Jane: More offroading

2012-04-24

So, a friend of mine was coming into town. We've been chatting for some time about offroading in general, talking about how to build out our rigs etc. He's got a samurai he's been working on. I've got Jane, the Tacoma I share with Jess.

Well, I figured while he was out here I had to get him out on some trails in Jane for a bit of fun. So, we grabbed another friend of ours, and the 3 of us trucked off to Hollister with way more food than we needed, and some spare gas for the truck as well. Here's some of what resulted:

Truck Porn!

My friend was driving at the time, and I was directing. He had the truck looking a bit precarious, I was worried he would roll it so I yelled to get off the brake. I hadn't told him which direction to go yet though, I needed him to spin the wheel left but hadn't said so. Well... he didn't and she rolled down into the position above. Ooops!

As luck would have it, that bumper is much tougher than it looks (yay Tacomas!) We had enough traction and I backed her up just a foot or so, spun the wheel left and she rolled right out.

That was probably the most exciting moment. We were having too much fun to get shots of the best parts, like getting lost on black trails for a while, driving through a giant puddle and throwing some water in through the window, or bottoming out going over some concrete pipes. But, here's a few shots we did get.

On the top of the hill! (The trail up was a black)

Stopping for a snack.

Yup, my shuffle technique is terrible.

At this point the truck was running 265/75 R16 tires, but is otherwise stock. I replaced the transmission fluid just before this trip, and I did the plugs a bit before that.

How'd she do!

The I4 is... interesting sometimes. When you're on a hill and trying to get her over a rock, it's really hard to get enough torque, even in low range, and not get her moving too fast. I got some practice with my heal-toe technique, and I'm practicing a lot in normal driving via trying to learn to double-clutch. In the end the i4 is *enough*, I just have to be a better driver to use it.

Although Jane *could* do blacks and was surprisingly able on all of the trails, we nearly high-centered her several times, I was playing some interesting games at one point sliding down a hill slightly crooked trying to keep her out of the ruts. We were also running the tires overinflated to maximize clearance, but this hurt traction a lot. It worked, but she needs a lift.

Most of these pictures are courtesy of Orie. Who notable doesn't show up in any :P. Here's the rest Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalladventures/sets/72157629811341461/