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Got out to Anzo-Borrego State Park with the dog over Thanksgiving.  
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Dec 2, 2020 05:02
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FogHelmut posted:That place is great. Which roads did you take? I didnt know the name of the trails at the time, but after looking at a map - the first shot is the entrance to Plum Canyon trailhead, and the second pic is halfway up indian gorge road. I don't know the area at all and drove out from San Diego on a whim. Do you have any trail recommendations? I'd like to go back.
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Dec 3, 2020 23:28
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FogHelmut posted:Is that towards the south end of the park? The last time I was there, we went out of Borrego Springs down Dump Road to Borrego Sink Wash to Borrego Mountain Wash.  (ignore the random spike to the middle of the park, I'm guessing google maps got confused) Looks like I was further west / south than you. I drove through the Ocatillo Wells OHV park a tiny bit once, just the stuff that I could see from the side of 78. That looks really cool! I'll go and check that out soon and bring back pics. I don't suppose anyone here has done the Mojave road, and has any tips? I'm thinking about that for Christmas break
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Dec 5, 2020 05:16
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MomJeans420 posted:Those look pretty cool, although at that price I'd probably just buy a winch. Welcome to the Socal based, Solo off roading Taco club! I'd suggest a Hi Lift instead of a winch for a few reasons: - at least with every trail you've listed so far, you would only need a winch if you purposefully went out looking for trouble. Most BLM/OHV trails are marked and rated for difficulty, and its extremely unlikely that you'll wander off the map into double black diamond stuff in the southwest. I cannot speak for every off road trail in the western US, but in my experience every trail had a 'should i be doing this?' section before it got to the 'poo poo.gently caress.' section. I.e. driving through lots of brush, hit the skid plate at the start of the rocks, etc. You will usually see a defeat route or a bypass for the genuinely gnarly stuff - as a 3rd gen Taco owner, putting on a winch bumper is either very hard or extremely hard. I wouldnt want to put the bumper on now, to take it off and put the winch back on later. - as an alternative to a winch or a comealong, I would suggest a 60" farm jack (needs to be 60". 48" always winds up being too short) with the winching kit (https://hi-lift.com/accessories/off-road-kit/) There are numerous youtube videos that show how this process is done. Yes, its a huge pain in the rear end BUT its not as big a pain in the rear end as paying for/installing a winch on a Taco. Also, at least in my experience, I never needed to get winched more than five feet or so. - as part of the hi lift, you will want a wheel lift kit https://hi-lift.com/accessories/lift-mate/ and the off road stand (https://hi-lift.com/accessories/off-road-base/) There's nowhere on your truck that you can use a hi lift without damaging the truck or being unsafe, and You can also use this to free yourself from mud or sand - use the jack on the off road stand to lift up one wheel, stack stuff underneath it, lift other wheel and repeat. Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 19:42
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MomJeans420 posted:I still have to look at jacks and recovery gear, I only have some basic items right now that were given to me so I'm not sure if I should even use them unless I can determine their age. I wouldn't mind an alternative to a hi-lift, but the x-jack doesn't seem as useful and arb's hydraulic alternative to a hi-lift looks nice but is very expensive. I'll have on sliders by the time I'm out there so at least I'll have lift points. That winching kit looks pretty cool though, I need to go spend some time on youtube. I'd consider the Hi LIft to be a recovery tool more than anything. I still have the factory bottle jack in case I get a flat on a regular surface. After all this shiling for Hi Lift, I should add - they can be crazy loving dangerous . Its safe to assume that a Hi Lift is always actively trying to murder you. They are safer than the come-along somebody posted earlier in this thread, but only marginally. You should be thinking about air lockers instead 
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Jun 2, 2021 06:43
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AmbassadorofSodomy posted:As the one who posted the come long a few posts ago, what its less safe about it vs the highlift for "winching"? IME come-alongs aren't designed or rated to recover vehicles, so its really easy to unknowingly exceed the limit and have it explode. The ratcheting systems and the spools on come-alongs (again, in my experience) don't handle the dynamic weight of vehicle recovery very well. The ones you've linked look to be very well made compared to the harbor freight / home depot models of my experience, but they're all rated for about 4-6k lbs. Sometimes all you need is a little drag, and thats OK, but I've blown up two separate come-alongs trying to recover vehicles that weighed less than 4000 pounds. One time the come-along broke a Nissan Hardbody free, but as the weight shifted it pulled on the drum at an odd angle. Second time the come-along was simply overloaded pulling a Bronco 2 out of the mud. In both of those scenarios, a hi-lift winch would've worked and been safer. With that said, a hi lift still isnt really safe for lifting or winching. Obviously using a single jack to lift a vehicle 3+ feet in the air is dangerous, but also the ratcheting system can transfer energy back into the handle. Here is a link to a video showing what can happen when you lower a vehicle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDVau7w-WIk I couldn't find an example video, but this can also happen when you're winching a vehicle. There is also a lot of operator error that can happen with a Hi Lift, like leaving the handle down and having it come unlocked or getting your face between the jack and the handle. Also cannot stress this enough - whichever solution, use synthetic ropes. They're far safer, they're easier to work with, and its easier to tell if they're damaged and need to be replaced. Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Jun 2, 2021 |
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Jun 2, 2021 16:07
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Got the lift put on the truck and took it out last weekend. Original plan had been to drive through Joshua Tree for a shakedown, but I saw a '4 wheel drive road' sign and I couldn't pass it up.  Somewhere on the first leg of the road  Further along the road, up into the ridge  Rest Stop  Trail difficulty jumped from 2/10 to 8/10 almost instantly as the trail left the park. Hard technical rock crawling on fixed rock face with no clear lines. Took a few hard bounces and now my front end makes a clunky-clunky noise over bumps, but at least no body damage. I should've turned around and found the right trail, but it was late and I was tired. Lesson learned, no more impromptu off roading like that again. Hopefully something was just knocked loose on the truck and I can get it fixed to go back out next weekend and catch the right trail.
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Jun 9, 2021 14:21
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MomJeans420 posted:Vampire Panties - what lift is that, and more importantly what breed is your dog? Fox Factory 2.5 coilovers / shocks with DSC reservoirs, SPC UCAs, Hellwig sway bars front & rear (shop guys couldn't stop rolling their eyes at the rear sway bar, but its my DD), OME EL111r springs, BAMF spring hangers with crossbar. I feel like the only misstep was the SPC UCAs - the shop manager gave an impassioned 10 minute speech about how SPC weren't meant to be used in lifts, they're designed to be used in wrecked cars to bring them back into alignment. After his speech, reading the website descriptions again, and seeing the SPC UCAs on the truck, I have very little confidence in them and I'll be looking to upgrade them ASAP. Not sure if I'm going to stay with a ball joint or upgrade to uniball. Ride quality is dramatically improved with this setup, especially on-road performance. Drove an hour up a washboard in Joshua Tree maintaining 25 mph+ and it was completely comfortable with zero fade. Its also fun pushing 3 series through turns Flash is a Rat Terrier, although his coloring is relatively rare for the breed. He is also a very good boy & I'm very lucky to have him.  ryanrs posted:There are a thousand lovely come-a-longs out there, and one good one made by Wyeth-Scott. You want the big one with the synthetic line. And read the manual, you need to wind the reel with tension or else the line will wedge. Don't just throw it in your trunk. Practice and learn the technique. Interesting, I saw those when you linked them earlier in the thread. They look beefy, for sure, and its heartening to see the manufacturer offer to double the length of the handle, but I would need to see it in person before I felt comfortable spending that much money on a come-a-long. I've had two separate recoveries that were made 100x worse through come-a-long failure. ..and with all this talk of come-a-longs and hi lifts, I pulled the trigger on a Hiline bumper + Warn EVO 10s... *sigh* I know factually I don't need it and its a big ole boat anchor on the front of my truck, but here I am.
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Jun 10, 2021 14:49
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Arishtat posted:I’ve had my SPC upper control arms since Jan 2018 and they’re still going strong. Just in case I bought a spare upper ball joint as that was one of the most common failure points on SPC’s products, but regular re-greasing has kept those spares in the box. The only reason I would change now is if I threw caution (and money) to the wind and went long travel which is kind of a waste on a 4Runner because of other reasons (approach and departure angles are pretty low). Thanks, but I already ordered JBA UCAs. I think I can flip the SPC on Facebook to offset most of the cost. The SPCs just look too thin on the truck. Re: suspension - You should absolutely upgrade the springs in your truck with all of that extra weight. 4runners are good for ~1k in payload capacity, and you probably have at least half of that in steel. As to which shock to get - what are you looking to accomplish? go fast on washboards? climb up rocks better? a better daily ride? I had Bilstein 5100s on a Jeep Wrangler and it was great for day-to-day pavement with light offroading, but they were worthless on washboards. On my Tacoma now, I went with Fox Factory 2.5 with reservoir. I chose Fox over King because Fox has more durable components but I honestly couldn't say if there is a large performance difference between the two. Did you have a specific manufacturer or model in mind?
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Jun 28, 2021 23:02
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Well, didn't really need 4 wheel drive to get out to the rockhouse in Clark Dry Lake, but it was (sort of) fun nonetheless. In person, Meth Fortress was an anti-climatic methshed Re: suspension chat - Truck soaked up desert road at 50 mph like it was nothing. I hit 60 for a spurt, but slowed down because I'm worried about cracking the fiberglass shell on the back. Overall I'm very satisfied with the suspension, although I'm very meh on desert stuff. I'm already thinking about larger tires for more serious trails  
Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Jul 7, 2021 |
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Jul 7, 2021 00:47
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MomJeans420 posted:Dumb question but I'm sure someone on here has dealt with this before. If have a 4'x7.5' flat roof rack like this I've only had one cargo net work for me in that scenario, and I put it on top of a heavy tarp. It worked beautifully in a cross country drive through an ice storm in Iowa: https://smile.amazon.com/ROCKET-STR...25627879&sr=8-5  Thats covering a 6x8 tarp and three, 27 gallon HDX totes from Home Depot, if that helps you visualize the size. No story on the meth fortress; I'm not sure how i even picked it out. Chrome auto filled 'rockhouse by clark dry lake' when i was searching for places to check out in the Borrego area and the Google Maps pics looked interesting. I'll have to check out Font's Point, although now that its summer I don't have a lot of interest in the desert.
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Jul 7, 2021 04:27
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Arishtat posted:Yeeeeah so about that 'I'll reply by Wednesday July somethingorotherth' that obviously didn't happen. Haha no problem, I ended up canceling the JBA order anyway. If the SPCs break than I'll replace them, but I'm done messing with the suspension on this truck. I have Fox Factory 2.5 with remote reservoir and DSC clickers and they're amazing. I had the same considerations - anywhere (legal) off-road is hours of driving away. Also the freeways in socal are worse than some dirt roads. Washboards are totally A Thing out here, though, which drove the remote reservoir upgrade. If you do go with Fox, I'd highly recommend the DSC clickers; being able to adjust the fast/slow rebound compression on the fly is just great. I didn't think I would mess with them once I got them dialed in, but it's easier than locking a hub or airing down a tire, and there are noticeable results between each click. Specifically, I'll stiffen the slow rebound and soften the fast rebound all the way down for freeway rides (to soak up smaller bumps / uneven payment) but i'll flip the settings when I get into the desert (to keep control through the washboards and soak up the bigger dips). I seem to hit the bumpstops frequently at freeway speeds, so I upgraded those as well  I researched OME BP51 before choosing Fox. Sourcing the BP51s at the time of purchase was tough, and I read that people were needing to get them serviced absurdly quickly. From my very limited understanding, they are more like King in terms of performance, service intervals, and reliability. That was all Tacomaworld  , for whatever that's worth. I almost certainly would've gone with the Bilstein b8000 If they had been available, but I don't know if those actually exist for sale right now. A friend of mine told me that Bilstein was hit hard by the covid supply shortages, and they decided to double down on 5100/6100s production instead of fully running the b8 line. FogHelmut posted:Any thoughts on the Bilstein 6112? I can't speak to 6112 specifically, but I had 5100s on my JKU before my current Tacoma. They were fantastic and it's my understanding that the 6112 is effectively a bigger beefier version of the same shock. IMO they're the best non-rebuildable shock you can get.
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Sep 13, 2021 04:46
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FogHelmut posted:Yeah for the price, I think I'd rather go with the 6112 than the Fox 2.0. Going to the next level up seems to double the cost, and I'm not interested in that. Just trying to have a nicer ride both on and off road, and the 6112 seems to fit the bill. And despite the rebuildability of the Fox, the service life the Bilstein should last as long as I keep this truck. Yeah thats how I upsold myself  to the 2.5s - they weren't that much more than the 2.0s, once I'd already justified that price to myself. Next time I would probably go with the Bilsteins as well. For your truck, what about an add-a-leaf? Slightly more expensive than just a block, but it would give you a significantly better ride. For body roll, I installed a rear sway bar and its a night and day difference. Of course, that really negatively impacts the articulation. (and of course of course, there are sway bar disconnect kits).
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Sep 17, 2021 03:29
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ryanrs posted:I have never been on a group 4x4 trip. I only off road solo. So I've always wondered, when you're driving in a group, isn't it just one horrible, insane dust cloud? How does that work? Especially with Jeeps, who seem to make a point about taking off the roof and doors. It does not sound like a fun time, unless you're the lead vehicle. Yes and no. Most places outside of SoCal / US Southwest dont have miles and miles of empty dirt. However there are dirt roads everywhere, which are awful in groups, but the group slows down when you get on the trail. Usually trail riding in groups a lot of waiting while the vehicle up the line gets over whichever specific obstacle. Also in my experience, trails outside of Socal didn't really have dust. They were a mix of hardpacked dirt, mud, grass, gravel, and rock scree. I was more worried about a truck throwing a rock through my windshield or radiator than I was I was about dust.
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Sep 21, 2021 05:08
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FogHelmut posted:
As I found out when I put Bilsteins on my previous ride, shock boots aren't really a thing anymore. The seal around the shock shaft is good enough that it doesn't need it and the shock shafts are strong enough to take direct hits from rocks and such. However, a shock boot can trap dirt & water against the shock seal and ruin it. it makes sense, but i was a little disappointed. I thought I was getting shock boots as well
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Oct 11, 2021 04:03
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Paulie posted:Couple of vidyas of the samurai doing it's thing. As you can see I didn't have time to get the lockers installed prior to the trip. I have a spare front housing that's loaded with a spartan locker and RCVs that's just about ready to go, but I didn't want a rush job and forget something. Plus it was fun seeing how it did with manual steering, open/open with just the suspension, tires, cage and tcase gears.  This is fantastic, thank you. Its nice seeing liberal application of the long pedal to overcome obstacles 
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Oct 15, 2021 20:48
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FogHelmut posted:Was sitting at the top of Maple Springs where it meets Main Divide road doing a shakedown run since I installed the Bilsteins and am driving to Flagstaff and Sedona Thanksgiving week, and a Rivian drove up. The guy works at the HQ in Irvine and was testing it out. He said it was his first time driving off road, then he casually went over an obstacle that a lifted Tacoma and Silverado Trail Boss were having issues with. Electric/hybrid vehicles are going to make gas burners obsolete because of their absurd power. You have a Tacoma, right? The sway bar could be creaking if its shifting in the bushing, but I don't know if that would make a clunking noise. I didnt want to deal with the drop down brackets when I lifted my truck, so I ended up ordering longer end links. https://overlandcustomdesign.com/products/forged-ball-joint-sway-bar-links I haven't heard a peep from my front end under any circumstances, and the shop who installed the lift really liked them.
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Nov 14, 2021 04:03
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FogHelmut posted:Chevy Colorado. It's not a full clunk. Not like a ball joint. But it's not a creak. It's somewhere in between. Only hits once per side if I'm going over a bump while turning. Like if I'm turning left, it hits the right side. But not if I turn left again. I'd have to turn right, then it hits the left side, then I turn left and it hits the right side. I really don't know anything about Chevy Colorados, but IFS is generally the same between all trucks these days. If you can see the sway bar connected to the spindle on both sides, and you can see the bushings are bolted to the truck, than its probably OK. With your description of the timing and the need to 'reset' by turning left/right/left to generate the noise in the same spot, it sounds like something is sliding around up front. Honestly it sounds like my ancient Bronco II where the battery slid around in the tray until bungie corded it in place. I'd assume there isn't room in the Colorado engine bay for that, though, but maybe the dust cover that modern engines have? FAKE EDIT - I went and googled Colorado IFS, and it really could be your end link. Seems like the end link goes straight down into the lower control arm, w/o an extra articulation point. To compare, the Toyota end link has two joints. If the end link had play on the attachment to the lower control arm, than I could see that back/forth being an issue.
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Nov 14, 2021 05:27
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Ferremit posted:Ifs works way better without a front seat at anyway. My 100 hasn’t had one for about 6 years now and it didn’t have that big an impact on the handling Yeah i was going to mention that - the dudes who worked on my truck liked my sway bar setup and end links, but they were also like..'why are you putting a sway bar on and not taking it off' At least for the Tacomas, most of the spindle gussets and/or LCAs eliminate the sway bar mount entirely. I can actually sorta talk about how my truck runs w/o a sway bar, because the truck shop guys messed up tightening the front sway bar after the initial 500 mile shakedown, and the bolt on one side came loose (and cut the boot on my cv shaft and covered the whole wheel well in grease  ) I didn't notice it at the time, I did hear some clunking like what FogHelmut described but not in the same pattern. On one hand, it was nice because the front wheels could soak up big road differentials better, but it wasn't as fun to drive on the street. I also had a rear sway bar installed, so that complicates things.
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Nov 14, 2021 18:18
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DumbparameciuM posted:Not quite that exciting unfortunately. I'm tossing up between the Yamaha Viking and the Kawasaki Mule for agri work on a very steep and windy property in rural Australia and was looking for some pointers in either direction about which one would be the better way to go. The Kawi is slightly more expensive but has the options for a closed cabin, front winch and hydraulic lift for the tray. It's also slightly more powerful. It seems like it has less clearance but possibly a better approach angle. The Yamaha is slightly cheaper but less powerful, with bigger storage capacity. Both have options for diff locks but I'm a bit of a newb in the 4x4/offroading space so any feedback regarding which would be the better option for going up steep as gently caress grass hills would be much appreciated. ryanrs posted:Yes, especially the ones with 200 hp turbo engines. I don't know anything about SxS or UTVs but would love to learn. Some of them run 35" tires?!?!?!!
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Nov 16, 2021 16:21
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Probably a vote in the wrong direction, but BFG KO and KO2s have literally never failed me. They're quiet on the road, you can get them in a ton of sizes, and they wear really well. Knock on wood, but I've never even had so much as a flat with them, and I put a hard 30k miles on a set of 315/70r17s and they were still good to go. Caveats- they can be slippery on oily roads, like socal after it rains, and they dont really self-clean in mud. However they are FANTASTIC in the snow. And just because nobody has mentioned them itt, there are also Nitto Trail/Ridge Grapplers, which are an AT or an AT/MT hybrid. I personally haven't used them, but a friend of mine has used Nitto exclusively on his jeeps for years now. The AT especially is supposed to be a light, durable tire with good traction. Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Nov 17, 2021 |
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Nov 17, 2021 18:37
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ryanrs posted:So speaking of tires, is there a relationship between wheel width / tire width / sidewall vulnerability? Right now I have 15x6.5 steel wheels with KO2 215/75R15 tires, generally run 15-20 psi offroad. This combo is right at the limit wrt scrubbing at steering extremes. But should I be thinking about offsets, different widths, or whatever? I don't know tire science at this level. Tire width wrt to wheel width is important when you air down, because you don't want the bead busting off the wheel. Wheel offset can be important in race cars, but its mostly important here for steering articulation. I went to BFG's website and I didn't see the very exact tire size you described, but generally speaking a 15x6.5 wheel would be the right width for a tire that size. Since it sounds like you're running steelies, and I'm sure those tires are significantly heavier than the factory tire, the only appreciable performance gain you could get would be to get lighter wheels. And its sorta nebulous what the performance would be. sidewalls: sidewall strength is kinda/sorta determined by the tire's load rating. For KO2s, and really most popular truck tires, theres C rated and E rated. For the KO2 specifically, a C rated tire will have a six ply sidewall. This will be a softer ride and a lighter tire, although obviously not as strong. An E rated tire will be ten ply, so a much stiffer ride and noticeably heavier. Thing is, not all tire manufacturers offer every size in every rating, so you would potentially have to go to a larger tire as well. With how little your van weighs and with the offroading you've shown itt, I wouldn't really worry about it.
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Nov 18, 2021 03:00
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Krakkles posted:Everything else you said is 100% correct, and the conclusions from these specific points is still very much true, but six and ten ply tires don’t really exist anymore. The KO2 E range is apparently 3 ply Huh good to know, i had no idea that ply was a rating/value on tires. That makes sense, insomuch that it seems weird that there would be a 10 or 12 layer tire in TYOOL 2021. FogHelmut posted:Got a set of Prothane end links and all irregular noises are gone.  do you think you crushed the bushing on the other end links?
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Nov 18, 2021 03:41
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kastein posted:I liked my BFG AT KOs too other than the banana peel sidewalls everyone already called out. But that's true of duratracs too. I had BFG KM2s on a Nissan Frontier and yeah, I think I got maybe 15k miles on them? maybe? and they're not as soft as those. They were great tires for the first 10k miles or so and then they got l o u d. I've thought about switching back, because I never drive anywhere and the performance is real, but I can't stomach driving something that annoyingly loud again. Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 06:33 on Nov 18, 2021 |
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Nov 18, 2021 06:30
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Splinter posted:Once you get into full bumpers, I believe there are more options for rear carriers and swing outs other than Expedition One that might be a little cheaper and/or not have issues like you mentioned reported (e.g. Coastal Offroad, Victory 4x4). I went through this exact same discovery process for my Tacoma. I upgraded to the BAMF leaf spring hangers w/ the crossbar, which means I cant fit any spare under the bed anymore. I didnt want to go with the full bumper + tire carrier, because its really expensive and also total overkill for my needs. Also i live less than a mile from the beach, and maybe the first 4x4er in history to say this, but I want MORE plastic on my truck. A scratch in the powder coat is basically a death sentence here. I've seen the Wilco carriers in person, and thats a hard pass for me. For the price, they're extremely janky/shoddy in person IMO. Also the aforementioned rust - the one I saw was heavily rusted, like it looked like a powdercoat failure. I've seen the Rigd in person and they're great, but they're really not any less expensive than getting a bumper with a tire carrier. I somehow miraculously found these guys: https://www.rigid-armor.com/toyota. Originally I had ordered the 500 dollar fold down tire carrier, but after doing that once or twice i realized that I'm way too old to gently caress with that every time I want to open the tailgate. The owner Daniel was really gracious and let me trade it in and upgrade to the full swingout carrier, and gave me a discount. I added the rotopax mount and the fold down table, and IIRC i was 1200 or so out the door? Its EXTREMELY solid, I'm really glad I purchased it (although fair warning, the powdercoat on it seems to be poo poo and I'm probably going to have to go back up to LA to swap out an arm. I think its just a one-off though) I was working on it today, wiring up a license plate bracket light and a brake light behind the tire carrier. I'll take some pics and post them tomorrow.
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Nov 23, 2021 06:47
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Alright here's my tire carrier. The wiring needs to be cleaned up but this is pretty much good to go. One thing I really like about this carrier versus other carriers I've seen is there's no turning latch, its just a lynch pin with a cotter pin to hold it in place. Its rock solid when its closed.  Up close  Swung open with the table folded down  At night with running lights.  I also installed these guys in the very tiny lip between the tailgate and bumper. With the blacked out taillights, and other drivers not paying attention in general, I wanted something more. I've had these on the truck for over a year and they're fantastic. A little beat up looking up close, but they've held up extremely well for being amazon specials. Also yes its a 60" farmers jack. IME the regular 48" hi-lift is juuuuuust short enough to get into really dangerous situations. If I have to break out the goddamn bloodthirsty thing, I want to do it right. re: GX - I could've sworn I saw Lexus on the Rigid Armor website, but its clearly not there. I think there's some GX pictured on their instagram page but I'm not certain either. Its basically a one-man operation out of a workshop in Whittier CA, so I'm sure you could reach out and ask. Now once I recover from crashing my bicycle on Monday (  ) I'll get out into the dirt
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Nov 25, 2021 09:10
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wesleywillis posted:Anyone deal with Bay Area Metal Fab? I know nothing whatsoever of their politics but I have their leaf spring hangers on my 3rd gen taco. I'd given them a pass since they're in the Bay Area, which is a little bit foolish in retrospect. I just went and leafed through quite a bit of their website and instagram and I saw nothing political whatsoever.... but I've been wrong before. The leaf spring hangers are top notch FWIW MomJeans420 posted:That sticks out a lot less than I thought it would, it looks like a pretty decent option. I guess I have the problem of where I'd store it when it's not on the GX as my garage space is limited right now. I never go to meetups but I'm thinking I should go to a GX meetup and see how the JW carrier feels in person once it's installed. For being bumper mounted, it sits tight. And at least for me, this thing is permanent. Not just because of the wiring and reverse camera, but the weight/effort of unmounting it and taking up space in the garage. Also specifically to my taco, I had upgraded to the OME dakar HD springs and they rode like complete rear end when I only had the camper shell on. Now that I've added ~200lbs to the rear, it rides 100% better. Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Nov 30, 2021 |
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Nov 30, 2021 03:30
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Took the dog for an overnight trip up to Death Valley. Although I find myself really wondering if I genuinely need a 4x4 truck, or if an AWD van would be more appropriate. Taking a break outside of Baker  Dog sniffed out some treasure  Zabriskie Point is beautiful, but iphones must have some sort of automagic image processor for national parks; the lighting IRL was bad.   Stopped for the night 
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Dec 8, 2021 18:50
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ryanrs posted:I'm heading to the same area later this month in my fwd van. Ngl, reports of sand have me somewhat concerned. I can't speak to anything outside of echo canyon road specifically, but IMO you should be fine. Weirdly didn't see any sand in my trip, like at all, but I also went the one day it was raining. Much like all of the other 'off road' trails I've seen over SoCal, seems like Death Valley is mostly natural gravel wash that has been driven/compacted into a vague trail. The only thing I'd be concerned about is large unseen rocks - there were a lot of 2-3 foot sized chunks of slag hiding in the usual wash scree. I definitely put a souvenir dent in my skid plate, and I thought I'd hit the rocker panel pretty hard but it looks like I'm ok.
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Dec 8, 2021 19:21
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FogHelmut posted:I want to get out to Death Valley this winter/spring before it gets too hot. Any recommendations? I'm also open for recommendations, specifically 4x4. I struggle greatly with AllTrails and other website recommendations - a lot of people in SoCal think that a gravel road requires four wheel drive. On the other hand, I've already stumbled into double black diamond stuff once at Joshua Tree completely by accident. Reading beforehand, Echo Canyon was described as either a dirt road or a moderate trail adventure, and I could see it being either.
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Dec 8, 2021 20:17
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I was told that Gaia was the best, but that I absolutely needed a tablet to run it... the same day that Gaia announced Apple Carplay support  and it sounds like we're all struggling with the same thing - finding verifiable pictures of the trail, with actual directions/locations of the trail, and a meaningful description. For what its worth, at least twice now I've headed out to 'remote' SoCal locations that were both described as difficult to find or without markers.. to find out that Google Maps had a trail straight to the place. (IIRC Smuggler's Cave and some weird thing out in Anzo-Borrego).
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Dec 8, 2021 23:45
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Atticus_1354 posted:I love gaia. But I'm also a bit of a gis nerd so I realize that not everyone needs all the layers it provides. But I do find it very easy to use and there's a lot of regional Facebook groups that will share trail data that you can directly plug in to it. I tried to use layers in Google Maps to plan out a 2 week+ road trip, and after fighting with it for hours I got this awful abomination that sorta/kinda included everything... with zero ability to send it to my phone or another device. This has actually hurt a lot of (planned) 4x4 adventures because I don't want to drive out to the middle of nowhere to find out the trails been closed, or doesn't exist, or whatever.
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Dec 9, 2021 06:29
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I've only carried extra fuel with me maybe once or twice, a long time ago and only for off roading trips that were at least an hour or two from a gas station. Trips to Lake Pillsbury in northern California specifically. IMO there's really only three trails in the US west where you should really bring extra fuel - The aforementioned lake Pillsbury loop, the Mojave road trail, and the Rubicon. I haven't taken the back loop of Utah or gone up to Ouray CO yet, but its my understanding that effectively all of the major overlanding trails cross a freeway with a gas station at some point.
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Dec 31, 2021 01:57
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This is relatively high on my to-do list for my Taco. Its simple to run a bunch of tube wherever and 1000% worth it to keep the gear oil dry.
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Jan 3, 2022 05:45
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giundy posted:This sounds like planned obsolesce using goretex. Yes and no. I think most year Tacomas vent the rear diff up to the top of the frame inside the bed, which google says is 18" above the rear axle? I think JKUs are a similar height actually
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Jan 11, 2022 08:24
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Made it out to Anza-Borrego / Canyon Sin Nombre. Extremely tame but a great day. Didn't catch a pic of the blackhawk doing canyon runs 20 feet (!!!) overhead Weird loud trees  Jawa shot  big ole cliffies  Favorite part of the trip wasn't pictured - As I pulled into a large flat wash, I came across a group of jeeps and other straight axled vehicles mallcrawling their way through the washboards. I smiled and waved and waited for them to pass, and then I cruised up it going 50
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Jan 17, 2022 04:12
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I've run BFG KOs and KO2s in various sizes collectively for something like 20 years now. I don't think they're the end-all be-all of AT tires, but they've rarely let me down and I keep coming back to them. Pros - wear extremely well. I've gotten serious serious mileage out of a few pairs - very durable - relatively quiet - surprisingly good in snow Cons - heavy - they're getting to be on the expensive side - will not self clean properly in mud - surprisingly bad on oily/wet pavement I have 255/75/r17 C rated BFG KO2s on my truck now, a 2019 toyota tacoma w/ 3" lift. I had 265/65r17 E rated on before the lift. I'm looking at 35ishs now, whether thats a 315/75r17 in BFG KO2, or a 35x10.50 Kenda Klever RT. Toyota trucks have a bunch of weird poo poo about tire width because of how they do the steering alignment; a lotta dudes cut the cab mount  so they can fit larger tires, but uh.... thats not just how the cab stays attached to the frame, thats what prevents the tire being crushed into your legs in an accident. No dice 
Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Mar 6, 2022 |
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Mar 6, 2022 19:39
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FWIW, I have 255/75r17 C-rated BFG KO2s on my 3rd gen tacoma. I like them and they've been really good tires, but I wish I had gone straight to 34x10.5r17s KO2s. At least on tacomas, wheel clearance is more determined by width than height (within reason). The 255s didnt really hurt gas mileage at all, and I haven't ran into any real clearance issues when I've been off roading, but they're noticeably smaller than the 285/70r17 that everyone in SoCal seems to run which obviously makes my penis smaller as well 
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May 14, 2022 06:39
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Ok this probably isn't everyone's experience with SPCs, but I'm pretty sure the ball joint in mine ate poo poo <5k miles.  I wiped a bunch of grease off it, but I'm 99% sure the joint is blown. There is a pretty solid clunk noise going over bumps, and a very subtle shimmy between the front wheels.  I've drove pretty hard around town, and once or twice out in the desert, but I'm surprised that its dead this fast. I dont need the castor of the SPCs with my existing or planned tire size, so I'm leaning towards replacing them with JBA or maybe Camburg instead of repairs. FogHelmut posted:Wise words about UCAs & bushing maintenance  I am looking at these specifically because they have bushings with grease ports that don't require loosening any bolts
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May 14, 2022 16:22
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 00:58 |
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Heh I've ran BFGs for 20+ years now and shilled for BFGs itt several times, but (and a huge and literal knock on wood here) they've never let me down. IMO there are two caveats - they will break loose on a surprisingly small amount of wet pavement, and they don't self clean in heavy mud. IMO those are trivial complaints against rock solid ATs that're fuel efficient and routinely last for 50k+ miles. Also I pulled the trigger on the JBA HD UCAs just now. The ball joint in my truck is FUBAR and I dont feel good driving around with it that way. I'll document the journey for the thread because replacing an UCA is the most mechanically advanced thing I've ever done.
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May 15, 2022 20:42
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