T100 "Bluebonnet"

HongerVenture

Adventurer
HongerVenture's T100

I'll start off with the current status of my rig:

1998 T100 SR5 Xtracab 4x4
- White (I think there are bonus points for that)
- Automatic Transmission (4:30 gearing in the diffs)
- Bilstein HD shocks
- Manual locking hubs
- Rhino-liner
- Extended diff. breathers
- Michelin LTX M/S 265/70R16's
- Custom front skidplate (with ricey Toyota logo)
- TJM T-15 Bullbar (with custom mounting brackets for extra strength)
- Milemarker M9000 winch
- Leer camper shell + roof rack (as needed for camping, otherwise in storage)
- Camping deck in the shell for sleeping on and storage under
- Engel 45 Model Fridge/Freeze (mounted in Xtracab area of cab)

Upcoming Mods
- TRD knock-off transmission cooler and temp gauge (on my project shelf)
- Rancho 26mm HD Torsion Bars (next to my project shelf)

Planned Mods (that means I'm still dreaming about the $ to buy these mods)
- Custom sliders and rear bumper
- 32" BFG All-terrain KO's (I can do these before lift)
- ARB locker in rear
- 1.5-2" ball-joint spacer in front (big maybe)
- Custom Alcans for 1.5-2" lift (maybe) and 500 extra pounds payload capacity

Trips have included a day trip to the Attica Badlands OHV Park, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and several trips to the Tennessee mountains (Smokeys and Cumberland Plateau). Attica was a great run because it helped me realize that rock crawling and OHV Parks aren't quite the 4x4 adventure I want. Vehicle dependent exploration is what my wife and I enjoy. We are determined to find opportunities close to home (Tennessee and West Virginia to start) to do this while we wait for $ and vacation time to allow a trip out west.

A few pictures from our recent TN trip:
LittleRiverTruck.jpg


BigSouthFork0074.jpg


Calendar5.jpg


Notice my beautiful blue camper shell. Well, when the price is right (pronounced free) you can't be picky about color. Originally I was planning on painting the camper shell to match. The mismatched colors kinda bug my sense of symmetry (I'm an engineer). However, the look has grown on me for some strange reason and it even evokes a quirky nickname for the truck, "Bluebonnet." :D Now the plan is to leave it blue and adorn it with stickers from our various trips.
 
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erin

Explorer
:)
Very nice rig and great pics. Keep tham coming.

Looks like you have a weel thought out plan for your truck, and the blue definitely makes it original.
 

kcowyo

ExPo Original
I guess giving 'er a nickname is cheaper than painting that topper, huh Joel? :hehe:

Obviously I'm a big fan of the T100's. I'm glad my buddy Joel has posted up about his T100 because I know how strongly he feels about them as well and I have a good idea of how much work he has put into his truck. Lots of custom touches like the skid plate, front TJM, and the sleeping/storage deck. Plus he's been a great sounding board and resource of info for me while we've discussed suspension modification options. I sincerely hope that sooner than later Joel and I will figure out how to shorten the gap between IN and WY, so we can make a trail run together, somewhere.

Quick question, then a funny, random story. Re the 4.10 gears and the auto tranny - I thought all auto's came standard with 4.30 gears while the manuals had the 4.10's? Did I miss a memo?

OK, half on-topic story re "Bluebonnet". A couple of years ago, the wife and I were told (incorrectly) that our second child was going to be a boy. We were trying to come up with a boys name and I had the idea that we should pick a name from the movie "Open Range", the western with Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall, because best we could tell, our child was conceived following our night out to a fave Mexican restaurant (lots of Margaritas) and seeing that movie at the theater. After "serious" consideration, Charley, Mose, Boss and Button didn't really seem to fit.

So I joked to my wife that we should go with Bluebonnet, Boss's real name. We laughed about that and for the last 5 months of her pregnancy, we referred to our unborn as Bluebonnet! Then the day came, and our baby was a girl, totally messing up our ridiculous plan. We had no girls names picked out but we did have a few we liked. But by then we so liked the idea of taking a name from that movie that I offered Katherine as a middle name for our little girl, thinking (again incorrectly) that was Annette Bening's characters name. Well, I got her character's name wrong (it's Sue), but by then we'd filled out the paperwork. So our little girl, that was supposed to be a boy named Bluebonnet, is instead named Katherine, after a character that doesn't exist, from one of our favorite movies. Damn margaritas....
 

HongerVenture

Adventurer
erin said:
:)
Very nice rig and great pics. Keep tham coming.

Looks like you have a weel thought out plan for your truck, and the blue definitely makes it original.

Thanks Erin,
I'll have more pics coming soon of the deck I built for camping out of the back. My wife and I made use of it 2 months ago and it worked really well.

Joel
 

HongerVenture

Adventurer
kcowyo said:
I guess giving 'er a nickname is cheaper than painting that topper, huh Joel? :hehe:
The nickname is definitely cheaper... not to mention that I'd much rather put $100-200 of paint money toward tires, or new Alcans, or a fridge/freeze. I guess if I ever finish the build-up then I'll consider painting the shell as a final touch. ;)

kcowyo said:
Obviously I'm a big fan of the T100's. I'm glad my buddy Joel has posted up about his T100 because I know how strongly he feels about them as well and I have a good idea of how much work he has put into his truck. Lots of custom touches like the skid plate, front TJM, and the sleeping/storage deck. Plus he's been a great sounding board and resource of info for me while we've discussed suspension modification options. I sincerely hope that sooner than later Joel and I will figure out how to shorten the gap between IN and WY, so we can make a trail run together, somewhere.
Hey bro, thanks for all the kinds words. I hope as well that we get to wheel together sooner than later... but we will make a trip together sometime regardless.

kcowyo said:
Quick question, then a funny, random story. Re the 4.10 gears and the auto tranny - I thought all auto's came standard with 4.30 gears while the manuals had the 4.10's? Did I miss a memo?
You are 100% correct! Doh! :Wow1: I made note of my gearing because of the uniquely high gearing for a stock truck. I just got mixed up. Correction made...

kcowyo said:
OK, half on-topic story re "Bluebonnet"... Damn margaritas....

Wow... that's quite the story. :xxrotflma
Of course, now whenever I refer to my truck as Bluebonnet I'm going to laugh cause of this story.
 

Scott Brady

Founder
The T100 is such a pefect exploration size. I also really like the functional modifications you have done, like fitting the winch first.

Where those pictures taken in Kentuky by any chance?
 

HongerVenture

Adventurer
expeditionswest said:
The T100 is such a pefect exploration size. I also really like the functional modifications you have done, like fitting the winch first.
I agree about the perfect size of the T100. The downside is that modifications and upgrades are going to have to be custom for the most part. Not a lot of aftermarket support for a truck that was only made for 5 years... understandably so.

I'd like to say I planned the winch first, but it is there largely because it was the right price (again, it was basically free). It has worked out nice to have that weight on there for making the final suspension and tire size plans. As well, it allows self recovery and gives me that added freedom in exploring (not that it has made me cavalier about where I trek though).

Where those pictures taken in Kentuky by any chance?
Your guess is within about 30 miles. We were in Big South Fork National Recreation Area. An absolute gem in the Cumberland area of TN. Big South Fork adjoins Boone National Forest in Kentucky. I'll do a write-up soon about our trip.
 

BajaTaco

Swashbuckler
Hi Joel, nice to see you and your T100 here. Sweet truck. :cool:


******** at KC... hahahahaha... damn margaritas...

Great story :clapsmile say HI to Katherine for us.
 

blupaddler

Conspirator
I can't take it anymore!!! :mad:

There's too many nice T100's around here. Arizona was tough enough drooling over KC's T the entire weekend. Now another one. I miss my T100, I think it is more of just missing a truck. Oh, well.
:rolleyes:

BTW were either of you guys on the old T100 forum? The Big Toy Trucks I think?




Nice truck.
 

HongerVenture

Adventurer
blupaddler said:
I can't take it anymore!!! :mad:

There's too many nice T100's around here. Arizona was tough enough drooling over KC's T the entire weekend. Now another one. I miss my T100, I think it is more of just missing a truck. Oh, well.
:rolleyes:

BTW were either of you guys on the old T100 forum? The Big Toy Trucks I think?

Nice truck.

Thanks for the compliment. And btw, it isn't just a truck that you miss... its the T100. :hehe:

KC and I are both on the 4x4Wire T100 forum... which is where that Big Toy Trucks forum migrated to. Erik B. moderates that forum and it is still alive and well. We are grouped with the Tundras but there are far more T100's on that forum.
 

HongerVenture

Adventurer
Ah yes, the free mods.

A little over a year ago I purchased a second T100 for a smokin' deal.:ylsmoke:

The T100 I purchased was dark blue (same color as the camper shell) and had a 4" suspension lift, the TJM bumper, Milemarker Winch, camper shell, Yakima Loadwarrior, KC HiLites, 60" HiLift, CB, 33" tires, etc. It was a '96 with manual transmission and he'd never wheeled it. He even gave me the stock bumper along with it. The deal was so smokin' I knew I could sell it, after removing the mods, for more than I bought it for. I convinced my wife to let me use the money we'd been saving for our house downpayment (this was easier than I thought since I married so well:Wow1:) to buy the truck. We booked flights, flew out, drove the truck across the beautiful mountains of the Northwest, and brought it home to Indy. I stripped the mods, washed and detailed the truck and put it up for sale. It took about a month and a half, and I let it go for less than I would have liked, but I still did better than breaking even. The truck paid for itself, the plane tickets, the hotel rooms, and even some shopping my wife did along the way. To top it off, I had $3500+ in free mods.:jump:

I'll post up some pictures of it later. The blue T100 was a real beauty and sometimes I kick myself for selling that one instead of my white one. But ultimately I made the right choice.

Joel
 

calamaridog

Expedition Leader
Joel,

I love your T100, real nice:)

As far as your "free" mods, you are a genius, and your wife is a patient lady:bowdown:
 

kcowyo

ExPo Original
HongerVenture said:
It took about a month and a half, and I let it go for less than I would have liked, but I still did better than breaking even. The truck paid for itself, the plane tickets, the hotel rooms, and even some shopping my wife did along the way. To top it off, I had $3500+ in free mods.

$3500 in free mods....:rolleyes:

Man.... How do you sleep at night?? ;)
 

HongerVenture

Adventurer
The Blue T100

kcowyo said:
$3500 in free mods....:rolleyes:

Man.... How do you sleep at night?? ;)

Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Actually, it was the blue T100 that introduced me and KC to each other. KC thought I was a little opportunistic in my acquisition of the blue T100... but I think he was just jealous. ;)

A before shot...
SellingShots0003.jpg

And after shot... this is how I sold it.
SellingShots0027.jpg


Look for a posting about my deck in the camper shell in the next few days...
 

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