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BigMike's 2016 Tacoma Trip & Trail Log
BigMike's 2016 Tacoma Trip & Trail Log
Hello Yotatech!! I've decided to share my Trip & Trail Logs here because the 3rd gen Tacoma section is too quiet and needs some more action! I do have a build thread over on the Marlin board but don't want to manage duplicates of that. I have already posted some of my Tacoma's pictures to this forum but now it's time to get a proper Trip thread started! Mods: I thought about posting this to the Trip-Trail Reports section but figured I'd post here instead to help get some 3rd gen Tacoma activity going. So without further ado, welcome to the Four Wheel'n and Trip Log to my 2016 3rd gen Tacoma TRD Sport AC 6MT! I've been wheel'n the new Tacoma for a year and a half and now that I've begun tackling bigger trails I've realized a separate Trip Report thread is long overdue! This truck's build thread may be found on our MC forum here: https://www.marlincrawler.com/bm2 The main reason to start this thread is that trip reports have begun exceeding 50 pictures per event which is cluttering up my build thread. Because I'm only just now creating this Trip thread 21-months after my build thread, there will be duplicate info here until I get caught up to the build thread (which is currently at July 2017). Trip #, Date, Description. Click each image-group to view each trip. 2016 Trip 1: April 18-24: Picked up from Texas after waiting 261 days http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip001.jpg Trip 2: April 26: Tacoma meets Hilux! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip002.jpg Trip 3: April 30: Toyota Land Cruiser Association (TLCA) Bakersfield Land Cruiser Rally (booth event #1) http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip003.jpg Trip 4: May 3-8: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com) -- Chicken Corners & Booth Event #2 http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip004.jpg Trip 5: June 3: First Bald Mtn Day Run http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip005.jpg Trip 6: Dec 3: Valley Children's Hospital Toy Drive http://board.marlincrawler.com/image.../trip006.1.jpg 2017 Trip 7: May 4: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com) -- Fins & Things & Booth Event #3 http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip006.jpg Trip 8: May 5: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com) -- Flat Iron Mesa http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip007.jpg Trip 9: June 24: 31st Annual Moonlight Madness -- Bald Mountain Trail http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip008.jpg Trip 10: July 14: 29th Annual TLCA Rubithon (http://rubithon.com) -- Rubicon Trail http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...ex/trip009.jpg |
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Trip #1 - Getting the truck! (April 18-24, 2016)
To kick off the thread here is a map of my Journey to purchase this elusive truck http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/001.jpg Excellent in-flight reading material http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/002.jpg After waiting 261 days for 8 dealerships to produce this truck, it truly was love at first sight! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/003.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/004.jpg Only 3 miles old! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/005.jpg Marlin, Texas! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/006.jpg |
Outside the San Antonio Toyota Factory where the truck was built only eleven days prior!
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/007.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/008.jpg |
After traveling about 5,500 total miles I arrived safely back home!
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-texas/015.jpg |
Trip #2 - Tacoma meets Hilux (April 26, 2016)
Location: Millerton Lake, CA The next week I introduced the Tacoma to my 1981 511:1 Triple Transfer Case Hilux Rock Crawler and took the two to a local lake for a quick photo shoot. Nothing too special to discuss. It was neat having my two trucks together. The Tacoma got a good look at what it's near future is gonna be like :D http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/001.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/002.jpg Basic specs for my 1981 shortbed Hilux are: Purchased and built back in 2004 (build thread) World's first 2.7-liter 3RZ-FE Tacoma 4cyl swap into a 1st gen Hilux Marlin Crawler W56-A-HD manual transmission Marlin Crawler Heavy Duty Clutch Kit Marlin Crawler Triple Ultimate (MC08 + MC08-R10 w/4.70C) 6-speed Transfer Case System --511:1 Final Drive ratio featuring 30-forward gears & 6-reverse gears Marlin Crawler 5" USA-made Betts Leaf Springs F&R Marlin Crawler USA DOM-steel full body armor 66.5" Front Diamond Axle (64.5" + 1" wheel spacers) with FJ80 High Pinion 5.29:1 + Toyota E-Locker Original Longfield 27-spline Chromoly Axles (not the 2014 and newer junk Chinese-made Longfields) 63" 1st gen Tacoma rear axle (60" + 1.5" wheel spacers) with 5.29:1 + Toyota E-Locker 37" x 12.5" x 15" Interco IROK tires on 15" x 8" Allied Beadlocks Truck makes 20 MPG @ 70 MPH and since I've owned it, it has never been trailered: I drive it to-and-from every trail http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/003.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/004.jpg |
Sweet pic
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/005.jpg Found a ditch for some flex action http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/006.jpg Comparison http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/007.gif Little hill climb on 7th day of ownership http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/008.jpg And lastly I topped off both gas tanks (20 gal for Hilux, 21.1 gal for Tacoma) and weighed them back-to-back Fully-built 1981 1st gen Hilux Rock Crawler: 3,780 pounds 100% Bone-stock 6cyl AccessCab manual transmission 3rd gen Tacoma: 4,420 lbs Wow! The Tacoma is only just a baby boy and is already more than a quarter ton heavier than a fully built Rock Crawling elder haha http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/009.jpg And that's it for when the Tacoma met the Hilux! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-hilux/010.jpg |
Trip #3 - TLCA's Bakersfield Land Cruiser Rally (April 30, 2016)
Next trip was having my Tacoma at our booth to support the introduction of our newest "TacoBox" Dual Case Crawl Box for 1995 and newer Tacoma/4Runner/FJ Cruiser/Tundra/Sequoia/T100! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-rally/001.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-rally/002.jpg Here's the Tacoma with only our second time seeing family friend Kay Spector after the passing of her beloved and iconic Land Cruiser industry husband http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...-rally/003.jpg |
Trip #4 - Moab! (May 3-8, 2016): The Tacoma does it's first trail
Event: TLCA Cruise Moab (http://cruisemoab.com) Approximate miles driven: 1,750 Trail name: Chicken Corners Location: Moab, Utah This trip was discussed on pages 7 and 8 of my build thread, so I'll copy much from that here. Traveling alongside the most wheeled Toyota truck in the entire world! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60503/001a.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60503/002a.jpg Arrived to Land Cruiser heaven! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60503/003a.jpg |
From main camp I headed south-west and finally made it to the trail. The guide book wasn't kidding: It was easy. A Subaru could make it through most of it. Nevertheless it provided some good fun and good pictures :D
My first time airing down! Having these fancy tire pressure sensors will be interesting once beadlocks go on http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60503/004a.jpg There were many by-passes that looked like this... http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60503/005a.jpg ...so of course I had to try them all. :D http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/006.jpg Already dragging the rear tow hitch LOL http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/007.jpg Backing down I incurred my first "trail damage" http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/008.jpg So off came the front valance! Goooooood riddance http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/009.jpg |
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Following the Colorado River
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/013.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/014.jpg Didn't even find large enough ledges to break traction. http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/015.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/016.jpg |
I can see this sat nav is going to be much fun
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/017.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/018.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/019.jpg Got the tires to chirp a little here http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/020.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/021.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/022.jpg |
Mike - Thanks for sharing the pics, awesome to see this Tacoma from the beginning. I was just listening to the Trucks and Trails podcast with your dad, and I've heard about half of your interview. So cool to hear both your take and Marlin's take on the history of the company and the truck. Awesome that your dad has this great story about how he got the red truck and now we are seeing your own story about the white Taco. Sorry if I'm jacking your thread here, but I'm delighted to be seeing you post this stuff here on YT, I tend to read this site more, but of course shop at marlincrawler.com!
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http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/023.jpg
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/024.jpg Nice vistas out here- http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/026.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/027.jpg Sharp drop-off to the left http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/028.jpg http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/029.jpg |
Random pic from the driver's seat. The fake hood scoop takes up precious viewing real estate.
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/030.jpg Finally got the Taco dirty http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/031.jpg Back at camp the Tacoma was in it's second trade show booth in only 2 weeks of ownership http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/032.jpg The Taco photo bombing a busy pic of Marlin explaining the new TacoBox http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/033.jpg The drive back west was a bit slippery http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/034.jpg Maintenance Required only after owning the truck for two weeks? Something must be wrong :D And that's it for the Tacoma's first Moab trip! Averaging nearly 325 miles per day for half a month http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...160503/035.jpg |
Originally Posted by coryc85
(Post 52388412)
Mike - Thanks for sharing the pics, awesome to see this Tacoma from the beginning. I was just listening to the Trucks and Trails podcast with your dad, and I've heard about half of your interview. So cool to hear both your take and Marlin's take on the history of the company and the truck. Awesome that your dad has this great story about how he got the red truck and now we are seeing your own story about the white Taco. Sorry if I'm jacking your thread here, but I'm delighted to be seeing you post this stuff here on YT, I tend to read this site more, but of course shop at marlincrawler.com!
I am excited to finally be sharing my Tacoma here on YT! I've thought about having a YT build thread.....but I don't think I would have enough time to maintain it. This trip report thread will be updated less frequently :D The Tacoma has been very, very exciting for me as I've never wheeled a Tacoma yet alone own and do so with a brand-spank'n-new truck! I've got a lot of updates to get online so I'm making a strong push to get these threads updated so I can resume sharing all the new work I've been up to :) Regards, BigMike ps. I forgot to include Trip #2 above so I moved a bunch of posts down two replies which is why your reply seems as if it has moved up two spots ;) |
Trip #5 - Bald Mountain (June 3, 2016)
Trail name: Bald Mountain Location: Shaver Lake, Central California This trip was discussed from reply #229 of my build thread, so I'll copy much from that here. A few weeks after Moab I slipped away and did a quick run up to our local Bald Mountain trail with "TURBO" Tim. Bald Mtn is a proper trail that provides a great overview of our popular High Sierra Nevada wheel'n: Large exposed granite, tight tree squeezes, steep and sharp climbs and descents, loose rocky sections, and a few high speed sections. It is our only trail (out of a twelve trail network) that is traditionally open year-round and also the only trail without any lakes. One caveat with this trail is that it lacks gatekeepers from either entrance and all major obstacles may be bypassed. For these reasons it is common to find vehicles that we don't normally see on other trails, such as Bronco-IIs, Blazers, Rangers, Frontiers, and so on. It also means we see a few Tacomas with lightbars, smoked tail lights, and much chrome so it's a good place to do some proving of the new Tacoma :D Here I am next to our newly updated Trail Condition Bulletin Board (Google Street view of location): http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/001a.jpg Bald Mtn trail head http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/002a.jpg Stopped to air down http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/003a.jpg I'm love'n this live tire pressure monitor. "The future" http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/004a.jpg |
Starting out strong with some mad flex
http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/005a.jpg Our beautiful central California granite http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/006a.jpg The visibility out of this thing is horrendous http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/007a.jpg My first trail glamor shot! http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/008a.jpg Made it up a descent crossed-up section without the "Auto-LSD" engaging but with a lottttttt of clutch slipping. http://board.marlincrawler.com/image...60603/009a.jpg |
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