100,000 miles

[4RunAmok]

Timing belt and water pump (that was leaking) and I'm out $625, and they didn't even change the belts.

[jim65wagon]

I get so surprised sometimes....I feel like I'm just rambling on to myself (I am) but then I find out someone replies. Thanks for the interest! Anywho, back to the last bit of the program...

Winter set in (if you can call it that) and we settled in to our daily routines for a while. In early 2007 the ol' BFGs finally were worn enough to warrant replacement. I had spent my winter thinking of tire sizes, going back and forth...keep the 265s, get 285s, get 255s...the only thing I knew was I wanted an AT. I simply put too many road miles on the truck to warrant a mud tire.

After an amazing amount of consideration and research and looking at my picture of bent tube steps, I crossed out the 265 on the list. Now then...285s or 255s. I admit at this time to spending money to help decide... I bought two tires, both halftreads; 1 in 285 and 1 in 255. Mount them up and try them on! Well guess what? With a 1.5" lift on a Tundra 285s rub like h...! 255s on the other hand...fit! That narrows it down considerably. Let's see a 255 with an AT tread...hmm...not too much choice there. The only one I liked was the Cooper Discoverer ST. The internet reads (opinions) were good, the tread looked good. I knew (personally) no one with first hand experience with them so I thought I'd be the first on my block with them. Bought em love em can't recommend them enough, you need a do all tire that rivals the standard BFG AT this is it, plus they look good on the truck. The size of the tire combined with the mild lift keep the truck very stock looking, no one notices, it's just another Tundra. Of course there was the guy with the lifted (way high) Jeep at a light one day who very much noticed my tires were taller than his, yet my truck was much lower...what a waste (his opinion)


Spring came along and with 500 miles on the tires I was following those pesky jeeps through the same trails that bit my steps. Oooh this is better, less scraping, bumping thumping pinging noises from underneath. Same trails less mess!


Then the road trips started...went to Baltimores Aquarium, camped overnight in PA went to Cabelas. Bought two new tents and four cots which updates our new "system" no more unloading the whole truck for an overnighter! Spent a week at Lake Anna (cabin)
,

trips to Rapidan (no camping just touring)
,

a trip to Trout Pond WVA (with Haggis and crew)

a trip to Greenbriar State Forest (noisy campground)
,
on into Kentucky and back trying to come back along forest roads as best we could

...fun fun fun.

Then to Indiana and back, and whew! the summer was flying! Miles were piling up fast!

Soon it was back to Monogahela to visit with Chris, Mark and Family and Big AL!

[jim65wagon]

OK I swear this will be the last post anyone has to muddle through on this thread! Next I'd like to ask if anyone has trouble remembering what they did last year? Cause I sure do...what'd I forget? My favoritest, funnest project for the truck of course...the bed rack!

Beginning with the '06 Monongahela trip I thought about a bed rack. Four of us absolutely fill the bed with stuff (we try to live comfortably you know), and we have this unwritten rule that gear muxt fit under the cover! How to keep dry stuff dry, and the cover down and still have room for everyones stuff? Rack! Right!

Beth and I talked it out and we planned a half length, full width bed rack. It had to be high enough to allow the cover to roll up, but be low enough so gear wasn't standing taller than the roofline of the cab. I drew plans all winter, bought steel, and started cutting and welding in the spring. By summer time I had a rack and it's first loaded run was to Trout Pond in WVa. I was a bundle of nerves for that trip out, three gear boxes, water and a bit of firewood on the rack...I watched the mirrors a looong time waiting for a bump or turn in the road to collapse the rack like so many metal matchsticks! Whew! It worked, as planned and exceeded my expectations!



I like it because in a matter of minutes it goes from being 3 pieces of wall art in the garage, to a functional utility rack. It doesn't wiggle, wobble or creak. It holds a lot of weight, and if I could dance a jig I could dance it on the rack!

By the time of the Second Annual Monongahela trip we were all worn out from racking up a lot of road miles, but this was the trip we really looked forward to. The gang on the East Coast of the Portal are top-notch, fun to be with people. Whether sitting by a campfire trying to get Chris to eat snails, hiking along the river, or joy riding the Canaan Loop, they were all commendable people and I can't wait to meet them again and meet the rest of you all.





We settled down a bit after the Mon trip. We made it to OBX in October for Beths birthday, just a quick weekender, but we got to test the Coopers in the sand. Narrow tread still works in the sand, can't say it was better than the slightly wider/shorter BFG ATs (265s) but they certainly weren't any worse. They just drive through the sand, no drama.


That was the last off road trip for the year of 2007, the truck made a few more road trips, including one to Asheville NC. It got pretty quiet after that and we very slowly approached the 100,000 mile mark.

In March of 2007 with the brand new Coopers the Tundra sat at 72000 miles. In March 2008 we rolled the 100,000, that's what 28,000 miles in one year? Not a bad year, busy but fun for all.

And that's the story of our first 100,000 miles with the Tundra. Tune in a few years down the road and I'll let you know how the second 100 go...

Yes, I'll quit now and not subject you to any more of the jumble in my head. Thanks for listening. See you at Mon...

[Haggis]

Ah, a boy and his truck. Classic American love story. Here's to Queen Elizabeth's Revenge, may it sail on.

[jim65wagon]

OK I lied to you all...I decided just to continue this as a full-on life of my truck thread. Since I ended this thread, I've added some things. Maybe I should get a Mod to change the Title from 100,000 miles to something else like; How to Waste Time with an old pickup truck; or; A Tundra? Who is Stupid Enough to Mod a Tundra?

I did a complete OBA with a Viair 380C and a 2.5 gallon tank. This was done in its own thread.

Tundra On Board Air

if I need to reiterate, I can, but there it is.

I also added a Hidden Hitch front receiver. It's for moving the boat around (works like a charm) and for a winch. I've always like the idea of a winch but never wanted to spring for the large bumper, or wanted the additional weight of one. The Hitch tucks up nicely ( I've seen worse ones) and I can drop my skidplate without a problem for oil changes.

[jim65wagon]

Camping is a lot of fun for our family. We go when the weather gets too warm to spend the days on the river fishing (in VA, that can be a lot of days!) Hauling water was always a problem, for us. 4 people use a lot of water! We decided the 7 gallon Walmart cans weren't cutting it so we stole some ideas...Thanks Articulate! Your well written articles led to this!

We purchased a 21 gallon potable water tank from PPL Motorhomes, along with a Shur-flo pump (2.8 gpm; same one as Articulates-well not the same one his is junk now as I understand it and he lives too far away to share such things so I guess I mean the same model as his).

I also picked up another Blue Sea fuse block, a toggle switch and a 12volt outlet.

From scrap lumber we had in the garage I built a frame that would house a hugexlarge boat battery, the fuse block, 12 volt outlet and provide a place to mount the pump.






The whole unit sits at the cab end of the bed, it's lightweight (without the battery) and installs in minutes. Toss in the frame, place the tank and connect the quick connects (pressure washer) from the pump to the tank. Insert the battery; fill tank. Viola!



We built a cover to not only keep things in the bed from rupturing the tank, but it also holds the whole thing in place. It fits tightly under the tonneau cover rails and, until I can work out a more elegant method, is held in place with ratchet straps.



The toggle switch is mounted near the tailgate, flick it "on" and the pump pressurizes, unwind the drinking quality garden hose and spray, wash, drink till your hearts content! Barring a few leaks (vent and fill cap) it's worked out well.



Oh yeah, I almost forgot...things have slowed way down, it's August and I'm only at 108,000 miles now!

[jim65wagon]

For a long time we were looking for something nicer to load the rack with besides the Contico plastic boxes from WalMart. We really liked the Zarges boxes but they were a little on the pricey side. We eventually settled to a slightly more affordable aluminum ATV box. Well, 3 of them. They are United Welding Service boxes from Agri-supply. They were bright! aluminum but I took an idea (thanks Pierre!) and ran with it. Now they are black, ah, truck bed liner, the multi-purpose paint!



And to fit the hidden hitch (and to see if anyone is paying attention) I've added this:

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Aloha!....Jim!


What kind of Engine Oil and Filter.....do you use in your 100,000 mile Toyota>?!!!


Lookin' good!




.

[tclong]

Hey keep the jabberin coming!!! Here real soon this fall I hope to start hitting the backroad trips again in our 4runner. We have been on a 5 year house project.

[4Rescue]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA With a thread like this and the great work you're doing, I hope you post ALOT more. Great job, and great write up, I can just feel how much fun you're having from the way you talk about all the mods. I also absolutely respect the way you've gone at the upgrades, nice modest but good tires, on board air and water, the home made rack (very nice btw) it's all so NOt over the top or "extreme" but it works and it's reliable. I for one can't wait to see what you do in the next 100k, and the one after that..

Cheers

Dave