Clutch’s deep thoughts thread...

Tex68w

Beach Bum
If that is in fact the case for his absence then I get it and I can relate. In my earlier life I was younger (20's), single, and made a crap ton more money than I currently do. I had the ability to build vehicles without worrying what it cost and taking 2-5 weeks to go wherever seemed cool at the moment was a rather easy task. We took my built JKU Rubicon to the Winter Olympics in 2010 from Austin, spent a week getting up there, spent another 10 days there in Vancouver/Whistler and then continued on further into BC and eventually covered the entire west coast on the way back. Nearly six weeks and tons of money spent later and it is still one of my favorite trips of all time. Road trips from Austin to Toronto and all over the western states were a common occurrence, but back then I had no idea what an "overlander" was and I was certainly not attempting to be something of the sort or keep up with others doing the same. I didn't even read blogs or follow travel write-ups on the forums back then. All I cared about was having a cool 4x4 vehicle that would take me where I wanted to go and get me back home again.

Now I look at the Overland Expo and other events like it and I see that the average vehicles on display there have well over $100K invested (some north of $1MIL or more) to essentially spend a weekend in a National Park while they take heavily edited photos, fly their drones for the perfect video clip and cook elaborate meals on their skottles for the gram. I'll admit that the whole movement/hobby has lost its appeal and I no longer care to build like I once did, now I just want my vehicles to fit my needs and still be daily livable and reliable. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a portable fridge, quality lift kits and auxiliary lights and even some of the habitat systems made for our vehicles. Reading build threads is somewhat therapeutic and entertaining at once and it is also why I tend to do them for my own vehicles as well. The skottle is one of my guiltiest pleasures that I hate to even admit to owning because of what it represents lol. The funny thing is that I might actually use it at home more than I do when on the road.

I blame the boom of social media and its easy access to products and others flaunting their materialistic lifestyles full of over priced goods and fake faces spewing love for those who pat their backs with promises of free products and travel as a reward for said lauding. We are all guilty of it to some degree and I myself am not immune. I think it's good to take a break from all of your interests and hobbies from time to time and that includes staying off of their related forums. I come and go in spurts and I intend to keep it that way, but I will continue to use this platform as a resource for my research into builds and products. The key is to not let it all consume you and become the focus of your desires and every move. Everything in moderation.
 

battleaxe

Captain Obvious
Blogs are largely garbage to me, and travel write ups? Nah... Show me a picture with maybe a caption, and I'd get bored after a half dozen if you're just a stranger.

I miss the days of spending hours at a time on Pirate, seeing "real" build threads happen. Nothing bolt on, everything fabricated.

Let's face it though... The forums of yesterday are a dying medium. Most kids these days don't care about them.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
I've been driving 4wd and camping for a long while. It's never been in my lifetime something rare, but that's also why we moved to Colorado originally. To be outdoors. We used to camp in Missouri as a kid but not 4 wheeling and poking around backcountry. There's just not the open land and dispersed camping.

I loved it when I discovered it. I still do.
Blogs are largely garbage to me, and travel write ups? Nah... Show me a picture with maybe a caption, and I'd get bored after a half dozen if you're just a stranger.
I usually agree, most travel blogs are just diaries. I used to write up trip reports and post them. I still do occasionally when it's an interesting run with guys from my clubs (TLCA, Rising Sun and Bookcliff Cruisers). But mostly I'd rather just do them and not announce to the world that I'm just another average backcountry user.

But I do love reading good travel books. "Who Needs A Road" is one the first things I read after buying my FJ40 way back and I just recently reread it. A good travel book that related interesting stuff I like. There's a line between an interesting book (or post, blog) and just another "Look, me too!" one.
I miss the days of spending hours at a time on Pirate, seeing "real" build threads happen. Nothing bolt on, everything fabricated.
I do like the different and interesting stuff. Even here. I know I'll never own a 2.5 or 5 ton "overland" big rig but I like seeing when guy take mil surplus trucks and build them, for example.
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
I miss the days of spending hours at a time on Pirate, seeing "real" build threads happen. Nothing bolt on, everything fabricated.

Let's face it though... The forums of yesterday are a dying medium. Most kids these days don't care about them.

Pirate was shiznit back in the day. I did a lot of fabricating and wrenching on my first Jeeps in college because of that forum. My 1998 TJ ended up on 37's with a Currie 9, HD44, and Atlas 2-speed way back in 2004/5 because of that forum, it was a bad influence to say the least. I still enjoy forums and I think a lot of informed enthusiasts and backyard fabricators still frequent them, but it is a dying medium and social media platforms like Instagram are the reason why. The younger generation has a short attention span, a lack of grammar and writing skills, and they definitely suffer from an instant gratification complex, a simple pic or short video clip is all they are willing to digest and @IG provides that in bulk.
 

bkg

Explorer
Pirate was shiznit back in the day. I did a lot of fabricating and wrenching on my first Jeeps in college because of that forum. My 1998 TJ ended up on 37's with a Currie 9, HD44, and Atlas 2-speed way back in 2004/5 because of that forum, it was a bad influence to say the least. I still enjoy forums and I think a lot of informed enthusiasts and backyard fabricators still frequent them, but it is a dying medium and social media platforms like Instagram are the reason why. The younger generation has a short attention span, a lack of grammar and writing skills, and they definitely suffer from an instant gratification complex, a simple pic or short video clip is all they are willing to digest and @IG provides that in bulk.

Pirate can barely hold a candle to the ORC mailing list. :fo2:
 

jgallo1

Adventurer
I was doing some searching for my new build on which tire size.

This link came up, it was way back on pg. 22.
Anybody know what tire size he is running?


I like this dude's setup too.

https://www.wildernessshots.com/toyota-tacoma-overlander-expedition/

overlanding-toyota-tacoma-999x666.jpg

[/QUOTE]
 

jgallo1

Adventurer
No clue on those tires. 255s?.

Thanks for bringing this thread back up!
looks like an st maxx from the tread pattern. My guess was similar to ours either 235 or 255. Who knows could be 265/75 ha ha

On this topic: 2014 v6 Tacoma. 2" OME lift, bumper , winch. Uses are FS roads, snow, sand, rock. Not rock crawling or jumping sand dunes. Lots of HWY miles in between.
What tire size would y'all be running?
 
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