Recent content by frankentrd

The big project is the 2" LT kit I hinted earlier. I spent the last few months going through it again and I now have V2 which is MUCH nicer! The geometry is right where I want it, it looks good, it fits together better, and I should be able to install this one! I got it all tacked up and I'm...

Pretty exciting stuff going down on the 4R this month! For starters I blew out my steering rack in Death Valley so I'm finally getting around to installing the Tundra rack I've had sitting around for a year or so. I've done a few of these installs before and I know how much of a pain they are so...

Thats a good idea! 3rd gen had a paper cone, we'll have to try that next time haha. I had a factory paper filter and ended up getting in the FJ where we drove up and down the road a few times while I held it out the window to try to dry it off. Didnt work too great but was better than nothing.

Wow!! What a scary encounter and crazy story! We thought it could have been a mountain lion too but they tend to stay away from humans, at least in my experience. My wife said when she heard the footsteps our dog started to growl so whatever it was got her attention too.

I'd love to get the bike out here! I wish we had some more time to explore some more of the cabin/mining camps in the area but it leaves some stuff to check out for next time.

Day 4 We all woke up very well rested around 8. We all slept great after the shower. FJ owner had to be home today so we got on the road a bit earlier around 9. We headed up Steel Pass towards the Eureka Dunes. We stopped for some lunch in the canyon when we noticed the LBJ's had loosed up on...

Day 3 Day 3 started out with some excitement. I forgot to attach the end of the dog lead to something and by the time we figured out they were gone they had made it a mile up the road. Thankfully the lead left a nice path in the dirt for us to follow and luckily she got stuck on a log so they...

Day 2 Day 2 started a bit earlier. We were up around 9 and the ladies were chatting while the men were packing up camp. One of them asked who was up using the bathroom ~4AM as the footsteps woke her up. They all turned and looked at each other and realized neither of them had gotten out of bed...

Death Valley - West Side 2026 Just got back from a killer trip exploring the west side of Death Valley! A few years ago I did DV with a larger group but due to the group size it was slow going and we didn't really have time to explore some of the more remote areas I wanted to check out. We saw...

In other news, I FINALLY have some real skid plates! I'm super proud of these, the fit and finish was phenomenal for a 1st run! I designed my own because I'm running an Ascend Fabrications front bumper and I noticed it had the perfect mounting holes for some skid plates. Most aftermarket skid...

Had some free time and decided to throw together the NWF Crawl Box: Building it was pretty straight forward and super fun. I would consider it the modern version of the Marlin Crawler box as it uses the reduction planetary gear set found in nearly all Toyota chain driven transfer case. The...

Finally got started on sand blasting the frame! I started off by filtering all my sand. Even though these are brand new bags they still have impurities in them that need to be filtered out before loading into the sand blaster. If you don't remove these you'll spend more time than you want...

Thanks! Unfortunately DR is a little before my time but I'm glad I could bring some of that nostalgia back.

You're not far at all! We came through the bat area on our way home. I'd also love to check out Northern NV, I've heard there is some fun wheeling out there too.

Glad you liked it! I hadn't ventured up north much either until this trip and we barely scratched the surface. There are miles and miles of trails. I think next time I'll plan something around the Trinity Alps area. When we passed through it looked like there was some awesome wheeling potential.