100,000 miles

[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>?!!!:beer:


Lookin' good!:smiley_drive:




.

 

[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

 

[RoundOut]

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..

:iagree: WHAT HE SAID!

.

 

[kcowyo]

I'm paying attention....

Nice work on the water system and storage boxes. Hope you never need the winch.


:beer:

 

[jim65wagon]

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

Believe it or not I've used Pennzoil Synthetic 5w30 and Walmarts Super Tech filter (almost exclusively) since the 500 mile mark. Before you laugh at the filter choice, it's actually a very good filter; it's waaay better than the Fram and the oil at a 5000 mile change interval is clean smelling and not discolored at all.

Thanks everyone else for the kind words. The water system kicks! Articulate was very correct when he said it's just plain fun.

As for the winch, yeah I hope I never have to use it, but now it's there, just in case. I did try it out for the first time. Real simple to use, a PITA to rewind the cable. Future plans for that monster are a change to synthetic cable. I'm fairly strong but it's about all I can do to carry the winch from the garage and mount it into the receiver! Whew! I hate to work that hard!

"Not over the top" - that's me to a "T"

 

[Haggis]

Jim's Tundra ia a real reflection of himself. Both are understated, but highly capable and practical, with just enough panash to make you take a second look. Jim's truck has made me ponder buying a first gen Tundra for my next truck if I ever need one, but I think I'd go with the double cab since the kids are much bigger now. When I started the Coolest Expo Members Rig thread I thought about listing Jims Tundra as one of my favorites but didn't because I didn't want to seem like I was playing favorites with my brother-in-law. I think I should amend that mistake and change my post, because Jim's Tundra is that cool. Hope he doesn't have to buy a bigger Tilley hat now.

 

[jim65wagon]

with just enough panash to make you take a second look

(insert annoying Spongebob laugh here)Panash! You said I've got panash! (more laughter) Panash! I ripped my pants! (again more annoying laughter)

HA! Tilley hats already on order, when you order the ultra mongo size they charge extra shipping!

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

Jim,

What lift are running and did you regear after the swap to the 255's?

Thanks,

 

[jim65wagon]

Well, about the lift, since I'm a cheap ba$^@&% at heart, I went cheap on the lift.

The front is a Daystar spacer. It's the top puck from a 2.5" set I got slightly used. Just using the top puck lifted the front 1.5", that and a slight massage with a hammer and the 33's fit fine. I've still got the "on the coil" puck from the set in my garage. Someday I'll upgrade to a real set of coilovers, not today.

The rear is the Deaver 3leaf AAL. Got it cheap and slightly used also (like only 6 months of use). It netted me .75" on the rear. It actually wasn't necessary to lift the rear for the tire, but the front was high enough to look funny to me, so the rear had to come up for aesthetics. I've got a little less load capacity but a little more flex. I may throw on some airbags sometime because when I'm fully loaded with a weeks worth of gear I mange to hit the bumpstops frequently. Or, I may go to a full set of Deaver springs; can't decide. Airbags are cheaper.

Regear? Um, I'm cheap remember? Seriously, the little V8 seems to have enough guts to pull off the 33's. I've not noticed much difference in the performance or mileage, and I've run loaded with gear in the VA mountains, tow a boat regularly, and moved several loads of gravel/dirt/stone that set the truck on the stops.

 

[HongerVenture]

Love the thread... keep it up. :lurk:

 

[Redline]

Yep, keep it up Jim

I found my way over here from your tire posts.

Love the thread... keep it up. :lurk:

 

[WASURF63]

Well, about the lift, since I'm a cheap ba$^@&% at heart, I went cheap on the lift.

The front is a Daystar spacer. It's the top puck from a 2.5" set I got slightly used. Just using the top puck lifted the front 1.5", that and a slight massage with a hammer and the 33's fit fine. I've still got the "on the coil" puck from the set in my garage. Someday I'll upgrade to a real set of coilovers, not today.

The rear is the Deaver 3leaf AAL. Got it cheap and slightly used also (like only 6 months of use). It netted me .75" on the rear. It actually wasn't necessary to lift the rear for the tire, but the front was high enough to look funny to me, so the rear had to come up for aesthetics. I've got a little less load capacity but a little more flex. I may throw on some airbags sometime because when I'm fully loaded with a weeks worth of gear I mange to hit the bumpstops frequently. Or, I may go to a full set of Deaver springs; can't decide. Airbags are cheaper.

Regear? Um, I'm cheap remember? Seriously, the little V8 seems to have enough guts to pull off the 33's. I've not noticed much difference in the performance or mileage, and I've run loaded with gear in the VA mountains, tow a boat regularly, and moved several loads of gravel/dirt/stone that set the truck on the stops.

Jim,
I've checked out your entire build thread. Wow, what a nice job !
1st gen Tundras are a great platform to build an expo rig from,and very capable by the way...
I think my previous rig was your rigs long lost brother (See pics attached).
I was well on my way with "mods on the cheap" also, until my daughter was born.
My 2000 Tundra, DD/Expo/Tow rig had 178k miles onboard, before we got a new rig (see my signature) and began another build. I guess our needs changed somewhat.
Looking forward to more pics and info on your build thread.
Cheers,
WASURF63