January 4, 2020
Another year of wheeling and camping is in the books. I find myself here writing a rig review as one of 2020's first posts, for the last couple of trips that we took in 2019. By and large, the truck performed well on those trips In Search of Overlooks in Death Valley and though an unexpectedly snowy trip to the Mojave Preserve. There were - as always - a couple things worth calling out - so without further ado, let's get to it!
TL;DR - The latch broke, and I need a new one. CBI's customer service leaves something (major IMO) to be desired. Destaco (who makes the latch) really stepped up though!
TL;DR - I've addressed the Tacoma's weight loss as much as I am going to for now.
TL;DR - Replacing the spherical bearings, misalignment spacers, and lower shock bolts is done and things are working correctly as far as I can tell.
Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews
Unchanged / Still an issue from previous Rig Reviews
There are some things that have been featured in Rig Reviews that are - as yet - unchanged from when I originally reviewed them. Rather than highlight those things again, I'll simply link to them here.
- The Swing-Out Table
- The Ham Radio Antenna
- Oil Leaking from Transfer Case - I haven't done anything about this yet, though I seem to be getting less leakage.
- Relentless Skid Plate Attachment
That latch design leaves a lot to be desired. I have a similar latch on my swingout and I broke in a similar spot.
I think it might have been from over tightening the u-bolt and it stretched and broke.
So I carry a spare now and tie a strap around the area to help prevent it from happening again, tell I ca. Figure out a suitable replacement