The Old Truck
`89 Toyota Extended Cab V6 4X4
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| The earliest picture of the `89 truck. | After adding the light bar. |
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| After adding the light bar (rear view). | With the winch, lights, & aluminum TJM bumper. |
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| Some dirty pictures of the truck. | |
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| How many people could you fit in it? 10 here on the way to an F-15 crash. | 9 here on the way to an F-100 crash site. |
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| Camping in El Gulfo Mexico. | Camping south of Yucca AZ. |
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| Camping in the Mojave CA desert. | |
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| Winching a P-38 engine for a museum. | Winching a friend out of sand in NV. |
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| A great spot we used to drive to
(now closed to vehicles) where we would rappel at. It had a great cliff to teach beginners (below left) and another cliff that was fun (below right). |
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| We would tie right off to the bumper of the truck (below). | |
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A run through Box Canyon, Florence, AZ.
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Stuck in the Big Sandy River, AZ. First on the way down I discovered that the Toyota was significantly heavier than the ATVs whose tracks I was following! (Left) Then on the way back I got stuck crossing the river (below). It did not look to bad from the front, but the right rear was well sunk. The Big Sandy lived up to it's name. |
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Got caught deep in the AZ outback when a heavy summer monsoon hit.
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| Perhaps my favorite picture of the truck. The contrast of the dry lake in the sun to the dark shadowed mountains in the background. | Leading a Hummer and Land Rover to a F-100 crash site. |
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| Looking for a P-51 crash on this trip. | Heading up to a T-38 crash site here. |
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Coup de Grāce
The rock that did her in...
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| I saw rock #1, but #2 was hiding behind a clump of grass. | Rock #2 is much more visible from the other side. |
| Below, the scar on the rock, or more like an iceberg, as only a tiny bit of it was sticking out of the ground, the bulk of it was deep underground. | |
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I was only going 5 mph and could have easily gone to the right of rock #2, but decided to go to the left and drive over the "clump of grass." However there was a rock hidden in the clump. It stopped me dead cold and the rock did not budge at all. It moved the front tire back 1 1/2 inches!!! I replaced the lower A arm and had a body shop straighten the frame. I drove it for another 6 months. It would barely hold an alignment. So with that, all the other creeks, groans, and fatigue issues combined with the fact I did not like the 2005 Tacomas, I decided to find a one year old 2004! |
