Ever since my very first trip - The De-Tour - with the guys from TacomaWorld, we've tried to get together every year for a week or two in order to explore some amazing place and enjoy time around the campfire together. I was lucky back then that Monte @Blackdawg organized the trip in a public thread, and invited anyone who could, to join. This year, after privately planning trips for five years, we tried it again - organizing a trip to the Kootenays in southeast British Columbia, Canada - with the hopes that we could meet some cool new folks…
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It was just after 5:00pm as we pulled out of Mineral, opting to get started on the third leg of the Lassen National Forest (NF) Backcountry Discovery Trail (BDT), rather than simply finding somewhere nearby to camp. We hoped that somewhere - preferably early in the section - we'd find a nice ridgeline, or spur-road-to-a-ridgeline, where we could set up the tent and deploy the kitchen for the evening. I suppose we did eventually, but now I'm getting a few hours ahead of myself. Section 3: The Crossroads - Land of Transformation It is here where the granitic Sierra Nevada…
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Growing up in Northern California, I always thought of "the mountains" as The Sierra. I had no idea at the time that there was another range - one that I'd become familiar with in Washington - The Cascades. With their southern end in the Lassen National Forest, they stretch all the way into Canada. Conveniently - having recently completed the Plumas National Forest Discovery Trail - we found ourselves at the border between the Plumas NF to the south and the Lassen NF to the north. And so, with a couple days to explore, we made the decision to climb…
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Valve stems that insert from the outside!
TL;DR - My Cooper ST/Maxx tires finally gave me a bit of trouble. Still, I'll probably buy a 5th set when these wear out because they've performed better than any other tire I've seen others run on the trail.
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These seats are definitely the most expensive mod I've done to the Tacoma.
TL;DR - The new scheel-mann seats are doing fine. The jury is still out on whether they are worth it (and will be for several years, I think.
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Out with the old, in with the new.
TL;DR - I replaced the lower ball joints (LBJs) as preventative maintenance after 75K miles.
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That is certainly not supposed to look like it does.
TL;DR - The passenger front corner of the bed cracked all the way down to the bed floor. I've fixed it, for now.
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My original SPC UCAs with sleeved poly bushings on the left; new UCAs with the X-Axis joint on the right.
TL;DR - the last time I got an alignment, the tech mentioned that the rear passenger side bushing on the upper control arm (UCA) was starting to get a bit loose. After some consideration, I decided to install completely new UCAs, with lifetime joints so I never have to worry about those bushings again.
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Turns out, adjustment wasn't what was needed.
TL;DR - My dirver side limit strap in the front broke. I replaced it.
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1st gen Tacoma front LCA Durobumps. The bump on the left is for the front hole of the LCA; the angled bump on the right is for the rear.
TL;DR - I've really liked all of the bump stops from Durobumps, so I've installed a second set on the front lower control arms!
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The persuader.
TL;DR - While I think that Relentless armor is some of the best out there, the mounting of the skid plates could have been better and is causing me a bit of trouble over the years (because I lightly beat the truck).
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Replacing spherical bearings on the front coilover. Note that the (left) FKSSX10T-F1 bearings from the lower eye show almost no rust (since they are stainless steel) after replacement, while the (right) upper bearing FKS10T-F1 (hardened steel) shows significant rust.
TL;DR - I'm convinced that switching to extra tight stainless steel spherical bearings is the way to go, and I have numbers to prove it.
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As wonderful as it was to be able to stop by and see my uncle on the outskirts of Quincy, neither of us slept very well through the night. It wasn't the temperatures - though they were warm - or the positioning of the Tacoma - which was nice and flat on the lawn; it was the noise. I think our bodies were looking forward to the quiet of sleeping in the forest, and rebelled at the sounds of civilization that echoed, even from this small town. Knowing we had a lot of ground to cover, we were up before…
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For much of my childhood, summers were spent in the Plumas National Forest. I have such fond memories of waking up in our favorite campground, earning Junior Ranger patches, and fishing in creeks recently stocked with so many fish that the stream bed was obscured by wriggling tails. And yet, when out exploring as an adult, I've spent almost no time in the Sierra, much less the Plumas National Forest. So, it was with great anticipation that we set out to wind our way through on the Plumas National Forest Backcountry Discovery Trail. Like a BDR, we figured this would…
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The Wyoming Backcountry Discovery route is our 6th BDR in as many years. Through the running of each one, @mrs.turbodb and I are - as you can imagine - regularly comparing the current BDR to the past ones. Starting last year, with the New Mexico BDR, I finally started writing some of these down, and of course - I now feel obligated to carry on that tradition into the future. I like to think of it - a little bit - as a Rig Review for the BDR route. TL;DR - The Wyoming BDR blew our socks off. Before leaving, we were…
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Unlike most stages of the Wyoming BDR that were between 100 - 150 miles, the final stage was a mere 43. Surely, we thought, we'll be done in an hour or two tops. Naturally, we were mistaken. Already remote - starting from the junction of WY-14 and WY-14A - crossing the highway immediately landed us on gravel roads where we wondered aloud what we'd do once we reached the end of the route. It was a bit of a mystery given a few salient points: Ending where it did, the BDR technically terminated at a border between Wyoming and the…
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We didn't stick around in Ten Sleep any longer than necessary - mostly for the same reason that we scurried from Atlantic City and South Pass the day before - people. I'm sure that all these places would be super fun to wander around mid-week, but on a warm summer weekend they were just a little too crowded for our liking. It was on our way out of town that we realized why it was so crowded. Sure, the road we'd traveled into town may have been beautifully reminiscent of Utah, but it certainly hadn't warranted a quadrupling of the population.…
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Having arrived in Shoshoni extremely early in the morning, and with no refueling necessary, we rolled out of town as soon as we'd snapped a photo of the "Welcome to Shoshoni" sign on the edge of town. As we did, a couple dual-sport riders passed us in the opposite direction, and we wondered aloud if they were riding the BDR from north-to-south. Making our way along Badwater Road, toward the little town of Lost Cabin, a familiar theme appeared along the side of the route. There was no gas plant lining the public road, but there were plenty of wells…
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Heading out of Atlantic City, we were both looking forward to a leisurely stroll around the ghost town of South Pass and the nearby Carissa Mine. I actually envisioned them as similar to - but perhaps better than - the amazing ghost town of Bodie, California, which I'd visited the previous fall. As we approached, it was immediately clear that SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT. We'd felt that Atlantic City had been crowded, but South Pass was something else entirely. Above the town, an entire hillside had been converted into a parking lot, and hundreds of vehicles - of all types -…
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Heading out of Alcova, we were driving into the sun. I'm never a huge fan of this, since it makes it harder to enjoy the landscape into which we are adventuring, and I hoped that we'd find somewhere to camp quickly, or that we'd turn north so that the sun would at least be to the side. Not that I'd looked at the route and known that neither of those things were in the cards. When the sun is in your face and everything out the windshield is all shadows, remember - there's always a side view mirror! Before we…
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