Dude! Talk about an amazing setup. Great time for the kiddos! Now this is the life 
What a journey you have had as well. Happy to see they are still adventuring with their pops!
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Congratulations on 7 years! I was diagnosed with colon cancer last summer, had surgery and chemo. I made it through everything and yesterday my 6 month CT scan shows cancer free! I just bought two Superlite’s for myself and my boys to go camping this summer. Going to take full advantage of my good health!
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I cleaned up the 50a Anderson plug I had on the rear bumper a couple weeks ago. The shop we picked up our trailer from installed the plug on top of the bumper and routed the wires through the access to drop the spare, making it so I had to crawl under the truck to drop the spare…not a huge deal as it is my 2nd spare under there but still not ideal. The new trailer vision plug is much easier to use and more secure than the previous setup.
This would make for a clean setup if someone was looking to add a plug to connect a solar blanket or mobile solar panel too.
Out with the old
In with the new
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Dropped the tank today to install a Deatschwerks 255Lph pump in preparation for the supercharger install next week.
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Skit plates came off today to give access for installation of some URD LT headers and a full fluid change. I should probably make time to prime and paint the skids before they go back on the truck.
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Headers and blower installed. Should be ready for a test drive tomorrow. It’s gonna be a spicy taco!
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The truck bed spent a decent amount of time loaded up for trips the past 6 months. A spring project is going to be to work on a small cabinet build to hold the water, recovery gear, tools, and electrical bits.
This is how it looks packed for a week long trip we recently took.
A week after the supercharger was installed we took off on a 3 week trip up to Orcas Island, with a bunch of stops on the way out and back.
On that trip we started a routine where we leave breakfast on the fridge for the kids when they climb down from the GFC in the morning. They loved the pastries and we loved the extra 30 minutes of quiet time before they made it to the trailer to wake us up 
One week after we got back from that trip our fridge in the truck died. I replaced it with an Iceco that opens from the right or left so it can be accessed easily from inside the truck bed, at the tailgate, or from outside the truck with the side panel on the GFC open.
The most recent trip I was able to dial in a hammock setup for locations we don’t have trees.
In October I picked my old car up from my parents…it’s been parked most of the past 10 years and only had 500 miles on the tires that were installed in 2012. This was the first vehicle I purchased so it has some sentimental value and I’ve decided to restore it with an OEM+ style build.
Hauling the seats to get recovered was a reminder that it’s nice to have the bed not built out with permanent cabinets so I can still fit large items back there still. The old Z3 has taken most of my attention off the truck build while I get it prepped for the spring. I’m working on installing a new top while the seats and door cards are with the upholstery shop. Once the interior goes back together I’ll focus on refreshing the nearly 30 year old rubber bits on the suspension.
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The Z3 is back together…don’t mind the dirty interior, I’ve been driving it while waiting for the last few trim pieces. The top is done but it hasn’t been back up since March.
The upholstery shop did a nice job on the seats and door cards.
It took some liquid courage to install the new top but I’m happy with how it turned out. I broke the install up over two evenings.
Once the top was done I got to cutting up some NLA parts which is always fun
Fortunately I didn’t screw up and the roll bar fit, with some encouragement…
I also replaced the wood steering wheel with a recovered wheel from a euro early e36 M3…the build date on the wheel was 1 month before my Z3 but it’s from a later model year car.
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On the GFC, I’ve been working on a diesel heater and proper dual battery setup instead of the isolator and old AGM that I have been using.
I put the diesel heater in a Plano box that is large enough for a fuel tank and all the ductwork. I’m using a 5KW heater and will heat the GFC and put trailer with it.
I should be set to test the solar this weekend. I’m working on layout and building the wiring harness currently. The 100ah lithium will be fed through a Renogy 50A MPPT controller by a pair of 100W panels and get an extra boost from the alternator using a dc-dc charger when the truck is running.
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Brackets for the first panel cut last night. Working on cutting the second set while the adhesive for the carpet dries.
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Wrapped up the solar installation and took off on a trip and forgot to post the update but here’s where it stands now…I have some more work to do when I build the cabinet but I intend to run it like this through the winter at least.
I fabricated mounts out of some angle aluminum and riveted the two 100w solar panels to the mounts so I don’t have to worry about bolts rattling loose off road. The panels are about 1/2" below the top of the beef racks and spaced to allow for the installation of my ski box in the winter.
This was the point of no return…with the amount of times my truck has seen a cutoff wheel I still have anxiety leading up to the point of no return on projects.
I spent most of my time on the wiring but I’m happy with how it’s coming together. I need to finish installing the exterior camp lighting and wrap up the fridge wiring (I want to use an Anderson plug instead of the lighter socket)
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Had back to back mechanicals on the last two trips and was wondering what the third issue was going to be…tonight I found it.
Inner fender is failing on the driver side…right under the battery
On my last trip I snapped 3 lugs…only thing I can think of is that they got stressed when I slid the loaded up truck into a ditch with the trailer in tow in the Bear River Range and again a few days later in the Wasatch Ramge. There is a dirt mark on the sidewall of the tire and new rim rash opposite where the lugs snapped and the nuts had been torqued as part of my pre departure check. They had enough after 120k miles of stress and that shot did them in or stretched them enough to loosen them, leading to the failure.
I ended up swapping a lug over from the driver side in the campground at craters of the moon and then limped into twin falls to pick up parts. I was going to find a parking lot and swap in the new lugs but decided against doing the work in 95° heat with limited tools. Fortunately this held for the trip home.
On my previous trip I knocked my alignment out and had to remove and reinstall the upper ball joint on the driver side SPC UCA.
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Dang. Is that inner fender crack a common thing on that generation of Tacoma?
It’s a known issue on the 2nd Gen that see a lot of off-road use. There anre options for either reinforcement or replacement of the inner fenders.
Made some progress on the PVC storage bench build.
Not the typical man-glitter…the plastic dust was nasty even with a shopvac dust collector
I used clear PVC primer and cement, in addition to 1 5/8" deck screws I had leftover from another project. I tested the bond and it’s solid.
Test fit in the truck before cementing and screwing. First mistake was only measuring the width between wheel wells at the bottom of the bed. Turns out they are angled out towards the top in addition to being angled in towards the cab. Cuts had been made unfortunately and I didn’t buy extra material so I modified my plans a bit and once it’s covered in carpet it won’t matter.
I’m planning to put a couple more dividers in tomorrow after packing it with my gear. Then I’ll work on the top and start carpeting if I have time.
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Almost finished with the bench. Thought I had enough carpet but I’m about 4" short so that’ll be a future project…along with adding a couple LEDs to the interior of the box
I didn’t glue the dividers. The outer box is plenty strong after gluing with PVC primer/cement and screwing for extra strength.
The lids are removable and can be opened from outside or inside the bed.
Total weight is 27lbs. The bench is open on the bottom and not anchored in. It’s wedged in pretty tight and with the open bottom I don’t expect it to move.
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Finished carpeting the bench top
Recovery and camping gear that stays in the truck all has a spot now. With the custom built storage bench there is little wasted space compared to the large plastic bin I had them all in before.
I need to attach the anchor points for the water, bottle jack, and fridge then I want to clean up the cubby that the compressor is mounted in and I’ll be done with this project. The black plastic on the face of the bench will get covered in stickers eventually.
First sticker…
