There was very little adhesion with that paint, and though the tape worked very well, it looked almost worst that just leaving the holes in the body of the truck.  It was strictly utilitarian, in a very “this car looks like junk” way.

Many people use bedliner along the areas where the flares used to be on these trucks, which is usually black, which I really didn’t want to do.  My wagon is one of the more rare paint two toned paint schemes, and I really didn’t want to change the look of her too awful much.

At Baxter auto parts store I found a complete DIY kit of grey herculiner.  My entire day was free, and I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on the kit and some tape.

The results, given my inexperience and the low price point, were awesome!

I rolled over everything on the lower portion of the wagon that was grey.

The lines came out alright. Here you can see the vintage "Toyota" emblem sticker that I used to replace the scratched up area where some bonehead decided to remove my factory "Full Time 4WD" emblem. There was no saving the paint there, but I like this look.

I’m really impressed with the final result, and it held up very well!  Here’s a before/after shot for some comparison:

Flares removed, factory grey/green two tone. You can can't see how bad it looks, but trust me, it's pretty bad.

I also covered up the huge area missing paint on the hatch where the same boneheads stook my emblem.

Of course she’s a bit dirty in all of these pictures (she ain’t no show truck, though she could be!) but for those of you who have noticed how rough the fenders were on the old girl, you’ll probably appreciate how much better it looks bedlined.  This stuff is tough!!

I can’t wait to get a free afternoon to take the wagon to the carwash for some much needing scrubbing and even a coat of wax.  I’m interested in seeing just how much I can refresh the exterior of the truck after these past few years of relentless trails, sagebrush, scrub, and other nastiness.

For those of you who are on the fence about whether to do this… I really recommend you go for it.  It’s so easy, Herculiner is very forgiving, and it’s very rewarding when you peel the tape off to see something that looks damn near professional.

==

Mike

I got to take the Troopie out to central WA for some camping and finally succeeded in killing the suspension entirely.  I knew it was on its last legs, but I didn’t expect the springs to shear the way they did.

After that weekend I decided to get some new rear springs.  I ordered a set from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters who gave me a smoking deal (tax free, of course) and was able to save on shipping by picking them up at ARB in Renton.

With the help of a fellow Cruiserhead, Dain, the new springs went on the rear without any issues.  They felt great, but lifted the truck a bit too high.  After seeing the effect, instead of pulling a leaf or two out I decided to go ahead and order some new fronts in order to freshen everything up.  I’m still waiting on those to come in from Australia, but hope to get em the first week of June.

In addition to the springs I’ve replaced the front outer tie rod end (it needed it) and another Cruiserhead (Kyle) came by to square me away on tightening up my front wheel bearings.  Between that and the TRE, the truck is handling a lot better already.  Once I get the new springs on the front, I’ll take it in for an alignment and that should be all there is for maintenance for a very long time!

A day trip in my Land Cruiser, of course!

My original plans, tentative as they might have been, were to camp this weekend somewhere around the Carbon River.  With all the doom and gloom that the weather stations have been spouting about this weekend and following week, I decided that an overnighter might not be a great idea, and figured I would see how the day looked and make my decision as to whether or not to take a drive or not.

With the morning looking pretty grim and rainy, I settled into some gear recovery.  I dismantled our camp grill and gave everything a good scrub, bringing the grill back to life.  I emptied and scrubbed out my Pelican cases, then restocked all of our cooking supplies and what not.

As luck would have it, that busy work ended right around the time the sun made an appearance!  I was dubious as to whether or not it would hold, but one look at Floyd was enough to convince me that we needed to do something other than clean today.

This is what a spoiled dog looks like when he's bored. Note his cache of bones...

Well, that settled it.  I grabbed my go bag, loaded up the pup, and fired up the Troopie.  I had just replaced the clutch master cylinder and this would be my first day of driving with the new one.  It felt great!

My first stop was an area south of Elbe, WA.  I wanted to scout out the northern part of FS Road 74 for a trip I plan on leading this summer for the Northwest Overland Society and figured this might be as good a day as any to head that way.

I hopped on HWY 7 and watched city turn into farmland, which then turned into mountains.

As it was, the weather was still holding.  Must be the luck of the Irish

Population center...

turned into farm land...

then turned into the mountains!

After a good run south, I stopped in Elbe to top off my front tank.  I picked a heck of a time to drive a diesel…

At least it wasn't $4.97!

From Elbe I headed south to FS Rd 74.  I picked it up and hit this within about 2 miles:

Road closed? What sort of Tom Foolery...

For posterity’s sake, I cruised on up to a suitable turn around spot.  I’m not sure if the closure will affect the route I have in mind or not, but I’ll have to wait until the snowmelt to get some fidelity on that.

We stopped at an intersection and played some fetch while I enjoyed a green beverage in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Still working on a color matched handle. The rainbow 550 cord is absolutely staying though.

After being cut short from Elbe, I figured I would take the long way home and head back up to the Carbon River area.  I was just there a few days ago and planned on camping there this weekend.  With those plans cancelled, I figured I would head up there to check conditions for the heck of it.

On the way back, I stopped by Alder Lake for a few shots.  The weather was decent, and the clouds seemed to bring everything alive.  These kinds of days make me think I need to get a better camera so I can capture some of these environments better…

Alder Lake

I took a somewhat out of the way route back NE that took me through Orting.  Once I got there I hopped 162 all the way down to the Carbon River area.  Not wanting to waste any time, I locked the hubs and hit the snow!

Being alone, I didn’t leave anything to chance.  I made it to a little under 3000′ and ended up losing forward momentum for the first time.  I was able to back up a bit and crawl forward with ease, but seeing that there was a fairly steep section ahead, I opted to turn around and find a spot to set up for a snack and some hiking.

I spent about 2 hours snowshoeing with Floyd and a bit more time just relaxing.  There’s not much better than the mountains in the winter, and the luck of the Irish had held back precipitation all day, even at elevation.

With the sun setting and temperature dropping, I was really disappointed with myself for not bringing a sleeping bag.  The weather had held all day and I really wanted to stay out there, but wasn’t about to break out my warming blanket and emergency space blanket just so I could camp.  I’m kicking myself, but also know that if my interior storage were done, I would have had all the basics and been able to stay out without any issues.  This trip has been excellent motivation for me to get in gear and finish my interior!

The drive back down was nice and relaxing.  With gravity on my side I wasn’t too worried about traction, and we idled down and out without a hitch.

I stopped to snap a bunch of pictures as the clouds were lifting in the Carbon River valley.  Again, I really might need a better camera, as these simply don’t do it justice:

Carbon River Valley... 1000+ feet below

A bit of driving got me down below the snow line where I unlocked the hubs and started my drive home.  It was a long day of driving with a little over 125 miles of cruising through the mountains.  Today was mostly pavement, but it was still a great time.

Floyd was good and tuckered out on the ride home, which means I did my job as a dog owner.  Compare this to the first picture

Sleeping with his body on his bed and his head on my sleeping platform.

The Carbon River area, outside of Wilkeson and Carbonado is all National Forest land with plenty of roads and a ton of camping opportunities.  There are lots of great pull off points and some spectacular views of Mount Rainier.

I only had a few hours but wanted to scout out snow levels for a possible camping trip next weekend.  I headed up FS Road 7810 towards Lake Coplay.

I ran into snow around 2600′

After some slow going (no traction issues, just taking it easy as I was solo) I made it to the Surprise Lake trailhead.  In the interest of time and the fact that I was still able to move around freely I decided that was as good of a turn around area as any.

I stopped and let the dog run around, then hiked up the Surprise Lake trail a ways to see what the conditions were like.  The snow was very wet and heavy, and any travel outside of the old ruts required a bit of care.

Based on previous experience I don’t think I could make it all the way up to Lake Coplay, as the snow wouldn’t be too forgiving once I was no longer able to get down to gravel.

Floyd enjoyed himself, I was able to enjoy the peace and quiet of the Carbon River Valley, and I’ve got a good idea of what to expect for camping next weekend.

The Surprise Lake trailhead.

Elevation 3360 @ 1435 hrs. Anything higher looked like work

After an hour hike and some playing around in the snow, Floyd and I loaded back up and headed back to civilization.  It was great to get out for a few hours!

More information will be available here as it is released.

Some recent site updates:

• Added the “Updates” category and decided to post them
• Added new links (BlackRockOverland.com and TACODOC.com)
• Redesigned the logo
• Updated the banner with new logo and store advertisement
• Updated the GPX Library and uploaded some routes
• Added some pictures to the “About” page
• Did a write up in the “Navigation” section on my new touch screen monitor

Did some recent work on the Troopie:

Installed an interior panel on the troopie door

Before:

After:

Still needs to be painted, but it looks 100% better already

The trip was designed to get us to an area that would offer enough snow that we would be able to get a vehicle mired, and be able to extract it without causing any environmental damage.  Snow is in the woods is great for this kind of thing, as there are generally a multitude of winch points (read: trees!) and a good snowpack mitigates the damage one might normally do while engaging in recovery operations.

The event was scheduled for Saturday, but given the distance I went up Friday night and met Scott from NWOS and camped out for the night.  It was a very dreary, very wet evening, but the tarp overhead and good company more than made up for it.  I didn’t take many pictures due to the weather, but here are a few of the drive up:

Cold, wet, and rainy... beautiful day for a right hand drive.

I got into Darrington just after 4 and made my way up to the Ranger Station just north of town.  With minutes to spare before they closed, I was able to rush in and get a Motor Vehicle Use Map of the area.  These are great resources, especially when combined with a navigational aid like Overland Navigator.

Waiting for Scott, stalking the IGA, Overland Navigator running on my touch screen.

Saturday morning found us both huddled in our trucks, away from the cold and wet day that was working it’s way around us.  The plan was to meet Grant and Rus at a bridge about 3 miles from our campsite at 0900.  I was up and about by 0700, and enjoyed a good walk with Floyd the Dog down a closed road.  I knew he was going to be in the truck all day, so I wanted him to get some energy out early on.

Around 0800, I couldn’t come up with any safe ways to wake up Scott, so I went ahead and fired up my Troopie.  The rattle can diesel did the trick, and 30 minutes later we were completely packed up and heading towards our link up spot.

Grant was early, and literally pulled up to the bridge just as we parked next to it to wait for him.  Waiting for Rus and Nan, we took shelter in a small day use area and enjoyed some doughnuts and coffee that Grant was gracious enough to have brought out for us.  Seeing as how I forgot my hose adapter for my propane tank and Scott and I had gone without any warm food or coffee, this turned out to be a godsend.

Grant had half of a bakery in his Toyota, what a guy!

Troopie parked so Scott could take some glamour shots for his brother.

Rus and Nan showed up in their super-capable mini truck, and we hit the road.  We reached snow around 1700 ft. and Scott found himself good and buried in his Power Wagon around 2100 feet.  This provided for an entertaining 45 minutes of photography, winching, banter, playing with the dog, and getting soaked from attempting to jump over a stream to set a tree strap that eventually ended in Scott’s Power Wagon being turned around and pointing back the way we came, able to move on it’s own.

Not wanting to hinder progress, Scott left the big Dodge on the side of the trail and hopped in with me for the rest of the trip.  We continued to plod forward with Rus breaking trail with his new 37″ Pitbull Rockers, removing several downed trees from the trail.  A few miles past where we cached Scott’s truck and 3 trees later, forward progress stopped and we had some fun getting turned around.

Up and over the log! Picture courtesy of Grant from NWOS.

The snow was a welcome reprieve from the rain down below. Picture courtesy of Grant from NWOS.

The trip back down the mountain to Scott’s Dodge was uneventful save for Grant pulling some antics in an attempt to get his Toyota stuck.  Unfortunately the snow and mud just wasn’t enough to stop his pick up… which means that recovery exercises are much easier with full sized trucks to get bogged down.  It seems about the only thing a Toyota can’t be fully relied upon to do is get stuck .

Philanthropist that he is, Scott bought everyone a great late lunch/early dinner back in Darrington before we hit the road.

It was a good time, and I’m glad I got out for the weekend.  This was my first night spent in the Troopie, and I’m happy I took this trip, as it’s given me some great mental lists of what still needs to be done for me to fine tune my set up.

The “Iron Butt” award definitely goes to Grant from NWOS who came all the way down from Everett to share a beer with the gang.

Final turnout was 2 LR Discovery’s, 1 FZJ80 Wagon, 1 Defender D90, 1 SR5 4Runner, and my HZJ75 Troopie.

I didn’t take any pictures after it got dark, so you’ll have to enjoy the few I snapped of our rainy parking spot, waiting for the rest of the crew:

Thanks again to everyone for making it out!  The next one should be around March 15, 2012.

I’ll make sure I take more/better pictures at the next one… I certainly wish I had a shot of the Land Rovers, they looked sharp parked together.

Just wanted to throw up a friendly invite to any interested parties to our monthly meet and greet!  We shoot for the 3rd Thursday of every month, which will be the 16th for February 2012!

Date/Time:

February 16, 2012

6:30 pm

Location:

The Spar

2121 North 30th Street

Tacoma, WA 98403

We’ve got tables reserved and will be discussing previous trips, upcoming events, and anything else.  We welcome newcomers!

Being my first “off road adventure” with the Troopie, I definitely erred on the side of caution during this trip.  I was only gone for a few hours, and really just took the opportunity of a gorgeous day to get out alone with my new Aussie Gal

"A Troopie in the wild"

The primary service road that runs north from Aberdeen towards the Olympic National Forest starts out as a nasty sand trap that’s hell to walk on when it’s wet, let alone drive.  This leads up a long, slippery slope to a hill climb that had me thinking “Open diffs, need not apply” and thus was as far as I traveled in this direction.

I can't wait to get up this road. It will most likely require planning, lockers, and a winch pull...

Not being able to head North, I explored off to the east of Aberdeen and found the road blocked by a downed tree.  I didn’t have the right gear to quickly clear the road, and I didn’t have the time to clear it with what I did have, so I turned around.  I knew Alexis would be home from work soon, and we were scheduled to share a sunset on the beach.

After making it back to the house in one piece, I unlocked the hubs and prepped the truck for the boss lady.  She got home a few minutes later, and we loaded up for the short drive out to Ocean Shores.

Once we got there we grabbed a burger and some fish and chips at a local drive in then made our way onto the beach just in time to see the sunset.  It was a little cloudy to the west, but still quite the sight over the Ocean.

Of course, I was enamored at having my lady and my Troopie there!

My Aussie Gal enjoying her first West Coast Beach sunset

My American Gal, preferring the warmth of the rig.

All in all it was great to finally get out in the Troopie and see some of the local area.  I can’t wait to get back up that road with some support and see where it goes!