Thank you guys, appreciated
I hope you guys don't mind me thinking out loud a little more here... I started thinking a little more about what I wrote here because its really the first time I've put it that way, sort of an open rational about these custom trucks versus factory vehicles or something more stock.. In a way I have started thinking a little differently because of some of the crazy trips you guys are taking.. I started thinking to myself "could my truck really do that" despite all the time and energy I put into it.. Versus say Scott's several-year-old Tacoma that I'm sure he prepped, but he just drove to the Arctic Circle and back, including some wheeling, without a hitch... That said, I DO think a truck can be built from scratch and more or less custom so that it lasts, can be reliable, etc.. So that is what this thread is trying to focus on...
The big thing to me (and the last truck to an extent) is that I do not want to have to be a burden on myself or anyone else in a group if my truck breaks down.. So with that in mind I do think you can build a truck to be reliable and not a burden. This can mean actual breaking down, or days waiting for some obscure part that I chose to use. In every way that anyone else brings their Tacoma or other vehicle on a long distance trip, I want to be able to as well.. Alaska, Baja, etc... So it takes some work, but again I do think if you take the time and energy on one of these trucks, that is built by hand by yourself or someone you trust, it can be reliable and not be a burden...
Second, I started thinking about my little mechanic's grade here.. This is pretty subjective but I am demoting my grade a little bit to probably about a 3.8 out of 5... I have also been doing all sorts of different jobs lately, I've done probably a half dozen head gaskets and installed probably 4 sets of suspensions on different trucks in the last year or so... I just bought a old Chevy van with 65K miles on it and got it started in about 20 minutes, including a new carb... I have started becoming a pretty good, clean, and patient mechanic IMO.. But that said, the guys that are turning their wrenches daily and the real hardcore mechanics who are also designers, suspension etc, know how to do the math, etc, really take it to the top and I have no real professional training in it.. Therefore there is no way I could be a 4.3 out of 5 IMO... But I learned all this by building this last truck from scratch and from misc mechanic experience, but I have focused on overall trying to be a good and trying to always become a better mechanic... So I couldn't say that "you would be a good mechanic" to anyone thinking of doing a truck from scratch, but you could probably be a pretty decent one if you tried. But both Kurt and I are always laughing at some of the crap that people throw together, half ass engine swaps etc...
Anyway,
:beer:
