Roody
Adventurer
Bold Overland attended Knoxville's premier Cars and Coffee. Amazing turnout!
Damn! That makes the C&C I attend look pretty tiny...
K.Ray's Lame Tacoma Build Thread
- Thread starter K.Ray
- Start date
Damn! That makes the C&C I attend look pretty tiny...
K.Ray
Adventurer
I guess, in all the fuse of prepping for Expo and Moab, I completely forgot to post about my ECGS bushing fix.
East Coast Gear Supply sells a replacement bushing for the factory front diff needle bearing. The needle bearing doesn't have the right tolerance for the cv shaft and starts clunking within a few ten thousand miles of being new. My truck has 135,000 miles on the clock so use your imagination.
Installation was fairly straight forward. Plenty of great walk-throughs and videos on YouTube, one of which is supplied by ECGS themselves. The biggest help was having the right tools for the job. This consists of a 24"-30" pry bar, a small sledge, the bearing removal tool that ECGS sells, and either a 30mm socket or a proper bushing install kit.
After it was all said and done (took me an evening and the next morning), the truck is silky smooth. Night and day difference in ride quality. There are users reporting many many miles of use with zero issue now. I hope to add to that statistic.
East Coast Gear Supply sells a replacement bushing for the factory front diff needle bearing. The needle bearing doesn't have the right tolerance for the cv shaft and starts clunking within a few ten thousand miles of being new. My truck has 135,000 miles on the clock so use your imagination.
Installation was fairly straight forward. Plenty of great walk-throughs and videos on YouTube, one of which is supplied by ECGS themselves. The biggest help was having the right tools for the job. This consists of a 24"-30" pry bar, a small sledge, the bearing removal tool that ECGS sells, and either a 30mm socket or a proper bushing install kit.
After it was all said and done (took me an evening and the next morning), the truck is silky smooth. Night and day difference in ride quality. There are users reporting many many miles of use with zero issue now. I hope to add to that statistic.
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K.Ray
Adventurer
A few shots from this weekend's camping trip and Earthbound Overland group ride. We had a great time!
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K.Ray
Adventurer
The Yakima rack, roof tent, and awning add approximately 200lbs to the top of the camper shell. This past weekends camping trip and group ride resulted in the shell moving towards the driver's side about an inch.
Leer gives you four holes in the fiberglass to bolt through. It's archaic at best. Many weeks ago I started searching and researching for a better solution. I just happened to notice that my friend with an ARE top had slightly different looking clamps that hold his shell to the bed of his truck. The hunt was on. These would work perfect for my application.
With no help from ARE or my local top supplier, I finally found a supplier of the shell clamps through many layers of google. API has them for sale with a Tundra application, but I knew the Tundra and the Tacoma share the exact same rail system so bought a pack. They shipped from Indiana and were in my mailbox a few days later.
I had Amanda help me knock the camper shell back into place and then I held it in position while she cranked down on the new clamps. Perfect! They work great! Chaulk this one up to cheap insurance and better piece of mind.
Leer gives you four holes in the fiberglass to bolt through. It's archaic at best. Many weeks ago I started searching and researching for a better solution. I just happened to notice that my friend with an ARE top had slightly different looking clamps that hold his shell to the bed of his truck. The hunt was on. These would work perfect for my application.
With no help from ARE or my local top supplier, I finally found a supplier of the shell clamps through many layers of google. API has them for sale with a Tundra application, but I knew the Tundra and the Tacoma share the exact same rail system so bought a pack. They shipped from Indiana and were in my mailbox a few days later.
I had Amanda help me knock the camper shell back into place and then I held it in position while she cranked down on the new clamps. Perfect! They work great! Chaulk this one up to cheap insurance and better piece of mind.
K.Ray
Adventurer
Oh, and one more thing....
Orion Coolers was rad enough to supply our team with some gear for our trip west. This thing is downright amazing. Orion has packed in so many features it's almost silly to consider anything else. And, the thing is lockable and bear resistant rated. I think I will make my goal to test that last one. I'll let you know how it shakes out as we go along.
Orion Coolers was rad enough to supply our team with some gear for our trip west. This thing is downright amazing. Orion has packed in so many features it's almost silly to consider anything else. And, the thing is lockable and bear resistant rated. I think I will make my goal to test that last one. I'll let you know how it shakes out as we go along.
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K.Ray
Adventurer
Thank you, sir. Will you guys be at Expo West later this week? We head out in less than 24 hours.
soonenough
Explorer
Wait what did I miss? Was the truck totaled or something?
soonenough
Explorer
Wow, I hadn't been keeping up with Bowman's Odyssey the last couple weeks so I didn't see that article. That is scary stuff, really glad to hear no one was injured (or worse). Good job keeping a level head in a tough situation, good friends are definitely a great thing to have.
K.Ray
Adventurer
Alright, so a few things happened since the last post. In a fury of packing we left for Overland Expo and then traveled up to Moab to meet Bowman Odyssey. All manner of thing ensued.
We bombed out to Expo in a valiant cannonball run style 22 hour sprint, making it to Alburqurque, NM to meet up with the rest of the team.
Had a great time at Expo meeting everyone and learning about everyone's adventures.
After expo we convoyed up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. What an amazing trip with spectacular views.
The Grand Canyon was short lived. We woke up early the next morning to separate from the team and cruise up to Moab, UT. I was hoping for a short 3-4 hour drive but it was a solid day's trip. We met up with Bowman Odyssey around dusk near Dewey Bridge on the Kokopelli Trail.
The next morning we tried to connect with the Bold team but fought very poor cell signal. I had to climb up a large rock spire just to get a bar. Communication was difficult and wires were crossed. We later found out the team had start up the Kokopelli Trail in an attempt to meet up with us instead of cruising out the tarmac road south of Arches to Dewey Bridge. We didn't see them for another day.
As we were waiting on the team to show up we grew restless. The guys wanted to show me a route that led to Grand Junction. One of the guys had successfully made the trek a few years prior in his stock ZJ. We ran down to take some photos and check it out. This is where our adventure happened...
We met a stream crossing and stopped. Maps showed this was a state road and passable. The previously successful ZJ driver said it was possible but expressed concern about the water conditions. He said there was a rock shelf (road bed). We decided to walk out and test. It was cold but shallow. I decided to dip the truck's toes in and grab a few photos. What we later found out from the tow truck driver was that the road shelf was in a horse shoe shape, and did not go straight from shore to shore. As I was slowly dropping in for some photos the front of the truck dropped off the rock shelf and start floating. The current immediately grabbed the truck and ripped it from the silt. I went into panic mode and pegged the throttle. There was no way I was meeting the Colorado River that day. The truck and I clawed our way to safety as best we could. Our best was not good enough. We came to anchor a mere 15 feet from the other shore. That is where we stayed for the next 8 hours.
I watched, helplessly, as my truck filled with cold dark water. Everything we had brought slowly destroyed by the Colorado snow melt and Utah silt. I jumped out the window and started pulling winch cable only to release my second worst fear. Rewind, only a few months prior I ponied up and spent a small fortune on a Warn winch. Everyone said it was the way to go if you never wanted to worry about rescuing yourself in the middle of no where. I was in the middle of no where. I needed rescuing.
The Warn winch was dead before I could even ask anything of it.
My heart sank further and we immediately started to formulate another plan. We kept working on plans for 6 additional hours before the tow truck arrived. In a last ditch effort, the tow truck driver plucked us from the cold water and back to the camp sight miles down the road.
Getting home was another adventure in and of itself. Bowman Odyssey was gracious enough to pull the crippled Tacoma all the way back to Tennessee.
Tear down immediately started once we arrived home. We quickly realized this truck was never going to be the same.
Fast forward a week and we'd removed all my aftermarket bits and she was taken away to be recycled.
Fast forward a few more days. We found a replacement rig and have started bolting all my camping and adventure gear on to the new truck.
Amanda and I had some serious heart to heart discussion about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. This truck is the foundation for a truly life changing direction for us. It's got all the bells and whistles we need to stitch together the main tool needed for our next life adventure.
Welcome to the fray, truck.
We bombed out to Expo in a valiant cannonball run style 22 hour sprint, making it to Alburqurque, NM to meet up with the rest of the team.
Had a great time at Expo meeting everyone and learning about everyone's adventures.
After expo we convoyed up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. What an amazing trip with spectacular views.
The Grand Canyon was short lived. We woke up early the next morning to separate from the team and cruise up to Moab, UT. I was hoping for a short 3-4 hour drive but it was a solid day's trip. We met up with Bowman Odyssey around dusk near Dewey Bridge on the Kokopelli Trail.
The next morning we tried to connect with the Bold team but fought very poor cell signal. I had to climb up a large rock spire just to get a bar. Communication was difficult and wires were crossed. We later found out the team had start up the Kokopelli Trail in an attempt to meet up with us instead of cruising out the tarmac road south of Arches to Dewey Bridge. We didn't see them for another day.
As we were waiting on the team to show up we grew restless. The guys wanted to show me a route that led to Grand Junction. One of the guys had successfully made the trek a few years prior in his stock ZJ. We ran down to take some photos and check it out. This is where our adventure happened...
We met a stream crossing and stopped. Maps showed this was a state road and passable. The previously successful ZJ driver said it was possible but expressed concern about the water conditions. He said there was a rock shelf (road bed). We decided to walk out and test. It was cold but shallow. I decided to dip the truck's toes in and grab a few photos. What we later found out from the tow truck driver was that the road shelf was in a horse shoe shape, and did not go straight from shore to shore. As I was slowly dropping in for some photos the front of the truck dropped off the rock shelf and start floating. The current immediately grabbed the truck and ripped it from the silt. I went into panic mode and pegged the throttle. There was no way I was meeting the Colorado River that day. The truck and I clawed our way to safety as best we could. Our best was not good enough. We came to anchor a mere 15 feet from the other shore. That is where we stayed for the next 8 hours.
I watched, helplessly, as my truck filled with cold dark water. Everything we had brought slowly destroyed by the Colorado snow melt and Utah silt. I jumped out the window and started pulling winch cable only to release my second worst fear. Rewind, only a few months prior I ponied up and spent a small fortune on a Warn winch. Everyone said it was the way to go if you never wanted to worry about rescuing yourself in the middle of no where. I was in the middle of no where. I needed rescuing.
The Warn winch was dead before I could even ask anything of it.
My heart sank further and we immediately started to formulate another plan. We kept working on plans for 6 additional hours before the tow truck arrived. In a last ditch effort, the tow truck driver plucked us from the cold water and back to the camp sight miles down the road.
Getting home was another adventure in and of itself. Bowman Odyssey was gracious enough to pull the crippled Tacoma all the way back to Tennessee.
Tear down immediately started once we arrived home. We quickly realized this truck was never going to be the same.
Fast forward a week and we'd removed all my aftermarket bits and she was taken away to be recycled.
Fast forward a few more days. We found a replacement rig and have started bolting all my camping and adventure gear on to the new truck.
Amanda and I had some serious heart to heart discussion about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. This truck is the foundation for a truly life changing direction for us. It's got all the bells and whistles we need to stitch together the main tool needed for our next life adventure.
Welcome to the fray, truck.
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Adventurous
Explorer
Damn dude, that's a difficult but somewhat fitting end for an expedition minded rig. Hopefully the experience hasn't diminished your passion for the pursuit. Best of luck with the new truck and I look forward to seeing it come to life!