AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

SBDuller

Member
That bent post is a 'common' problem. I say common, but you and I are probably the only ones to have this occur from the same seller. My replacement unit arrived with good posts but with a fluctuating voltage of 0-6V, and would not take a charge. I kept hearing in e-mail that I'd be taken care of, but nothing came of that, and eventually I turned the dead battery over for recycle. I reverted to an older heavier Odessey 31M as my second, and its going on 5 years despite the TacomaG2 alternator. I do give it periodic solar charge boosts.
And I thought your battery box build was pretty cool!
 

turbodb

Well-known member
That bent post is a 'common' problem. I say common, but you and I are probably the only ones to have this occur from the same seller. My replacement unit arrived with good posts but with a fluctuating voltage of 0-6V, and would not take a charge. I kept hearing in e-mail that I'd be taken care of, but nothing came of that, and eventually I turned the dead battery over for recycle. I reverted to an older heavier Odessey 31M as my second, and its going on 5 years despite the TacomaG2 alternator. I do give it periodic solar charge boosts.
And I thought your battery box build was pretty cool!
Bummer to hear about your experience there. I've actually had a reasonably good customer experience with them - I had a battery go bad and they sent me a replacement with just a few photos from me. Had it in 3 days. Glad it sounds like your Odyssey is doing well though, that's all that really matters is that you get something that works! ?
 

turbodb

Well-known member
Frame Rust! (and Slider Maintenance)
Every now and then, there's some un-sexy, mundane, stuff that we do to our trucks just to keep them in good working order. These don't usually get a lot of publicity since they do little to increase the cool factor, and don't have the high-profile pizzazz worthy of the 'gram.

So today, I did a bit of maintenance. Since getting the @RelentlessFab sliders installed a couple of years ago, they've done everything I've asked of them and have required essentially no maintenance. But, as time has passed, I've noticed that the area where they were welded to the frame has started to develop some surface rust.


This is of course, normal. The frame was ground to bare metal there, and welding burnt off any surrounding paint that was left. A bit of spray paint was applied afterwards, but there are lots of rocks that get kicked up down there, so seeing it wear off after a couple years is to be expected.

The fix is reasonably easy. I started with a wire cup on the angle grinder, which i used to remove as much of the rust from the frame and slider plates as possible. Then, I applied some Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer to hopefully convert the last of the rust.

Finally, a few coats of black Rustoleum Professional enamel, and everything under the truck looked like new again.


...and yes all yee keyboard commandos of the internet, I know that there's likely rust inside the frame as well due to paint removal from welding. But for now at least, I'm betting that the frame of the truck will be just fine for as long as I'm going to be driving it.
 

roving1

Well-known member
Frame Rust! (and Slider Maintenance)
...and yes all yee keyboard commandos of the internet, I know that there's likely rust inside the frame as well due to paint removal from welding. But for now at least, I'm betting that the frame of the truck will be just fine for as long as I'm going to be driving it.

You live on the good side of the country to make that bet. My rusted though from the inside welds and eventual perforation in other spots of my then 6 year old truck in MI would laugh at that bet lol. But at least I did get a new frame out of it and the vehicle still lives on as my winter beater with frame painting the outside and oiling the inside. Can't say as much for the body though lol. The beginning of the end has begun for that for sure.1918768_143983678750_5800561_n.jpg
 

turbodb

Well-known member
You live on the good side of the country to make that bet. My rusted though from the inside welds and eventual perforation in other spots of my then 6 year old truck in MI would laugh at that bet lol. But at least I did get a new frame out of it and the vehicle still lives on as my winter beater with frame painting the outside and oiling the inside. Can't say as much for the body though lol. The beginning of the end has begun for that for sure.View attachment 601943

Oh yeah, I'm definitely glad to be over here where the road salt is minimal. And of course, I'm careful to always wash off after trips, rinsing out the inside of the frame as well!
 

turbodb

Well-known member
Colchuck, Cherries, and Chainsaws
Having wrapped up the dual battery install approximately 12 hours before departure time, we were off the next morning for a couple relaxed days of camping and hiking in one of our favorite areas of the Cascades, near Leavenworth, WA. Not only would this be the first trip with the redundant power - a good thing since we didn't plan on much driving, it would also be the first time we'd see the newly painted wheels in the great outdoors.


Well, those look great, I think.

We arrived at camp just after 1:30pm - on a Wednesday. This is key, since this camp site along Icicle Creek is a popular one, and we've been unable to snag it the last few times we've shown up on a Saturday. With it's own private beach, plenty of flat space, and both shade and sun, there's really no better spot to camp in the area.


The only problem with this site is that immediately next to the best spot to park, there is a dead tree. It's been there far longer than we've been visiting the site - likely for 20 years or more - and over the years, it's degraded noticeably from insect activity; to the point where we've recently been hesitant to park under it for safety reasons.

I mean, the likelihood that it would fall on us is probably low, but why take the chance? And so, the last several times we've gone camping, I've brought along the chainsaw. Unfortunately, on previous visits, there's always been some other bozo parked directly in it's fall path and we've been unable to get the site - opting instead for another awesome site nearby.

But today was different! I pulled out the saw and sighted the direction I wanted the tree to fall.


As is often the case, I'd underestimated the size of this project - literally. The diameter of the trunk was much larger than I'd remembered - and significantly longer than the 20" bar on my Stihl MS-261. As such, notching required work from both sides of the tree.




No logger, my adrenaline was pumping as I cut the notch. And as I progressed, I was extremely glad to be tackling this project - while there was still some solid wood, much of what I was cutting through simply crumbled away before the spinning chain!



And, the reason for that punkiness was blatantly obvious, mu cuts disrupting the superhighway tunnels they'd created for themselves.


Notch complete, it was time to start on the back cut. I knew this is where the rubber would hit the road and things would start to get (more) dangerous. I'd evaluated the tree-lean prior to getting started, and the few remaining branches were on the side that I was planning to fall the tree - but having done this only a few times in the past, I was still a bit jumpy as I started cutting out the back half of the tree. I took it slow, stepping back to evaluate the progress several times.



And then - as the saw inched towards he notch - the back of the cut started to open up. A good sign, and one that was my signal to evacuate the immediate area for the excitement.

And what excitement it was - as I looked over at @mrs.turbodb who was taking the photos, she too was mesmerized, and I had to remind her - "Take pictures!" - ? I'm sure I'd have been in a similar situation with the camera in hand.



Needless to say, I was quite happy with the situation - the tree had fallen exactly where I'd planned - and now it was a matter of evaluating the job and cleaning up the downfall. First - a look at the stump - which looked great to me, the small amount of uncut wood acting as a hinge; the length of the 20" bar visible along the back (left in the photo) side of the hinge where I'd been cutting when the tree started it's fall.


An hour later, clean up was complete and we were able to move the truck into position. Yep, right in line with the fall path of the tree - now a much safer place for us and future campers.

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We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening enjoying ourselves in one of our favorite places as blue skies and on-and-off sprinkles of rain passed overhead, eventually making the 45 minute drive back into town to enjoy dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Hahaha, this was a special kind of "camping."

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There was a reasonably constant - albeit light - rain throughout the night. The pitter-patter on the rain fly, along with the sound of the creek, made for a splendid night of sleep and it wasn't until nearly 8:00am that we finally decided to get out of bed - the weather once again a mix of clouds and sun, and birds and deer out for their morning meal around us.

- - - - -

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
Colchuck, Cherries, and Chainsaws



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ns7i

Member
I mean, the likelihood that it would fall on us is probably low,
I was backpacking in the Wind River Mountains once and was in camp when a tree fell within feet of where I was standing. It completely changed my perspective on choosing safe places to camp. Good call on taking out that big guy.
 

turbodb

Well-known member
...As we pulled up to our spot - campsite #4 - at Twin Sisters, a surprise! Tents were already setup in "our spot." And what's this? - someone else's name on the reserved sign. Uh oh. I checked the reservation. Yep - I had a confirmation email, my credit card had been charged. And then, I noticed - we'd reserved spot #64 - as far away from Twin Sisters as you could physically get, a site that I'd looked at but - I thought - only in passing. There'd clearly been a snafu somewhere along the way - either in the web site, or between the keyboard and monitor....

 

turbodb

Well-known member
...We explored leisurely before heading back to the truck and continuing on our way through the maze of roads that wound up, around, and through the forest - in and out of trees, across wildflower filled meadows, and to several spectacular viewpoints. Even destinationless and meandering, it turned out to be my favorite part of the trip so far....

Keep reading the rest here
From City of Rocks to Craters of the Moon

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Keep reading the rest here
From City of Rocks to Craters of the Moon
 

turbodb

Well-known member
Exploring Central Idaho (Crowdaho) in July

We always seem to get our trucks reasonably level when we're out in the woods, but something about the level driveway we'd parked in made for an extremely easy night sleep. Or maybe we were just tired from our previous three days - gallivanting around the southeast parts of Idaho. :notsure:


At any rate, we were up late (for us) when Ben @m3bassman opened the garage door at 8:00am - our planned departure time giving us plenty of time to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get the tent put away. In fact, it was still a few minutes before 9:00am when Ben and Kirsten loaded up Venice and Milo and climbed into the green truck, and Mikey @pizzaviolence got Riggs buckled into his 2nd gen. We were off!


Our plan for the day was to hit a couple of spots that weren't in our Idaho itinerary the previous year, but that should offer some nice views and plenty of spots to enjoy a relaxing night in camp. Plus, they'd keep us close to Stanley, Idaho - where we would be picking up another truck each of the next two days.

As we headed north, it wasn't long before we reached our turn-off for FS-555 and decided that now was as good a time as any to air down. We weren't going as low as normal - since we expected reasonably well graded FS roads, and a bit of pavement over the next few days - but even taking the tires down to 20 psi would smooth out the bumps and make the trip more enjoyable and easier on our trucks.


Aired down and headed up the road, we made good time - a requirement (we thought) as Ben had warned us that we had some 120 miles to cover each day - a very full itinerary! We were glad to be in the tail-gunner position - the hot, dry roads making for dusty conditions that we avoided as best we could by hanging way back as we made our way towards Deadwood Reservoir.


It was just after noon when we reached the dam - no water flowing over the spillway, despite the high water levels in the reservoir. Still, it was cool to see the water rushing through the outlet tunnels, and as we took a few photos, we noted how run down the dam itself looked - at least compared to the larger dams we've seen recently on some of our trips.

Still working though, I suppose!




As we cruised around the reservoir, I think we were all surprised by the sheer number of people we encountered. With the water levels high, there were fewer spots accessible around the reservoir, and every one of them was packed tight with campers enjoying the warm air and cool water. And the road - heavy with traffic - was a constant source of dust.

We eventually found a spot where we could pull off the road for lunch and to let the dogs stretch their legs, before continuing on - hopefully away from the hustle and bustle of this popular area. Our route took us east, through the Salmon River Mountains - a beautiful route with easy trails - thankfully relatively light on traffic, though thick with dust.


Our speeds high, we made great time - arriving at Dagger Falls just after 2:30pm. A favorite place for boulderers, we found it interesting that the "falls" - really more like rapids - had a fish ladder along their eastern escarpment. This ladder, completed in 1960 allows migrating salmon and steelhead upstream over a distance of 175 feet, and at a cost of $107K.

A waste of money? Perhaps - or maybe the falls are more pronounced when the water flow is lower (or higher).




Regardless, Ben, Kirsten, and Mikey enjoyed a Dagger Falls IPA overlooking the rapids and then we ventured upstream a couple hundred feet to check out a bridge into the National Forest Wilderness. The bridge itself wasn't anything to write home about, but we all got a good kick out of the sign posted on the far side.

Fair notice, hang gliders!




This was a place that Ben thought we might camp for the night - but it was still extremely early and even here, we were going to be sharing the campground with several other campers - so we decided we'd continue on to find a more typical dispersed spot. But not before some shenanigans from the front truck.

Ka-chow! ?




The roads through the Salmon's were mostly wooded, but every now and then they'd break out into a grassy field, with 360° views - hard to resist for a group of folks who were way ahead of schedule anyway!



Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
Exploring Central Idaho (Crowdaho) in July



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turbodb

Well-known member
Stuck in the Snow! Washington Basin

For most of us, the night passed peacefully. It was reasonably warm and calm, the creek flowing through the meadow gurgling rather than rushing by. I mean, there was that one UTV that revved its way by camp around 1:00am, but what can you expect on the 4th of July, really?


Unfortunately for Mikey @pizzaviolence however, the action in his tent more than made up for the rest of us. Riggs, who'd been feeling a bit under the weather the previous day had an accident around 2:00am. Luckily, according to Mikey, it was mostly contained to the towel on which Riggs was sleeping - unlike the second accident that took place around 2:05am as the first was getting cleaned up.

Sorry Mikey!

Luckily, we were in no rush the following morning - we had only a short drive into Stanley, where we planned to meet up with Will @willhaman21 and Angie who would be joining us in their 3rd gen 4Runner for the rest of the trip - so we took it easy, everyone having a leisurely breakfast as I explored the meadow in my now indispensable Muck boots. Teeny-tiny eggs for breakfast anyone? ?




We finally broke camp around 10:00am and hopped on the highway towards Stanley, Ben @m3bassman promising to keep the speeds slow given our aired down state. Apparently, despite his assertions otherwise, Ben's slow is still Idaho slow (where the speed limit is 80- vs. 60-mph) because I was soon left in the dust as I toddled along at 49mph.

No matter, we weren't going far - not even to Stanley - before stopping at one of my favorite views in the state, an overlook of the Sawtooth Mountains.




Still much earlier than we needed to be, we decided to hang out - basking in the glorious views and plentiful wildflowers - while we watched the highway for Will and Angie.




Right on schedule, or perhaps maybe even a little ahead of it, we saw their 4Runner cruise by and called out on the CB for them to give us a second to catch up. Begrudgingly - as you can imagine is generally the case when we run into other folks we know in the middle of nowhere - they did, and we caravaned our way into Stanley for a round of introductions and reunions, smiles all around.

A quick top-off of everyone's fuel tank and we were on the road again. While this first part of the day may have gotten off to a slow start, we were all looking forward to what the afternoon had in store - we were exploring a place none of us had ever been before, a place that promised splendiferous views and avalanche levels of excitement (literally).

We were headed to Washington Basin.


Of course, we didn't want to encounter all that excitement on empty stomachs, so we pulled over just a few miles up the dirt road to explore a historic ranger station, and raid our pantries for sustenance.


For 21 years, this station as worked by Bill Horton, who kept a daily diary of his experiences and chores.

Bill Horton said:
June 23, 1915

Rode to top of summit to boundary Laidlaws sheep. Gone over this a.m. and came back to cabin for dinner. Supervisor Benedict came from Hailey. Rode over the telephone line we are going to build to Redfish Lake with Mr. Benedict. Stopped at Clarks and had supper.

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Grazing 6 hours</span>

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Redfish Lkae Tel Line 4 hours.</span>

Sept 11, 1915

Guard Gilman and Kaulter left here to work on the fire line and Redfish Lake trail. Rode up sheep trail to foot of Summit. Saw one band of Bill Newmans sheep going to Stanley to pasture. Saw a smoke on Jacksons reserve. Rode up there and found a fire. Someone had camped there and left their fire and the wind carried it to a bunch of Sprice timber. Rode back to newmans camp and got a bucket and shovel and went back. Dug a trench around the fire and packed water and smothered it out. It burned about 2 rods square and burned about 3 big spruce trees. Think it was a hunting party that left their fire as there were chicken feathers around the camp and automobile tracks. Think I have it all out as I can not see any smoke but will go back in the morning.

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Grazing 2 hours</span>

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fire suppression 7 hours</span>

Hot and with little shade, our lunch stop was much shorter than Bill's stay at the station, and we were back on the dusty road - headed up towards Washington Basin's scree fields - a little after 1:00pm.




As the miles ticked by, Ben came over the CB to let us know that he'd talked to a ranger who'd been up the road just a couple weeks earlier, and he suspected that we'd soon be stopped - not by snow, but by an avalanche that had covered the road. Before that though, we had a reasonably-sized (but not difficult) water crossing to contend with, Ben making his way through before I even pulled up to the end of the line.

Will was up next, having a bit of fun as we snapped pictures from both banks.




Mikey followed, his 2nd gen on stock wheels/tires/suspension having no trouble at all as he piloted through.


Deciding to have a bit of fun, it was at this point that I asked @mrs.turbodb to pop out of the truck and take over the camera duties. See, on our previous trip to Death Valley with Ben, he'd blasted through the Amargosa River, putting on quite the show. Now, it was my turn. I put it in gear and pressed the skinny pedal.


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I didn't get going all that fast, but even at 15mph or so, when you've got the right depth of water, the effect can be dramatic. Everyone loved it, I think. I know I did. :mudding:

It wasn't far from this water crossing that we hit the obstacle that Ben was sure would be the end of the road - an avalanche that had flowed thousands of feet down the mountainside, carrying thousands of tons of trees right along with it. These trees - now over the road - were what the ranger had suggested might stop us in our tracks.

But not today! Luckily, someone with a chainsaw had...

- - - -

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
Stuck in the Snow! Washington Basin



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1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Iconic trip reports and pics as always, you really are an benchmark to measure by as far as getting outdoors, traveling and pics of course.
Thanks for the time and effort to share, I know I try by taking pics but once at home it is hard to pull it together :)
 

turbodb

Well-known member
Iconic trip reports and pics as always, you really are an benchmark to measure by as far as getting outdoors, traveling and pics of course.
Thanks for the time and effort to share, I know I try by taking pics but once at home it is hard to pull it together :)
Thanks so much for the kind words! I have a lot of fun going on these trips and putting the stories together, so I’m glad to hear that folks enjoy them.

I totally understand the hurdle of processing photos once you get home, and I would say that you are prioritizing correctly, if you are taking the photos in the first place. It is way more important to be there, than it is to write up the story! ;):)(y)
 

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