Next morning, we break camp and set off on a little exploring mission:
The views are awesome!
and expansive across the landscape. I think what I like most about this trip was the solitude! No one and I mean NO ONE was out there and we were only -30 miles from town! What more could you ask for! This made for such the quick and cool trip!
Part of our exploring the network of roads up here, is that you do not always know where you will come out:
This particular one location was fun getting to, scenic the whole way, but dead-ended right here.
It was step and this photo does not show this, but it was enough that I didn't go down 100yrds in there only to turn around and climb back out.
Back out and cruising around... it is in our namesake!
We spot this cabin way down below:
Eric said in all the years he's been coming up here that he had never gone down and visited this place.
There was no hesitation on my part! I quickly encourage checking it out!
This is an active ranch house and the story is that a family down on the HWY395 drive cattle up to awesome grazing pastures here.
This old cabin ranch house, whatever you want to call it, has obviously been here for a little while as I saw some old dates scribbled into the walls:
All in all, this is an amazing piece of property and an amazing area to explore! This is what I love about my rig so much! The capability and ccessibility to explore!
Yes, it has been way too long since I've last posted! Work wOrk woRk and more WORK distract me from working on my thread. Same time, nothing much going on with the rig itself except for DAILY DRIVING TO WORK and the occasional outing.
But I did manage a little trip out to Johnson Valley for a day session with ICON Vehicle Dynamics as they were out testing and shooting their vehicles. I tagged along for the fun of it all!
Maybe one day the ADV80 will grow up to be like the ICON80!
So the next best thing is getting to drive the ICON80!!!
So the day is done, I'm heading home and decide to extend my dirt driving time by not driving down the Cajon Pass via the 15FWY. I hop on the Cleghorn Trail from the Silverlake side and take the scenic route.
All the lights in the background are all the people stuck on Bear Valley Road - avoided that!!! HEHEHE
Kidding aside, that is Hesperia / Victorville / Apple Valley in the background.
Here I am looking over the 15FWY towards Lytle Creek side and the massive glow from San Bernardino.
Those PFRAN LED interior lights are really bright! Yellow spot provided by Rigid Industries 20" E-Series light bar.
Without all the ADV80 disco lighting, its rather dark on this side of the mountain! Only the glow of cars passing along the freeway reveal the landscape.
The Rigid Industries 20" E-Series light bar is mounted directly onto the TJM bumper nice and low.
After eight billion miles, the ADV80 got it's FIRST EVER aftermarket exhaust!!! A MAGNAFLOW one at that!!!
After 251,000 miles on the stock exhaust, Collins Muffler Shop in Mission Viejo installed the Magnaflow.
GREAT SHOP who has been doing exhaust for 30+ YEARS! T-H-I-R-T-Y Y-E-A-R-S!!!
Contact Collins Muffler & Hitch
25721 Obrero Drive, Suite C, Mission Viejo, CA
949.830.6687
The ADV80 is under the knife again! at YOTAMASTERS!!! It's getting a lowering kit!
The ICON shocks you already know, but the 4" TJM springs have came out and some prototype ICON VEHICLE DYNAMICS springs are going in.
The ICON springs are 3" in the front.
The rear is receiving 3"&change springs.
Testing will begin this weekend as we will be out making a desert run!
The hope is I get some caster back and the ADV80 ran out with the 4" springs.
These will bring down the CG. With the 3FE engine and my desert driving style I am not carrying the payload that I originally thought I would be.
Looking good! Have you done a part time kit? I haven't noticed the aisin locking hubs before. I went back to look for them and couldn't see them in your Oct 6 post? Inquiring minds want to know.
Had an EPIC weekend wheeling with my daughter doing all of the dirt driving! She said the gas pedal was getting heavy, and I thought her foot was just getting tired. She drove over 6hr on our second day of the trip. Later we discovered that the throttle cable somehow kinked and started coming apart and actually stuck with the foot in the throttle! Killed the ignition and use an allen wrench as a "splint" for the broken cable and duct taped it all together. the shotty field repair got us off the mountain and got us home from the epic-awesome 400+ mile wheelin'weekend!
So now I am looking for a 1992 Toyota Throttle Cable Assembly as Toyota has discontinued this item. My cable is the shorty version as I have the cruise control box and the throttle cable goes from the throttle body to the black box located on the passenger side of the engine compartment.
Closeup of my field splint using an allen key and D-Tape to somewhat line up the part where the cable broke in half. My daughter has a heavy foot! hehehe
Thank you for the kind comments and yes, the ADV80 does have Aisin Locking Hubs now. I added them in January 2015 just before King of the Hammers. I'm partially there with the part time action. Its a bit of a long story as my CDL dilemma has yet to be sorted. We though we would be able to at least get the front input shaft back into its proper location rather than riding around in the back of my rig awaiting off-road fun. It worked great in the dirt with the hubs locked and engaged But, with the front hubs un-locked and driving on pavement, it made for a rather noisy daily commute! Enough of that noise! Front input shaft is back to commuter status riding around in the back of the rig.
I have contemplated putting a spool in. But I need to find it without all the other stuff that certain companies want to sell as a whole package.
But if I relegated it as such, the Land Cruiser will now function as a standard 4X4 pick up and I kinda' loose the spirit of the ADV80's AWD.
I think the spool would allow me to drive with the front input shaft in place and not make as much noise. It seems that when the front input shaft is in "float mode" or no engagement, it has the undamped sound that doesn't make for a good sound on an everyday commuter rig.
I have another transfer case awaiting to go in, but am contemplating the Marlin Crawler Land Cruiser Crawler Gears: https://www.marlincrawler.com/transfer-case/line-ups/single/land-cruiser-crawler-gears And I will need to find another CDL actuator as I am already using this second one that came with the transfer case. It only lasted 22-miles. I've been rather patient with myself… At least my friends are just as patient with me when we air down and allow me extra time to install the front prop shaft. Always more to come and yes I need to get my butt back in gear and get my thread current! It gets discouraging!
Looking good! Have you done a part time kit? I haven't noticed the aisin locking hubs before. I went back to look for them and couldn't see them in your Oct 6 post? Inquiring minds want to know.
On to another little project: Operation Therm-a-Rest® Thermal Sun Block I got tired of the leftover sliver window shade that once it was done for duty on the windshield, I used them in the back to block out direct sunlight into the back windows. It was breaking down, looking crapy, sounding crapy so it needed a little uplift!
Looks about the right shape…
A little cut-cut and a little trim-trim-trimage!
Yes, I am using a Therm-a-Rest® RIDGEREST® sleeping pad. Wasn't my idea thought..
I previously saw the sleeping pad used as insulation and visual block while attending the 2015 Overland EXPO as seen above.
I found it used on "Fleabay" with no "fleas" after inspection. Inside is going for the total block out! Its not going to win any DWELL Magazine interior decorating awards, but it will do the trick. The windows are not on the same level so I cut one piece and placed it into the front window section and then cut the rear portion and decided to just overlap it. It would have been tricker if I would have run it all the way to the front, but I had already done the other side where the tire sits, so this was my leftover. But hey, lets see how long this last!
It looks better already!
The Thermarest pattern alone just breathes adventure!
Thank you 'MUD-Member JWILBER for getting me a throttle cable quick. Its actually the accelerator cable that goes from the throttle inlet to the cruise control black box to the pedal. But no matter what it is technically called, JWilber came through and the ADV80 is back up and running! Good thing as it is about to be relied upon for some work/service this next week, come home for a week and back into work/service again the following week!
Before I forget, before our Yotamasters Desert Weekend trip, while the ADV80 was at YOTAMASTERS getting the ICON 3" Progressive Rate springs installed, I also added new sway bar bushings and a transmission motor mount. I thought I would start attempting to put some NICE back into the ADV80.
Don't know if all the 80-Series have this drop down style sway bar mount or not and I am sure a lot of you may just do away with the sway bars all together. But the ADV80 is my DAILY DRIVER.
We got after the rear sway bar bushings as well.
The freshy transmission mount.
One day I will do new engine mounts, but that might happen when the engine goes for re-build status, but I'm only
261,090 miles on the clock. I'm only 138,910 miles away from a rebuild! If only rear main seals were easier to fix!
It's about time I get back in here and get my thread up to speed! I've been working like crazy and when I do get time, time is more fun spent playing vs banging away on this keyboard. SORRY MUD!!! But, lets get into it.
March of 2015 was my first Death Valley Trip! I was actually invited to run with a group loosely associated with the Yotamasters shop I frequent for all my service work. Who better of a crew to roll with than fellow Toyota enthusiast and the extra-security of knowing folks around me know how to work on rigs. Not that the ADV80 has ever and I will not say the word… but, for what its worth, tagging along with this crew is my best possible scenario for my first Death Valley trip! For and added bonus, the mission is to put down roughly 500-miles in the dirt over the a three day period. I've done a few small outings, but this is actually going to be a test for both myself and the ADV80! The trip was dubbed the BB500 as Dan of B&B Tank Service along with his wife Monica spend copious amounts of time wheeling in the desert, and came up with a loose leaf plan in and around Death Valley!
Work has been hectic, I needed the mental distraction!
We meet up in Ridgecrest after work to camp out and to start the next day in the desert:
The ADV80 is as about as ready as its ever going to get! Daily Driven, its ready!
Here is a photo-list of the rigs I will be going with:
NEXT MORNING, we are ready to put in the DIRT MILES!
Day 1 of the B&B500 starts with a short transit through the town of Trona to top off the tanks. Just outside town on Trona Wildrose Rd, we hang a right on a little "no name" dirt road that will lead us into Stockwell Mine Rd. We stop and air down as anticipation builds. What is Dan taking us on?! I don't have sliders. Will I be inflicting serious damage to my rig? Can I wheel with these guys? Will my rig stay together?
My anticipation is on level HIGH!
I'm in good company though!
This is Eric of Yotamasters. He has a nice choice in hats for my liking! His sidekick Dan of B&B Trailers is our desert guidance and we are looking towards the mountains… to cross them and cross some more!
Continuing on with my first ever Death Valley Trip - BB500 2015
From Trona, We point towards Death Valley via Stockwell Mine Rd. - Coyote Canyon Rd - Goler Canyon - Coyote Canyon Rd (again) - Goler Wash Rd - Coyote Canyon Rd - Butte Valley Rd.
Cutting through those mountains I came across this sign and had to stop! so with a little internight-stalking I came across this info! In the Fall of 1849, a group of pioneers left Salt Lake City for the gold fields of California. The disaster that befell the Donner Party a couple of years before were still fresh on everyone’s mind. So instead of attempting to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in winter, they intended to follow the Old Spanish Trail, which went around the south end of the Sierra Nevadas. On Christmas Eve of 1849, some of them arrived at Travertine Springs, the source of Furnace Creek in what is now known as Death Valley.
Their oxen were weak from lack of forage and their wagons were battered and in poor shape. They too were weary and discouraged but their worst problem was not the valley that lay before them. It was the towering Panamint Mountains that stood like an impenetrable wall as far as could be seen.
From Furnace Creek, the pioneers struggled across the salt flats and attempted to pass over the Panamint Range via Warm Springs Canyon, but were unable to do so. They retreated to the valley floor and sent two young men, William Lewis Manly and John Rogers, 'over the mountain' to get supplies. Nearly a month went by as the men walked more than 300 miles to Mission San Fernando, got supplies at a ranch and trekked back. When Manly and Rogers finally arrived to the camp of the Bennett-Arcane party they found many of the group had left to find their own way out of the valley. The two families with children had patiently remained, trusting the men to save them. Only one man had perished during their long wait, but as they made their way west over the mountains, someone is said to have proclaimed "Goodbye, Death Valley," giving the valley its morbid name.
-from a Death Valley National Park website article
It looks like you're planning to rebuild the 3FE at 400k? Any particular reason behind that? I'm only 20k away from 400k and my 3FE is still running great
In route to the bottom floor. We could see the smooth bottom, but our eyeballs where bouncing in the sockets as this is a very boulder littered "wooden wagon wheel splitting" trail section.
We had a board meeting at the bottom to discuss a technical issue..
Lars rig had these bumpstops that needed to - GO!
Which gave Monica's dog time to re-hydrate.
Just ahead, strangeness:
Whats stranger - a yellow Nissan Exterra sitting in the middle of the desert
OR
a yellow John Dear tractor sitting in the middle of the desert?
Seriously, this had to have been the coolest place in all of Death Valley when it was fully functional!
Yea, I checked, too tight to skate for my taste! hehehe
Just read through your whole thread, so great! I am down in San Clemente so if you're ever looking for someone to tag along give me a shout, would love to get out and explore...especially with someone who knows the areas well. Cheers!
Hello SUMMIT CRUISERS JR! 380,000!!!! MASSIVE! LOVE IT!!!
I'm not really planning, ie: collecting parts, just mentally preparing for the "big if." Maybe it will just be a big re-fresh such as head gasket replacement and such. Have you done any major engine work so far?
It looks like you're planning to rebuild the 3FE at 400k? Any particular reason behind that? I'm only 20k away from 400k and my 3FE is still running great
HEHEHE
Always more to come and yes I need to get my butt back in gear and get my thread current! It gets discouraging! 
