Tacoma Overland Vehicle Prep Advice

[PastRedline]

Hi!

I'm currently preparing our '13 TRD OR Double Cab, Short Bed Tacoma for a trip.

My friend and I will be on motorcycles, and both of our wives and the 3 children (Ages 5-10) will be in the truck. Planned departure is 8/22/2015. for a 3 week loop, starting in northern california, freeway through Nevada and Utah, and then a couple of weeks overlanding down the western side of Colorado, back through Southern Utah (Valley of the Gods), through the grand canyon, and then into Mojave and then home. Camping sites will be 2-3 nights each (to prevent constantly having to repack)

My wife, who will be driving the truck, is relatively competent off-road. She has some practice time at the local off-road park, as well as a few hours of a training course. We're not expecting to do any extremely challenging off-road, but some things are unpredictable. As you all know, a good solid rain can change a moderate dirt road into an almost impassable obstacle.

The truck currently has a recovery strap, a hitch recovery point, and a couple of shackles. It is running fresh (installed this morning) Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs for tires (including the spare). We have a softopper on the way. Other than, the truck is stock.

We're packing tire repair supplies (plugs, etc), oil, 4 gallons of gas, and 8 gallons of water onboard. All the camping supplies will be on the truck (including a cooler stocked with food), so if they have to stop and make camp (stuck), they should be fine. First aid kit of course, plenty of flashlights. We will likely put a spot tracker in the truck, so they'll have access to an "SOS" button if needed.

So, my question is - are there major safety points I'm missing? Since I will be on motorcycle, traveling separately at times, I'm slightly nervous - leaving my wife and kids (and my friend's wife and kid) alone without a second vehicle, and we will likely be in areas where cell service will be nonexistent, so they will have to be self reliant. There are a couple of things we're not packing, that I don't think we'll need, but I wanted to see if people had other opinions:

1) We don't currently have a hi-lift. But the truck doesn't have rock sliders, so I wasn't sure if this would be useful anyways
2) No chains. Based on the time of year, and the fact that we're running fairly aggressive tires, I don't think they're needed. However, we are headed into the rockies, which is nothing to mess around with...
3) No winch. The truck isn't set up to have this, so I'm not really into the idea of having to redo a bumper, or something similar.

Thoughts appreciated...

Thanks,

-Kyle

 

[Tundraexplorer]

Do you currently have the spot tracker or would you be looking to buy it? If you haven't bought one yet, I would highly recommend looking into a SARSAT style tracker. Spot has been known to have some blind spots, as well as having to pay for a subscription. The SARSAT ones just need to be registered and then able to use, might be worth reading here http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/emerbcns.html

As far as recovery supplies, a set of maxtrax might be worth the investment, but I have found cutting an old milk crate into flat pieces and tying them together works well also for a lot less money. Sounds like a fun trip, have fun!

 

[kai38]

Radios in case you're separated for one reason or another

http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV5R-...pebp=1435459393769&perid=1C0R96XHQJT5C28V9CXF

 

[SigNewt]

A hilift can be used along with a chain and your tow strap to winch you out.

 

[marathonracer]

I second the maxtraxx but also you are going to want a way to get the truck out. It doesn't have to be a winch but a hilift set up to winch properly (and knowing how to do it) or a come along...like a powerpuller.

 

[broken1]

A hilift can be used along with a chain and your tow strap to winch you out.

I second the maxtraxx but also you are going to want a way to get the truck out. It doesn't have to be a winch but a hilift set up to winch properly (and knowing how to do it) or a come along...like a powerpuller.

I bought the whole kit for my Tacoma. It works... or more accurately YOU work. I'd double your hydration supplies if you are actually planning on using it. I bought 2@ 50' extension chains. I worked it 50' dragging my loaded Tacoma across an snowy driveway in park in 4lo with the rear locked to give it max drag. I tried to do it as fast as I could, by the time I was done I was in just a t-shirt and had steam coming off me. On a hot day in August it would probably be unbearable possibly hazardous. That being said I still keep it all in the truck when exploring. You never know, you may need to pull yourself sideways or backwards and while that can be done with a winch, you may need the winch pulling you in a different direction or it may not be you that needs the pulling or you may need pulling where you can't get your vehicle to or don't want to.


Also if you have a high lift and don't have one of these:

Think about it. I went whole hog on hilift at one point. Extreme version. the winch kit, the "offroad base" (useless for my purposes, maybe good in sand) The Jackmate was the only thing that got good set on ice and snow. Everything else was crazy sketchy. I also prefer is with the chain slot to using a clevis.

You can use the stock Tacoma steel bumper with the hilift with their bumper adapter and the wheel adapter lets you grab any corner.

Just my thoughts...

 

[mxpatriot]

The primary planning gap that I see right now is that you have no means of self-recovery for the truck. If the truck were to become stuck in a remote area, you'd have to separate and have a bike ride out to get help; which could lead to all sorts of things going wrong. A set of Maxtrax or similar traction boards are great for that sort of situation and environment. You'd be amazed what they can get you out of it.

Consider putting the truck in the lead when offroad. After many hundreds of miles following a dust cloud, it would be too easy for the driver to "space out" and not notice that the bikes have stopped / a rider has gone down.

 

[PastRedline]

Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate your input.

We will look into a hi-lift (with the bumper/wheel adapters and winch kit) and the MaxTrax as well. The MaxTrax seem like a good solution - the problem I've always had with winching is that most places I've ever gotten stuck, there's been nothing to winch against - I've always ended up having to use a recovery strap and another vehicle, which we won't have in this case.

We'll take a look into adding radios, and I think we'll count on the PLB/Spot as the emergency bailout (I actually have both, and typically carry them both on moto adventures, but for this trip, I plan to put the SPOT in the truck, and carry the PLB with me.

The terrain the truck will be covering should be relatively tame, and it's likely the motos will take a somewhat different path than the truck (more terrain challenges), but there's no sense in being underprepared and ruining the trip.

-Kyle

 

[Box Rocket]

I will echo the suggestion of a good hilift jack. they are just extremely versatile and can be a lifesaver. A hitch recovery point sounds like you can be recovered from the rear, but make sure you also have a good recovery point at the front of the truck. Sounds like it will be a great trip, and as you say the terrain you'll be covering should be relatively mild unless there is heavy rain. You'll have a great time.

 

[DaVikes]

I'm going to second the ham radio idea. $150 will put a fairly powerful unit in the truck, and about $40 will buy a handheld. Then have a check in plan - stop every hour and check in, perhaps more often depending on terrain.

 

[Arclight]

I would also go with a truck-mounted 50W VHF radio and some $50 Baofengs with better antennas for the bikes. You'll be able to communicate any place where a line-of-sight exists. Make sure to program it with your desired travel channel (including a backup if it is crowded) and some repeaters that work on the way. Practice with the radio and write down instructions as needed. I would recommend a simple radio that doesn't have 50 different modes. I like the Yaesu FT-7800 and similar models.

Keep in mind that any mod you do to the truck has to be usable by the wives. They might or might not be physically able to execute a Hi-Lift recovery by themselves. Make sure to have a good shovel in the truck, as that will get you out of about 75% of stuck situations out West. Something to add traction is a good idea also.

In my experience, the most likely trouble is going to be a flat tire. Make sure they can do a puncture repair and use the compressor alone. Get a mounted tire from the junk yard and practice. They might have trouble penetrating the tire if the puncture is on one of the steel belts, so a small cordless drill with cut off tire reamer could make sense. Get the 20" breaker bar from Harbor Freight and whatever socket/extension is needed for your truck. Make sure the lugs are all torqued to spec and can be removed with hand tools. Get a small floor jack or bottle jack to make jacking up easy. Test everything in the driveway.

In my experience, women who are not hardcore into a hobby on their own will stick to the basic skills they practiced 5 times and know by heart. Do not expect them to do anything they are not 100% confident in. This means that you should figure out what things are likely and realistic and spend a Saturday or two building skills at their own pace.

It's just like when we go out with the baby. "Do you want to use this special Aztec wrap that requires seven carefully executed folds but is super comfortable?"

"Err...right. I think I'll stick with the Baby Bjorn that has 2 buckles so that I don't kill him."

Arclight

 

[DaVikes]

Arclight had a bunch of good thoughts, and they reminded me of a couple things. The auto parts store grade of tire patch kits are generally poor tools. I completely destroyed one once while fixing a flat and had to get another one to finish. It's worth spending the money to get a decent one on Amazon or wherever. Also, an inflatable jack might be easier for your wives than a high lift. I think this site reviewed them once. I personally prefer to have the truck on a jack stand when I change a tire.

 

[millerfish]

A shovel is essential, get a good one a broken one is useless. Also a small entrenching tool for getting under the truck. Maxtraxx are great but not budget friendly. There are some very inexpensive things you can carry that can prove to be useful. I like things that can have more than one use. An old piece of carpet in your bed helps keep stuff from sliding around and can be used as traction aid in a pinch or ground cover if you need to work under the truck. I like to carry a few pieces of lumber, 2x6 or 2x8 by12 or 18 inches long. When you jack out of a hole use the wood to fill the hole also as a jack base, traction aid and fire wood. I like to have a decent hydronic bottle jack in place of the factory jack. Hi lift is a great tool but can be dangerous, practice with it before you need to use it.

 

[justrom]

I'm going to second the ham radio idea. $150 will put a fairly powerful unit in the truck

What do you recommend in this price range? Maybe I'm looking for too many features, but I haven't found anything that looked good for that price...

 

[DaVikes]

Check this one out. http://www.amazon.com/Kenwood-TM-281A-144MHz-FM-Transceiver/dp/B007470C0A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436162641&sr=8-1&keywords=Kenwood+TM+281&pebp=1436162644085&perid=049DX27JADPMM0HXQH95 Turns out Amazon is making a liar out of me, and it's $166.