1/20 Day Trip - Lower Coyote Canyon Trail - Anza Borrego

Wow! Looks like you all had a great time!

 

Yup. I hope you'll join us next time.

 

I have bilstein 6112 being delivered Tuesday.... any local shop you guys recommend to install/align? Or a forum buddy who wants to hook me up

 

Exactly, how?

 

Assuming you have regular tools, just rent a spring compressor from autozone and just DIY. Just go to a shop for alighment thou.

 

Magic


Nah just joking. It had an opening for us to fit through but barely. Nice and slow with a professional spotter @eccracer104

 

I figured you guys would have needed a spotter, I probably would have chickened out LOL

 

You would of been good. The guys/ gals would help you feel more comfortable and not push you into anything you couldn't handle

 

88 mph, hyperdrive.

 

Aka beast mode

 

I'm guessing he doesn't feel comfortable taking on this mod without someone beside him who's done it before. I wouldn't either.

I've never done this or seen it done but would be happy to show up, watch, learn, and hand all participants tools and beer, if you or another Tundra homie volunteer to be that guy-who's-done-this-and-not-just-watched-YouTube-videos.

He's in Temecula. I plan to be in Temecula the morning of Sat 2/12.... Whatcha doin' on 2/12, @Gibzki? And what kind of beer do you like?

I made the first pass without a spotter. I need to figure out how to post video to YouTube so I can put it up here; the view (and soundtrack) from my cab is pretty funny. I relied on my parking assist because it totally looked like I'd scrape rocks, but I just bet $40k and went on through- haha!

By the time we headed back through it, we'd all gotten increasingly nervous (well, except @eccracer104 Mike, our fearless leader! who is more experienced and drives a mini , and did tricks the rest of us did not attempt, of which I also have pics). So pics of our passes IN show side-mirrors out, and pics of our passes back OUT show side-mirrors pulled IN, and Mike as our spotter and, if you look closely, a lot of white knuckled drivers and hand-wringing passengers. It was way fun. Really.

 

^^ I'd highly recommend having a shop swap the springs. It's doable, but those rental spring compressors are really meant to be used to swap springs for a car with ~300-400# spring rate. The Tacomas have 650# springs and I'd guess the Tundras are closer to 750#. Be a real bad day if that came apart. Well worth ~$50 to have a shop swap the springs.


If you don't have level ground and some jack stands take it to a shop, but if you do the install is very straight forward. It's really as easy as the four nuts on the top, and the one large bolt at the bottom. That bottom guy can be a pain, so use a breaker bar or an impact. Also the coilovers aren't exactly light so it can be fun maneuvering it between the UCA and spindle.

Even though you are getting Bilstein, Icon's install guide is easy to follow -
http://www.iconvehicledynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/I58755_REVB.pdf

 

I had them shipped assembled so I don’t have to deal with a spring compressor...

 

Nice! That makes things much easier if you decide to do it yourself. It's a 3 beer job for the first side, but the 2nd side will be a breeze. It's much easier having an extra set of hands, hopefully someone local can help.

If you want to take it to a shop hopefully someone nearer to you has some recommendations, I know The Truck Shop in San Diego could do it for you, but that's a drive from Temecula.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll keep them in mind.

 

You and your wife should join this year. Its a great time and great trails.


I had a great time and it was meeting all of you. I ended up making it home at 8.

 

Not to try and sway you. But a good coat of wax will do a lot to protect your truck. As long as they are just brushing the truck not a full on hit, the wax will absorb most of it and the rest should buff out. I was in knots too the first time I went off road. I had a bunch of pin striping. I washed the truck and about half of the disappeared. I haven't stripped the wax of it yet and applied new, but that will probably take care of the faint ones that are left.

 

Great meeting everyone. Sorry I didn't take any pictures, I seldom do unless there's really cool carnage and luckily there was none. I did lose a front tire to a sidewall puncture but it held enough to get home. Other than that, just some mud clean up and everything will be good as new-ish.
I look forward to the next run, really nice group of people

 

You punctured a tire? Dang! That's a bummer

 

What's up team?! I have been looking at a TRD Pro Grille for a while and just saw someone post on Facebook. Since I did not want to create a new post and ask this on the general page I was hoping someone could help me out. Here is a screen shot of someone selling theirs. My question is, in order for it to match the color of my truck I need to order an MGM color, yeah? For some reason I thought all the grilles were black as well as the outlining portion of it too. But that is not the case, right? The attached picture is a black truck so putting that on an MGM would look funny IMO. Anyways, can someone reaffirm what I'm thinking? Maybe I should just go new through Roman and get the color matched hood bulge and grille in one shot. Thanks in advance!

 

I'd check if it's just the insert or the full grille.

But yes, you'd need a MGM grille surround

 

That's what I thought. Late night internet perusing was playing tricks on my eyes and mind I suppose. Thanks!

 

IMO it's best to just bite the bullet and get a new one. Painting one to match your MGM will end up costing you more I believe.

 

You mentioned this a while back about getting a HAM radio to communicate from car to car. The Mrs. and I are looking into some radios for camping and this looks like a solid option for the $ and durability. Would you recommend this for camping or more so for a shorter range and less obstructed signal path for something like an off roading trip...like this past one? Do you know what the range is on one of these? Do you personally have a HAM license or is it ok to not get one and just transmit smart?

Thanks for your time!

 

So the small little handheld radios typically used on a wheeling trip are short range. Quite often you'll find the head of the train can't even communicate with the caboose without someone in the middle relaying the message. Good news, they're cheap, 25-60 bucks for a nice little radio that's durable, easy to operate, and it works. For this I don't worry about a license. Not only are these radios such a low power that if someone were listening they wouldn't be able to hear us. Also the channel I frequently use (151.880) is a MURS channel which is legal and safe to use without a license.
Eventually I'd like to get a HAM hard mounted into the truck with an external antenna, it'll reach further and have better clarity. When this happens I'll start looking into a HAM license, but so long as we continue using MURS channels I'm not too worried about it. In the grand scheme of things a group of friends going offroading in the desert are small fish in a big pond when it comes to this.

If you're looking for a means of communication with a friend/family at home while you're out camping then I'd look into a satellite phone or a SPOT device (or something similar). A powerful enough HAM to utilize repeaters to get from your camp spot to home would most definitely be noticed and need a license on both ends. Not to mention be an expensive powerful unit.

https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=100

 

Another option, though a lot more expensive, is VHF. Required equipment for all boats over 65' and found on almost everything that floats, these require no license and transmit a lot farther than the hand held radios we're using for wheeling. The VHF radios are SUPER simple to use and have a convenient weather channel as well as channel 16 emergency.

 

So when's the next one? I had to leave for Beijing for work the day of this trip.

 

I'd like to go Sunday 2/25 and am still researching to find something closer to Temecula (south/ west of Big Bear, so it's close for Riverside members, but not too far for SD members). I'm not sure how realistic this is.

@Spvrtan, you're bad ass. We want to ogle your truck, but very few of us can follow (yet) where you could lead us. What do you have in mind?

 

I'm always down for another meet. Your truck is on a whole other level, are you sure you want to hang with us rookies

Hola sunnier. I want to see Spvrtans mythical beast in real life .

 

Me too!! And... you and I both know I'm likely to follow him anywhere..., which could equate to a permanent relocation for me and my lovely 2WD Tundra .