twoyearsnotice
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Return to Big Rock Candy Mountain
Above: Charles heading back to Big Rock Candy Mountain, this time more prepared
While many people enjoy building for the sake of building, I have found that my motivation lies primarily in building for the sake of doing. My favorite build threads begin with a story of failure, which motivates the writer to learn the skills, gain the experience, and make the vehicle modifications necessary to achieve their goal on subsequent attempts. In this tradition, I thought it would be best to start with my own story of failure.
Failure
I had come to know the feeling pretty well after years of rock climbing. Equal parts uncertainty, fear, and regret, it was usually the result of repetitive application of optimistic decision-making. If you don't know what I am talking about, just take an “it'll be fine” mindset whenever your situation becomes serious, while making sure not to prudently examine said situation, and you will soon arrive at this feeling. With the colors of sunset quickly fading to grey, it was time to turn on the headlights, and well past the time when decisions should have been made based on reality instead of optimism. Jen, Steve, and I had set out after work for Big Rock Candy Mountain (BRCM), a 1200-foot granite monolith that rises dramatically out of the South Platte River, and is one of the crown jewels of Colorado rock climbing. For the last hour we had descended an unmaintained service road through one obstacle after another, each proving more challenging than the last. What started as the occasional slamming of the frame against the bump stops had progressed to belly dragging and differential smashing. Like a novice poker player, our ignorance had allowed us to commit too much to a bad hand. Motivated to buy in further by a fear of losing what we had already invested, yet realizing with each new turn that our odds of surviving the hand had only gotten worse. Only half way to where we wanted to be, we were no longer confident that we could make it back to where we started. With no recovery gear, no spare tire, and no idea what we were doing, it became clear that it was time to turn around.
We were in some serious trouble. Not because of our current predicament, that was easily solved. Several miles ago we had passed some jeepers out camping for the weekend that we could go to for help if things got too desperate. It would only have cost us a few beers from the cooler and a bit of pride. Instead, Jen and I were in serious trouble because we were supposed to be leaving for an overland trip to Patagonia in just over two years. We were supposed to surf and climb our way to the end of the Americas, and here we were without the skills, experience, equipment, or confidence to explore our own backyard. Somehow we made it out that night, thankful not to be stuck, and lucky to have enough time to learn the skills we needed before leaving on our overland journey.
Overland From Colorado to Patagonia (and Back?)
As it is not possible to make something purpose-built if you have not defined the purpose, I will try to do just that. Jen and I are going to take our two dogs, Dobie and Kaia, and drive south for about a year. We have no set itinerary, just a basic plan to follow the coast and surf while the surf is good, and to head inland to the mountains when the waves are flat. Adventure is the goal, so being able to access remote destinations is a priority. Hearing from surfers who have done similar trips, it seems that muddy, narrow “roads” with lots of low hanging limbs and plenty of water crossings are the most common entry fee to such places. Our goal with the truck is fairly simple in concept: increase off-road capability without sacrificing too much reliability.
The Build
For guiding principles, see this short list of great articles:
1.) Is Your Overlander Overbuilt? Written by Christophe Noel.
2.) The Physics of Tires and Lifts. Written by Jonathan Hanson.
3.) Tire Selection for Expedition Travel. Written by Scott Brady.
As you will soon see, we have slipped a bit on the first guiding principle of the build, opting for creature comforts more appropriate for a retiring couple than young surfers.
I will list the modifications that I have made, starting at the front of the truck and working towards the back. I will include a few short comments about the motivation for the modification, the installation process, and my thoughts after about six months of use. Comments regarding installation should be taken with a big grain of salt, as I was definitely learning by doing throughout the entire process I'm sure most people reading this will have much more experience working on their own vehicle.
Above: Our home on the road, setup with the rainfly
2000 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road Xtra Cab 3.4L V6, ~50,000 miles
Motivation: The Tacoma is legendary reliability, good off-road capability, good payload, and a relatively small footprint.
ARB front bumper (#3423020)
Motivation: We want to ensure that small fender benders are just that, and don't leave us stranded (the same goes for wildlife).
Install Notes: The install was pretty straightforward and easy, but fairly time consuming. ARB should be embarrassed by their install documentation, which could be kindly described as inadequate. Unfortunately, poor documentation seems to be an industry standard, or at least that is the impression that I got throughout this build. Luckily, there is plenty of forum support for this install.
Rigid Industries D2 XL Driving Lights
Motivation: We don't plan to drive after dark very often on our overland trip, but for those times when we have to we really wanted some good lights.
Install Notes: I didn't do this install myself, so I can't speak to this.
6-Month Review: These lights are ridiculously bright. It is hard to imagine wanting more than this unless you were racing at night.
Toytec Ultimate Lift Kit (specific components described below)
Motivation: The stock Tacoma suspension was absolutely horrendous, particularly the rear leaf springs. We also wanted to increase clearance of the body and the differential (through slightly larger tires). Article two, which is linked above, highlights several reliability concerns that led us to choose a more moderate lift and tires.
Install Notes: The Toytec install documentation was sufficient, but certainly not great. Again, plan on relying on forum support and advice from your local shop for some sections of the install. Specific install notes below.
6-Month Review: As this is my first aftermarket suspension build, it is hard for me to compare it to anything else. Overall, I have been extremely happy with the gain in off-road capability, which is really a night and day difference. On road driving characteristics have not suffered at all. My only complaint is that the rear shocks seem to be inadequate for certain highway driving situations. Specifically, the back end goes into a harmonic hop on sections of highway that are made from segmented pieces of concrete. Luckily, while sections of highway like this do exist around the front range of Colorado, they are relatively rare.
Total Chaos Upper Control Arms
Install notes: Total Chaos produces great install documentation, and even has several well made step-by-step videos to walk you through the install. In hindsight, the install should have been pretty easy, yet in practice it was very difficult. Specifically, it was removing the original upper control arm that caused so much heartache. Two things will help you avoid this. First, buy a pickle fork right away. You will probably only use it this once in your life (to separate the ball joint from the spindle), but it will be worth every penny. Second, go to your local automotive store and rent (for free at most) a ball joint press when it comes time to remove the ball joint form the spindle.
6-Month Review: Despite liberal greasing (and trying not to over grease), the bushings of the upper control arms have developed a persistent squeak. I will be removing and cleaning them soon, so hopefully this will solve the problem. I hope this does not become routinely required maintenance.
Toytec/Bilstein Adjustable Coilovers
Install Notes: These were installed after the original upper control arms had been removed, making this install one of the easiest parts of the Toytec install. Really just plug and play at that point.
Old Man Emu Dakar Rear Leaf Springs
Install Notes: While fairly straightforward, this was one of the more challenging installations for the Toytec lift. It was really nice to have the help of my buddy Steve, as the leaf packs are pretty heavy. Keep a couple of extra jack stands nearby to make sure you don't stretch the brake line too far, and don't tighten anything down until the very end (when the instructions say). The latter is key for making sure you can get the leaf springs aligned as needed.
Boss Rear Shocks
Install Notes: This was probably the easiest part of the entire Toytec lift installation.
Firestone Airbags
Motivation: Reduce suspension fatigue and help level truck once fully loaded. Even with the Old Man Emu Dakar leaf springs, the rear end was sagging a fair bit.
Install Notes: I didn't do this install myself, so I can't speak to this.
CBI Off Road Outback Custom Rear Bumper
Motivation: Again, to offer some protection for our home. Also wanted some external storage for shovel/axe, jerry cans, propane, Maxtrax, and Hi-lift jack.
Install Notes: Installation was very straightforward and fairly quick once all of the accessories were assembled.
6-Month Review: This bumper is absolutely amazing, but also very heavy. CBI Off Road did a great job with the design and manufacture; everything fits perfectly and is lockable. It is amazing how much they were able to fit into such a small design. One of the best parts is the aluminum lockbox that can double as a cook top next to the tailgate. All of this functionality comes at the cost of adding a lot of weight really far back on the vehicle.
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 LT235/85/R16 Tires
Motivation: It is hard to overstate what a huge difference a good set of tires can make. Guided by some well-written and insightful articles (see articles 2 and 3 above), we tried to find tires that were taller not wider, not too much larger than our original tires, and had an E load index.
6-Month Review: I was really happy to find that these tires produced very little road noise. Colorado winters have given me plenty of opportunities to test these tires in snowy and icy conditions, and they have performed exceptionally well. I have yet to test them in very muddy conditions, but they have performed well off road in general. No major complaints, as it should be for tires of this price.
Safari Snorkel
Motivation: Many of the surf breaks we hope to reach are guarded by several water crossings. Additionally, given the amount of dirt road driving we will be doing, relocating the air intake higher has the added benefit of reducing the workload placed on the air filter.
Install Notes: This one is still on the to-do list, so I can't offer any advice here.
Our Home on the Road
Up until last year, Jen and I spent many of our weekends happily camped out in the back of our Ford F-150. We had bought a used mattress that fit perfectly between the wheel wells, and felt like we had scored a pretty serious upgrade after years of tent camping. When I suggested that such a setup would be perfect for our overland trip, Jen shot me a look that effectively conveyed her frustration with my continued ignorance of the opposite sex. Jen made one thing clear; if she was going to spend a year in the back of a truck with me and a couple of dogs, it was going to have to feel like a home and not the back of a truck. Thus began the search for our home.
A myriad of great options now exist for making a home on the road. There is no “best” choice for making a home on the road, but there are options that will better suit your home on the road given your preferred style of travel. In the end, after much research and deliberation, Jen and I decided to go with what can simply be described as a truck, a topper that turns into a tent, and some fancy drawers in the back. In all honesty, from a living perspective we would much prefer a van. We just couldn't find a van option that met our criteria of off road capability, reliability, serviceability, and expense.
The foundation of our home on the road is the Flip-Pac, a fiberglass topper that opens to form a six and a half foot high tent with a sleeping area over the cab of the truck. We chose this over a drop-in camper primarily because of the Flip-Pac's lower weight and expense. Another thing Jen and I love about the Flip-Pac is that the large windows allow amazing through-flow on hot days, and provide great views of sunset and the stars right from bed. The Flip-Pac's exposure to the elements is also its major weakness. While we have an aftermarket rainfly from SLO Sail and Canvas that provides great shelter from rain and winds, packing up camp in the rain or snow is a real pain. The tent material inevitably gets wet while packing up, and requires drying once the sun comes out again. Another major weakness of the Flip-Pac is that is provides no awning area off the back of the truck (think muddy shoes and paws), and there are no roof racks. While people add on such features themselves, I am hesitant to drill through the relatively thin fiberglass of the Flip-Pac. AT-Overland has solved some of these issues (at a price) with their version of the Flip-Pac called the Tacoma Habitat.
Above: The bed of the Flip-Pac comfortably sleeps two people, and uncomfortably sleeps two people and two dogs.
Goose Gear storage solutions deserves most of the credit for making our house a home. Before I describe the Goose Gear layout, let me rave a little bit about the design process. One way to objectively assess the quality of customer service a company provides is to look back through your emails and see how many it took before someone got sick of your endless questions and decided that your business wasn't worth their effort. Gmail quantifies this number as 103 and counting, as we are still sending questions to Goose Gear and they have yet to stop responding politely. Our build process went something like this: I would send a photo like the one below to Brian, and then he would email back with a layout like the one below without mentioning how ridiculously useless my photo was. We iterated this process several times until we arrived at what we both agreed was an optimal storage layout.
Above: This is an example of a layout, planning photo that I sent to Brian.
Above: This is an example of a layout planning photo that Brian would send to me.
Brian and his family have been working in the cabinetry business for over two decades, and have the expertise and equipment to show for it. Brian was able to come up with a very open layout designed around the use of Front Runner Flatpack storage boxes in place of sliding drawers. The aim was to reduce the materials used, and thereby the overall weight and expense of the build. Any part of the storage system that we would be walking on was made of Baltic Birch, while non-weight bearing panels were made out of Okume plywood. Both are laminated with Formica MicroDot for added strength durability, and ease of cleaning. All paneling is held together by American made aluminum extrusion, which not only makes the whole storage system serviceable, but also provides an attachment point for customizable fittings. Jen and I have found these fittings to be one of the best parts of the build, and I will highlight them further below. Goose Gear also came up with a great layout for the dual battery system, USB and 12V chargers, and lights. Battery management is taken care of by the CTEK D250S, which allows the house battery to charge off of the alternator while driving, and charge off of solar when parked for extended periods.
Jen and I began our honeymoon last year by driving out to Westminster, California, where we met Brian, Matt, and Mitch from Goose Gear. We spent a few days surfing around Westminster while the guys completed the build, and then spent a week surfing our way up the coast with our new home. Many thanks to Brian, Matt, and Mitch for their great work, and to our friends and family for help making this a reality. The following photos will walk through the entire storage system. I thought it might be useful to show the storage both empty, as well as packed, and provide comments on specific items within the photo captions.
Above: This is a view from the bed, with the hammock stored off to the left. The USB and 12V charging ports can be seen to the right of the blue Lifesaver jerry can, as well as at the back of the truck on the passenger's side.
Above: This is a view from the back, with the slide-out fridge/freezer currently stored. The cutting board stored above the fridge/freezer is removable, allowing access to the fridge from inside the truck.
Above: This is a posterior view of the slide-out fridge/freezer on the driver's side, and rear access storage on the passenger's side.
Above: Close-up of the rear access storage on the passenger's side
Above: Passenger's side storage
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