2015-04-25 through 2015-04-27
This was my first proper 4×4 trip with the ’96 Taco, and having recently upgraded to the Goodyear Duratracs. Along for the ride Lauryn, Eric in his 3rd Gen 4Runner, and Sam, Katie, and Ava in the 1st Gen 4Runner. The first section was the most rocky. Through there I would notice the occasional squeak, as the suspension bottomed out. When Lauryn mentioned the noise, I knew it was time to pull over and check on things. To my surprise, the leaf spring on the driver’s side was snapped and was sliding in and out of the stack. There was effectively very little spring action going on. It had to have been preexisting and I was mortified to think about what might happen on the freeway if the spring would catch on the wheel.
Since the crew had no definitive plan for camping spots, we stopped off at a pullout we recently passed. The guys and I took Eric’s rig into town and picked up some Gorilla tape and a leaf spring shackle kit. While we were out, we apparently avoided a torrent that drained through the very spot that Eric pitched tent. When we returned, I got on my overalls and got to work. The tape proved to be more useful than the shackle kit, which was hard to clamp with enough pressure to be effective at keeping the springs in place.
The next day we headed back out for the easy part of the trail. Well, it was mostly easy, save the few attempts it took me to get up the muddy hill. The stop off for the Professor Valley Overlook was amazing!
When I got to and was waiting for the others at the petroglyph cave, I decided to walk around and check out how the tape job was holding up. That’s when I discovered that the leaf springs on the passenger side were split as well. Again I was nervous about the journey home on the freeway, but I assumed that if nothing bad had happened on the way out, we should be okay. And I had Gorilla tape now!
A little bit after the cave, we get to the river bed challenge. We were checking out the features and decided that none of our rigs had decent enough clearance to run the route, so we turned around and got back on the main trail. A little while later there was some abandoned mine shacks and a little while later we were back on the freeway.
We camped for the evening at the site behind the Old Dewey Bridge. Eric brought out a pellet gun and we shot at beer cans, as we emptied them, until the fire died out. The next morning, Lauryn and Ava found a wild turkey down by the river. All-in-all an excellent outting, save for the broken suspension and a barfing child (luckily not in my truck). Plus, an excuse to upgrade the suspension and lift the Taco!