Matthew's Toyota Stories

[mattmtbman]

Hi Guys I would like to introduce myself, as a long time lurker and habitual thread reader I feel as though I know many of you already. But as I never post anything only glean info from all of you incredibly knowledgeable people I feel I might be due to provide some entertainment for all of you fine expo folks. Here it goes.

Backstory:
Well six years ago I started driving, and boy did I start with a bang 2001 Tan Toyota Tacoma 4x4 double cab with a camper. My parents had bought it new when I was 11 and it was that truck helped cultivate my love for off road driving and remote camping. As a teenager not yet old enough to drive I had persuaded my mom to buy some Donahoe (Icon) extended travel coils with Total Chaos uca's, Deaver springs and Donahoe (Icon) remote resies for the rear. Fast Forward Two months driving experience it was spring break I was 16 years old and I had $400 cash and a credit card with my mom's name for gas. Where do I go? Cabo? NO!!! Of course not I drove to Moab with Michael who was 15 and had just moved to AZ from SD just the two of us went to tag a long with EJS trail rides. Sure we got pulled over for running a stop sign on our first night, and we were out past curfew for minors in Utah and we both got sick from not doing dishes and went home a day early, but god damn it was fun. Unfortunately that truck only made it to the beginning of that summer. A friend of mine wanted to drive my truck on Dairy Road. By the way Dairy Road is a dirt road that goes by a Dairy and has a sharp 90 degree turn in the middle. Well as Friend lets call him Bob was going around the corner the rear end got loose and he got scared. Bob proceeded to stomp on the brakes and the front tire popped off the bead, the rim dug into the ground and we started to flip. We rolled twice and landed on all four wheels and since I was in a Toyota I drove home. Needless to say the truck was totaled and the insurance company paid us a lot of money for it, but I no longer had my Tacoma. The day before the tow truck was supposed to arrive I had a great idea, lets take the uca's and coilovers off and put the stock **** back on. Well they came and took the truck and I was sad, 16 and carless.



Good news the check from the insurance company cleared and it was time to start looking for a new truck, after about 6 weeks of searching I had decided to get a Land Rover. Yea sure it was a Freelander three door but I was the only kid in high school with a Land Rover. That lasted about four months. I hated that stupid thing, it was broken constantly had no off road ability and it wasn't event a real convertible. I sold it to some dude wearing an Armani track suit for more than I had paid for it, but less than was invested considering all the time spent at the Land Rover mechanic. The whole experience was unpleasant and put me off of the old british warhorse kind of forever.

Ok lets take stock, I'm 17 looking for truck #3 and decide to go with what I know. Back to Toyota this time it was a 1998 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4x4 with a warranty rebuilt motor by Toyota with 15k miles on the new motor, also for some reason a $5k stereo that the dude was going to remove before he sold the truck but I wanted that night and hey money talks. So now I have another Toyota 4x4, this time lesson learned no one else gets to drive off road. EVER!!!! But remember I have some coilovers and uca's in the garage and I had gotten really good at installing suspension on Toyota's. Three weeks into the 4Runner I had the front lifted the rear had a puck installed and I had picked up some 265-75 16 on Toyota steel teardrop rims and I was happy. Well as you know modifying cars is an addiction, and frankly we should all be in 12 step programs, but I started to notice how much better the front performed in the dirt than the rear, so a quick drive to 4 Wheel Parts and some 891's were on order along with a set of 5100's. Bang boom no more cali lift. At this time in my life I spent a lot of time on yota-tech and Ih8mud so the next logical thing in my mind was skids and sliders. I phoned Bud and had him send me a pair of his finest skids and I had some dude bend me up some sliders and man I was done. But not just yet you see with all that lift and the sliders those 265's started to look kinda wimpy. So back to craigslist I found some Tacoma rims with 285's two were good and two were shot, but as they say bigger is better so i bought them . The bad tires lasted three days, they were super unsafe and messed with the handling. I ended up going to Sears and getting some Bridgestone's that almost matched the front. Well wouldn't you know, it was spring break again and now I had a built 4Runner so off to Az to pick up Michael and up to Moab. This time we could do hard trails I had a whole year to work on my driving ability, bigger tires and a locker. We went all through the slick rock, and somehow even made it up to Top of the World. That trip had a few problems as well, this time though we had brought dish soap and looked for stop signs. But alas when a truck has over 200k on it some times thing wear out, for instance did you know fan clutches don't last forever because I sure didn't and old axle seals don't like lockers, 33's and a heavy foot, and who would have thought that drum brakes wouldn't get along with the gear oil that was supposed to be keeping the differential lubed. But after tearing apart the axle in an Auto Zone parking lot and learning that I would need a press to change the bearings and a fan clutch wouldn't be in stock until two days after I left Moab and new brake shoes are just a susceptible to gear oil as the old saturated ones, I figured lets just have fun and rag this b****. I should be able to limp it home, and hey every thing worked out great.





So now I'm in college still same 4runner all built all pretty, and I start to develop an interest in wake skating, it's like wake boarding with no bindings. So I sold my 4Runner to buy a ski boat. The boat is great, the problem blue ovals. After a series of Ford trucks I think three in a period of 18 months all bought and sold cheaply for various reasons. I decide to buy a car and just use my dads truck for towing. I bought a new car a Sentra Spec-V, 200hp and posi. Crazy insurance for a 20 year old, but I had a job and I have good credit so whats the problem. Dude I can't live with a car!!!!! Sure they are fine around town, but it got stuck in the snow I got tickets and I had lost my first love 4x4. (Good news some-how I escaped the mod bug on the Nissan and kept it stock.) So my dad had been complaining about bad gas mileage and his long commute, and I missed having a Truck, so I proposed a Trade he would get my little white sports car and I would get his 2004 Toyota Tundra Double Cab 4x4 also tan. I had always liked this truck, but it had always belonged to my dad. But as he had been driving my little car around occasionally and liked the performance and liked the economy he was open to the idea. And I was Stoked.



My first Summer with my new to me Truck what to do, what to do. Then one day while I was at work my buddy Tony calls me in his loud surfer bro voice "HEY MATT DO YOU WANT TO GO TO MT. HOOD AND SKI THE GLACIER?" I thought ******* yea lets do it. But lets do lets do it good. So we planed it out 6 days: SD to SF: Surf, Party with friends (I was Newly 21 as in a week before we left), SF to Portland: Surf Party with friends, Portland to Mt. Hood: Day 1 Mountain bike and Party with locals, Day 2 Snowboard and Party with locals, Mt. Hood to Deschutes River: Raft Party with locals. We then ran out of time and money and had to cannonball back to SD for Tony to go off to Basic.



I've kept the truck stock for over a year, until about two months ago I noticed the bushings on the front Shocks were bad, so I replaced them with 5100's and while they were at it throw on some 886's as well. Then Last friday I saw a camper For Sale. I called the guy he still has it so this afternoon I drove over to his house and buy his camper.



But this camper was different it has a couple of latches on the back, I flipped them and look at what happens, Can any body explain this to me?



I'm kidding by the way, but if you would like to follow my mods to the flip pac as well as the rest of the truck it will be here. And they are coming soon, because right now my camper is held on with c clamps and ratchet straps.

 

[washington taco]

Great write up, keep it coming!

 

[SWITAWI]

Nicely written. I feel kinda sad because my own Toyota story would be something along the lines of... I got my driver's license in 1987. I bought this FJ Cruiser in late 2010 and I still have it. :sombrero:
I liked your story much better. :coffeedrink: Keep 'em coming!

 

[tanglefoot]

Some story! The Taco double cab is an impressive first car--sad to see it wrecked. In my experience, it's a good idea to stay clear of Bobs. :sombrero:

I used to work with someone who had a black Spec-V...seems like quite a car! I bet your Dad's having a blast with it. You made out really nicely in the trade though.

My story would be really short as well--two Toyotas...and I haven't parted with either of them.

 

[mattmtbman]

Ok, so now were all caught up on my car history, now lets look at the present and future. So today was my first whole day with the flip-pac and I wanted to get it mounted to the truck. this is what I woke up to.



And several minutes later



Now it was time to get to work. As that truck has had a toolbox and roll up tonneau cover since 2004, there was a bit of junk accumulated under where the tool box had been. i.e. ten years worth of wood and bark scraps that had been kicked under the box and never pulled out. 10 minutes with a broom and putty knife and it was clean, well cleanish. Next was on to the problem of actually attaching the camper to the truck, my quick solution of two criss-crossed ratchet straps and two 3" C clamps worked ok but I wanted to do it right. Time for the design phase, I had a couple of small pieces of cardboard and I was mocking up different brackets that would attach the camper to the truck without drilling holes in the bed rail. Then it came to me, the simplest bracket I could imagine, just an L rotated back 90 degrees. I cut a small piece of angle iron and drilled a whole through it and ran a long bolt through the camper rail and it was attached. I ended up making 4 brackets that were 2.5" long with ⅜ wholes drilled through one side. I painted them with some anti rust enamel and I had camper brackets for free dollars.





Now on to the FUTURE, uture, uture, uture

So as some of you may have gathered by now I am fairly young as far as the expo crowd goes, so since I was four years old to right now I have never missed a semester of school. But thats about to change in January, because of rule at SDSU you can't transfer during a spring semester and I have the maximum number of JC units I can take with me, by default I have next semester off of school. Now I could just pick up some more hours at work and bank some money for a rainy day or to fund some project. But no I want to do something Fun!!! So as I see it I have from January to August off and I am going to make good use of it. I have decided that in March I am going to quit my job and go on a tour of the western United States, British Columbia and Alaska. Along the way hiking, mountain biking, fishing and scouting the perfect town to open up a new bicycle shop in. I have budgeted 2k a month for gas, food and other expenditures and have been saving for that, also why I'm not leaving in January.

Things I will do to prep for the trip that I might share here if there is interest.
1 Maintenance: I need to replace my front CV axles, a diff drop kit and other basic stuff.
2 Batteries : National luna dual battery system with die hard platinum group 31 batteries, power for days.
3 Accessibility: Some sort of gas strut to hold the hatch of the camper up.
4 Storage: Since there is no chance for a roof rack I am going to have to build storage into the bed of the truck.
5 Skid plates: The only off road accessory I 100% will install

Things I want to do if I somehow I get my boat sold before I leave.
Bumpers Arb bull bar in the front from a LC100, and swing away wrap around in the rear.
Arb Lockers and 4.56 gears
285 70 17 tires
stereo the stock toyota stuff is crap
along with other fun expensive car camping crap

Now here is where I need a little help, the rear suspension is really lacking since I put the ome stuff on the front. So where do I go from here?
lift block, add a leaf, air bags, some generic lift leaf spring or custom bent national springs
These are my options in order of price and opposite order of what I would like to do. Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[tanglefoot]

I was wondering about that reverse rake. I'm really happy with the long, Pro-Comp add-a-leaves in the rear packs. I'd definitely go that way over blocks. Blocks are even questionable on the 22R-powered rigs. Since you've got some real power there, I wouldn't introduce that axle leverage from blocks.

 

[JCMatthews]

I purchased AAL springs here locally for my '05 DC Tundra, and have loved them. I gained about 1.75" - 2" of lift, and the ride is nice. I also gained the pay load I was looking for. I was able to do it for exactly 100.00 including new u bolts. Up front I have bilstein 5100 adjustables set second notch from the top, about 2" of lift. I am running 265 x75 17s, however next month I will installing 285s because I definitely have the room. I've attached a before and after.

 

[Wainiha]

So jealous of the flip pak.

I can't wait to see your pictures when you take the trip.

 

[dorton]

Cool ride. Nice find on the flippac.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mattmtbman]

So after mulling it over for a couple of days, intense internet research and several phone calls I figured out my rear suspension. I ended up ordering the Wheelers Offroad Heavy duty progressive spring pack with U-bolts long enough to keep the overload spring. Thank you all for the aal suggestions, after talking to wheelers and I decided their pack was the best for my application. I also ordered a Rev-Tek diff drop and some weather tech floor mats for skiing season this year.

I did get to test the truck out for the weekend in Anza Borrego. I drove out S-2 and south through the park all the way to Ocotillo and then back up the 8 to get home. I did a little more than 100 miles off road and I am 100% positive that my stock rear springs aren't up for the challenge of the Flip Pac. I also found a few problems with my mounting solution. I ended up bending all the bolts that I had used to attach the camper and all of the nuts rattled loose while I was off road. One bracket even fell off completely. Not all things were bad though, it was awesome being able to set up camp in a matter of minutes, there is way more storage space with-out the tool box and roll up tonneau. I also love being able to stand up inside my tent and stretch my arms with-out hitting the roof and the full roll down window is great. I can slide from the camper to the truck no problem at all with the window down. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the good camera, but I managed to get a couple of pics with my phone and since I know that's why most of you look at this here you go.









I ordered the springs last friday and they should be here next week. When they get here should I do a whole write up on the instillation or are you guys ok with just before and after pictures? If there is interest I will do a write up on the install.

 

[mattmtbman]

I got the springs installed, it took about four hours, two floor jacks, 4 jack stands and a large breaker bar but it's done. I sure do love San Diego there wasn't a bit of rust or corrosion on the u bolts or springs at all. Wheelers Off Road is awesome they my parts here on Monday when I had ordered them on Friday. I know you will all be disappointed but I was so tired after installing the springs I forgot to take a photo, but the truck sits level now and rides way better. In other news I just got tires, 255 85 16 km2's Five of them on black steel wheels. One of the tires is brand new the other four will have about 100 miles on them when I pick them up tomorrow afternoon at the tire shop. All five tires and wheels a hair less than a grand, man I love craigslist. I am considering painting the rims an off white color because black is a little played out and there is too much black on the truck already. I have a rough list of places I want to go on my trip if I am missing anything near my route please chime in. Since I have not been to many of these places I don't know any of the cool local stuff to go and see.

April 1st Leave San Diego
1st week in August return to San Diego

Rough Route
Joshua Tree NP, Death Valley NP, Flagstaff to visit friends, Grand Canyon NP, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP and Moab, Mesa Verde NP, Durango, Great San dune NP, Boulder, Rocky Mountain NP, YellowStone NP, Glacier NP, Dawson Creek BC, Fairbanks Ak, Anchorage Ak, Whistler BC, Olympic NP, Redwood NP, Eureka Ca, South Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Sequoia NP then for good measure the Mojave Road west to east summertime run then back to San Diego.

I know it is National Park heavy but I like National Parks, mainly because they are near national forests where you can camp for free.

This Route is roughly 10,000 miles and over a period of 130 days Is roughly 77 miles a day average. And at 14 mpg at $4 a gallon roughly $2900 Those are all super livable numbers, I will have to keep my beer cost's down because I don't want to drink my trip to an early end. I figure $20 a day for food will bring the total cost to $5500 for essentials, Then I will have another $2500 for splurges, repairs and souvenirs. This is where I really need input, I have never planed a trip this large before and It's becoming intimidating.

Things I have left to do on the truck. Some sort of stereo, my stock stuff is dead, build an interior for the camper and figure out a way to mount bikes that won't interfere with the camper. I am cutting my mod list short as I see dates approaching and money that should be getting saved going to modifications.

 

[JCMatthews]

Sounds like you've made a good choice. I am jealous of your time off to travel.

 

[uscg2008]

Any pics of the new gear

 

[mattmtbman]

Here is how it looks with the new rear springs

I will be picking up the new tires this afternoon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mattmtbman]

New Toys

Hello all, I haven't been on here in a while I have started to pick up side work in the last couple of months to help pay for my trip and have been working 6 to 7 day weeks for the last three months. But I have been collecting items of importance to make 4 months in a pickup truck palatable. Here are some of my new toys.

To start fridge






Then I got this neat little folding table for Christmas



And a new pretty stove to sit on top



And some fancy MSR knives to do my dirty work



Also along for the ride will be two 7 gallon jugs



And last but not least a rainfly from SLO Sails for my flip pac to keep all my stuff dry



I have a couple of more things to get ready before I leave in April and would like to have everything up and ready by March in time for Desert Rendezvous, I still need to figure out my dual battery set up, get an awning for the camper and figure out my cabinet stiuation on the inside when the top is closed. I will try and keep this as updated as I can as I continue to prepare the truck.