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…
2 CommentsCategory: Shop Talk
A parent category that captures non-trip related posts and information. Sub-categories can filter this further.
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…
6 Comments
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…
Leave a Comment
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…
4 Comments
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…
7 Comments
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,…
8 Comments
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…
Leave a Comment
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…
4 Comments
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.…
Leave a Comment
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…
5 Comments
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…
8 Comments
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,…
16 Comments
The plan with the 4Runner was always to keep it a little bit more tame than the Tacoma. After all, it's our family adventure vehicle - used mostly for home-base-style camping, and less for prolonged driving adventures. But, some systems need to work in both vehicles - and the fridge is a great example. The Backstory Up until this summer, when we ventured over to Washington's Olympic Peninsula, I'd always just nursed the fridge along - running it as we drove to camp, and then turning it off once we reached our destination. There were a few reasons for that…
2 Comments
19 years, 1 month, 28 days. That's how long it's been since my first mod to the truck - when I disabled my daytime running lights (DRLs) - so that I wouldn't have to replace my headlights so often . OK, that, among other reasons. Anyway, I thought the DRL disable mod had been working just fine for the last 18 years - that is, until I went and made my Hella 700FF offroad lights turn on-and-off with my hi-beams. That mostly worked, except that - for some reason I didn't understand at the time - when the Hellas were set to…
Leave a Comment
For years now, I've felt like the headlights on my 1st gen Tacoma left a little something to be desired. More than a little something, really. Some of it is my fault - the bulbs I have installed are over 20 years old, surely not as bright as they once were - but it seems to me that 1998-2000 Tacomas have always had the crappiest of the 1st gen headlights. Initially, I added Hella 500FFs to the front bumper to solve this problem. They were great until they got destroyed when I hit a deer for the first time. I…
Leave a Comment
I've done a lot of work to the suspension on the Tacoma - with good reason since it is what helps to make our trips more comfortable, and what helps to isolate most of the truck from the harsh terrain over which we travel. In doing that work, one of the things I knew that I needed - at least technically - was a good set of limit straps. But - as with many who focus on the bling of a new shock, and less on completely finishing the job - I never installed any. Not on the back, and…
13 Comments
First gen Tacoma's don't see much love from the fabricators these days. It's understandable, really - these trucks are getting older and there aren't as many out there as 2nd and 3rd gen Tacoma's. Plus, those of us that own 1st gens are cheap - that's part of why we're still running these older trucks! Knowing that this was the case even a few years ago, I eagerly awaited a sale to purchase a rear diff skid from Jerry @JLee and the good folks over at Bay Area Metal Fabrication (BAMF). One came along for Black Friday, and despite the…
Leave a Comment
For a couple years now, I've been using a Coleman Camp Grill/Stove. While the stove isn't perfect, I don't consider its drawbacks to be that big a deal, and as far as camp stoves go, I think its one of the better values out there. In fact - both of my (only) complaints about it are related to its fuel system: first, the burners aren't adjustable enough - they tend to be fully on, or off. This is annoying, but not really that big a deal for what I do on the trail, primarily boiling water or reheating food I've previously…
13 Comments
I don't know when I first noticed the terrible windshield sprayers on the Tacoma, but it was probably right around late 1999. I figured there was nothing I could do about it, and so for 20 years, I just suffered through the single-jet-stream-that-gets-spread-by-the-wipers. So, when I saw various folks on TacomaWorld talking about Honda Odyssey replacement nozzles that would spray across the entirety of the windshield - you know, like you would expect - I was intrigued; I never realized that the nozzles were a reasonably standardized item across vehicle manufacturers. Now, not all nozzles will work - the replacement…
13 Comments
Let's see, how did this start last time. Ahh, right... For two years now, my A/C hasn't really worked. At some point - 17 years after it was originally installed - it developed a slow leak. As spring turned to summer in 2018, I noticed that - as Nelly might say - "it's getting hot in herre," even as I cranked up the cold.from It's Too Damn Hot In Here - Fixing the A/C Evap Core Well, I replaced the A/C evap core and things worked well for all of one week. While that sounds bad - and I guess…
2 Comments