Tag: Falken

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Desert Rendezvous 2018

American Adventurist began at a campfire near Anza Borrego.  There’s just something inherently right about spending time around a campfire with good people, and we wanted to do more of it.  Fast forward eight years to a long weekend running trails with barbecues, gear raffles, potlucks and classes on everything from astrophotography to advanced vehicle recovery techniques, these times spent around the campfire are some of our best memories.  In the end it’s all about the people, and for the last eight years we’ve been teaching people how to have fun in the desert while leaving Anza-Borrego better than we found it.  This is the 8th Annual Desert Rendezvous hosted by American Adventurist.

For 2018, we came up with too many activities to pack into three days, so we added an extra day to all of our events.  This year the event started on Thursday and people came from across California, Nevada, Arizona, and as far away as Texas to join in on everything that is Desert Rendezvous.

Unlike most outdoor enthusiasts, the average American Adventurist is completely self sufficient in the backcountry.  Most vehicles have been tastefully modified and are properly equipped for unsupported, vehicle dependent travel.  There are no toilets here, no running water, no fuel or stores for many miles.  Fuel, water, provisions and toileting arrangements are all carefully planned for in advance so that they are always prepared, and once they leave a campsite there is no trace.  Just tire tracks in the sand.

One of the great things about the desert is that it allows people to spread out a little rather than being crowded in like a trade show.  People took advantage of this by arriving on Thursday, making camp at a leisurely pace and mingling.  Renowned 4WD guru Bill Burke of Bill Burke’s 4 Wheeling America and his sidekick Henry even showed up to say hi and donate to the raffle.

Friday morning started the way all mornings should – watching the sunrise while coffee percolates.  After breakfast, a number of folks lined up their rigs for the trail runs while other folks took time to relax in camp and hang out or even attend classes.  That’s one of our founding “rules” at a Rendezvous event – do as much or as little as you like. There’s an event schedule, but you’re really on your own program.

Trail runs departed and soon classes were underway in camp.  Joey Pitts, an I4WDTA Certified Trainer and owner of Pitt’s 4×4 Company, came all the way from Texas to instruct classes on off-road skills focused on safely utilizing commonly seen recovery gear to resolve a variety of “stuck vehicle” scenarios and other mobility challenges typically encountered during off-pavement desert trips.

As the sun sets, everyone is back in camp as the American Adventurist Staff fires up grills and skottles to cook up a mountain of burgers and hot dogs for the barbecue social hosted by sponsor Pelfreybilt Off-Road.  No one ever goes hungry at a Rendezvous event and the shenanigans were soon underway again as night falls.

After dinner, a number of folks met up to learn about astrophotography while others congregated around the campfire.  Thanks to our friends at Goal Zero, we were able to bring along a computer monitor to show students what the instructors were doing with their cameras, and provide free solar charging for the entire event.  Nighttime photography in the desert is a special treat and we can’t wait to see what our members can do with these newfound skills.

Saturday’s schedule is packed with classes again with offerings in camp for kids and adults alike.  A number of rigs lined up once more for trail runs while others gathered to attend the classes.  The scavenger hunt was a big hit this year as kids raced around camp putting new compass skills to use while seeking out random items and staff members.  As always, sun and wind are a factor in the desert and this weekend did not disappoint with beautiful weather and mild temperatures.  There’s a reason we call this time of year “desert season”.

Pitts 4×4 Company was joined by Deadman Off-Road and Step 22 Gear to put on another great course on vehicle recovery in the desert.  Deadman has a revolutionary land anchor that’s capable of anchoring to just about anything – earth, trees, rocks, you name it.  The demo provided was both informative and entertaining, and we were VERY impressed by the results.  A very BIG thanks to all of these experts for coming out and teaching at Desert Rendezvous!

Just as this class was winding down, folks were drawn to the excellent smells of the Dutch Oven cooking class – a perfect appetizer for the evening’s Potluck and Dutch Oven Competition hosted by Front Runner Outfitters.  If you’ve never tried Dutch Oven (aka Potjie Pot) cooking while camping you’re missing out – everything from fresh bread to jambalaya to peach cobbler or even triple chocolate cake can be made completely off-grid.  Fire one up (or just mooch off your buddy) and you’ll be a believer – the only limit is your imagination.

On Sunday morning everyone in camp mustered for the Annual Desert Rendezvous Cleanup.  This year, the Bureau of Land Management provided two gigantic dumpsters large enough to park a full-size truck inside – and by the time the group of volunteers had worked its way from camp to the dumpsters they were filled with of all sorts of garbage and oddities that you wouldn’t expect to see abandoned in the desert.  Over the years, we’ve found everything from TV’s and freezers to wigs and prosthetic limbs.

Sadly, it seems too many people have no idea what it means to Tread Lightly! in even the most basic sense – as a Community we’re doing our part to change that by putting Tread Lightly! concepts into practice in hopes of keeping this and other areas open for future recreation.  Next year, we need your help.

At final tally, this year’s Desert Rendezvous Cleanup picked up over FIVE TONS of trash.

To be precise, American Adventurist members collected 5.36 tons, or 10,720 pounds of trash from our public lands.  In one day.

Let that sink in for a minute.  If you see any of these fine Americans out there on the trail, please thank them for their efforts.

With the dumpsters full, it was time for the Rendezvous raffle.  Coolers, tires, recovery gear, gift certificates, blankets, lights, knives – there were tons of awesome prizes to give away again this year.  American Adventurist is able to have such great raffles because our members give back to the community everywhere we go, and our friends in the industry recognize and support these efforts year after year.  Please support the companies listed at the end of this article – without their generous support, these events would be much more difficult to organize.

Desert Rendezvous is just one of three national level events hosted by American Adventurist each year in California and North Carolina.  Each event is held in a unique environment and steeped in the region’s local flavor.  All of our community events have the same core values and focus on friends, family, and an active outdoor lifestyle.  At American Adventurist we are not “just for profit” and as such we have an enduring commitment to give back to the local community at every event we host.
To learn more about our other events, please visit our EVENTS PAGE.
To join the American Adventurist community, visit our Forums and REGISTER and be sure to stop by and see us at Overland Expo West in Arizona in May ~ we’re the Official Forum Sponsors for Overland Expo!

Grassroots events like the Rendezvous and the causes we support wouldn’t be possible without continued support from a large number of outstanding companies. Please consider them first when you need gear:

4X4 sPOD
ARB USA
Baja Designs
Colby Valve
Deadman Off-road
Equipt Expedition Outfitters
Factor 55
Falken Tire
Fold A Flame
Front Runner
FunTreks
Goose Gear
Goal Zero
JRs_Knives
LT Wright Knives
Mojoe Outfitters
Pelfreybilt
Pitts 4×4 Co
prAna
Princeton Tec
Prometheus Design Werx
Rancho Suspension
Restop
Slumberjack
Safe Jack
Step 22 Gear
Tembo Tusk
Trasharoo
Warn
Wilco OffRoad
Wits’End
Yeti

Many thanks to all the STAFF that make these events happen and to Richard SooHoo (@synikalsoysauce) and Justin Pitcairn (@pitcairnoverland) for use of their photos in this article!  See you at Overland Expo!

 

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Big Meats on a Taco

The Toyota Tacoma is one of the most commonly used overland vehicles out there with a huge following worldwide. The reason is simple, they just work and require very little if any in the way of custom fabrication. I have owned my Gen 2 Tacoma for five years and have it setup just right, with one exception. I’d prefer bigger tires. Don’t get me wrong, my 33” Falken Wildpeak MTs have always pulled off exactly what I wanted to and in some occasions more than what others thought possible. With the truck hitting 100,000 miles and parts starting to fail due to sheer mileage the opportunity presented itself to go to 35” tires.

We had just returned from Overland Expo and there were several problems that needed addressing. First, we lacked power because of the sheer weight of the truck, and I averaged a mere 10mpg to Phoenix and from Flagstaff. I had known that my best solution to fix this issue was to re-gear it. Then I noticed that one of my CV axle boots burped grease everywhere. It hadn’t failed but with 100,000 miles on the odometer it was time for some preventative maintenance. With re-gearing and new axles on the table it was a no-brainer to just take it one step further and go to the 35” tires as well.

I did what everyone else does when about to tackle a new project, started surfing the internet in search of all the information I could find. Who else has done it, how did they do it, what worked and what didn’t was what I was after. What I found was that there was a lot of information out there, yet almost none of this info was complete or organized. So I decided it was time to pick the brains of the industry professionals I know. Industry professionals like Eric Hansen of Yotamasters and Tyler Pelfrey of Pelfreybilt. The reason I chose these individuals is because Eric is a wheeler through and through and runs one of the best Toyota specific shops I know of. I approached Tyler because he had already done exactly what I wanted to do and is a good friend whose opinion I trust. If Tyler’s done it you can bet every aspect of the situation was heavily researched and done right, he’s just that meticulous.

Eric and I had a good conversation about what gears to go with. I posed the question of re gearing with the truck as is with the possible potential of going to 35 inch tires in the future. Eric described the gears like riding a bicycle. Picture riding the bike where you pedal hard to make power or easy to make the same power and your engine is getting winded, re gearing in essence is going to prolong the life of your drivetrain. I asked if we should do 4.56 or 4.88s from the stock 3.70 gears. I told him I average 70-75 on the freeway and rarely if ever drive over 75mph. He explained that the gearing difference between the two was very minimal and that if I didn’t really drive over 75 then he would recommend the 4.88s, if I was more of a lead foot and wasn’t sure if I was going to 35 inch tires than 4.56s would be better. I opted for the 4.88s.

The next phase of the research was what companies parts do I go with? I ended up going to East Coast Gear Supply for their assembled differentials. They had some improvements over the OEM differential setups I wanted plus the idea of just having assembled diffs sent to me and sending my cores right back was extremely appealing. One of the upgrades that East Coast Gear Supply has is a replacement sleeve for the needle bearing in the driver side font clamshell. The needle bearing is known to fail on the Tacoma clamshell, so the upgrade was a must. The process for ordering was simple, I called them up and talked to one of their knowledgeable reps, told them what vehicle I had and answered their questions and viola new diffs were ordered.

The next item to be ordered were new axles. Most aftermarket axles were not the way to go due to poor quality control. I had great experience with my OEM Toyota CV axles so I wanted to just stick with what was working, that is until I saw the price tag that Toyota was charging. After more googlefu and interwebs reading I found CVJ Axles. They specialized in refurbished OEM Toyota Axles that you could get as stock replacements or with upgrades. I told Stephen at CVJ Axles what I was doing with the truck and he recommended using their high angle boots.

The final step was choosing the tires and what path I would use for clearancing the fenders. I had been running Falken Wildpeak MTs in the 33 (285/75R16) variety for over a year and can honestly say I was blown away by them. I have ran various other brand tires for all kinds of other driving, whether it was desert racing, overlanding or more technical rock work but the Falkens seemed to perform well everywhere to include on road, they where actually quiet for a MT!

I opted to go with the Wildpeak MTs again for the 35” tires (315/75R16) but fitting those big ole meats on the Tacoma would require cutting my fenders first. That was fun!

With the fenders neatly trimmed to clear the 35’s, I needed a way to make the truck look good afterwards and that was an easy choice, Bushwacker Fender Flares.

These flares took a while to get all of them on because we were busy actually getting out on trips, but the proof of concept was achieved as it all came together in Colorado on Engineer Pass!

Once all the flares were on it had the fully finished look I was seeking as well as some additional coverage – overall I am very happy with how all of these modifications turned out.

Full build thread on the truck can be found HERE on our Forum at American Adventurist.

Photos by Cifaldi Photography and Chad de Alva.

 

Full Disclosure: Tires, flares, gears and CV’s were provided at no or reduced cost to Brett or American Adventurist.