"Lola" - WreckDiver1321's 2005 Frontier CC/SB Nismo Build and Adventure Thread

[wreckdiver1321]

You may have answered this already, but any reason against the 255/85? I am mostly ignorant on the subject, so my question is out of pure curiosity.

I actually love the 255/85 size. A narrower, lighter 33 is an awesome choice. However, here is where the problem comes. The only tires I can buy made in that size are the Cooper ST, the Cooper ST Maxx, the Toyo MT, or the BFG KM2. I don't want a mud terrain tire, so that gives me the Coopers. The ST Maxx is a great tire, but it's close to the weight of a 285. More than many 285s in fact. That leaves the ST, which I have heard is a louder tire. I really like the General Grabbers that I have now, and I can get them in a load range D 285 that weighs 4.5 pounds more per tire than the 265s. That's pretty good in my opinion, and they are much less expensive than the 255s (around $40/tire less).

That being said, I still love the 255/85 size. I just wish it were a bit more practical for me than the 285s.

Excellent pictures! Those subarus certainly seem to do well for what they are. If I didn't need low range, I'd probably be driving one.

Good on you for checking off all those mods. Definitely feels great to build your dream truck I'm sure.

Thanks man! Yeah we were all impressed by that little Baja. It tackled everything we threw at it. I heavily considered a Forester for a while, but I go to a lot rougher places nowadays.

Yeah I'm getting awful giddy about the lack of things to do anymore haha. It's really nice. Can't wait till it all says "done"

I mean, with my lack of will power coupled with your guys' peer pressure.... there was really only one logical way for my bumper dilemma to end.

As far as the tires, there's only one repetitive scenario in which I notice a distinct change in driving characteristics with the 285s. Long, gradual hills. The gradual climbs at freeway speeds that formally didn't require me to drop out of cruise control or cause the AT to downshift on me, now do. A little bothersome, but it's not the end of the world. In typical city driving or freeway driving I've noticed no other adverse changes in driving characteristics of the vehicle, even under heavy loads. Certainly nothing that warrants any regret in my decision to move up a size.

Haha I knew it. You'll like it. The ARB is a great bumper, and I really like the way they look on the Xterras.

That seems pretty good actually. I wouldn't be bothered too much by that kind of thing on the more gradual hills. That's great info, thanks! I'm getting a bit more confident all the time about 285s, because it seems like they have very little negative effect on this platform. I'm also kind of confident it would be a good move because I'd just move to another set of General Grabbers in a 285, which are only 4.5 pounds heavier per tire than the 265s. Hmmmm.....

All that being said, the Cooper ST Maxx in a 265/75 is an inch taller and would behave a lot closer to how the truck is now. Decisions, decisions....

I have some time to think it through though. Gotta pay off my fridge purchase first!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Cooke City and Goose Lake Jeep Trail, July 2015 - Part 1

Alright, so I have been waiting for this all year.

A few years ago, I learned of the existence of a set of trails north of the small town of Cooke City, Montana. Cooke City is lodged firmly in the very vertical Beartooth Mountains, just a stone's throw from Yellowstone National Park. As such, the area is very high up, with plenty of beautiful places to see and get lost in. Cooke City used to be a huge mining area, which means there are roads that wander all over back there. These mining roads, once they fall into disuse, usually become 4x4 or ATV trails. The Cooke City area has several, and one in particular, Goose Lake, stuck out to me. It is the farthest north into the Beartooths that someone can legally drive, and from the reports I had heard, the terrain is very rugged and extremely beautiful. A couple friends and I attempted the trail early last summer, but (thankfully) we were turned back due to snow. This year, with Lola in the state she's in, I really wanted to go run it.

I got in contact with forum member Blackdawg, who lives in Wyoming near the southern side of the Beartooths, and talked a lot with him about doing a run at Goose Lake. We finally worked out a plan to hit the trail the weekend of July 11th. We'd explore the area above Cooke City before attempting Goose Lake and camping there for the night. So, just hours after fixing my shackle woes, I was loaded up and ready to depart for the Goose Lake trip. Beret had to close at work that night, so I waited until she got off work around 11:30 PM. We headed up the Beartooth Pass in the full darkness of night, finally reaching camp at around 2:30 AM. We pitched the tent and got minimal sleep before getting up to start the exploration at 7:00. Blackdawg and I met for the first time, along with a couple friends of his, and we hit it off right off the bat. Good sign.

We packed up, left camp, and headed off towards Cooke City, stopping to see a waterfall on the way.



After snapping some photos, we rolled out to the west, chatting away over the radios. We arrived in Cooke City fairly early, gassed up, and immediately hit the dirt roads. It doesn't take long to get up high in the mountains once you head north from there.



We drove up and over Daisy and Lulu passes, which rapidly wander their way through mining areas and climb to over 10,000 feet.







There is a road that goes up to the top of a peak just on the other side of one of the passes.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Cooke City and Goose Lake Jeep Trail, July 2015 - Part 2

One of the passes has a really awesome offshoot that goes by some more abandoned mining cabins. Past the mining cabin, there's a creek crossing and a fun little climb up some granite steps.





After that, the road just starts climbing and climbing and climbing. And it keeps on climbing. There's no switchbacks, just a road straight up the mountain.



The road terminates at a turnaround near the top of Sheep Mountain.



From the turnaround it's a very short hike to the top at about 10,500 feet. The views up top are absolutely spectacular. Completely and utterly breathtaking, if a bit windy.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Cooke City and Goose Lake Jeep Trail, July 2015 - Part 3

After we descended from Sheep Mountain, we headed straight for Goose Lake Jeep Trail.



I don't have a whole lot of photos from the trip out, but the trail is awesome. It's very rocky and rough, but it goes through some really beautiful terrain. It's mostly rough with a couple more technical sections that require you to carefully choose a line, but nothing all that bad.





My truck kept up just fine with these Tacomas on 33s, although I did need spotting on some of the more difficult obstacles. But the smaller tires never really hindered my progress.



I cannot overstress how awesome this trail is. It's mostly granite rocks and boulders, which makes it ride that fine line. The trail is occasionally challenging, but not hard enough to be in danger of getting stuck or breaking a bunch of things. It's right at the perfect difficulty level.

I did almost the entire trail except for this last obstacle.







The easier line over this obstacle is the one on the right. The issue is that there's a rather deep ditch on the side of the rocks, and after Blackdawg went through the obstacle, it rained pretty good and made all the rock pretty slick. I'm pretty sure I could have done it, but I didn't want to risk sliding and causing damage just to say I finished the trail. So we packed all of our stuff in the other trucks and did the final 200 or so yards to the end of the trail. We set up camp at 9800 feet and proceeded to be amazed by the surrounding landscape.

Goose Lake itself is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and it is a completely hidden gem.





We cooked dinner and chatted around the campfire well into the night. I got to know the other guys a little bit, and had a blast just BSing with them. I crawled into my tent dog tired and excited for the next day.

 

[Blackdawg]

The FRV is on 34s FYI haha Thats why i just cruised a long..Marc was on 285s though.

Glad you had fun man! Wasn't sure if your stress levels would get the best of you or not with the low rider Lola Did just fine though

It was a good trip! Wish id had Frank there..next time.

I'll post pics of Lola in here soon. great shots btw!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

The FRV is on 34s FYI haha Thats why i just cruised a long..Marc was on 285s though.

Glad you had fun man! Wasn't sure if your stress levels would get the best of you or not with the low rider Lola Did just fine though

It was a good trip! Wish id had Frank there..next time.

I'll post pics of Lola in here soon. great shots btw!

Haha that's right I forgot that.

I really did have such a blast. Can't wait to get out on the trails with you guys again. I was a little stressed at first, but I got into the swing of things before too long. I loved that trail. It certainly was a good trip. But you've got me seriously thinking about 285s hahaha. I've been researching it and it doesn't seem to have much of an impact on power in these trucks, except on long hills. Which I think I'd be able to handle.

I can't wait to see Frank out on the trails in all his glory.

Thanks man! I await your photo carpet bombing

I just remembered I have to go start trolling TacomaWorld....

 

[Blackdawg]

Haha that's right I forgot that.

I really did have such a blast. Can't wait to get out on the trails with you guys again. I was a little stressed at first, but I got into the swing of things before too long. I loved that trail. It certainly was a good trip. But you've got me seriously thinking about 285s hahaha. I've been researching it and it doesn't seem to have much of an impact on power in these trucks, except on long hills. Which I think I'd be able to handle.

I can't wait to see Frank out on the trails in all his glory.

Thanks man! I await your photo carpet bombing

I just remembered I have to go start trolling TacomaWorld....

Haha yea a trail like that always gets you thinking about bigger tires...and more armor. I will say if you wanna come further south you'll need either bigger tires or skids...or both. Lander can be mean. Haha


Was super fun though! We will do something again for sure!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Cooke City and Goose Lake Jeep Trail, July 2015 - Part 4

The next morning, we cleared up camp and started on our way back. Blackdawg drove us to Lola and we started loading the truck up. I had it loaded and out of the way when I heard some chatter on the radio that sounded a little frantic. The driver of the white Tacoma's wife came up the hill and told us he had slid off the road and they were in the process of trying to recover him. I headed down and offered what help I could and before long, we were back on the trail headed out.

It was pretty cool watching those trucks tackle the big obstacle at the end.









The views heading out were just as spectacular as the views going in.





I think this may be my favorite photo of the whole trip.



In the above picture, there are two different lines for getting down this section of trail. The section on the right is easy, and the left section is hard. The white Taco and I did the easy way. Obviously, Blackdawg had to go the hard way.









He walked right through, zero trouble. It was awesome.



Once we were past that part, it was pretty much smooth sailing all the way to the end. We went mobbing down the smooth roads until we were close to the highway, and we stopped to air back up. We stood around and chatted a while, but we sadly had to go our separate directions.

More later....

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Haha yea a trail like that always gets you thinking about bigger tires...and more armor. I will say if you wanna come further south you'll need either bigger tires or skids...or both. Lander can be mean. Haha

Was super fun though! We will do something again for sure!

Haha my plan as of now is to really look hard at bigger tires and just armor the hell out of it. I would like to at least be able to follow you around for the most part. Within reason of course

Most definitely man! I look forward to it.

 

[Blackdawg]

Haha my plan as of now is to really look hard at bigger tires and just armor the hell out of it. I would like to at least be able to follow you around for the most part. Within reason of course

Most definitely man! I look forward to it.

I'll look forward to the future plans!

Great photos! Really enjoyed them!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I'll look forward to the future plans!

Great photos! Really enjoyed them!

There's a couple more coming. We took a little side trip after we split.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

So, as Beret and I were sitting at the gas station in Cooke City, we came to the conclusion that since Yellowstone was only 4 miles away, we should run through the park and check out some things. Beret has not had the opportunity to spend much time there, so we decided to go check out a few of the easy to reach places.

We stopped at the picturesque Tower Fall.



We also walked around Mammoth Hot Springs before continuing on. I always love checking out some of the geothermal features there, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures at Mammoth. It was raining the entire time and I didn't feel like taking the camera out. After Mammoth, we investigated the lower geyser basins.











The weather was doing some interesting things as the sun was on it's way down.



After a short time exploring the park, we left through the western gate and entered West Yellowstone, Montana. We did a little walking around before we found an awesome place to eat. We had some tasty burgers and hit the road home at about 9:00 PM, arriving back in Laurel at midnight. There, we collapsed exhausted into bed after our fantastic weekend adventure.

 

[Jack Stilts]

Drooling over these pictures...ugh. Everything you post is so epic!

 

[Co-opski]

Overland Journal quality trip report and pictures. keep it up.

 

[BIG-CHEESE]

I found you Here are the shots I got of your rig!

Great meeting you two! We'll have to join forces again for some trail time

1 (19) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

1 (53) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

1 (40) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

1 (30) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

1 (29) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

1 (28) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

1 (23) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

1 (21) by Marc Mayer, on Flickr

And woot, post one for me on EX-Portal is in your thread