If I've learned one thing over the last several years, it's that bumpy roads are a lot of fun. The problem - as anyone who knows them can attest - is that in time, all good things get destroyed by bumpy roads. It is a conundrum. The key of course, is to replace the good things before they are destroyed. Preventative maintenance. The easiest kind - or the hardest, depending on your outlook. Anyway, after nearly five years of service, I successfully bounced, rattled, flexed my heavy duty Alcan Spring leaf pack to death - breaking my first leaf on a…
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I've been through this before. Not all that long ago really. But the story bears repeating - at least partially - because, eventually, we all need new seats. And now - at long last - I have some! The last few years have seen the number of miles on the Tacoma explode. It took 16 years for me to put the first 60K miles on the truck, and now - almost exactly 5 years later - it's sitting at 205,597! It's been a great ride overall, though I must say, it hasn't been quite so nice for my ass -…
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December 31, 2021. Another year in the books. After a crazy turn in 2020 with COVID-19, I'd say that we got through this year with a pretty good rhythm - though, still not the same as pre-pandemic years. My biggest takeaway this year was that - since @mrs.turbodb and I mostly went on trips solo - food stuffs really got simplified for us. Essentially, we traded variety for ease of preparation and cleanup. For us, it was a worthwhile change, though I can see how it would get monotonous for some folks. Taken with the Rig Reviews, this series of…
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By and large, the Tacoma has performed spectacularly over the 21 years since I drove it off the lot. With regular maintenance, I've really only had two or three failures - none of those failures requiring anything more than an early drive home - over the 200,000 miles it has travelled! I suppose I can't always expect everything to work perfectly, and on my Back for More trip to Death Valley, I had a bad-enough-to-head-home-immediately failure of the transfer case. But, the story starts much, much earlier... Background It was in November 2018 - while on a trip to the…
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In what is becoming a tradition, I've combed through my photos from 2021 to find my favorites. In doing so, I realized that some are photos that I think are really good compositions, some are ones that have - to me - interesting coloring, and some are photos that recall a special - again, to me - memory or accomplishment. Trips: 20 | Tent nights: 87 | Total photos: 4361 I hope everyone enjoys them, and please - feel free to share your favorite below, or if you think I've overlooked one of my photos - of which I know…
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October 16, 2021. It's been nearly three years since I installed my ADS suspension on all four corners of the Tacoma. I did the rears first - twice, actually - relocating them for more travel. The fronts were installed not long after, and of course I've been battling the spherical bearings ever since. In that time, I've put 88,000 miles on the truck and I've known for a while that it was time to service the shocks. For anyone who just wants a step-by-step guide on rebuilding shocks - as opposed to reading the story of my experience - I've…
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It seems like it's been a lot longer, but it was only a couple of weeks ago that I noticed my rear axle housing was leaking at the passenger side leaf spring perch. On my way home from surveying the Aftermath of the Creek and Dixie Fires, I knew that this was not some maintenance item that I could just put off until there were no trips on the horizon. Nope, this is something that I needed to deal with right away. After several fruitful discussions with my buddies on TacomaWorld, I immediately set about lining up the long-term fix…
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September 26, 2021. For the last few months, my steering rack has had a slow leak. I first noticed it when we were exploring New Mexico on the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR), but it hasn't taken much to keep it topped off so I mostly ignored it, except for buying a new steering rack and letting it sit in the box. This is the story of my replacement. I'll gloss over a lot of details, and share the nuances of my install. Think of it as entertainment, really. If you're looking for how to do it, I've written…
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I never win anything. I think we all sort of feel that way when it comes to raffles and drawings. I must have entered hundreds of them when I was younger - never winning a single one. Eventually, I gave up even throwing my name into the hat at all - it just wasn't worth my time (or giving away my email address and other random personal information that they usually asked for). But the other day, I was browsing around the internet - as one does - and I stumbled on a giveaway of some Diode Dynamics SS3 Sport…
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The last few years have seen the number of miles on the Tacoma explode. It took 16 years for me to put the first 60K miles on the truck, and now - almost exactly 5 years later - it's sitting at 188,994! It's been a great ride overall, though I must say, it hasn't been quite so nice for my ass - and more importantly, back - recently. It's the seats, of course. Over time, the foam in them wears out, and while mine are still in fantastically good shape compared to other 21-year-old seats - a fact that I…
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June 17, 2021. I've used a fuel siphon ever since I switched from carrying extra fuel in Rotopax to using Scepter Military Jerry Cans. Siphons make the whole process easy - fuel cans don't need to move from their storage location in order to refill, and there's no risk of spilling fuel down the side of the truck or on the ground. The only drawback I've heard is that draining a 5 gallon jerry can takes three minutes instead of 45 seconds with a spout. But seriously, who is in that kind of rush? There are a plethora of fuel siphons…
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If you'd asked me a couple years ago, "How long will you have the 4Runner?" My response would have been something along the lines of, "Forever." Or at the very least, "Until @mini.turbodb needs her first car." I surely didn't think we'd be selling it after just a couple summers. But, as it turns out, the plans for how the 4Runner fit into our lives just didn't work out the way we'd envisioned it. Sure, it was great for those family outings that we'd bought it for - the kiddo sleeping inside, and @mrs.turbodb and I in the CVT on…
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May 24, 2021. It was five years ago now that I made a huge mistake in the stereo department for the Tacoma. At the time, I thought I was fixing my first mistake in the stereo department, but it turns out I was simply prioritizing form over function - and that's never the right decision. But let's take a step back in history for just a second, to see how we got here. When I purchased the truck in late 1999, I got the fanciest stereo I could from Toyota. It was super gnarly. I mean really. Of course it…
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Squeaky bushings annoy a lot of people. I am not one of those people. And so, as my bushings have squeaked over the years, I've just let them do their thing - usually until I next wash the truck at which point the squeaking stops. And so, my bushings have "lasted" for 20 years. In fact, with the exception of the bushings in the rear leaf springs - which were refreshed when I got a new leaf pack from Alcan - I think all of them are still original. Oh, and the upper control arms (UCAs) bushings have been replaced,…
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I've procrastinated replacing the windshield for two years now, a problem I appear to have first noted in a rig review after our Mojave Redemption trip in 2019! My reasoning - or worry - was twofold, really: I've always heard bad things about windshield replacement and the resulting leaks once the new glass is installed. I'm sure this is - as usual - due to inexperienced workmanship or lack of attention to detail, but I always feel like that's sort of what you get when someone else works on your vehicle. I know that's probably a broad over-generalization, but it's…
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I've replaced the spherical bearings on my ADS coilovers several times now. I only really mentioned it the first and second times, but its become regular maintenance every 10,000 miles or so - generally about 3-4 trips and ~2 oil changes. I chalked it up to normal maintenance required on higher end shock components, but that doesn't mean it's an enjoyable process or that I like dropping the extra $60 or so each time I do it. After talking to quite a few folks, it seems that there are several experiences and opinions as to their longevity and the right…
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Well, I ran over my 80D and favorite lens with the Tacoma. It wasn't pretty and I wasn't happy, but it happened, and you can read about it in Tragedy in the Tablelands. I'd already been pining after a new, full-frame mirrorless camera, but of course, with a perfectly working setup, I was unlikely to get one. Ultimately, I used this opportunity to pick up a brand-spanking-new Canon R6, and two lenses - an RF 24-240mm f4-6.3 IS USM and a wide angle RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM. It was an expensive day, to say the least. Candy store.…
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Well, another year is in the books. It wasn't normal - not by any stretch of the imagination, but we were lucky to get a lot of great trips in despite the precarious situation that the world found ourselves enveloped by for most of the year. As the end of the year rolls around, I recalled enjoying the process I went through for the first time last year - picking through my photos from the year, re-remembering all the great times, so I figured I'd do it again! So let's get started. My Top 24 I see the light. (Exploring…
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December 31, 2020. What a CRAZY year! Still, we've been able to get out quite a bit, and as usual, what we take with us has changed slightly. Taken with the Rig Reviews, this series of posts give a good sense of what's working and what's not with the setup. So, without further ado, let's dig into what's on and in the truck at the end of 2020! Additions for 2020 are marked in red. Items we no longer take are struck through. The Truck Itself Obviously we can't adventure without the actual vehicle. To see how it's outfitted, check…
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If you've been following along for the last couple of months, you'll know that after 18 years of running my original halogen headlight bulbs, I finally had enough of running blind at night and replaced them with some LEDs - allowing me to see again! Now, after a mere 6 weeks - and really, within two weeks of the switch - I'm changing it up again. I knew as soon as I installed the BEAMTECH H4 LED Headlights that I had some reservations - mostly around the much-bluer-than-halogen light color that was emitted from the housings. It turns out, however,…
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