2012 Taco slow build - The Escape Pod.
- Thread starter Finlay
- Start date
Finlay
Triarius
Thanks.
I got back from my trip. The latter half is detailed in this thread.. I'll post the TWT pictures later this week.
The truck performed amazingly well for being stock. There were a few times I was convinced I was gonna get hung up, and the truck totally made me look like a dweeb.
A few notes :
- The RAM mount for the Xoom Tablet was amazing. I only had to readjust it a few times and it never came off despite some real thrashing. A++
- The large GPS/Xoom tablet I had wasn't that obstructive. I thought I was gonna need to remove it, but it was easy to work around.
- The Bearcat 880 CB I installed worked great. Amazing reception and good reach. I'm pretty impressed with it.
- The CVT RTT I have worked great. Comfortable and reliable. It kept me dry during a pretty good rainstorm and warm in some chilly temps. And it held up really well to being beat on by the many branches and bugs I smacked it with. I love this tent.
I need to get some better springs. The stock springs are adequate, and work OK, but they could be better.
I got back from my trip. The latter half is detailed in this thread.. I'll post the TWT pictures later this week.
The truck performed amazingly well for being stock. There were a few times I was convinced I was gonna get hung up, and the truck totally made me look like a dweeb.
A few notes :
- The RAM mount for the Xoom Tablet was amazing. I only had to readjust it a few times and it never came off despite some real thrashing. A++
- The large GPS/Xoom tablet I had wasn't that obstructive. I thought I was gonna need to remove it, but it was easy to work around.
- The Bearcat 880 CB I installed worked great. Amazing reception and good reach. I'm pretty impressed with it.
- The CVT RTT I have worked great. Comfortable and reliable. It kept me dry during a pretty good rainstorm and warm in some chilly temps. And it held up really well to being beat on by the many branches and bugs I smacked it with. I love this tent.
I need to get some better springs. The stock springs are adequate, and work OK, but they could be better.
Finlay
Triarius
Took the truck and tent to field day for the local ham radio club. I used my radio and my end-fedz 20/40m wire antenna to work 20m SSB. To do that I had to pull the radio out, but that wasn't too onerous.
I didn't get to do too much operating though - everyone who stopped by wanted to talk about the truck, tent, and 857d. Later at night, after dinner, I got to work 20m a bit and for ~75watts I was getting some good distance.
One question many people had - where does the dog sleep ?
The answer ?
I share my leftovers, and he shares his ticks and fleas. It's a symbiotic relationship.
I didn't get to do too much operating though - everyone who stopped by wanted to talk about the truck, tent, and 857d. Later at night, after dinner, I got to work 20m a bit and for ~75watts I was getting some good distance.
One question many people had - where does the dog sleep ?
The answer ?
I share my leftovers, and he shares his ticks and fleas. It's a symbiotic relationship.
Finlay
Triarius
No, I just lift him up and he climbs in. He likes it up there - I bet if I built a ramp, he'd run right up.
I usually just climb in that way, too. It seems easier than using the ladder.
Finlay
Triarius
Been busy the past few weeks. Helped my wife install a new stereo in her 4runner. That was a chore.
Took the wife and dogs on a couple of field trips with some light offroading and dirt roads and trails. The dogs seem to like the back seat.
One thing I did: I used to just have a couple of cheapie dog beds laid out for them. But those start to stink like wet dog in no time at all. So on a whim, I bought an outdoor sofa bench cushion. It's some gawd-awful color, so I put one of the blankets over it. It's held up much better. Doesn't smell bad and its a more uniform cushion that the dogs seem to like more.
I did the Diff Breather mod this week. It was hot as hell - this was in the shade...
Anyway, I copied the parts list from this thread at Tacoma World. It was easy peasy.
Took the wife and dogs on a couple of field trips with some light offroading and dirt roads and trails. The dogs seem to like the back seat.
One thing I did: I used to just have a couple of cheapie dog beds laid out for them. But those start to stink like wet dog in no time at all. So on a whim, I bought an outdoor sofa bench cushion. It's some gawd-awful color, so I put one of the blankets over it. It's held up much better. Doesn't smell bad and its a more uniform cushion that the dogs seem to like more.
I did the Diff Breather mod this week. It was hot as hell - this was in the shade...
Anyway, I copied the parts list from this thread at Tacoma World. It was easy peasy.
YotaPilot
Adventurer
Awesome idea for mounting the scan gauge. Did you need a cable extension or was the 6 foot cable enough? Where did you route the cable?
Finlay
Triarius
6 feet was ample. I ran straight up the driver side A pillar and across the top of the windshield. The cable will tuck right into the roof liner.
On the 2012s (I don't know about previous years), there is an airbag in the pillars, so be careful when pulling the cover off.
YotaPilot
Adventurer
Thanks for the info. I have a 2001 so there is no airbag issue. The big concern I had was the cable length, but you answered that. I like the look of putting it up by the mirror...very clean.
Finlay
Triarius
It was a little too fiddly with the new 2012 tacoma mirror - I'm sure it worked great on previous years. Since Toyota put the the new screen in, the mirror mount is larger and asymmetrical in shape. The blendmount was not as secure as I'd like as a result. I could probably have gotten it to work well, but my solution was easier by far.
Today, I picked up a couple of NMO roof mounts for some antennas, and I found a great deal on a 60" yakima track (80 bucks!). I'll have to cut it down to fit, and it uses the bolts instead of the Plusnuts. Still, can't quibble with the price.
I'm going to pick up some RAAMmat and ensolite and insulate and quiet the roof. If I gotta drop the roof liner, I might as well go all the way and do everything I want to do at once and be done with it.
The floors and doors will also get done, but at a later date. I have surgery for my hip scheduled at the end of this month. I'll see if I can get this done by then.
I also helped my wife install new speakers in her 4runner today. She is very pleased with how it turned out. Crutchfield made it really brainless - it only took about 2 hours to do all 4 doors.
Finlay
Triarius
Yep! My wife is involved in NAVHDA and she trains both the Vizsla and the GSP for hunting. The GSP is "her" dog, so I don't work with him as much.
Part of the motivation for building this truck is to do more hunting trips - there is precious little remaining pheasant habitat in southern Wisconsin, so we have to travel. Things are better in Iowa and southern MN - which aren't unreasonable weekend trips.
Finlay
Triarius
It turns out I needed to have the "fit kit" for the Thule mounts to put the tracks on. My wife won a deal for 50% off everything at Thule.com, so we ordered up a ton of crap because hey, half off - but the parts I need didn't arrive in time.
So, the tracks use Thule fit kit 3101, which will work with podium tower 460/460r. Hopefully, they will arrive before next weekend. I'd really like to do this before I have surgery.
Not being able to do what I had planned, I decided to take the truck apart and do the soundproofing/insulating of everything else. It was time consuming, but the truck is so much quieter now, it's kind of amazing. Now, I didn't go for competition levels of sound proofing and kind of cheesed out by using carpet padding in some panels.
This guy used about 4 times as much as I did. It doesn't take a whole lot to see good results.
Whatever you do - don't put regular foam or insulation inside your door panels. That leads to rust in pretty short order. Only use closed cell foam if you are going to use any at all.
Now, some pictures for posterity :
The front door.
The suicide door. You can see that there is still a hole for a speaker, though no grill in the panel. I'm going to have to rectify that.
