Recent content by esh

I've been up and down BLM 230 a few times. It is pretty much a 4x4 road with ledges and a lot of rough terrain. 2wd if you have a little clearance and lighter rig and comfort driving rough tracks. Makes a nice connector to the coal seam on Smokey Mountain and a lot of other places I'd like to...

I came back to the thread because I just drove past your doppelganger in very S AZ camped in a wildlife refuge. Funny you're HITR Road as I may have actually ran into you if I'd turned up at Big Water instead of chasing warmer temps. Enjoy the area! The outfitter/Cafe in Escalante makes an...

I wanted to fit pod fog lights and couldn't find anything to work with the ARB without surgery. It is also a bit lower profile than the bullbar and the winch tucks further in and lower. Plus I got to build this one and do some things just how I liked. Are you in need of a Silver Streak Mica...

Small update. Spent way too long welding up a 4x4Labs front bumper. It turned out pretty well and I'm now working on the rear which is also 4x4Labs with some new twists.

I took the Ausranvik out for a bit of a drive and recovery of my dad stuck up in the mountains. It pulled 3-3.5A in normai mode. Didn't think to measure in Eco mode. My Dometic CFX50 draws 4-4.5A for comparison. For context, this would be capable of 3 days comfortably on a single battery...

Wasn't aware of the Engel, which still retails in the CF-11 ballpark of 480 USD at current rates not including getting them to the US. No thanks. They also make a 27L going for 850 USD on Amazon. Seems like a good way to go if you are expecting to be hard on a small fridge.

The difference for me was the previous lack of a small compressor fridge other than the CF-11 Dometic. ARB/Engel/Luna, etc don't come into play as far as I know. As to the larger sized fridges in these brands or others, well that is a discussion for multitudes of other threads. I only have my...

I have wanted a Waeco (Dometic) CF-11 for years to use as a center console or otherwise handy in-cab fridge. Dometic prices are starting to reach what 40-50L fridges were back in the day, but Amazon has that wonderful Recommended purchase bar that randomly appears for other suggestions. The...

I did manage to do a few changes and upgrades: - swapped to 4.56 gears from 3.73s (10/10 would do again). It now holds gears nicely on hills with 33s (255/80r17). 4.88s would have been too much - finally installed rear speakers - installed amateur radio vertically into the pocket next to the...

Nearly another year and another run down to Baja. I was lucky to get in before Covid-19 ramped up and had a debate whether to get myself stuck down there. (didn't)

I'm still using my Sony Xperia Tablet Z. They were early in the market to dust/waterproof phones and tablets, and built a light capable machine. It has held up to many offroad adventures over the years. It's not a powerhouse by today's standards, but easily runs nav and music. Has a 3.5mm jack...

Since OP is gone, let's make this a shelf road thread! Dave's pic made me think of this one. For the places I tend to go, the narrower track width on older Toyotas works better for me.

Here are some pics of the center console RAM mounts to hold the tablet. I usually only use the tablet for strategic routing and detail. It is a Surface Pro 3 running Nat Geo TOPO! State Series to get to 7.5' resolution on a decent display size. It is ancient Windows XP era software that runs...

We had a shorter day out of a few in SE Oregon. We stopped to camp at Fish Lake on Steens Mtn, so I wired up the winch controller I'd brought along (in case I found myself with time to spare). That rarely happens- I'd taken a box full of todo stuff to Baja and never touched it. I had mounted...

Decided it was time for a tire change. I have run 255/80r16s on the Land Cruiser and like the size. The options out there are fairly limited and I found that the equivalent 17" 255/80r17 size tends to be cheaper overall. Wanting to keep tires from rubbing I found some OEM alloy wheels that...