gofastdan
Well-known member
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- #1
As a refresher, I have a '24 Tacoma OR Long Bed, with a Lone Peak wedge camper on it. I have the Westcott Designs spacer lift up front and Dobinsons springs (C59-819V) on the back to handle the extra weight from the camper build-out. I'm running 285 /70 R17 KO3's on Method MR705 wheels. I've not been able to weigh the truck with the full buildout on it but I guesstimate I'm carrying ~1,000lbs with all my additional items.
This little trip was primarily to spend some time with my parents in Phoenix but I wanted to take my time and enjoy the trip down and back. To that end I left Seattle on October 7th and got back home on October 30th, spending ~ a week hanging out with my folks and the rest of the time exploring the west.
From Seattle I took the North Cascades Highway (one of my all time favorite roads) over to Eastern Washington, stopped and did a hike to see the larches turned color, continued on past Grand Coulee Dam, through Pasco and the Tri-cities, down through John Day and across Central Oregon to Crater Lake. I hiked down to the lake for fun and then headed back through Lakeview, Or, down through Ely, Nevada and across the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Page, Arizona. From there a quick shot to Phoenix.
On the way back from Phoenix I skirted Las Vegas, visiting the Valley of Fire to the NE of Vegas and then Red Rock Canyon to the west. From there I drove through Death Valley and up 395 to Susanville, California, through Lassen National Park, over to Redding and continued west to Eureka, California. I spent a day with my niece and her husband hiking in the Redwoods and then went up the Oregon coast to Newport to see more friends and then spent a night at my mother-in-law's place in Portland and home from there.
All that to get to what you care about. The statistics!
-4,575 miles
-6 states (Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California)
-$1,278 spent on gas (running 89 octane almost the whole trip)
-$3.50/gal, cheapest gas in Sun City, AZ
-$6.80/gal, most expensive gas in Bridgeport, CA
-15 mpg averaged over the course of the trip.
-$11, spent on campground fees (two nights in unimproved campgrounds, the rest of the time I found dispersed camping sites)
The truck ran great with absolutely no issues. I changed the oil as soon as I got home and it still looked good. I don't believe it burned a drop of oil.
The Dobinsons springs in the rear have been great and restored the handling back to stock performance. I honestly don't even think about the extra weight I'm carrying around.
I have a little over 11k on the KO3's now and I love them although they're starting to make some noise at low speeds. As soon as it stops raining here I'll rotate them...
The only minor damage I incurred was a bit of pinstriping on the side of the truck from squeezing between juniper trees in Nevada. They look so soft..... They aren't! It's nothing that won't buff out so no real harm done.
All in all a great trip and I can't wait to do it again. I think next time I'll venture further east into Idaho and Montana and spend more time in Utah, just to mix it up a bit.
Here are a few pics, both of the truck and other random things.... ;o)
Larches in the North Cascades
Grand Coulee Dam
Camping south of John Day, Oregon. One of two paid campsites.
The American West is beautiful, diverse and can be incredibly empty.
Dispersed camping just outside Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake, Oregon
More dispersed camping on BLM land in Nevada (or Utah?)
Random dirt in Arizona
Lower Antelope Canyon outside Page, Arizona
The sun at Valley of Fire State Park, NE of Las Vegas
It could happen....
Sunrise north of Death Valley, my second paid campsite
The beach outside Eureka, California
Some people never learn...
This little trip was primarily to spend some time with my parents in Phoenix but I wanted to take my time and enjoy the trip down and back. To that end I left Seattle on October 7th and got back home on October 30th, spending ~ a week hanging out with my folks and the rest of the time exploring the west.
From Seattle I took the North Cascades Highway (one of my all time favorite roads) over to Eastern Washington, stopped and did a hike to see the larches turned color, continued on past Grand Coulee Dam, through Pasco and the Tri-cities, down through John Day and across Central Oregon to Crater Lake. I hiked down to the lake for fun and then headed back through Lakeview, Or, down through Ely, Nevada and across the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Page, Arizona. From there a quick shot to Phoenix.
On the way back from Phoenix I skirted Las Vegas, visiting the Valley of Fire to the NE of Vegas and then Red Rock Canyon to the west. From there I drove through Death Valley and up 395 to Susanville, California, through Lassen National Park, over to Redding and continued west to Eureka, California. I spent a day with my niece and her husband hiking in the Redwoods and then went up the Oregon coast to Newport to see more friends and then spent a night at my mother-in-law's place in Portland and home from there.
All that to get to what you care about. The statistics!
-4,575 miles
-6 states (Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California)
-$1,278 spent on gas (running 89 octane almost the whole trip)
-$3.50/gal, cheapest gas in Sun City, AZ
-$6.80/gal, most expensive gas in Bridgeport, CA
-15 mpg averaged over the course of the trip.
-$11, spent on campground fees (two nights in unimproved campgrounds, the rest of the time I found dispersed camping sites)
The truck ran great with absolutely no issues. I changed the oil as soon as I got home and it still looked good. I don't believe it burned a drop of oil.
The Dobinsons springs in the rear have been great and restored the handling back to stock performance. I honestly don't even think about the extra weight I'm carrying around.
I have a little over 11k on the KO3's now and I love them although they're starting to make some noise at low speeds. As soon as it stops raining here I'll rotate them...
The only minor damage I incurred was a bit of pinstriping on the side of the truck from squeezing between juniper trees in Nevada. They look so soft..... They aren't! It's nothing that won't buff out so no real harm done.
All in all a great trip and I can't wait to do it again. I think next time I'll venture further east into Idaho and Montana and spend more time in Utah, just to mix it up a bit.
Here are a few pics, both of the truck and other random things.... ;o)
Larches in the North Cascades
Grand Coulee Dam
Camping south of John Day, Oregon. One of two paid campsites.
The American West is beautiful, diverse and can be incredibly empty.
Dispersed camping just outside Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake, Oregon
More dispersed camping on BLM land in Nevada (or Utah?)
Random dirt in Arizona
Lower Antelope Canyon outside Page, Arizona
The sun at Valley of Fire State Park, NE of Las Vegas
It could happen....
Sunrise north of Death Valley, my second paid campsite
The beach outside Eureka, California
Some people never learn...
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