Hi, I'm starting this thread to document the upcoming trip that my wife and I will be leaving for the end of this month (August). We will be leaving from Washington State (we live in the Seattle area) and we will be driving through Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The goal is to see as many national parks/national forest areas as we can along the way and we will be camping the entire 3 weeks.
Yes, this frankly sounds boring and has probably been done many times before. Well, this road trip is probably more about the journey than the destination because my wife and I will be driving my heavily modified 69' FJ40 while pulling a similarly modified 69' M416 trailer. My FJ40 seems to have a knack for breaking down as it recently crapped out in the driveway (blown fuel pump seal) before a weekend camping trip and once left us stranded for 5 days in the northern Yukon. It's also slow, noisy and generally lacks the creature comforts we've all come to love and expect while travelling. Sure, we could drive my wife's Honda Civic but that car is lame, boring and probably wouldn't leave us stranded on the roadway shoulder. What's the fun in that?
69' FJ40 specs:
5.7 Vortec, SM420, Rockbox, Pro Rock 60 front w/3.7 gears/ARB, 93' FJ80 FF rear w/3.7 gears/ARB, 4 link rear w/Currie Rockjock 4" coils, 5 link front w/panhard, 14" Racerunner coilovers, 37" BFG's, etc
69' M416 specs:
15 gallon onboard water tank/pump, 360 degree LED lighting, 82 quart ARB fridge/freezer, CVT Roof Top Tent on telescoping rack w/gas struts, tailgate conversion, deep cycle Optima battery, etc
I'm currently scrambling to finish a long list of items for both the FJ40 and the M416 before we leave at the end of the month but I will try to keep up on this and I'll get some photos posted
I will also update as we finalize our route. If we're driving through your neighborhood we'd love to stop and swap some stories,
Yes, this frankly sounds boring and has probably been done many times before. Well, this road trip is probably more about the journey than the destination because my wife and I will be driving my heavily modified 69' FJ40 while pulling a similarly modified 69' M416 trailer. My FJ40 seems to have a knack for breaking down as it recently crapped out in the driveway (blown fuel pump seal) before a weekend camping trip and once left us stranded for 5 days in the northern Yukon. It's also slow, noisy and generally lacks the creature comforts we've all come to love and expect while travelling. Sure, we could drive my wife's Honda Civic but that car is lame, boring and probably wouldn't leave us stranded on the roadway shoulder. What's the fun in that?
69' FJ40 specs:
5.7 Vortec, SM420, Rockbox, Pro Rock 60 front w/3.7 gears/ARB, 93' FJ80 FF rear w/3.7 gears/ARB, 4 link rear w/Currie Rockjock 4" coils, 5 link front w/panhard, 14" Racerunner coilovers, 37" BFG's, etc
69' M416 specs:
15 gallon onboard water tank/pump, 360 degree LED lighting, 82 quart ARB fridge/freezer, CVT Roof Top Tent on telescoping rack w/gas struts, tailgate conversion, deep cycle Optima battery, etc
I'm currently scrambling to finish a long list of items for both the FJ40 and the M416 before we leave at the end of the month but I will try to keep up on this and I'll get some photos posted
I will also update as we finalize our route. If we're driving through your neighborhood we'd love to stop and swap some stories,