Proper intro and my '04 Tacoma

[obscurotron]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself properly. I'm Ed, from the San Francisco Bay Area. Been lurking here and posting for the last several months, so out I come officially.

My rig is a 2004 Tacoma Extended Cab 4x4. The mechanicals are more or less bone stock and the mods sort of come and go as I find what works and what doesn't.

Present form:

-SAW 2.0's up front, Fabtech AAL on the rear for about 2" of moderate lift

-Hayden 678 Transmission cooler; had the TRD until a rock rendered it
beyond salvage.

-ARB front bumper w/ WARN M8000 winch (no, I didn't do the endcap mod
yet, and so far, no problems) and a pair of KC Daylighters
(Formerly mounted with a WARN Trans4Mer mount - worked well, had
zero problems with it, but I gained clearance by going to the ARB)

-Front Range Offroad Rear Bumper (modding it this weekend to better
accomodate my receiver)

-Bluesea fuse block on the passenger side interior kick panel that handles
lower-draw lighting, CB and HAM radios and will handle a planned rear
12V powerpoint once I find a good way to set something up.

-Class III receiver for recovery (also used to tow my teardrop when I still
had it [kicking myself for selling] with a WARN receiver shackle

-Uniden CB with a custom 2 piece antenna mount (rear of truck, handmade
of aluminum bar stock - works really nice, 1.8:1 SWR w/ Firestick)

-Kenwood TM-D707 with a Radial-Larsen glass mount (also works
amazingly well for a through-glass antenna)

-ARE topper

-Custom rear cargo light (switchable from the cab and the bed)

-Custom HiLift mounts in the bed (just 2 pieces of hand-bent steel bar
stock and some big bolts to hold the HiLift and my shovel.

What's coming:

-Set of BFG MT T/A KM2's being installed on stock 16x7's tomorrow morning

-Couple sets of 5" Core-Trax tiedown points I have to install on the inside of
the tailgate to act as anchor points for my NATO cans.

-Going to turn half the bed area into a sleeping platform and storage and
leave the other half open for additional, non-integrated camping gear
(EZups, kitchen box, etc.) To date I've not seen a "half-and-half" setup
like that, so I'm going to get busy with my tape measure and figure
something out.

What I'd like to add:

Dual battery setup, preferably using a manual marine-type switch. Problem is, I'm not keen on putting the 2nd battery in the bed, enclosed by the shell and then also sleeping back there. Thoughts on this?

Aux. fuel tank, similar to the Expeditions West setup. Living in California makes that dubious, however.

Rear utility lights - this is just a matter of time and materials.

Roof rack + cargo basket - just a matter of time and money.

What I do - I'm a Unix sysadmin for a tech company in Silicon Valley. I'm also a licensed California attorney with a small side practice (how's that for oddball?) The truck is used for fishing (flyfishing, usually) and camping mostly in the Sierras. I used to make frequent treks into NW Nevada (many of you know what I'm talking about - basically anywhere from Cedarville/Lake City -> Vya -> Nixon -> Lovelock ->Blackrock Desert -> High Rock Canyon -> Kumiva Valley and so on), but they're less frequent since buying a home and having a kid.

Better and more pics (with detail) to come. This is all I have handy at my desk.

Thanks!

-Ed

[TEJASYOTA]

Hi Ed!
Nice Taco there!

[obscurotron]

Thanks! It is a work in progress.

Years ago when I built my teardrop, I really figured that would be my solution, instead of outfitting the truck proper. And for a while it did just fine. But with the addition to the family (and maybe more in another year or two), I could see that plan wouldn't work out too well.

I'll get more pictures and some build threads going as I move ahead with my plans. Eager for feedback, too. There are some hardcore explorers here that know worlds more about this stuff than I do!

For example, the truck (up until a month ago) had a BudBuilt skid on it. It's a quality unit and I was happy with it, save one thing - the weight. Between that, the ARB and the winch, my tires would groan like a mofo (even at 34PSI) when turning the wheel at a dead stop. And upon reflection, I don't crawl rocks or go places likely to *require* a Budbuilt. Of course the problem could also be the cruddy stock tires. So once the BFG's are installed, I'll probably re-add the BudBuilt and see if that changes anything. Always "in progress" it seems.

Hi Ed!
Nice Taco there!

[Skim]

I am in the East Bay- maybe we can hit some trials.

[PHXtaco]

Hi Ed,

I think I saw your truck on the 101 north of the Gate a few months back. The two lights with the smiley faces on top of the bumper is what I recognize. What part of the Bay Area are you in? I am up north in Rohnert Park.

I got away without an endcap mod till about 75,000 miles, but the truck had seen a lot of washboard two-tracks at speed. Just keep checking your bumper by seeing if you can wiggle it fore and aft from the top bar.

[TACODOC]

Nice truck. Welcome to ExPo Ed!!!

[Overland Hadley]

Welcome aboard!

[CYi5]

For example, the truck (up until a month ago) had a BudBuilt skid on it. It's a quality unit and I was happy with it, save one thing - the weight. Between that, the ARB and the winch, my tires would groan like a mofo (even at 34PSI) when turning the wheel at a dead stop. And upon reflection, I don't crawl rocks or go places likely to *require* a Budbuilt. Of course the problem could also be the cruddy stock tires. So once the BFG's are installed, I'll probably re-add the BudBuilt and see if that changes anything. Always "in progress" it seems.

Budbuilt offers aluminum versions of his skids as well (they're not advertised, but can be requested if people are interested.) Perhaps selling your steels and picking up some of the lightweight version would meet your needs.

[obscurotron]

Last time I was on 101 north of SF was about a year ago, so it may not have been me. I'm on the Peninsula, in San Mateo.

I will keep checking the bumper. The way the ARBs mount (at least now), I can see the endcap a bit, so I'll have a good visual if it starts to let go. Thanks for the heads up!

Hi Ed,

I think I saw your truck on the 101 north of the Gate a few months back. The two lights with the smiley faces on top of the bumper is what I recognize. What part of the Bay Area are you in? I am up north in Rohnert Park.

I got away without an endcap mod till about 75,000 miles, but the truck had seen a lot of washboard two-tracks at speed. Just keep checking your bumper by seeing if you can wiggle it fore and aft from the top bar.

[obscurotron]

I considered that, but at the time Bud didn't have enough demand to do another run of them. He was also out of the 1/8" steel version. I'll bide my time for now, but yeah, the steel 3/16" BB skid may be up for sale soon.

Budbuilt offers aluminum versions of his skids as well (they're not advertised, but can be requested if people are interested.) Perhaps selling your steels and picking up some of the lightweight version would meet your needs.