T-Juan - `98 Toyota T100 4x4, 5-spd

[SaltyMethods]

Been meaning to do a trip update on last year's annual Death Valley trip. 7th trip on the books. From 9/29-10/4. 10 vehicles, 14 guys. We had to re-think our original route this year because of the 1,000 year storm hit Death Valley with a vengeance. It literally washed out a handful of the major roads and wiped out several popular campsites. Planning our route kept changing because road conditions changed on a weekly basis. At some point, we said, "Fuck it. We're going in and deal with road closures the best we can.".

3-Jeep Cherokees
2-Jeep Wrangler (regular and Rubicon)
1-Toyota 4Runner
1-FJ Cruiser
1-Toyota Tacoma
1-Toyota T100
1-Fully build Ford "Ranger"

Our go-to staging area off the 15 North on Gopher Canyon


Once we got rid of the tow rigs and into the park, we stop for soadies and our safety meeting.


First trail of the trip. Another stop for refreshments and more talk about each other's moms.


It's amazing how quickly you can gain altitude out there. This particular trail took us up something 3,000-4,000 feet in like 2 miles. Half way up the trail we came across this mining operation. Every time we come across places like this, it blows my mind on how they could have gotten this kind of equipment up such steep and rugged terrain without the help of vehicles.


Made it to Rogers Pass even further up from the mining operation. Sick campsite at the top of the mountain.

 

[SaltyMethods]

The view the next morning.


On the move to the next campsite.
Fun little open straight away. The terrain changes drastically just within a few minutes.


Tight trails make for puckered buttholes.

Another "safety meeting"?

 

[SaltyMethods]

The next campsite:


Next morning:

A little balloon on balloon action.


Made it further down the trail and made it to the "The Racetrack". Threw together a quick horseshoe tournament.


At the top of Lipincott Trail. We didn't go down it this time since it wasn't part of our planned route.


On our way to Uhebehebe Crater. So barren...



(yet so majestic...)

 

[SaltyMethods]

(Ubehebe Crater cont.)


On to the next campsite. This is where we started to see some of the effects of the 1,000 year storm. At this point the majority of the roads we were travelling on were closed. Most of the highways had large amounts of sand and rocks on it. Other parts still had running water and/or standing water while the outside temperature was hovering around the high 90s to 100 degrees. The state had cleared at least one side of the road allowing for us to travel at a moderate speed. Some of the roads were completely washed away or covered by sand and rocks. The landscape was changed drastically in this part of the park. The pictures don't do it justice of how bad the roads were since it's hard to drive and take pictures at the same time while my drunk ass passenger can't get off his lazy ass and snap a few pics.



Expensive ass gas


Campsite that night sucked balls. The trail we were supposed to go up was washed out and the trail was completely gone. We decided to stop and camp in the rocky ass wash. The outside temperature was so hot some of us just plopped down on the ground and slept.



Next day... On to the next stop. No, that is not snow, that is 6 feet (in some parts) of salt.

 

[SaltyMethods]

GAK, Jack or Six-Pack. Nobody rides for free!! This year's shirt design.



Tricks of the trade. Cheap tech tip #69: High speed steady cam


The cabin:


Ride shotgun anyone? Who's ready to party?

 

[SaltyMethods]

Off to the next campsite. Fucking Jeeps. POSs. Front sway bar bent and removal.



Trail ended a little too soon. Rocks needed to be stacked.


Warm Springs Camp/Resort. This camp is located on Mengel Pass. It's literally out in the middle of nowhere. Multiple structures and would say there are some modern amenities like: drywall, legitimate doors, insulation, electric light fixtures, hot water tanks, thermostats
and pool. Unfortunately, the 1,000 year storm washed a bunch of mud and sand into the main structure burying the floor and ruining some of the walls and doors.

 

[SaltyMethods]

We kept truckin... Up to a dead end trail. Another "safety meeting" spot.



Someone had a little too much "safety" at the last "safety meeting"


Caltrans hard at work. Popped tire.


On to the geologist's cabin. This long, straight shot is a blast. Finally had a chance to test out my suspension. Made it all the way to the bottom and G-out at the end. Hit hard on something all the while laughing our asses off.


Both crossmembers smashed and tweaked. Little did I know at the time, my front transaxle was leaking because the front crossmember was pulling up on the front mount which broke the gasket seal.



The view is F-ing awesome here.


And off to our last campsite.


It's not pink! It's F-ing fuscia, damnit!!!


Another "safety meeting"

 

[SaltyMethods]

The next morning was rough but off we go. We stopped at Barker's Ranch for our last "safety meeting" before we headed home. This year to spice it up, we created a trophy. We voted on categories like: Most helpful, Best prepared, Most drunk, Biggest drama queen, Totally useless. We ended up with a wiener.




So crazy story. On day one of this trip, we attempted to drive this trail (Mengel Pass) from West to East but as we headed to the trail head a tranny came hauling ass towards us in a Toyota Tacoma. All by her/he/zhey self. All flustered and agitated. Zhey stopped at the front of our group and tell us not to go that way because there was an abandoned truck preventing passage. Zhey told us that the truck had a note on it saying that they ran out of gas and went to go find some. Zhey said they were going to the park rangers to have them look for this person and make sure they were alright. So heeding zhey's word, we changed course and figured by the time we came around this trail (on our last day) the truck would be removed. Nope. The truck was still there and like zhey said, there was a note saying they ran out of gas. We looked inside and all there was, was a sleeping bag. The truck was brand new and had a Kearny Mesa Ford (San Diego dealership) plate frame on it. Keep in mind the temperature was in the high 90s if not in the 100s. There is nowhere to get gas and the idea of driving a truck into a trail like this; low on fuel is idiotic and possibly suicidal. We ran into a ranger a little further down the trail and according to them, they were still looking for this person. To this day, we still haven't found out what happened to this person and it's still a mystery.




On the way out, if you ever come across this wire on the side of this trail, stop and hit it with a hammer or shovel. The shock wave travels up and back hundreds of feet and hundreds of elevation in a cool and trippy fashion.


The final "safety meeting" and tire inflation point. My truck held up good for how much I put it through. Bent crossmembers, tweaked front bumper, cracked front grill, my buddy fucked up my C02 bottle and so much more. So worth it.


The added bonus was when while driving out of the park we got a high speed, "buzz the tower" from one of the military jets. Fucking awesome! Can't wait for next year.

 

[SaltyMethods]

I'm all caught up with my posts. Unfortunately there are many posts from you guys on DR that I didn't pull over. So much good information that will be over there that helped me with my build.

Now that I'm caught up on here, I'll start posting some of the things I've been doing lately.

 

[Dirt Yota]

Love the T100! I’m a Toyota guy and thought the T100s were so epic! Really nice truck and build!

I use to troll around on DR as I was late to game and have no fab skills so only lurked. Impressed with the skills you were able to learn and teach yourself! After about 8 years I’m back in the off-road game and told myself I need to step up my abilities!!!

 

[SaltyMethods]

So after last year's Death Valley trip, I smashed my front suspension crossmembers and made the decision to upgrade the control arms and go coilover.

Here's the extent of the damage to front crossmembers. It pushed up and it broke the seal on my front dif which was making it leak. Removed the crossmembers and fixed the gasket:





I tried my best to find some junkyard crossmembers but couldn't find any. So I started making my own. Here's the front:

 

[SaltyMethods]

Here's the back crossmember build:

 

[SaltyMethods]

Then started tearing and cutting off the old suspension parts:




Decided to try my hand at upgrading my steering setup:

 

[dwphoto]

View attachment 8073View attachment 8074

The next morning was rough but off we go. We stopped at Barker's Ranch for our last "safety meeting" before we headed home. This year to spice it up, we created a trophy. We voted on categories like: Most helpful, Best prepared, Most drunk, Biggest drama queen, Totally useless. We ended up with a wiener.

View attachment 8075View attachment 8076


So crazy story. On day one of this trip, we attempted to drive this trail (Mengel Pass) from West to East but as we headed to the trail head a tranny came hauling ass towards us in a Toyota Tacoma. All by her/he/zhey self. All flustered and agitated. Zhey stopped at the front of our group and tell us not to go that way because there was an abandoned truck preventing passage. Zhey told us that the truck had a note on it saying that they ran out of gas and went to go find some. Zhey said they were going to the park rangers to have them look for this person and make sure they were alright. So heeding zhey's word, we changed course and figured by the time we came around this trail (on our last day) the truck would be removed. Nope. The truck was still there and like zhey said, there was a note saying they ran out of gas. We looked inside and all there was, was a sleeping bag. The truck was brand new and had a Kearny Mesa Ford (San Diego dealership) plate frame on it. Keep in mind the temperature was in the high 90s if not in the 100s. There is nowhere to get gas and the idea of driving a truck into a trail like this; low on fuel is idiotic and possibly suicidal. We ran into a ranger a little further down the trail and according to them, they were still looking for this person. To this day, we still haven't found out what happened to this person and it's still a mystery.

View attachment 8077
View attachment 8078

On the way out, if you ever come across this wire on the side of this trail, stop and hit it with a hammer or shovel. The shock wave travels up and back hundreds of feet and hundreds of elevation in a cool and trippy fashion.
View attachment 8079

The final "safety meeting" and tire inflation point. My truck held up good for how much I put it through. Bent crossmembers, tweaked front bumper, cracked front grill, my buddy fucked up my C02 bottle and so much more. So worth it.
View attachment 8080View attachment 8081

The added bonus was when while driving out of the park we got a high speed, "buzz the tower" from one of the military jets. Fucking awesome! Can't wait for next year.

dude epic trip report...

Wonder what happened to that dude with the Ranger?
and the tranny? any budlight on board ?

 

[SaltyMethods]

Went with the JD Fab control arms and shock hoop:


Had to wait a few weeks to get new upper control arm mounts. I was able to save a few hundred dollars by getting them from outside the country:


Got them mounted on the truck


Drilled out the spindels:




The JD Fab shock hoops:


Mocked up:




The hoop got burned in:

 

[SaltyMethods]

After getting everything put in, I notice that my "new" steering setup was catching on the lower control arm mount. So I had to "Clarence" by cutting out a notch. Used some tubing to box it back in. Could have done a better job making it look better and such but was in a hurry and sent it:

Mounted the coilovers:


Burned in the new limiter straps:


Realized that the shock hoops had some gussets that I forgot to put in. So more welding....:

 

[SaltyMethods]

The last item was to get the bump stop put back in. My concern was, where or how to orient it properly since I do not currently have a bypass shock. So I made a mock up. I used my old 3" exhaust pipe that was laying around. So siiiicc...


Filled the shocks and the bump stop:


Slap this bitch together and got her back on the road!!!!! 7 months of sitting on the side of my house.


Put a new grill, front headlights, corner markers and bumper:


Got to take her out this last weekend for her first shake down on Oriflamme Trail with my boys. A definite upgrade over the torsion bar setup:

 

[desert_steve]

What upper control arm mounts did you order from out of country? The upper arm "cross shafts"? Why didnt you just re-use your stock ones?

 

[SaltyMethods]

What upper control arm mounts did you order from out of country? The upper arm "cross shafts"? Why didnt you just re-use your stock ones?

I ordered Toyota OEM ones. Cheaper to buy them out of the country and ship them to my house than buy at the local dealership. Took way longer though. I tried using my original ones but I fuckered the nuts and the shaft threads trying to get them off.

 

[SaltyMethods]

Cheater Spring Question

I have a question for you guys. After setting up my front coilover springs, I noticed that I have quite of a lot of threads showing. Would I be a candidate for a cheater/helper spring? Would there be any kind of advantage for me to put one in? Would I get a little more softer play? Or is it unnecessary?

Picture for reference (I actually have more threads showing that what's pictured once I took it in to get it aligned).