Builds Rotw: Socalfj

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UCBerzerkeley said:
I do have to ask this, because the story is so incredible. Both why did you sell the SMB after buying it, and how did you convince people to sell back the cruiser and trailer?

Amazing man, cheers! If you can't answer the above Q's, no prob, I understand!
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Long story short:

A guy that i'll refer to as Jay Leno wanted a "turn key" expedition rig. He wanted ours. I told him many times over many months it wasn't for sale. He finally asked what would we sell it for if you had to sell it tomorrow..... you know... everyone has a price.. well he called my bluff on the whole package.

That turned into the SMB. I picked up the SMB drove to the airport to get him and he grabbed the LC and the AT back to OR that day.

Turns out the economy started going south.... and the SMB wasn't totally paid for... almost , but not quite. It was getting hard to write the check every month when we weren't taking a salary. So i decided to let it go. I ended up selling the SMB in less than 24 hours. I was stoked.

I get a phone call or PM, or email.. shoot i don't remember and it was Jay Leno. Jay says... you know , i have so many rigs, i really don't Need the LC... so if you want it back.. i totally understand. He even sold it back to me less than i sold it to him for and he put a few bucks into it as well. I was stunned and of course i said yes. He barely used the LC and it sat most of the time he had it.

I asked him about the trailer, because i wanted the whole setup back.. not just the LC. Here's where the story really gets even better. He said, he just sold it to another guy and delivered it to him in SF a few days ago. I was bummed. But i knew what the right thing was to do, so i kept on with the plan. Well the guy with the trailer saw me selling the SMB and buying back the LC on the portal. He PM's me.. "i think the trailer really deserves to be with the LC, you painted it to match, i feel bad..." this and that.. "do you want it?" Of course you know what my answer was. I was in disbelief. The whole thing just couldnt of happened any better. He ended up selling the trailer to me for the same price he bought for, which was about the same price i sold it for and he even fixed one item. I mean, this was the best luck i'd ever had.

So after getting the money from the SMB, i wired the money for the trailer,... brought cash up for the LC... and that was all i had. It was the exact amount from the SMB to buy both rigs back. I drove up with a buddy to Portland, grabbed the cruiser and on the way back down snagged the trailer in SF.

After all this happened.. i received a fortune cookie at a chinese restaurant. The cookie was empty. No fortune. Therefore i concluded that ALL my luck had ran out.

Im a very fortunate person.. and i feel all this happened for a reason. We are very grateful that we had the opportunity to have a SMB for 6 months and enjoyed it every minute.. but the LC and AT are more us... and when i picked it up at Jay Leno's property i knew... it fit like a glove and i told the LC.... "im sorry, i won't sell you ever again"

Sorry that was lengthier than i anticipated. But that's the story. :D
 
SOCALFJ said:
Long story short:

...

Sorry that was lengthier than i anticipated. But that's the story. :D
Click to expand...

What a nice story. On top of that, you're recent story on your engagement.

Well, perhaps I'll run into you one of these days at a SoCal ExPo or SoCal ih8mud meet.
 
Holy Moly!!! Great story. Awesome Build. :cheers:
 
Dave,

I have been eyeing the SMBs and think your 80 is one of the sweetest 80's I have ever seen. I am currently without a Cruiser. I was just wondering if the economy hadn't gone south and all else being equal would you have kept the SMB and not regretted selling the Cruiser? I'm just curious on your insights between the two as I'm trying to figure out which direction I want to go when I eventually get the opportunity. TIA.

Chuck
 
The cigarette receptacles can be found at West Marine... i think i posted that way back on page 2 or something.

Chuck, if money was no object... i'd probably have both. The SMB was big and bulky and rattled like a mofo on washboard roads. The LC and the AT are smaller and nimble and ride like a caddy on wash board road. If i was just touring the country via pavement then i'd like the SMB, but for what we do the AT works better. The SMB's as all most SMB owners know need better springs from the getgo. SMB is addressing this with the fitment of different springs from OME... but this is an expensive upgrade that you have to purchase. In most everyones eyes they feel the springs should come with a $100k rig.
 
Dave,

Thanks for the insight. Pretty much spot-on what I figured. I'm leaning toward the 80/100 route. Thanks for the reply. Catch you on the flip (ExPo) side!!
 
Dave, can you provide some info on the bulkhead connector you used for the solar panel to hook up to the charge controller?

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Absolutely, it's from Adventure Trailers. Just a 2 prong connector with a -/+ pigtail built onto it. They're $9.00. I don't think they're listed on their site, but they have them in stock.

Solar RV exterior plug, female with 12 gauge wire - part # 055-01109

Hope this helps.
 
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It seems like you would have to be pretty short to be able to use that changing room. How tall does it stand??
 
I have to bend my neck down. It's not to take a shower in or walk around in. It's just for privacy for Yosh to change when we camp with groups and there's no cover. Usually one chair and a clothes duffle bag fits with plenty of room.

Here's the same tent with the same changing room on the LC when the tent was mounted higher up. This is the traditional way of having it setup.


We have a Pett enclosure for shower purposes.
 
A couple more random shots out on dirt...

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A few little updates/changes...

Swapped out the ARB awning for the Hannibal. Much better quality and no more poles to walk around. Also you can move the vehicle with the awning deployed..

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Also, the Baja 540c was traded for a 840c.

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Think thats it for now. We've added a pullpal and a x-jack to our arsenal of recovery gear as well.

For more flexible comms we added a Yaesu HT that runs 440 and 2 meter and stuck a SBB5 comet on the hatch.
That way since we are primarily 2 meter rigged we can do both if need be. We also have FRS, CB and SPOT.

Next month it goes in for 4.88's and a front axle rebuild.
 
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Have you ever considered removing the flares and doing a LineX job on the sides? I have the same color 80 as yours and my daughter removed one flare with a pole, so we are removing them all and going for the LineX. Seems like with all your travels you would have smacked a flare or two.
 
Beautiful rig! https://forum.ih8mud.com/images/smilies/cheers.gif I run something very similar, and just as a reference point was wondering what kind of mileage you get. It is not often that you come across a rig that is outfitted similar, so I was just curious. In the winter I remove the RTT and Nato cans, but that has not yielded much difference in range. I get between 10 and 12 so I think that is about right. I'm also at about 4500 feet. Did you re-gear? Here's some parking lot shots, sorry about the *****y pictures (camera phone). Thanks in advance for your time!
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wakesetter said:
Have you ever considered removing the flares and doing a LineX job on the sides? I have the same color 80 as yours and my daughter removed one flare with a pole, so we are removing them all and going for the LineX. Seems like with all your travels you would have smacked a flare or two.
Click to expand...

We do mostly overlanding and expedition type stuff so knocking a flare off for us would be something rare. I have hit them and bent the mud flaps but for the most part i've been fine. If and when they ever become beat up yeah i'll probably go flareless. Probably wont lineX the rig but rather re-paint the entire rig because i think it looks cleaner that way.

outfitter taco said:
Beautiful rig! https://forum.ih8mud.com/images/smilies/cheers.gif I run something very similar, and just as a reference point was wondering what kind of mileage you get. It is not often that you come across a rig that is outfitted similar, so I was just curious. In the winter I remove the RTT and Nato cans, but that has not yielded much difference in range. I get between 10 and 12 so I think that is about right. I'm also at about 4500 feet. Did you re-gear? Here's some parking lot shots, sorry about the *****y pictures (camera phone). Thanks in advance for your time!
Click to expand...

Thanks!.. yeah we get about the same mileage as you. Haven't regeared and that's why it's going in, im getting tired of how slow we are. The rig weighs in at 7400 lbs and our trailer is 2,000+. We'll see a great difference after we go 4.88's in speed, how hard the engine works and hopefully in mpg.
 
We already have a Zodi Extreme shower... but ever since i played with the quick release nozzle on the EW Tacoma i had to have one :D

Our latest mod.. available from AT..

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For now its not heated. Im most likely going to do a Helton heat exchanger from Cruiseroutfitters on the 80 and use a quick release setup to get heat when using it for the shower. The rest of the time it will be for cleaning dishes when we don't feel pumping the manual pump.



Also, the truck goes in this week for a knuckle rebuild and 5.29's :D



A shot from last weekend..
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