Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
Thanks! I'll try that when I build the chuck box.
Overland-ish Tacoma Flippac Build
- Thread starter Overlanerd
- Start date
Thanks! I'll try that when I build the chuck box.
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
Thanks! It's coming along. I haven't built the chuck box yet. I'll definitely post pics when I do. I designed the camper so I could slowly build each box when time permits.
I have no idea how much the truck weighs. I'll put it on the scale next time I'm at the landscape supply place.
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
My ABS system is where you were able to put your second battery.Makes me sad when I see others being able to put their battery there.
That's what that thing is! Good place for a compressor too.
Overland Hadley
on a journey
Oh sure, rub it in.
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
C'mon, with the long bed and FWC, you probably have about 4 Action-packers worth of extra space than me!
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
New Shoes.
In an effort to keep the budget/ horse- trading theme of this truck going, I almost purchased some Duratraks with 75% tread (for $400 on CL). But due to an upcoming trip into the wilderness, with 2 small children, I decided to bite the bullet and buy new instead. I can probably get $250 for the BFG's to mitigate the costs...
Me: Cooper Discoverer ST's
The shop guy: What size tires?
Me: 255/85/16
The shop guy: Just doing the rear axle- these are for a dually, right?
Me: Not for a dually- a Tacoma.
The shop guy: A Tacoma? Are you sure those will fit?
Me: I am sure they will fit. I've know for quite some time now.
The shop guy: How bout some 285/75/16's? That's a more popular size. It will look sweet!
Me: 255/85/16!!!
My truck has 50K miles on it. I've been planning on getting these tires for over a year now, and was just waiting for the BFG's to wear out. I figured that it would be prudent to get the tires I really wanted while the Tacoma is in it's prime. OK- not prudent, but definitely not frivolous. We all justify these purchases in different ways.
Plenty of UCA clearance.
One thing I immediately noticed was how much rim was exposed. The BFG's were much deeper at the bead. I'll have to be careful in the rocks.
At 70 mph the RPM's dropped by about 175 to 200. The speedometer is way off now. The acceleration is actually much better since these are roughly 7 lbs. lighter than the E- rated BFG's. It feels so right.
Now for some testing in Death Valley next week...
In an effort to keep the budget/ horse- trading theme of this truck going, I almost purchased some Duratraks with 75% tread (for $400 on CL). But due to an upcoming trip into the wilderness, with 2 small children, I decided to bite the bullet and buy new instead. I can probably get $250 for the BFG's to mitigate the costs...
Me: Cooper Discoverer ST's
The shop guy: What size tires?
Me: 255/85/16
The shop guy: Just doing the rear axle- these are for a dually, right?
Me: Not for a dually- a Tacoma.
The shop guy: A Tacoma? Are you sure those will fit?
Me: I am sure they will fit. I've know for quite some time now.
The shop guy: How bout some 285/75/16's? That's a more popular size. It will look sweet!
Me: 255/85/16!!!
My truck has 50K miles on it. I've been planning on getting these tires for over a year now, and was just waiting for the BFG's to wear out. I figured that it would be prudent to get the tires I really wanted while the Tacoma is in it's prime. OK- not prudent, but definitely not frivolous. We all justify these purchases in different ways.
Plenty of UCA clearance.
One thing I immediately noticed was how much rim was exposed. The BFG's were much deeper at the bead. I'll have to be careful in the rocks.
At 70 mph the RPM's dropped by about 175 to 200. The speedometer is way off now. The acceleration is actually much better since these are roughly 7 lbs. lighter than the E- rated BFG's. It feels so right.
Now for some testing in Death Valley next week...
Overland Hadley
on a journey
Your Tacoma should be in its prime for a few more sets of tires. Thumbs up!
Camelfilter
Explorer
Nice build, thanks for sharing!
I don't know anything about Toyotas, but I run a Bullydog Tuner in my Titan. It's ram mounted to my rear view mirror. I really like the gauges at heads-up level (esp transmission temp), plus it has a feature to adjust the displayed speed according to tire size (you adjust by +/- %). More than likely there are a bunch of gauge or tuner brands that do similar.
Alternatively my old Garmin plug in GPS has speed as a display, and is vy accurate esp at highway speeds. I don't know if new fangled GPS's still have this feature or not-my OEM dash mount doesn't. You could probably get an old Garmin off of craigslist for $20-40. The one I have might not include all the new roads & definitely no traffic info, but I had left the dang thing on the roof of my Pathfinder parked overnight in pouring rain(oops!) - still works fine.
I've found having an accurate speed handy, as I usually drive about 6-7MPH over the posted limit on long highway drives setting the cruise control. Without my accurate speed handy, I've found I can creep up into the "get a ticket zone" too easily / unintentionally.
I don't know anything about Toyotas, but I run a Bullydog Tuner in my Titan. It's ram mounted to my rear view mirror. I really like the gauges at heads-up level (esp transmission temp), plus it has a feature to adjust the displayed speed according to tire size (you adjust by +/- %). More than likely there are a bunch of gauge or tuner brands that do similar.
Alternatively my old Garmin plug in GPS has speed as a display, and is vy accurate esp at highway speeds. I don't know if new fangled GPS's still have this feature or not-my OEM dash mount doesn't. You could probably get an old Garmin off of craigslist for $20-40. The one I have might not include all the new roads & definitely no traffic info, but I had left the dang thing on the roof of my Pathfinder parked overnight in pouring rain(oops!) - still works fine.
I've found having an accurate speed handy, as I usually drive about 6-7MPH over the posted limit on long highway drives setting the cruise control. Without my accurate speed handy, I've found I can creep up into the "get a ticket zone" too easily / unintentionally.
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washington taco
Explorer
Did we meet in Kirkwood last year Scoutsiderr ?
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
Thanks! I hope so. I'm somewhat of a pessimist about reliability, which is why the Tacoma was chosen. I figured that this truck would give me the best shot out there. I could actually perform engine work on my old rigs. The only training I had was owning a 1965 Scout while taking high school auto shop. I replaced the engine, transfer case, transmission (twice), amongst other things. My pre-Tacoma purchases were motivated by acquiring a vehicle that I could actually work on if stranded in BFE. It took a lot (for me) to get a vehicle that requires skills beyond my capabilities. You have to trust the track record and realize that the rig is less likely to leave you stranded- statistically speaking...
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Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
Thanks! Additional gauges would be pretty cool, especially if you can make adjustments. I believe the tacoma tuners are pricey and don't offer much adjustability. At least that's what I've read on Tacoma World.
My 8- year old Garmin Vista CX has a very accurate speedometer. The trucks gauge is roughly 10% under the actual speed.
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
We did meet! We're in Mammoth right now (hotel) on the long way home from Death Valley. Couldn't convince the family to camp in the snow, so the Skifari may be a solo mission (if I'm able to go!).
Arclight
SAR guy
It's not cheap, but Hypertech sells a speedometer correction module that you can program for any combo of tires and gears:
http://www.jegs.com/p/Hypertech/Hypertech-In-Line-Speedometer-Calibrator-Modules/1026990/10002/-1
Arclight
http://www.jegs.com/p/Hypertech/Hypertech-In-Line-Speedometer-Calibrator-Modules/1026990/10002/-1
Arclight
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
Thanks for the info! That is pricey- I would rather put that money towards a new Garmin with a bigger screen. I will take that into consideration though.
Overlanerd
Vagabond Outdoors
Death Valley
I'll try not to turn this into a full- blown trip report in the build thread. We had to keep the excursion a little more family oriented with the 4-1/2 year old and 21 month old girls on board. My Lippincott Mine Road/ Saline Valley plans were replaced with Scotty's Castle and the Furnace Creek visitor center. Instead of camping on the trail, we decided to use the common campgrounds. Our kids caught a cold on the first day of the trip and we opted to stay close to main roads in case we needed to abort the whole vacation. We still participated in a little off- pavement travel though.
When we traveled Titus Canyon Road in the Scout, I had to slow it down to 10 mph on the washboard road to stay in control with the worn- out shocks. It was embarrassing getting passed by a Ford Focus. This time, we were flying down that road in comfort. The suspension did well and the ride was nice with the new Cooper ST's aired down to 22 psi.
Stopped for lunch in Leadville.
After backing into this spot, we noticed a crapload of rusty nails on the ground. Luckily none punctured our new tires. We did our community service by picking up dozens of nails to hopefully prevent a future disaster. I would not recommend parking where we did.
Potty stop under the overhang.
Mesquite Campground
The Needle's Eye at Echo Canyon
Sunset
It started to rain hard on Tuesday morning, so we decided to take the long route home up 395.
We stayed in Mammoth and did a little snow wheeling on the way to Inyo Craters.
Perfect playground for the kids.
Mono Lake
The tires did great in all conditions. There was slight rubbing on the mudflaps and I'll have to perform a little trimming. Going from an E-load tire to a D-load was significant and the ride quality improved dramatically. The mileage was roughly the same as before: equally crappy. My best mileage was on 395 between Mammoth and Minden - 17.2 MPG's. The lower weight of the tires and reduced RPM's were negated by the power required to turn the larger shoes. The calculation was taken using the GPS unit, which showed 10% more miles travelled than the trip odometer.
The snow and rain erased all evidence of our Death Valley trip, which is sort of a "badge of honor" in my opinion. Oh well, less cleaning for me.
I'll try not to turn this into a full- blown trip report in the build thread. We had to keep the excursion a little more family oriented with the 4-1/2 year old and 21 month old girls on board. My Lippincott Mine Road/ Saline Valley plans were replaced with Scotty's Castle and the Furnace Creek visitor center. Instead of camping on the trail, we decided to use the common campgrounds. Our kids caught a cold on the first day of the trip and we opted to stay close to main roads in case we needed to abort the whole vacation. We still participated in a little off- pavement travel though.
When we traveled Titus Canyon Road in the Scout, I had to slow it down to 10 mph on the washboard road to stay in control with the worn- out shocks. It was embarrassing getting passed by a Ford Focus. This time, we were flying down that road in comfort. The suspension did well and the ride was nice with the new Cooper ST's aired down to 22 psi.
Stopped for lunch in Leadville.
After backing into this spot, we noticed a crapload of rusty nails on the ground. Luckily none punctured our new tires. We did our community service by picking up dozens of nails to hopefully prevent a future disaster. I would not recommend parking where we did.
Potty stop under the overhang.
Mesquite Campground
The Needle's Eye at Echo Canyon
Sunset
It started to rain hard on Tuesday morning, so we decided to take the long route home up 395.
We stayed in Mammoth and did a little snow wheeling on the way to Inyo Craters.
Perfect playground for the kids.
Mono Lake
The tires did great in all conditions. There was slight rubbing on the mudflaps and I'll have to perform a little trimming. Going from an E-load tire to a D-load was significant and the ride quality improved dramatically. The mileage was roughly the same as before: equally crappy. My best mileage was on 395 between Mammoth and Minden - 17.2 MPG's. The lower weight of the tires and reduced RPM's were negated by the power required to turn the larger shoes. The calculation was taken using the GPS unit, which showed 10% more miles travelled than the trip odometer.
The snow and rain erased all evidence of our Death Valley trip, which is sort of a "badge of honor" in my opinion. Oh well, less cleaning for me.