It's been a fun summer. We've gotten out a few times, including a really unusual trip that involved a day-long ferry ride up the western coast of Canada. It's always fun to get into new territory, and Bella Coola and Beyond was definitely that! Having enjoyed the land to the north, we went even further north, making it into Alaska for our first time ever, visiting some of British Columbia's most beautiful terrain along the way. In addition to the trips, summer is a time to get the Tacoma ready for 8 months in the desert. That means there's plenty of…
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TL;DR - The new 5th gear definitely increased my fuel economy on the freeway. Of course, I probably still spent more on the swap than I'll save at the pump!
TL;DR - The extra weight of the new wheels and tires is less of an issue than I thought, and I've decided to keep them - largely because I really like both their looks and the Kenda Klever RTs I'm running on them - rather than looking for something lighter.
TL;DR - I had another limit strap break. I suppose that means they are doing their job, but dang, they are costly to replace!
TL;DR - I swapped out all the gear oil in my diffs and transfer case, and some was in better shape than others.
TL;DR - I had to weld the CBI spare tire carrier back together again. It is clear to me that CBI did not design this carrier for prolonged real-world use.
TL;DR - On the last two trips, the ARB compressor hasn't held pressure on cold mornings, but once the engine bay warms up, it starts to work again. I'm hoping that replacing the seals will solve the problem.
TL;DR - After not having issues for years, I've been having trouble with my alignment for a while now. To resolve it, I installed some cam tab gussets that I probably should have installed a long time ago.
TL;DR - Thank goodness for good friends. Zane @Speedytech7 noticed this crack in the metal frame that secures the passenger front lower control arm when we were reinforcing my alignment cam tabs. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go to the trouble of upgrading the cam tabs; sometimes, we all get more than a little lucky. Got it welded back up as good as new-ish.
TL;DR - I've had a slow leak in one of my Kenda Klever RTs for the last two trips. With a bit of soapy water, I found the problem and got it plugged up.
TL;DR - This is a great tent for two or three people. Its freestanding nature makes it much more flexible than a semi-freestanding tent.
TL;DR - I've always just worn my "current old pair" of tennis shoes when I'm out hiking because I never liked hiking boots. They get beat up quickly on desert trails, and so I finally bought some purpose-designed hiking shoes. Wow, what a difference!
TL;DR - Hiking poles are really helpful and make hiking easier.
TL;DR - Got a new mudflap installed! Thanks to Derek @unstpible.
TL;DR - The mounting bracket for Diode Dynamics SS5 pods has a design flaw, but the company did a great job standing behind their product.
I have been sorely lacking in my rig reviews as of late. In fact, it's been nine months since my last look at what's been working well - and not so well - with the Tacoma, and so rather than just a few trips between this and the previous review, there are 14 trips! Three quarters of a year is a long time for things to get a little wonky out in the wild, and there were a few things that definitely needed some attention, though as usual there were no real major problems; the Tacoma continues to be an…
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TL;DR - My 26-year-old door handle finally broke, and I've replaced it with a metal one.
TL;DR - It's taken a longer than the previous one hundred thousand miles, but I'm up to 300K miles!
TL;DR - There's a new version - based on customer feedback - of the LutzAuto Speedo Correction device that I ran until a couple of them failed, and I'm giving it a try again.
TL;DR - I had to put a new starting battery when my lights were left on by the facility that stores it in Las Vegas. I also took the opportunity to "capture" the battery a little bit better.
