K.Ray's Lame Tacoma Build Thread

[K.Ray]

East Tn Overlanders & Bold Overland Trip

Three day trip starting in White Pine, TN, looping around through Asheville, and ending near US 129 on the NC side. This was our first time with these groups and couldn't have asked for anything better. This was the first real test of the Tacoma and we were nervous about venturing out with far more capable rigs. Well, the truck did absolutely fine. We climb through all the mud and rocks that we needed to and the camper shell sleeping quarters proved to be a saving grace in the low bitterly cold and windy elements. We took lots of notes and can't wait to get back out there!
-BOLD Overland
-East Tennessee Overlanders

 

[BentBomber]

That looks like a blast!

 

[K.Ray]

That looks like a blast!

It was! We had a great time despite how cold and nasty the weather was. Made some new friends and learned some new routes. Definitely learned a lot and had to restructure our priorities a little bit. Camping in the bed was a lot of fun and seemed like the better choice with the cold temps and blustery wind.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Moogs were the "premium" 354 type with the grease zerk in the trunk. Complete crap. Two out of three didn't fit right and they made some awful noises for the first day or so while they were seating (I guess). They seem okay now but what a disaster putting them in. Go find Spicers or something of better quality with the zerk on the bearing end like the stock ones.

U-joints are OEM only in my book. Most things you can replace with aftermarket, but nothing is better for a Toyota driveline than a factory OEM Toyota joint

 

[K.Ray]

U-joints are OEM only in my book. Most things you can replace with aftermarket, but nothing is better for a Toyota driveline than a factory OEM Toyota joint

Wise words that should be heeded! I'll be changing mine out for OEM as soon as the bank account recovers.

 

[BleekerB]

I really like your build! Keeping it simple but doing the mods that count. I'm thinking of building a similar type of bed system but I was considering building a drawer system that I could sleep on. Definitely going to be keeping up with this thread.

 

[K.Ray]

Picked up a Mr. Heater Buddy from Northern Tool for $65. This should help us stay toasty during the cold months.

Fair to note you're supposed to run it on HIGH for 20-30 minutes to set everything in place.

 

[K.Ray]

First snow of the season!

 

[kootenay_wanderer]

cool build!! I wish we only had that much snow lol So far, the upper elevations(where all the fun driving is) have collected around 18' of snow this year. Oh, Canada lol

 

[K.Ray]

cool build!! I wish we only had that much snow lol So far, the upper elevations(where all the fun driving is) have collected around 18' of snow this year. Oh, Canada lol

Thanks, stranger! I wish that was all the snow we saw. This past weekend was a cluster but the Tacoma did truly amazing. I couldn't be more happy with this rig!

 

[K.Ray]

JAN-2016 Winter Storm Adventure

A buddy decided he wanted to buy a 100 series Land Cruiser last Friday out of South Carolina. They had decided to sprint down early-morning in his 2012 Mustang GT, with summer rubber, in an effort to beat the winter storm brewing.

They did not make it.

I was dispatched somewhere around 8:00AM to rescue, as a last resort. Little did I know it was going to get much much worse before it would get better...



I met up with them 40-50 miles down I-26 headed south out of Asheville. They confirmed they'd already spun off the road a few times and been towed back to tarmac by several pieces of construction equipment. Then it got worse...



We hit a few hills and the storm was starting to lay down straight freezing rain. Semis were no longer making it up grade and ruined the mustangs momentum. Dire times indeed. I broke out the tow strap and hooked to a lower control arm. We estimate that I pulled the mustang 8-12 miles down I-26 to safety.


After finding a safe place to park the car we needed something warm.


We then ventured on to our destination. We arrived in Anderson, SC somewhere around 3:30PM. They left Knoxville, TN at 5:30AM. We were still on target, none the less.


One of the 865overland members just happened to be crossing our path headed to Atlanta! What are the odds?


We decided to forego the southerly route of Atlanta->Chattanooga and took a virtually straight line right over the mountains through Hiawassee and Turtletown. This proved to be one of the most spectacular winter nights of my life. Some of the most beautiful big fluffy quiet snows I've ever witnessed.


Two days later we went back to rescue the Mustang.

 

[BentBomber]

Nice! That is a good looking 100 series. Some of my favorite driving is done at night in heavy snow.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Holy buckets! Sounds like one heck of an adventure. Glad to hear everything worked out safely.

That's a cool looking Frontier too!

 

[K.Ray]

Our story written more professionally:

 

[K.Ray]

Nice! That is a good looking 100 series. Some of my favorite driving is done at night in heavy snow.

It's actually one of the nicer 100 series I've ever had the pleasure of bombing down the highway at 85mph in. It does smell an awful lot like the Gulf of Mexico inside, though. Previously owned in Florida.

Holy buckets! Sounds like one heck of an adventure. Glad to hear everything worked out safely.

That's a cool looking Frontier too!

We're always getting into something crazy! Yeah, my buddy, Ryan, owns the Frontier in Charlotte, NC. He's slowly building it up into a hardcore overlanding rig. I'm not sure he's documenting it anywhere but I'll be sure to post a few updates here as he goes.