Builds AK HJ-75 (4 Viewers)

[coldtaco]

Upper mounts

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Nice. Do you get much dust in the back, or have you not used this set-up enough to know?

 

[coldtaco]

the old way surprisingly I didn't get enough dust to notice, not that it wouldn't get dusty over time like it does. will have to see how the new set up does

 

[coldtaco]

passenger side door. Weighs in at 45lbs had to cut out about 3/4” on the cutting board to make it past the down latch. I could have just removed the down latch each time we were going to use the table but that’s annoying.

 

[coldtaco]

Doors

 

[coldtaco]

Weather stripping tomorrow and then clean up and hopefully start and run the Ute since February

 

[jblueridge]

WOW!

 

[coldtaco]

I think I’m done, will have to use it to see if anything needs changed. First drive since February, sure feels good to drive it again

 

[coldtaco]

Nice weekend at Moose Pass. Had some rain really early in the morning.

 

[coldtaco]

Got the bottom piece spray liner’d

 

[coldtaco]

Another view of the fold down table on the passenger side door

 

[coldtaco]

Good weekend camping with friends, with a camping trailer , camped at Tenderfoot campground on Summit lake on the Seward Highway. Kayaked all three days. Yesterday was calm and overcast and in the 50’s, perfect kayaking weather. This morning we went for a short kayak trip and it was also calm and overcast, when we packed up the sun came out.

 

[coldtaco]

Common Merganser family, with 3 mothers

 

[coldtaco]

And a Loon family, but only with one chick

 

[coldtaco]

Enjoying the barn doors in the back, though still somewhat awkward entering:existing due to the short top/door. Still better than crawling over the tail gate for bed time or getting out of the weather.

 

[coldtaco]

Since changing the gears in the transfer case for a more hwy friendly ratio I had not been able to get a good mpg result. So yesterday I did a 300mi loop-Hatcher pass to Willow and back. Was a beautiful day. Topped off today and it penciled out to 20.3mpg, which I think is the best I’ve ever gotten. But only started with one tank full and the other near empty and no extra gear in the back and solo. Speeds ranged from 67-68 to 55 and under 45, some slow 20-25 sections. Rpms are 2200 rpm at 65mph, before they were 2400-2500 rpms. Will see when we do our fall vacation trip if I will want a lower low range or not.

 

[coldtaco]

Been back a couple of days from my fall vacation. Went out a couple weeks earlier than I usually plan to so the fall colors weren’t out as much and the bugs were out more than normal compared to later in the season.
Anyway, we met with Jon aka Pappy “mud member” and his 2025 Tacoma TRD OffRoad 6speed manual. He did a nice build on it for the 6 or so weeks that he was/is traveling the north country.
We re did a trip that me and my wife had done a while back so won’t repeat too many pictures. We met up in Cantwell and headed down the Denali hwy. Showed Jon a couple of places off the hwy for some good views, then to the Valdez mining district and Rosevelt lake.

 

[coldtaco]

Next day went back to the Denali hwy and headed to the Maclaren River district, stopped at the lodge at the bridge and after some lunch asked the bloke working there about the river conditions/height. He said the river was lower than normal for the time period. I have had a bucket list item of going up the Maclaren River trail to its end, last time we were stopped by the west branch of the Maclaren River. Now with another rig coming along we decided to give it a try. I walked across the river and the water was about knee high, though a bit fast flowing. So we decided to cross it and continued down the trail.

 

[coldtaco]

Started off mostly flat then started climbing into the mountains.

 

[coldtaco]

Onwards