US East Running the Trans America Trail (TAT) from WV to the OR coast

[Hallout]

Swwet ride! I am in the process of building up a 70 series for the trip. Can't wait to see your final build.
Right-hand drive '94 LandCruiser KZJ78W with the infamous 1KZ-TE turbo diesel that Top Gear couldn't kill.
New OME suspension and lift
ARB front and rear bumpers
ARB Solis LED lights
Android Auto head unit
Window tint
Desert Sand wrap
probably upgrade wheels to 16 or 17 inch and new 33 inch tires. Still deciding on the brand...


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I definitely have my work cut out for me with this. It has a bad brake line, the tires need replaced, and there's a whole host of wiring issues, unfortunately. I'm working to get it ready for the trip, but we'll see. Although, to be honest, the bigger issue will be getting that much leave approved, lol.
Your 70 is definitely sweet, though. I've had great luck with Generals for tires on several rigs, and they're pretty affordable.

 

[DEADBEEF]

For Overland bound app issue , you need to delete the app and reinstall, I’ve been doing that for couple of time already !

Another way Of calculating miles , I simply click on any part of the route and a pop up label comes out indicating the route name and area , see pic so Va3 ...Va4 ... va 05 , so on next to that there a “i” for the route info when click that it will display the total miles for that specific route.
See pic attached

Interesting thing there Darunner, my wife’s Gaia does that too, but when I try it, my Gaia just drops a pin. I have checked all my settings but can’t seem to figure that one out. Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem. I guess I can try deleting and reinstalling Gaia.

 

[Triple B]

I can't help you with a mechanic, but I would strongly urge you to Google "SMOD Xterra" and see if this is applicable to yours.

It stands for strawberry milkshake of death because that's what your transmission fluid looks like after the radiator cooler line cracks and coolant gets into the transmission.

My wife has a 2008 and we caught it in time..

Thanks, but mine is a 2012 and the SMOD was corrected with the 2010.

 

[DEADBEEF]

Hello fellow wheelers. We are still kitting out our Lexus for the trip. We added the rock sliders, a little bit of new armor skid plates and the ”mini” front bumper for recovery points plus it houses our Rough Country winch. We had to go south to Lake Mary Fl to find warm weather to work on her. The husband did a great job.

 

[DEADBEEF]

We just spent the 3 day weekend at an Off-Road skills and Recovery class held in Uwharrie, NC (sounds like URE), presented by Overland Experts. Wow a great class. We learned off-road driving techniques and how our Lexus specifically is setup for off-roading, including second start, 4high 4low, traction control, center locking diff, independent suspension, proper gearing. Also included was how to use recovery gear, including winching, kinetic rope, hi-lift jack, and recovery boards.

I knew we were lacking some knowledge and experience since off-roading is new to both of us, but the classes are not cheap $$$. I am here to say this class was well well worth the $$$. We had so much fun as did our Lexus and learned soooo much. Now we have gained some knowledge now it’s time to practice.

 

[DEADBEEF]

It’s hard to capture the true nature of the trails from inside the car. But these trails if you just look at them you would think “no way can we drive over that”. But yes we can and did so eye opening and so fun at 6mph hehe. This was from class this weekend, good times.





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[Darunner]

Hello fellow wheelers. We are still kitting out our Lexus for the trip. We added the rock sliders, a little bit of new armor skid plates and the ”mini” front bumper for recovery points plus it houses our Rough Country winch. We had to go south to Lake Mary Fl to find warm weather to work on her. The husband did a great job.

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Hey there
I wish I knew earlier I have my business in lake Mary FL. And I have the best mechanic to work on the Toyota
For any complex repair ,we could’ve set up a meet , how long you staying in Lake Mary ?

 

[DEADBEEF]

Hey Darunner, (this is Wayne, not Michele)
We’re back up in SC right now, but planning on heading back down there next week. We’ll be back and forth for a while, but would love to get together. Will send you an IM when we’re heading back down.
Oh yeah, may take you up on the offer of the good mechanic.

 

[Triple B]

Hey there
I wish I knew earlier I have my business in lake Mary FL. And I have the best mechanic to work on the Toyota
For any complex repair ,we could’ve set up a meet , how long you staying in Lake Mary ?

My FL peep. You let me down....You have a shop and did not tell me, when this whole time I was looking for a mechanic... :'( I'm sad......just kidding. I'm working it out on this end.

 

[Triple B]

TAT sticker question..... After ordering the maps & stickers; it took about three weeks via usps for the sticker to get here. Not sure why so long, but at least I got them. I saw in earlier discussions where it was suggested to place a sticker on the rig. Is there a specific spot to place the sticker so we are all in sync?

 

[armyRN]

Drivers side windshield lower corner, and/or driver's side, side rear window somewhere.

 

[Darunner]

Just came back from running the KAT , with some good people from “venture Unknown “ we did a portion of the KAT , and it was a blast , we’re planing to do some more maybe in May . The trail offered the Tuff and the Fluff we went through different terrains from rocky to muddy gained a lot of experience and made good friends .
You can see a lot of the pic through our google photos album

KAT 1

786 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Darunner]

Hey there
I wish I knew earlier I have my business in lake Mary FL. And I have the best mechanic to work on the Toyota
For any complex repair ,we could’ve set up a meet , how long you staying in Lake Mary ?

My FL peep. You let me down....You have a shop and did not tell me, when this whole time I was looking for a mechanic... :'( I'm sad......just kidding. I'm working it out on this end.

Hi Anna , sorry for the late reply , but my guy only works on Toyota and land cruiser so he wouldn’t be of any help otherwise I would’ve recommended him . I hope to see you in the upcoming overland expo in Tampa on March 26

 

[Triple B]

Hi Anna , sorry for the late reply , but my guy only works on Toyota and land cruiser so he wouldn’t be of any help otherwise I would’ve recommended him . I hope to see you in the upcoming overland expo in Tampa on March 26

No apology necessary and no worries!. Getting things resolved on this end. Have not heard of an expo. Will have to look into it. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Darunner]

Hi Anna , sorry for the late reply , but my guy only works on Toyota and land cruiser so he wouldn’t be of any help otherwise I would’ve recommended him . I hope to see you in the upcoming overland expo in Tampa on March 26

No apology necessary and no worries!. Getting things resolved on this end. Have not heard of an expo. Will have to look into it. Thanks for the reply.

Here the Facebook link for this event

Southeast Overland & Offroad Expo

Event in Florida by Alissa M. Vinoski on Friday, March 26 2021 with 1.4K people interested and 443 people going. 26 posts in the discussion.

fb.me

 

[T. Stanley]

Hey Everybody,

I have a ViAir portable compressor and went wheeling recently and realized the compressor is extremely slow and that this ViAir is not going to cut it on the TAT unless we want to still be wheeling at Christmas time. Well I was discussing my displeasure with my compressor with a guy who has quite a few trips under his belt and he recommended I try a portable compressor, an Air Armor M240. I got online and read reviews and watched a few videos and decided to give it a shot. I checked all the sources and found the Air Armor website had it on sale for $70 off their regular price so I ordered one. After only a few days, it got delivered today. First impression, it comes tucked away inside a 50 caliber ammo can, being a vet and a gun guy I instantly loved that feature, but that isn’t even the best reason to love this compressor, it comes with a small tire repair kit, some valve caps and valve cores, 2 different tire gauges, the accessories to inflate balls, air mattresses and such and a valve core tool. It has a 10’ power cord that connects to your car/truck battery terminals and a 25’ air hose with standard type “M” hose quick connect fitting. There is also space inside the can for a few extra tools should you choose that as an option or store extra tire repair items etc. Now for the best reason to love this compressor, I aired down my tires to 18 psi and this compressor inflated them back to 32 psi in under 2 minutes per tire! That is under 10 minutes for all 4 tires and when you are out off-road getting ready to hit the pavement again, airing up that quick is awesome. This compressor has a built in gauge that gets you close to the pressure you want, then using a tire gauge you can fine tune to your precise psi. Thanks for the recommendation Paul.

I highly recommend this compressor to anyone who does any offroad travel and airs down their tires, and has to inflate before hitting the pavement again, you will not be disappointed with this unit. I cannot wait to head out on my next adventure so I can use this bad boy again.

One p.s. I’m not sure if Paul knows what the biggest tires this compressor is rated to inflate, but that would be something to investigate if you had tires larger than 32“ or 33”

 

[armyRN]

Thanks for your honest review! I've had mine for a few years now and have been very pleased with it. For the price, I don't think you can beat it.

We will be airing up-and-down a good bit on this run. If you still don't have an air compressor yet, consider the Air Armor M240. If your current air compressor plugs into your 12-volt accessory port, it won't be strong enough. You need a compressor that attaches to your battery (or is hard-wired to your battery).

If someone's wondering about a CO2 tank... I've got one (a 10lb tank). Had it for 10 - 15 years now. They're great - they fill up tires quickly, and there's no noise. I "did Moab (Easter Safari)" one year, and that's what I used with the TJ. But once you run out of CO2, you're stuck. And on this run, you'll run out of CO2 way before we run out of trail. And it isn't easy to get them refilled. That's why my CO2 tank system is sitting on a shelf in the shop. They're fine for a long weekend trip (as long as you know the tank is full or almost full), but not for an extended trip like we'll be doing.

I use my Air Armor on 33" tires with no issues. 37" might be the max in my unscientific opinion. Depends on how low to how high you're going to inflate. I think the newer ones have a 50% duty cycle, and that's really the main determining factor.

 

[Solo Saga]

I am extremely disappointed to write this, but I am withdrawing my RSVP. I am about three months behind on my rig mod/R&R project, with Spring bringing additional time commitments. So, I have doubts I'll make the departure date. I'll still follow the thread, so, if things change, I can track where the group is, or going, and maybe I'll be able to link up. My apologies. But, as they say, "Life happens."

 

[Solo Saga]

I am extremely disappointed to write this, but I am withdrawing my RSVP. I am about three months behind on my rig mod/R&R project, with Spring bringing additional time commitments. So, I have doubts I'll make the departure date. I'll still follow the thread, so, if things change, I can track where the group is, or going, and maybe I'll be able to link up. My apologies. But, as they say, "Life happens."

 

[armyRN]

I am extremely disappointed to write this, but I am withdrawing my RSVP. I am about three months behind on my rig mod/R&R project, with Spring bringing additional time commitments. So, I have doubts I'll make the departure date. I'll still follow the thread, so, if things change, I can track where the group is, or going, and maybe I'll be able to link up. My apologies. But, as they say, "Life happens."

Bummer! Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you can link-up with us somewhere along the way. Thank-you for letting us know.

I have elderly parents (in their early 90's), and one of my fears is something will happen to one of them right before or during our trip causing me to have to pull-out.

Whenever I plan a big trip like this, there are always folks who "Life happens" to, and they have to pull-out. That's one reason I put the limit at 20 - usually by the time we get to the departure date we're down to less than half. When we get to May I'll be contacting those who are signed-up to start giving out final instructions and such. If your name is still on the RSPV list, you might start receiving these messages.