing anything that is significant, i make sure i get the nod from someone who knows their shit.

But even with everything fused, and everything aftermarket behind a resettable breaker...skimping on one component that seemed to be fine after those protections still managed to bite me.

Live and learn...I'm just a lot more careful now with wiring and even heaters in general.

I'll be happy to try again... And cross my t's, but it'll be on something owned. If the stupid bug wouldn't leak oil i was going to reward it with fog lights. But, she's in time out right now.

 

Speaking of.. Truck and trailer upgrades are starting to pile up.

Quite a few other components on the way for these two.

 

Hey Brandon, What are the house building rules up there again? We were talking about it a bit last trip but what are the House Mini SqFt and you said no garage until home is up right?

 

I think minimums are dictated by code, don't think there is a set sf.

But yes, technically no garage unless you have a residence or permit for residence.

But...if you're looking in Hartsel or somewhere less obvious and aren't planning to resell. I say take pics, do it right and ask for forgiveness later if it's ever an issue. That's what most seem to do anyways.

Most people just build a garage or whatever on the weekend and never have an issue.

 

Trip to moab over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Finally just uploaded all of the pictures I narrowed it down to (started with 400+). All taken with the trusty LG G5. I still havent had a chance to pull the other camera out of the truck and upload those pics, but i think there were only a few shots.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qkk6nKufqhEp45wg7

 

I'll have to look at home. Work has image sharing blocked.

 

I added a bit to the recovery q&a thread (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/recovery-q-a-and-help.468373/) and figured I would copy it over here as well. I finally am trying to restock a survival bag, and only have the recovery basics right now.

Heres the post from that thread.

Vehicle recovery basics list
http://a.co/9mP2Ry2

And I also went ahead and did a vehicle go bag/survival bag
http://a.co/5ejOllS

For both lists, I chose items that I would not worry about having in my kit. You can always upgrade items to better that will be more expensive or swap similar prices for a brand/style/color that matches what you want.

Vehicle Recovery List:
More shackles and straps are better (especially the inexpensive static straps). With extra tree savers or longer straps, it will allow you to do things like use your hi lift as a winch (I've used it by itself and I've used it as a secondary winch while I was using my winch. The hi lift kept the rear of the truck from sliding off the edge. Another main component are the shackles. Having more is always better than less. As with some of the examples I showed earlier in this thread, a simple recovery done safely requires a bunch of straps and shackles.

You might ask why I put a winch extension and snatch block on there if you dont have a winch. You can use that extension and a snatch block just like you would if you had a winch. Make sure snatch blocks are always only used for either synthetic or cable. Once you use one with a cable winch line, never use it for synthetic again because it will rip the rope with the cuts the cable puts into the metal. I had an ARB and the smittybilt that I listed and only ever used the smittybilt. And it was used a lot!

This is not a complete list, but just a good idea for starters, or a good refresher/reminder of some small item that you might've overlooked.

Vehicle survival bag:
Again, i put items that I would trust. For most of the stuff, the multiple packs were just as cheap as a single item in which case the multiples were put in the cart. Its never a bad idea to throw those items in another vehicle, backpack, or use them to create a second bag.

This also is not a complete list, but just a good idea for starters, or a good refresher/reminder of some small item that you might've overlooked.

The lists will change as I add/subtract or substitute items. If there is something I forgot, let me know and I'll put it on there. Or if you have a question of why something is on there, ask away!

 

It’s a sign

 

What year big were you looking for?