Introduction
Nice to meet everyone in the virtual world!
My name is Matthew and my wife is Maricela.
I've been lurking around for awhile now trying to figure out how to outfit my new Tacoma.
I'm not a mechanic or anything but I've learned a lot here and there and managed ok so far.
Thanks everyone for all the instructional posts! This is a great resource.
I don't have the tools to do a suspension job for sure, so I paid someone else to do that.
My wife likes it when I pay someone else to do it. She doesn't like to here me cursing
.
We've enjoyed backpacking, dispersed camping, kayaking, mountain biking, shooting etc... for years in a 98 Nissan Pathfinder SE.
Recently, I was looking into doing some aftermarket modifications to the Pathy but you can't find anything for that year pathfinder. I did manage to put an OME suspension on it and we took and Death Valley road trip, (8th so far and still exploring), in November for Marine Corp Birthday, yes I am a former Marine.
The short story below is how I got the approval for the Taco!
The plan was to go in through the north entrance and camp at the dunes then head down to Hidden Valley and the Race Track and just do some more exploring. But on the way I noticed the Papoose Flats road and decided to check it out. Well we got down to the Mine and the narrows and started heading up the wash about 5 miles from the end of the loop. It was really rough going with no fresh trails. Our tires were worn, no skids, or recovery gear either so we decided to turn around as it was getting dark. Just as we started back towards Papoose flats we started hearing a big clunk coming from the front right wheel. I thought it might be the steering link. When we got to Papoose Flats we decided to camp
and discovered a really nice site tucked into one of the rock outcroppings with wood and a fireplace. The views of the Sierra escarpment are incredible. Absolutely gorgeous.
We had enough time to setup camp and enjoy a nice dinner and some
libation. We hit the rack and slept good except for a mountain lion lickin his chops and clawing at the tent around 2 am ish...
Next morning after coffee and breakfast I managed to get the tire off but didn't have a deep socket the right size to get on the suspected nut. Checked everything else and all was tight. We had to replace the drivers side CV joint after the OME install a month ago so I was a little worried it could be a problem on this side. So we decided to limp back out the 15 miles to the road. Once we got on pavement it didn't clunk so we drove it home. Bummer.
Anywho short story long. We have been planning a Southern Utah road trip for September 14, and Maricela said we need a dependable vehicle.
TaDa Taco!
http://americanadventurist.com/Forum/album.php?u=688
We are looking forward to meeting everyone at the DR!
Planning on the Overland Expo too!
